UK Politics

Billionaire Tory donor John Caudwell switches allegiance to Labour

HE WILL GET ALONG SPLENDIDLY WITH SIR KEIR; THE RED TORY

John Caudwell had given Boris Johnson £500k to take on Jeremy Corbyn

Barney Davis
INDEPENDENT UK

JUNE 18,2024

Phones4u founder John Caudwell (PA)

The billionaire founder of Phones4U who donated £500,000 to the Tory party in 2019 has switched his support to Labour in a fresh blow to Rishi Sunak’s stuttering election campaign.

John Caudwell has said he will be voting for Labour citing his amazement at Sir Keir Starmer’s transformation of the party.

Mr Cauldwell was one of the biggest donors to the Tories ahead of the 2019 general election, when he gave half a million pounds to Boris Johnson’s campaign.

Encouraging everybody to vote for Labour, Mr Caudwell said he was “amazed by how Keir Starmer brought it back from that Corbyn brink.”

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (PA Archive)

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was “delighted” that Mr Caudwell had “thrown his support behind the changed Labour Party”.

He said: “The message is clear: business backs change and economic stability with Labour, and rejects five more years of chaos and decline with the Tories.

“John was not just a Conservative voter but a substantial donor to the Conservative Party in 2019 – so it’s not a decision that he will have taken lightly.

“But it’s clear that he shares my plan for growth that I set out in the Labour manifesto.

“I’m campaigning non stop between now and 4 July to win the votes of other people who have backed the Tories in the past but see change with Labour as the best future for Britain.”

Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives are heading for a record defeat on July 4, according to a mammoth poll from Ipsos (PA Wire)

Mr Caudwell said he had supported the Conservatives for 51 years but had been “despairing” about their performance for many years.

He said: “Only five years ago, I donated half a million to the Conservatives to help avert the disaster that would have been Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street.

“But I’ve been increasingly critical of Tory failures since then, particularly over Rishi’s mismanagement of the economy during Covid, Boris’ lowering of ethical standards and, of course, associated with that the accusation that Tory cronies benefited improperly regarding Covid PPE – and then the Liz Truss debacle.


“Over the last two years especially, I have been amazed by how Keir Starmer has transformed the Labour Party and brought it back from that Corbyn brink.

“As I have always said, the Government must be much more commercially minded to grow GDP in order to finance the public services that benefit all of society without increasing taxes.

“When Labour launched its manifesto last Thursday, I was delighted to see that accelerating economic growth was front and centre, and that projected growth is clearly tied into making Britain a clean energy superpower.

“So, I can declare publicly that I will vote for Labour, and I encourage everybody to do the same.

“We need a very strong Labour government that can take extremely bold decisions and you can rest assured that I will be doing my best to influence them wherever I can, in putting the great back in Britain.”

The setback came as Rishi Sunak was warned he is “fighting the wrong campaign” after placing his hopes on Boris Johnson stave off an election meltdown.

Flock of sheep flee as Rishi Sunak and David Cameron try to feed them. 

(Ben Birchall/PA Wire)

The prime minister today took a trip to southwest England in a bid to rescue seats from a pincer movement by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK on the right and Labour and the Liberal Democrats on the left.

But as Mr Sunak was openly mocked by his rivals amid images of him speaking on hay bales and sheep running away when he tried to feed them, former chancellor George Osborne, who ran the winning election campaigns in 2010 and 2015, heaped criticism on the beleaguered prime minister.

Osborne said: “He should be trying to defend his blue wall seats which is where Labour are now running riot rather than focusing on the red wall seats that Boris Johnson won five years ago when, by the way, the Labour candidate was Jeremy Corbyn so it was a completely different election from having Sir Keir Starmer.”

In a bad day for Mr Sunak, two more polls delivered further bad news with Savanta finding that only one in five voters (21 per cent) believe his promises on reducing immigration, with 27 per cent thinking Labour were more likely to stop the boats.

Labour and Tories both offering more austerity for the NHS, finds Nuffield Trust


Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting meet patients and staff at Bassetlaw Hospital in Nottinghamshire to discuss Labour's plan to reduce NHS waiting lists if they get into power after the forthcoming General Election on July 4, June 15, 2024


ANDREW MURRAY 

MORNINGSTAR

SUNDAY, JUNE 16, 2024

BOTH Labour and Tories are offering new austerity for the National Health Service if they win the general election — only worse, research shows.

Independent health think tank Nuffield Trust has scrutinised both parties’ pledges on the NHS.

It believes both parties, because of their rigid fiscal plans, will leave the NHS in crisis with lower increases in spending than those imposed by the Tories and Liberal Democrats at the height of austerity.

The trust says this will mean a squeeze on staff costs and make it impossible to meet pay increases planned for junior doctors and others.

It estimates that over the next parliament, the Tories will increase health spending by 0.9 per cent a year, and Labour by just 1.1 per cent.

These parsimonious plans, the trust argues, “would make the next few years the tightest period of funding in NHS history” whoever wins on July 4 and render “the dramatic recovery all are promising” inconceivable.

