ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

'Conspiracy of silence': Why Brexit has been largely absent from UK election campaign

With less than a week to go before the UK's general election, the opposition Labour Party appears on course for a resounding victory. But unlike with the last election in 2019, one word has been almost absent from the campaign trail: Brexit. Why has there been so little discussion of the impact of the country leaving the EU, despite it being one of the main legacies of the outgoing Conservatives' time in office?


Issued on: 29/06/2024 - 

A photograph taken on January 31, 2024 shows a European Union flag and a Union Jack flag flapping in the air in front of the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known by the name of the clock's bell "Big Ben", at the Palace of Westminster, home to the Houses of Parliament, central London. © Justin Tallis, AFP

By: Caroline CLARKSON

FRANCE24

On the evening of May 22, a few hours after a rain-soaked Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a general election for July 4, the pro-European Conservative grandee Michael Heseltine predicted how the campaign would play out. "We're facing the most dishonest election campaign of modern times. Because both major parties have got one obsession, and that is to keep the real debate out of the subject of Brexit," the 91-year-old former deputy prime minister told Sky News. He added: "You can't have a discussion about the country's economy, or its defence, or immigration, or the environment and not discuss Brexit. We have cut ourselves off from our principal market, our most important partners. And that is the underlying crisis that faces this country."

Heseltine has been largely proved right. Eight years after the referendum in which Britons narrowly voted to leave the EU, Brexit has emerged as the elephant in the room during the current election campaign. Unless pressed by journalists, the two major parties have made almost no mention of the issue. The word "Brexit" features only 12 times in the Conservative Party's 76-page manifesto and just once in Labour's 131-page programme. During the Conservatives' manifesto launch, Sunak referenced "our Brexit freedoms" only once while Labour leader Keir Starmer did not mention Brexit at all when unveiling his party's policy document.

Conservatives 'don’t really have anything to crow about'

For Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London and author of, "The Conservative Party After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation", the near-silence on the part of the Conservatives stems from the way Brexit has turned out. "They don't really have anything to crow about in terms of achievements or benefits, particularly with regard to the one that featured so heavily in the Brexit referendum, and that is control of our borders," he said.

"Net migration has increased rather than decreased," he noted, adding: "We've simply had people from outside of Europe fill all the migration that was previously there from people inside Europe."

According to the independent Office for National Statistics, net migration to the UK has more than doubled in the past three years, compared to the same period leading up to the 2016 referendum. The number has risen from 836,000 to 1.9 million, disproving Brexiteers' promises to "take back control" of Britain's borders. When confronted with these figures in a Sky News interview on June 12, Sunak struggled to respond, repeating several times that "the numbers are too high". When it was put to him that he was "the original Brexiteer", the prime minister laughed awkwardly and asked, "Was I?", before acknowledging that he had indeed supported Brexit. Six days later, on June 18, more than 800 migrants crossed the English Channel in a single day, setting a new record high for 2024.

Even the hard-right populist Reform UK party – previously known as the Brexit party and led by one of the project's main cheerleaders, Nigel Farage – has had little to say about Britain's EU exit on the campaign trail. While acknowledging that the party is critical of the Conservatives' handling of Brexit, Bale observed: "It's interesting that it's not really featuring very heavily in the pitch that Reform is making to voters. It's all about – for them – migration and leaving the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights)."

This strategy does not seem to have hurt the party, with Reform now narrowly ahead of the struggling Conservatives in several polls.

Labour worried about scaring off 'Red Wall' voters

Despite polls predicting it will win a huge majority, Labour also finds itself in a difficult position. Like his party as a whole, Starmer opposed Brexit and campaigned to remain in the EU. Yet he has ruled out the UK rejoining the bloc, or even the customs union or single market, if he becomes prime minister.

For Bale, this stance is a result of Labour's fear of scaring off voters in 'Red Wall' seats in central and northern England – people who deserted the party at the last election in 2019 but are expected to back it this time around. Many of them voted for Brexit.

"[Labour] worry that mentioning Brexit will put those people off and maybe see them drift to either the Conservatives again or to Reform," he said.

According to the UK's Office for Budget Responsibility, an independent watchdog, Brexit will inflict a 4-percent hit on the economy's long-term productivity. But as Bale noted, even Labour appears unwilling to address the economic impact of Brexit.

"The consensus among economists is that it's costing Britain dear in terms of growth foregone," he said. "Given that Labour's plans to improve public services and the economy more generally revolve around generating more growth, one would have thought that talking about not necessarily reversing Brexit, but at least rejoining the single market –maybe the customs union – would be an obvious way of generating the growth that they feel needs to be generated."

In a further sign of Labour's reluctance to address the economic consequences of EU exit, Starmer insisted on June 22 that the UK's low economic growth rates "started well before Brexit".

Smaller pro-EU parties, the exception to the rule

The only parties openly discussing Brexit during the campaign are the smaller, pro-European outfits, which are certain to remain in opposition. The centre-left Liberal Democrats are in favour of rejoining the single market. They are hoping to pick up dozens of seats from the Conservatives through tactical voting in the part of southern England known as the "Blue Wall". Bale noted that analysts "thought that they (the Liberal Democrats) would join that conspiracy of silence. But they have actually mentioned rejoining the single market, which is fairly radical." Meanwhile, the Green Party, which is only expected to pick up a handful of seats, backs re-entry to the customs union. Both parties support rejoining the EU in the longer term.

As for the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), it backs Scotland rejoining the EU as an independent country. But with polls showing support for Scottish independence on a knife edge and Starmer having ruled out granting Scotland a second referendum on separation, Scottish EU membership remains a distant prospect for now.

Cracks in the omerta

While unwilling to revisit the result of the 2016 referendum, Labour is nevertheless pledging to pursue closer cooperation with the EU – notably on defence and security – and reduce trade friction. Pressed on this in an interview with LBC radio station on June 18, Starmer declared that "the deal we've got is a botched deal" and vowed to "seek a better agreement" if Labour came to power. The Conservatives seized on these comments, with outgoing Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch claiming that Labour would "take us back to square one" and "copy what the EU does". In a rare attempt to defend the rollout of Brexit, she told The Telegraph: "This is a 10 or 20-year project. We've just started. It's like building a house and someone comes in and says oh, it's not done yet, he's failed. Or you're cooking something and, five minutes later, it's not cooked yet, it's not working, let's stop."

Another crack in the omerta emerged on June 23, the eighth anniversary of the Brexit referendum, when Sunak accused Starmer of wanting to "unpick Brexit" and "rejoin the EU by the back door" – something the Labour leader denies.
Public opinion turns against Brexit

Rather ironically, the main parties' near-silence on Brexit during the campaign appears out of step with public opinion. According to a YouGov poll from July 2023, 57 percent of people believe the UK was wrong to vote for Brexit and 51 percent would vote to rejoin the EU if a new referendum were held. Looking ahead, Bale predicted that these views cannot be ignored forever.

"For the long term, you have to wonder how long any government will be able to ignore the fact that so many people in this country, and therefore so many voters, think that Brexit was a bad idea and are very open to the idea of rejoining the European Union," he said.

"Here we're talking about Labour's first term. But in the second term, if it hasn't got growth and there's still a very strong feeling in the electorate that Brexit has been a disaster – and there are more and more people in the electorate saying we ought to join the single market and the customs union and even perhaps the EU – then we might see a British government try to do some of those things."

Bale added that the proportion of people in favour of rejoining the EU "is only going to get bigger because so many of those [older people] who voted 'Leave' will be departing the electorate and lots of young people who didn't vote back then or weren't even able to vote, and who have very positive attitudes towards Europe, will be joining the electorate." He predicted "more and more pressure" on any future government, "particularly if we don't get much growth, to reassess the situation".

Labour has indeed billed its manifesto as "a plan to kickstart economic growth". Time will tell if a presumptive Labour government can still do so while fully outside the EU.

UK

What are the parties saying about women's rights and gender identity?

By Eleanor Lawrie, 

BBC Social Affairs Reporter


Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak have clashed over single-sex spaces

Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak were both quizzed about women-only spaces in their final head-to-head debate before the election.

So what have the main parties said about transgender rights, women's rights and gender identity so far?


Conservatives


Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has suggested voters face a "crystal-clear choice" at this election about the protection of single-sex spaces.

The Conservatives say that - if re-elected - they will "protect female-only spaces and competitiveness in sport", by rewriting the Equality Act to make clear that sex as a protected characteristic means biological sex.

"Keir Starmer has not matched my pledge to reform the Equality Act to pass new law...he's not sure, like I am, that sex means biological sex, and that's how you protect female-only spaces and services," the PM told the audience at Wednesday’s debate.

Guidance around the Equality Act says certain spaces can be single-sex only, if it is proportionate and intended to achieve a legitimate aim such as privacy or the prevention of trauma.

The Conservatives suggest change is needed to clarify that sex in this context means biological sex.

Some people believe that trans women – that is, people who were born male but who now identify as female – should have access to the single-sex spaces and events that are specifically for women.

This is contested by some women’s rights groups, and they are pressing for clarification of the Equality Act so that single-sex spaces such as women’s prisons, rape crisis centres, sports teams and changing rooms, are only open to biological women.

The Conservatives have not confirmed an outright ban on conversion therapy

In May, the government released draft guidance that schools in England "should teach the facts about biological sex and not use any materials that present contested views as fact, including the view that gender is a spectrum".

Parents would have a right to know if their child wants to be treated as the opposite sex, the Conservative manifesto says, with schools having to involve parents in decisions about their children.

Unlike Labour and the Lib Dems, the Conservatives have not promised to ban conversion therapy, which attempts to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity.

There is no legal definition, but in practice it means trying to stop or suppress someone from being gay, or from identifying as a different gender to their sex recorded at birth.

Theresa May first pledged to ban it in 2018, and the government launched a consultation about how that would work.

But the party now says it needs to take more time before deciding whether existing laws are strong enough or extra protection is needed.

What does trans mean and what is the Cass review?


Labour


Sir Keir Starmer defended his position on single-sex spaces in Wednesday's debate.

"It's very important that we protect female-only spaces," he said, adding that he treats transgender people "as I treat all human beings - with dignity and respect".

He referred to guidance around the existing Equality Act, which says that a trans person with a Gender Recognition Certificate could be prevented from using a single-sex service in some circumstances.

It is not the first time he has been challenged about his messaging around women and transgender people.

In 2021, Labour MP Rosie Duffield, who has consistently argued that sex is a matter of biological fact, posted a message on social media stating: “Only women have a cervix." Questioned about this, Sir Keir criticised her position, saying it was “not right”.