The revelation came as shadow health secretary Wes Streeting called on junior doctors to call off planned strikes and pledged he would start resolving the dispute on his first day in office.

He said he was “beyond furious” that the dispute was continuing although he also conceded that he would have liked a “more ambitious” social care policy in Labour’s manifesto, an indication of the tensions roiling even the party’s right over its paper-thin prospectus.

Mr Streeting called on voters not to give “matches back to the arsonist to finish the job,” as he suggested a Conservative election victory would be a “nightmare on Downing Street.”

It is a nightmare that the country looks unlikely to sign up for since Tory Party support is now at its lowest-ever level in opinion polling history.

Indeed, it is now in a fight to maintain itself in second place as the Reform Party has gained ground since the announcement that Nigel Farage had reappointed himself leader.

Top pundit John Curtice said that “every poll has reported a fall in Conservative support and nearly all the narrowing of the Conservative lead over Reform.

“So, what last week was an average eight point Conservative lead over Reform has now halved to just four points — and standing at just 20 per cent, Conservative support is now at its lowest ever in British polling history,” he added.

Backing for Labour is also drifting downwards, as some voters move towards the Greens and others may be attracted by Reform, particularly in the fabled “red wall” ex-industrial seats.

Reform chairman Richard Tice took aim at such voters today, claiming that “Reform is the real party of the workers, who have been abandoned by ‘café latte’ Labour.”

His proprietor, Mr Farage, worked the Conservative side of the field, saying right-wing Tories “are just in the wrong party” and predicting that turmoil within the Conservatives would only get worse with the hard right rebelling.

Trying to counter the Farage surge, former Tory minister and hard right leadership aspirant Robert Jenrick claimed that while he “sympathised with the frustrations” of voters attracted to Reform, failing to vote Tory could lead to an “elective dictatorship” by Labour.

Labour maintains a 17-point lead over the Conservatives in the latest poll, on 40 per cent to the Tories’ 23, with Reform up to 14 per cent.

Other surveys have put Reform level with or even ahead of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s party, although it is unlikely to win nearly as many seats.

But the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg said Reform’s “influence could yet prove dramatic and deadly for the Tories.”

Mr Curtice, with studied understatement, said that Mr Sunak “must be beginning to doubt his decision to call the election early.”

Nigel Farage demands spot on BBC's Question Time live election debate

Farage was speaking after a youGov poll put Reform ahead of the Tories for the first time.

Stuart Henderson
Updated Fri, 14 June 2024 

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at The Wellington, in central London, on Friday. (PA)


Nigel Farage has demanded a slot on the BBC's Question Time election debate next week.

The Reform UK leader told a press conference on Friday that one recent poll - which put his party just ahead of the Conservatives for the first time - meant he should share a platform on the BBC's four-way leaders' special on 20 June.

“I think we can demand of right now that the BBC put us into that debate,” he said. "I would also very much like to do a debate head-to-head with Keir Starmer and the reason’s very simple – we think this should be the immigration election.”


Farage also labelled himself “leader of the opposition” during the press conference, held in central London. He also predicted his party would get six million votes. That total would be significantly more than the 3.9 million votes his former party, Ukip, received under his leadership in 2015 when it secured 12.6% of the vote.

Read more: Will Nigel Farage's Reform UK 'beat' the Tories in the election?

The debate next week, hosted by Fiona Bruce, is currently scheduled to include representatives of the UK’s four largest parties: the Conservatives, Labour Party, SNP and Liberal Democrats.

The shock YouGov poll released on Thursday night showed support for Reform at 19%, just ahead of the Tories on 18%.


And while the results of the poll were certainly newsworthy, it is the only poll to date to have Reform ahead of Rishi Sunak's party.

According to the PA news agency, an average of all polls carried out wholly or partly during the seven days to 13 June puts Labour on 43%, 21 points ahead of the Conservatives on 22%, followed by Reform on 14%, the Lib Dems on 10% and the Greens on 6%.

(PA)

That means Reform’s average is up one percentage point on the previous week while the Tories are down one point.

And while Reform may be polling higher numbers than the Lib Dems, the UK's first-past-the-post voting system means it is highly unlikely Farage's party will get anywhere near the number of seats being targetted by Ed Davey.

The latest prediction based on opinion polls from 05 Jun 2024 to 13 Jun 2024, sampling 19,426 people. (Electoral Calculus)

According to polling experts Electoral Calculus, The Conservatives are projected to win between 42 and 236 seats, the Lib Dems between 34-77 seats, the SNP between 20-38 and Reform way back, with an expected one seat and a possible high of seven.

However, it is clear that Reform UK has continued the renewed momentum sparked when Farage announced he was taking over as leader and would stand for election in the Essex seat of Clacton on 4 June.

An 'utter disaster' for the Tories

The continued rise of the Reform UK is also marked it could potentially spell election disaster for the Conservatives, one of the UK's leading election experts warned in the wake of the YouGov poll.

Polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice said Reform's growing support was a "real, real problem for the Conservatives" because nearly all the voters shifting their support were switching from those who had previously backed the Tories in 2019.