But in a recent BBC Question Time debate, he said he agreed with former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s comment, that "biologically, a woman is with a vagina and a man is with a penis".

He followed that up by saying some people don’t identify with their birth sex, adding: "My view in life is to respect and give dignity to everyone, whatever their position."

He suggested his earlier comments were made in the context of a “toxic” and “hardline” atmosphere around trans rights.

His comment prompted author JK Rowling to write in the Times newspaper that she would “struggle” to vote for him.

She said she was propelled by “freedom of speech and observable truth” and believed Labour was “dismissive and often offensive” towards women fighting to retain sex-based rights – she said the party had “abandoned” women.

Author JK Rowling said she would 'struggle' to support Labour given its stance on women's rights

Labour’s education spokeswoman has refused to clarify whether the party would scrap the Conservatives’ proposed ban on schools in England teaching pupils about gender identity.

Bridget Phillipson told the BBC protected characteristics such as gender reassignment should be taught “but on a factual basis at an appropriate age…[not] based on contested ideology”.

In its manifesto, Labour has pledged to ban conversion therapy, and would include transgender people in that ban.

It has also pledged to remove the “indignities” from the process of applying for a gender recognition certificate, which allows a person to change their legal sex.

It pledged to "modify, simplify and reform" the process, while keeping the requirement for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria

Liberal Democrats


The Lib Dems would seek to completely overhaul the gender recognition process, removing the requirement for a medical diagnosis if a person wanted to change the sex listed on their birth certificate.

Like Labour, the party promises to ban conversion therapy outright, while non-binary identities - those who do not consider themselves to have a solely male or female identity -would be recognised in law.

The party says it would also require large employers to monitor and publish data on LGBT+ employment levels, pay gaps and progression, building on the mandatory reporting around gender pay gap data that already exists.


Scottish National Party


John Swinney, who took over as SNP leader in May, has said he will "wait and see" after the general election about pursuing changes to gender recognition rules.

The party had previously tried to enact a controversial bill that would allow transgender people to change their legal sex through self-identification - so without the need for a relevant medical diagnosis.

It was blocked by the UK government last year, on the grounds that it would interfere with equality law in the rest of the UK.

Previous SNP leaders Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf backed the idea of self-ID, but in 2019 some Scottish MPs, including the now-deputy leader Kate Forbes, urged the Scottish government not to rush into "changing the definition of male and female".

In its election manifesto, the party says that if Scotland were to become independent from the rest of the UK "we would have the full powers to improve equality in law and society".

Reform UK

Nigel Farage's Reform party would scrap the Equality Act



In its list of pledges, Reform UK says “divisive, ‘woke’ ideology has captured our public institutions”.

The party says “transgender indoctrination is causing irreversible harm to children”, and plans to ban what it describes as “transgender ideology” in schools in England. In practice, this means “no gender questioning, social transitioning or pronoun swapping”.

The party would also scrap the Equality Act and diversity, equality and inclusion rules, which the party suggests are lowering economic productivity.

When leader Nigel Farage was recently asked on BBC 5Live how he would interact with transgender people as the opposition party, he said that “while we should respect the rights of transgender people…we equally must respect the rights of women too, and women-only spaces”.

He also suggested that a scenario in which someone who had gone through male puberty competed in a women’s swimming race “shouldn’t happen”.

Green Party of England and Wales


The Green Party supports the idea of trans and non-binary people to be legally recognised in their chosen gender through self-identification.

It also supports a change in law so an ‘X’ could be added as a gender marker in the passports of non-binary and intersex people, if they wanted to use it.


Plaid Cymru


Like the Lib Dems and others, Plaid Cymru would seek to introduce a policy of self-identification if someone wanted to change their legally recognised gender, without the need for a medical diagnosis.

UK

Is this really the TikTok general election?

By Brian Wheeler,

BBC Politics reporter

BBC


Snarky, silly and sometimes downright rude - TikTok has breathed new life into the political meme. But how much influence is it actually having on the general election?

Nigel Farage is the unlikely breakout star of TikTok at this election, with a five second clip of him mouthing the words to an Eminem song - “guess who’s back?” - pulling in more than eight million views.

The 60-year-old Reform UK leader was not previously known for his love of hip-hop - the clip was the brainchild of his young social media team.

But other Farage-branded content is regularly outperforming material produced by his political rivals and his personal account has more than twice as many followers as Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats combined.

The Reform UK account has fewer followers, and far fewer videos of Mr Farage playing up to the cameras, but with 197,000 followers is still more popular than the Tory offering.




The Tories’ best-performing clip was the first one they produced, entitled “this will change lives,” in which Rishi Sunak spends 50 seconds eagerly promoting his national service policy. This got a creditable 4.2m views.

But Labour’s 11-second takedown of it got 5.1m views.

This featured archive footage of showbiz legend Cilla Black belting out “Surprise, Surprise” with a caption that reads: “Rishi sunak turning up on your 18th birthday to send you to war” (the lower case S in Sunak presumably adding to the rough, authentic feel).

It was a version of an existing TikTok meme - something Labour has been adept at doing, says Sam Jeffers, of Who Targets Me, which tracks political advertising.

“Labour have people who are dripping in internet culture, the way they format videos, the way people talk.

“It is so clear that they have got people who are just incredibly switched on.”

Antler Social
The parties shouldn't resort to 'playground bullying,' says Vic Banham

Vic Banham, CEO of TikTok ad agency Antler Social, was less impressed.

“It makes me question their sincerity and what they are going to be like in government,” she says of Labour’s efforts, although she concedes “they are all as bad as each other”.

“It feels like your dad getting on TikTok to get down with the kids. It feels like a strategy that is not authentic.”

There is no doubt that brash, attention-grabbing clips get results, says Ms Banham, but she adds: “On TikTok there is a way to reach that younger audience without bringing that childish, playground bullying energy.”

She says she would like to see manifesto policies explained in a jargon-free way by people “who look and feel like the people they are trying to reach”.

The Lib Dems and Greens have played it straighter than the big two on TikTok, although the Lib Dems have spoofed the Simpsons and Spongebob Squarepants to attack the Tories.

But like their larger rivals they have mainly relied on party leaders to deliver their core messages.

The Tories did use “ordinary people” to comment on the national service policy, but the universally glowing reviews in the clip raised unfounded suspicions in the comments that they were actors.

TikTok does not accept paid political advertising, so it is a cheap way of reaching a large, youthful audience.

But it is dwarfed by Facebook and YouTube when it comes to audience reach.

More than 90% of online adults in the UK use Facebook and YouTube, according to Ofcom, compared with 48% for TikTok.

For this and other reasons Sam Jeffers believes the hype about this being the first TikTok election is massively overblown.

“’The TikTok battle’ is a narrative in this campaign that simply won’t die,” he says.

“It’s filling space because the ‘AI election’ never showed up.”

How social media is making young people accidental election influencers

The real battle is being played out on Facebook and YouTube, he argues, where the main parties are ramping up their spending as the campaign enters its final stretch.

The Conservatives are spending most of their budget on Facebook, where they can use targeting tools to get their message out to core, older voters across the UK.

Labour is also spending big on Facebook but unlike the Tories they are pumping money into YouTube and Google ads as well, targeting them at specific towns and cities.

Some platforms, such as X, formerly known as Twitter, do not publish spending records so it's difficult to get the full picture.

But according to Who Targets Me’s analysis of available social media ad libraries, £4.2m has been spent on election ads on Meta, which includes Facebook and Instagram, in the first month of the campaign.

Meta ad spending doubled between 16 and 22 June, largely thanks to a significant increase in Tory spending, although they remain slightly behind Labour.

Reform has also ramped up its Meta spending in the past week and started pouring money into Facebook ads in Nigel Farage’s name.

Like the Green Party, Reform is concentrating its resources on far fewer seats than the bigger parties.

Since the election was called the Greens have spent more than £39,000 on Meta adverts for their co-leader Carla Denyer in Bristol Central, but all the adverts began their run before the beginning of the regulated election spending period on 30 May.

By contrast, her co-leader Adam Ramsay spent £932 on Meta ads in the same period.

In Scotland, the SNP has largely eschewed TikTok and is being outspent by Scottish Labour on Meta.

But it is a very different political landscape. One of the SNP's core messages is "rejoin the EU" - something that you would not hear from any party south of the border.

Scottish Conservatives' advertising has focused a great deal on highlighting seats where they claim only they can beat the SNP.

In Wales, since the start of campaigning, Labour have spent almost as much on the softer tone of adverts of their Wales’ Future brand (over £74,000) as with Welsh Labour (over £80,000) on Meta platforms.

These sums are significantly more than their rivals - neither Plaid Cymru or Welsh Conservatives has spent more than £5,000 on their main accounts. Plaid’s advertising on Meta platforms has yet to exceed £1,000 for any single candidate.

The Tories' iconic 1979 election poster would almost certainly be a meme today

At one time all of this money would have been spent on buying huge poster sites in marginal constituencies.

Now, if the parties bother with them at all, posters are unveiled to the media and then driven around central London for a few hours on the side of a van.

The clever, stinging attack lines and dubious claims about rival party policies that made some election posters iconic, or notorious depending on your point of view, now come in meme form.

“It is the modern day billboard,” says veteran PR expert Mark Borkowski.

“You are playing with emotions not facts and figures, playing with how people feel about it.”

He says he is concerned about the “amount of bots being used” to distribute content and claims there is “a lot fakery” going on, adding “it was always going to be a dirty election”.

In a fiercely-competitive environment, he adds, “who has the best memes wins”.

Political advertising in the UK is not regulated - you can’t complain to the Advertising Standards Authority about misleading claims. It is down to rival parties to rebut them as best they can or fact checkers to debunk them, as BBC Verify did this week with a Tory Facebook ad on Labour’s pension policy.

Social media does at least offer parties ample space for detailed retaliation, although if TikTok has taught us anything it is that a five-second clip of Cilla Black might be more effective.

Additional reporting by Alex Murray

UK

Keir Starmer walks back his manifesto already, selling Palestine down the river

Labour policy on Palestine is a joke

 by James Wright
28 June 2024
in Analysis

A source close to Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has walked back a manifesto commitment to recognise Palestine, which could be yet another U-turn. The source said that UK recognition of Palestinian statehood was a “process” that should be done in “co-ordination with allies”.

The thing is, the UK’s key ally, particularly in the matter of Israel and Palestine, is the US. And the US lobbys against the recognition of a Palestinian state. Nonetheless, with Ireland, Norway, and Spain formally recognising Palestine in May, 146 out of 193 UN member states now uphold Palestinian self-determination in the form of a nation.
Labour Palestine: the usual fluff

In the Labour’s manifesto, it reads:

Palestinian statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people. It is not in the gift of any neighbour and is also essential to the long-term security of Israel. We are committed to recognising a Palestinian state as a contribution to a renewed peace process which results in a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.

So the usual fluff from the UK/US partnership on Israel, with no real action on the ongoing genocide. And already Labour are walking back what could be considered a symbolic gesture, the recognition of Palestine.

Trade between the UK and the Israeli occupied Palestinian territories totalled £38m in 2023. This represents trade with the Palestinian authority, which has very limited control under Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

Despite the genocide, Starmer’s Labour has refused to ban arms sales to Israel or call for sanctions on the state.
When has Starmer ever challenged Rishi Sunak on Israel?

During the final general election debate between Starmer and Sunak, Palestine solidarity protestors disrupted the event from outside, shouting “free, free Palestine”.

In December, a concerned Scotsman confronted Starmer on a train to Glasgow, saying:

Keir, how many more children have to die in Palestine before you call for a ceasefire?

Starmer backed Israel’s assault on Gaza for four months, before eventually calling for a peace deal. Whether Starmer will uphold that call as government policy is unlikely without massive pressure.

Labour’s manifesto claims the party will “continue to push for an immediate ceasefire”. One issue is it’s unclear they have been pushing for a peace deal, beyond a few warm words. Starmer has never challenged Sunak on Conservative policy towards Israel’s genocide.

He isn’t an opposition leader, he’s an accomplice.

 

UK’s Labour Pledges To Recognize Palestine – OpEd

 June 29, 2024 

By Neville Teller

Britain is in the throes of a general election.  The nation goes to the polls on July 4.  All the indications are that the Labour party will sweep the board with a resounding win, and that its leader, Sir Keir Starmer, will be Britain’s next prime minister.

On June 13 the party published the manifesto on which it is fighting the election.  Amid a plethora of domestic and international policy commitments, the manifesto turns briefly to the Middle East.  “Palestinian statehood,” it declares, “is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people. It is not in the gift of any neighbor” [in other words, Israel], “and is also essential to the long-term security of Israel.”

The manifesto commits a future Labour government to recognizing a Palestinian state “as a contribution to a renewed peace process which results in a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.”

Appalled by the Hamas attack of October 7, Starmer stood shoulder-to-shoulder with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, US president Joe Biden, and most Western political leaders, in proclaiming Israel’s right to defend itself.  His stance was not acceptable to two entities he faces on his own political terrain.  One is the powerful hard-left element within his party that, since taking over as leader from Jeremy Corbyn, he has managed to disempower and partially subdue.  The other is the strong Muslim presence in some Labour-held constituencies.

Labour’s pro-Palestine component began to assert itself on October 7 itself, with scattered voices approving the Hamas attack.  The collateral civilian deaths and casualties arising from the IDF campaign was enough for the party’s support for Israel to begin to slide.  For a few weeks the official Labour line was to call for humanitarian pauses in the fighting, a position that was not anti-Israel enough for some, and prompted Labour resignations in councils and from its parliamentary front bench.  Finally, on February 24, Labour policy officially changed to a call for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.  

Then came the first test of electoral opinion in the UK since October 7.  On May 2, 2024 local elections took place across the country to select councilors, mayors and other local government representatives.  The results, no doubt to Starmer’s dismay, indicated that Labour’s position on the Israel-Hamas war had dented its support in Muslim areas

The BBC analyzed 58 local council areas where more than 20% of the residents identify as Muslim. It found that Labour’s share of the vote had slipped by 21% on 2021, the last time most seats were contested.

Ali Milani, chair of Labour Muslim Network, said Labour’s positioning on Gaza “is going to have a serious electoral consequence.  If I was a Labour MP in Bradford or Birmingham or Leicester or parts of London or Manchester [strong Muslim areas],  I would be seriously concerned.”

This is the background to the recognition pledge contained in the Labour party manifesto.

The composition of British society is changing fast.  In 2011 some 2.7 million UK citizens  identified as “Muslim”, making up 4.9% of the total population.  By 2021 overall numbers of self-identifying Muslims had reached 3.9 million, forming some 6.5% of the UK total   That is a constituency that Labour clearly believes cannot be ignored electorally, especially those areas where Muslims congregate to form a majority of the local population,

By comparison the total number of people self-identifying as Jews in the UK in 2021 was about 270,000, making up some 0.42% of the total population. 

The stark figures do not, of course, tell the whole story as regards political clout.  As in any society, British Jews punch well above their weight in the many and varied fields they engage in, while all political and social organizations formally abhor antisemitism or any form of discrimination based on ethnic, racial or religious grounds.

The main difficulty with statements about Middle East affairs from concerned, but uninvolved, parties is the lack of flesh on the bones of advice.  For example, no one who has recognized Palestine as a sovereign state is able to define its borders, while advocates of the two-state solution when speaking of borders usually refer vaguely to the situation just prior to the Six Day War. 

On June 5, 1967 the whole of the West Bank and east Jerusalem was controlled by Jordan, while Gaza was part of Egypt’s Sinai region.  This position had remained unchanged since the Israeli, Jordanian and  Egyptian armies stopped fighting during the course of 1949.  Then, for nigh on twenty years, Jordan and Egypt retained control of the land they had conquered after attacking Israel in 1948, yet neither separately nor together did they make any move to establish a Palestinian state.

In the Six Day War Israel reconquered these areas, as well as a great deal more.  Once in Israel’s hands, the West Bank and Gaza somehow morphed into “occupied Palestinian land” (which no-one previously claimed them to be; indeed West Bank Arabs remained Jordanian citizens until 1988).  The idea of an Arab Palestine has since become a political reality.

Labour’s recognition pledge takes no account of the fact that the Palestinian leadership is currently divided between the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas, that Palestinian opinion heavily favors Hamas, that the PA as a whole, as well  as its leader, President Mahmoud Abbas, are regarded as corrupt and are deeply unpopular.

On the other hand, the argument that eventually recognizing a Palestinian state would somehow be to reward Hamas for its bloodthirsty attack of October 7 does not hold water.  The two-state solution is the last thing Hamas desires.  If it were ever established, it would represent a bitter blow to Hamas’s fundamental purpose – to eliminate Israel altogether.  As far as Hamas, and its  fundamentalist supporters are concerned, establishing two states would be like a red rag to a bull.  The fight to eliminate Israel would continue unabated.   

Unlike the recent moves by Ireland, Spain, Norway and Slovenia which recognized the non-existent Palestinian state outright, the Labour commitment to recognizing a Palestinian state is nuanced.  It will occur as part of a peace process, and as such echoes the position outlined in January by Lord Cameron, the UK foreign secretary.  Palestinian statehood should be part of a process, he declared, and recognition would come at what has been described as “an appropriate time in peace talks”. 

By adopting this more considered position, Starmer is certainly risking alienating both his left wing and his Muslim constituency.  It is a fine line he is treading.

Neville Teller latest book is ""Trump and the Holy Land: 2016-2020". He has written about the Middle East for more than 30 years, has published five books on the subject, and blogs at "A Mid-East Journal". Born in London and a graduate of Oxford University, he is also a long-time dramatist, writer and abridger for BBC radio and for the UK audiobook industry. He was made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours, 2006 "for services to broadcasting and to drama."

UK Green Party co-leader makes powerful case for ending arms sales to Israel on Question Time

Chris Jarvis 

Yesterday

Left Foot Forward

Adrian Ramsay said arms sales to Israel were 'unacceptable'

The Green Party’s co-leader appeared on a special edition of Question Time this evening as part of the BBC’s general election coverage.

Ramsay faced a series of probing questions from the show’s host Fiona Bruce on comments made by Green Party candidates on the ongoing situation in Gaza.

Responding to this, Ramsay said that people needed to take care in how they discussed the issue, but also made a powerful case for ending arms sales to Israel.

Speaking on the programme, he said: “What we need to be very aware of in talking about this is that there are Jewish communities and Muslim communities in the UK and around the world feeling very vulnerable at the moment. And all of us – and I’d say this to candidates of any party – need to be very aware of that when we’re talking about this issue.

“But that won’t stop me standing up and saying that the UK needs to play its role internationally – putting pressure for there to be a ceasefire from both sides. And in saying that it’s absolutely unacceptable for the UK to continue selling arms to Israel when the International Criminal Court has been very clear that Israel as well as Hamas has broken international law.”

Ramsay’s call for ending arms sales was met with applause by the studio audience.


Adrian Ramsay applauded by Question Time audience for saying railways should be in public ownership


Chris Jarvis 

Yesterday
 Left Foot Forward

The Green Party co-leader said that the railways should be run for "public benefit, not for the huge profits of the rail companies"

As part of the BBC’s general election coverage, the Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay faced a studio audience on a special edition of Question Time this evening (June 28).

During the programme, Ramsay faced questions about the Green Party’s policies on the environment and on transport. In his response, Ramsay made the case for greater investment in public transport, to make rail travel more affordable and for renationalising the railways.

Ramsay said: “It absolutely shouldn’t be the case that’s its more expensive to get the train, often substantially more expensive isn’t it, to get the train within the UK than it is to get a flight. And a flight is several times more environmentally damaging.

“And I think most people want to do the greener option, but the greener option’s got to be the cheaper and more convenient option as well.”

The show’s host Fiona Bruce then asked how the Greens would make public transport more affordable.

Ramsay then send: “At the moment there are huge subsidies for the aviation industry, whilst we have some of the most expensive rail prices in Europe. And so one of the things we would do is to bring the railways back into public ownership, which I think people would really like to see that they are run for public benefit, not for the huge profits of the rail companies.”

Ramsay’s call for renationalising the railways was met with applause from the audience.

Exclusive polling for Left Foot Forward in November 2023 found that 70 per cent of the public support taking the railways back into public ownership.

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy of development at Left Foot Forward

Greens set out charter for small businesses to help high streets thrive


The Greens have set out their plans to help small businesses

 (Isabel Infantes/PA)

By Rhiannon James, 

PA Political Staff

Today 

The Green Party has committed to helping the UK’s high streets thrive in a green economy by setting out a charter for small businesses.

Under its proposals, the party is offering to create regional mutual banks to drive investment in decarbonisation, rejoin the EU customs union, and give VAT and rates exemptions to businesses.

It has also pledged to spend £2 billion a year on grant funding for local authorities to help businesses decarbonise and hopes to encourage community ownership.

Ellie Chowns, the party’s candidate for North Herefordshire, said the charter will support business to “survive and prosper”, adding they are the “lifeblood of our economy and our communities”.

Ms Chowns added: “This is a comprehensive package offering direct support to small businesses that also introduces measures to encourage customers to get to and use small local businesses.

“These innovations will set the framework for small enterprises to succeed and our high streets to once again become vital community hubs.



Green candidate Ellie Chowns set out the plans (Jonathan Brady/PA)

“These new regional banks would be capitalised through a co-operative development fund using some of the funds made available through the United Kingdom Infrastructure Bank, along with an additional £10 billion of public money.

“Local authorities would be funded nationally to channel grants worth £2 billion per year to local businesses which want to decarbonise faster.

“Our new generation of Green MPs will press in Parliament to remove any legal blocks to companies wanting to transform into mutual organisations, especially at the point of succession from one owner to another.”

The former MEP said the current approach to support for business is “failing” and the Greens will offer them a “win-win-win package”.

She added: “Some small local businesses struggle to get their payments on time which can leave them financially exposed and unable to thrive on our high streets.

“Elected Greens will campaign to bring the Prompt Payment Code into law and bar late payers from public-procurement contracts.

“We also want to mandate the Small Business Commissioner to investigate potential instances of poor payment proactively, instead of only when a complaint has been made.”

Other Green pledges include backing farmers to produce and sell more food locally, free bus travel for under-18s, and building more social housing.

 UK

Something rotten in Islington North

JUNE 28, 2024

LABOUR HUB EDITORS

Over 70 members of Islington North Labour Party are today asking voters to vote for the independent candidate Jeremy Corbyn, including the overwhelming majority of the CLP’s executive committee. Further below we reproduce their letter in full. First, we publish an exclusive article from a group of Party activists who are bitterly angry at how have they have been treated.

This is a strange election, but for some of us it is even stranger.  We have been Labour Party members in Islington North for decades, and have loyally turned out to campaign for all sorts of deadbeats, no-hopers and right wingers.  But this time, like most of the members of the constituency, we are not. 

In May Cllr Anjna Khurana was elected Mayor of Islington for this year.  Anjna represents the best of us: hardworking, principled and brave, she took legal action, challenging the sale of local GP surgeries to an American health care company.  It’s convincing proof of how Islington Labour defends the vulnerable and sick, great to mention on the doorstep, as one of those surgeries returns to the local GP Federation at the beginning of July. Well, we are not on the doorstep and we doubt anyone who is canvassing for Labour is mentioning it. 

Everyone knows what has happened to our MP of over 40 years, and that Jeremy Corbyn is now standing as an independent.  Islington North members were presented with a shortlist of two by the NEC, and then told that even that ‘choice’ was denied them, and someone called Praful Nargund was to be the Labour candidate in this hitherto safe seat.

Most residents had never heard of him, but we Party members had.  There were rumours about his ambitions to be an MP, ever since he was elected as a local councillor two years ago, after a ‘selection’ in which, unusually, only those selected stood, in a ward in the neighbouring constituency.  He is alleged to have employed a PR or lobbying firm to further his ambitions, soon after buying a house in Barnsbury (a terraced house there will set you back over £4m today). 

So who is Praful Nargund? According to the Daily Mail, he is a multi-millionaire private healthcare entrepreneur, who was educated at the now £25,000-per-year King’s College School in Wimbledon and holds more than  £9.4million worth of shares in his family’s holding company. He is reported to have been a director of a US-owned private healthcare company, which made £16million profit in just nine months, from UK patients, and only left his role just prior to being publicly announced as Labour’s imposed Islington North candidate.

In spite of all those resources, however, he has been undistinguished as a councillor in the London Borough of Islington where he sat  on only two council committees – the minimum. Unsurprisingly, Praful Nargund is refusing to take part in election hustings or talk to the local press, skewered by his comments in favour of the privatisation of health services.

His candidacy is in stark contrast to the hugely popular and hardworking MP whom he seeks to replace. Many local  councillors and branch and constituency officers have chosen not to campaign for him, despite pressure to do so. Scores of activists have left the Party in disgust, including many branch organisers, chairs and even the chair of the CLP. 

The constituency has had no access to Organise or Contact Creator for several months, making it difficult to organise campaigning for Sadiq Khan during the mayoral campaign. Seemingly, Sadiq’s victory was less important to some in the Party bureaucracy than the need to stop the local Party functioning. Yet we overcame the problems and turned out to campaign for him in spite of it.  The shutdown was supposedly because of a data breach which prevented branch and constituency meetings.  But miraculously now we can all get Party emails, and one of the first was from Nargund, asking for campaign donations. 

The impact across the borough Party of the leadership’s persecution of Jeremy Corbyn has been profound. The Council and Party are both very divided and unhappy. As members leave, there is demoralization and drift. Beyond the Party, there is confusion and dismay among ordinary voters that a much-loved MP no longer has the official Labour label.

Whoever becomes the MP for Islington North, the damage to the local Party may be irreparable. Many of those who left may not return to a Party that is so tainted and is fast becoming home to a small group of bumptious, entitled right wingers and where what was once a pioneering progressive council is losing its values and its touch. 

In the circumstances, it is important that those on the left who are staying in the Party do not dance to the tune of the right and seal themselves off from those who felt they had to leave. Member and ex-members, the left inside and out, need to work together and prepare for the battles to come.

—

Media outlets are reporting today that 72 members including most CLP executive officers have signed an open letter calling on voters in the constituency to back Jeremy Corbyn, who is now standing as an independent. But few are publishing the letter in its entirety with all its signatories. Labour Hub reproduces this below.

A plea from resigning and former members of Islington North Labour Party: vote for Jeremy Corbyn, Independent

Dear voters of Islington North,

We have been proud members of Islington North Labour Party for many years. Together, we have campaigned on a wide range of issues, from defending the local Number 4 bus route to saving the local hospital’s A&E. These campaigns have united members from all sides of our Party, and we are proud of the collegiate atmosphere that we have created. In many ways, Islington North CLP was the genuine broad church that the Labour Party claims to be.

This year, we have been denied the right to choose our own candidate for the General Election. Not a single person in Islington North has had a say. We believe in democracy – and the people of Islington North deserve an MP who believes in democracy too.

Jeremy Corbyn has dedicated his life to this constituency. We hear on a regular basis from people how Jeremy has been there for them in their time of need, whether that is housing, education or anything else. He has always worked in partnership with our progressive Labour Council, both as a Labour MP and as an Independent MP.

We have been proud to stand alongside Jeremy over the course of ten General Elections. This year, we will be campaigning for him as an independent candidate for Islington North. Many of us have already resigned or been expelled from the Labour Party as a result. Those of us who are still in the Party know our support for Jeremy will

result in the termination of our membership. We do not take this decision lightly, but it is  time to take a stand in the name of democracy and justice.

We will campaign on the same principles we have always had. That includes ending all privatisation of our NHS in order to restore the principle of free, public and universal healthcare.

Jeremy has always been an honest, brave and principled voice. We need that voice now, more than ever. We implore Labour voters to support Jeremy Corbyn as an independent candidate, and vote for him on the 4th July.

Signed,

Alison McGarry (CLP Chair)

Bisi Williams (CLP Vice Chair Membership)

Gill Lawton (CLP Vice Chair Membership)

Ruth Clarke (CLP Women’s Section Secretary)

Steph Linkogle (CLP Vice Chair Campaigns)

Sarah Doyle (CLP Secretary)

Oliver Durose (CLP Assistant Secretary)

Martin Franklin (CLP Environment Officer,

Tufnell Park ward delegate)

Michael Rowan (CLP Communications and Social Media)

Simon Hinds (ex-CLP BAME Officer)

Terry Conway (CLP LGBT Officer, GM

delegate Unite LE 00014 branch)

Karen Shook (Finsbury Park Ward Executive Committee)

Nadine Finch (Union delegate from Unite LE 790 Branch, Chair of Arsenal Ward)

Mumtaz Khan (Union delegate from Unite LE 00014 branch)

Talal Karim (Union delegate from Unite LE 525 branch)

Gillian Dalley (Tollington Ward Chair)

Diane Reay (Vice Chair Tollington Ward)

Kate Buffery (Junction Ward GM delegate, Local Campaign Forum)

Peter Murray (Treasurer, Junction Ward)

Jonathan Gore (Ward Organiser, Highbury)

Cassie Mayer (Hillrise Ward GM delegate)

Sophie Maisey (Hillrise Ward GM delegate)

Ginette Williams (Hillrise GM Ward delegate)

Jan Whelan (Hillrise Ward GM delegate)

Mica Nava (Tufnell Park Ward GM delegate)

Dr Azhar Malik (Tufnell Park Ward GM delegate)

Jeremy Maher (Tufnell Park Ward GM delegate)

Annette Thomas (Tufnell Park Ward GM delegate)

Tony Graham (Highbury Ward GM delegate)

Stelios Foteinopoulos (Finsbury Park Ward GM delegate)

Minda Burgos-Lukes (Highbury Ward GM delegate)

Nick Davidson (Highbury Ward Treasurer, GM delegate)

Jan Whelan (Hillrise Ward GM delegate)

Dr Zohra Malik

Dr Rohi Malik

Sive Malik

Reem Abou-El-Fadl

Jan Pollock

Celie Hanson

William Murphy

Jenny Howell

Judy Garton-Sprenger

Tom Cockcroft

Juliette Mullin

Joei Silvester

The following members and delegates resigned before 2024, but after Jeremy was initially

suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party – positions in brackets at time of departure.

Asima Shaik (Islington Labour councilor for Finsbury Park, now Independent councillor)

Osh Gantly (former Islington Labour councillor for Highbury East)

Julia Bard (Ward Political Education Officer)

David Rosenberg (Political Education Officer)

Patricia Brewerton (Mildmary Ward Secretary and Ward Organiser)

Andy Coghill (Junction Ward Organiser)

Ruth Steigman (Tufnell Park GM delegate)

Jenny Richardson (Tollington Ward GM delegate)

Terry Barry (Tollington Ward GM delegate)

David Brewerton

Debbie Shewell

Tim Mohun

Andrea Croce

Desna Roberts

Dr Brigid Sheppard

Louisa Kaplin

Alexandra Stein

Dr Gill Yudkin

Peter Thomas

Rosy Pearson

Jonny Evans

Jonathan Chadwick

Brenon Ford

Stephen Moorby

Robin Jarossi

Heidi Rice

Brennon Ford

Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andymiah/34393582690. Author: Andy Miah. CC BY-NC 2.0A TTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL 2.0 GENERIC