“Any chance the Conservatives ever had when they fired the starting gun on May 22 that they might be able to narrow Labour’s lead was predicated on them being able to win back those Reform voters.

“Their failure already to squeeze the Reform vote before Farage entered was itself bad news, and then Farage has boosted it further and made things even worse.

Prof Curtice said the average of recent polls shows backing for Reform at about 15% or 16%, was an “utter disaster for the Conservatives”.

Sunak insisted that voting for Reform UK would be “handing Labour a blank cheque” as he played down the YouGov survey.

But in Friday's press conference, Farage claimed his party was "well ahead" of the Conservatives in several regions including the North East, the North West, the East Midlands, in the West Midlands, as well as in the so-called red wall. Adding to this he said: "The inflection point means that, actually, if you vote Conservative in the red wall, you will almost certainly get Labour. A Conservative vote in the red wall is now a wasted vote."

Why Reform will struggle to win any seats – despite beating the Tories in the polls

Ollie Corfe

THE TELEGRAPH
Fri, 14 June 2024 




One week ago, Nigel Farage voiced his goal for Reform to overtake the Conservatives in the polls.

On Thursday, a YouGov poll said he had finally achieved it, surpassing the Tories by one point.

The poll has Reform on a national vote share of 19 points, with the Conservatives trailing on 18. Labour continues to be way ahead on 37 points.

It is important to note this is just one poll: across 12 pollsters’ latest polls, Reform are averaging on 14 per cent, compared to the Conservatives on 22 per cent.

Reform has seen a jump in support – around 3 to 4 per cent since the election was called.

Despite this, very few experts, including the party itself, predict it will secure more than a handful of seats.

This is because, unlike a party like the Liberal Democrats, support for Reform is spread evenly across the country rather than being concentrated in a small number of seats. So while it can score high in nationwide polls, it may not be able to secure enough support in individual seats to claim success – especially given the UK’s first past the post electoral system.
Are Reform on course to win seats in Parliament?

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Friday, Mr Farage said: “Whatever we do, we may not get the number of seats we deserve, but are we going to win seats in Parliament? Yes.”

The latest YouGov MRP – which polls voting intention in each constituency, surveying some 50,000 people in total – conducted just before Mr Farage took control of the party, had the party on no seats whatsoever.

However, Mr Farage is clearly optimistic that the recent surge in the polls since his return to the helm of Reform will result in the party sending MPs to Westminster.

Hypothetically, Reform will need a much larger percentage of the vote than has been seen so far for his party to secure more than a couple of seats.
What constituency swing is needed?

This latest MRP, which uses modelling and constituency-level polling to predict individual seat outcomes, had Labour on 422 MPs to the Conservatives 140 MPs.

On average, across all the seats, Reform secured 10.2 per cent of the vote share in the survey. This left it in second place in 27 seats, but the winner in none.

In a situation where, uniformly across all seats, each vote gained by Reform was stolen solely from the Conservatives, the party would need to see its share increase by 12 points before it started picking up seats.

This is because in the seats where Reform comes second, it is Labour that stands in the way, not the Conservatives and, even where it is in second, it is substantially behind the projected winner.

For example, YouGov’s MRP has support for Reform at its strongest in Barnsley North, at 23 per cent to the Tories’ 7 per cent. If every Conservative voter abandoned the party and threw their weight behind Reform, its share would rise to 30 per cent. It would still lose to Labour, polling there at 48 per cent.

If there was a uniform 12-point swing to Reform in every seat from current polling levels, Reform would return three MPs: Mr Farage in Clacton, Richard Tice in Boston and Skegness and a third in New Forest East.

It would not be until a 15-point swing from the Tories to Reform that it would secure over 10 seats. And a massive 19-point swing would be needed to get them above the Lib Dems, in which case the Conservative party would be left without a single seat.

In a second scenario, where for every two votes Reform steals from the Conservatives, it takes one from Labour, Reform getting an MP elected is more within reach.

In this scenario, Reform gets its first and only seat with an 11-point swing. Interestingly, its first winner isn’t the party leader, but Garry Sutherland in Exmouth and Exeter East.

Lee Anderson would join the Reform victors with a 12-point swing, Mr Farage and Mr Tice after a 14-point swing, and a 17-point swing would see them become the second party on 81 seats.
Why is it so difficult?

The bar for becoming a major political party is incredibly high.

This is almost entirely explained by the first-past-the-post system, where parties are punished if their support is distributed widely instead of focused in a small number of seats.

For Reform voters, one point of contention will likely be that the Liberal Democrats, currently trailing them nationwide on 10 per cent of voting intention, are predicted by the YouGov MRP to secure 48 seats.

Crucially, this Liberal Democrat vote share is extremely focused in some areas.

The Liberal Democrats are projected to gain less than 10 per cent of the total vote share in around three quarters of seats across the country. Reform on the other hand is predicted to experience vote share this low in fewer than half of seats.

However, the Lib Dems could see shares of over 30 per cent in around 11 per cent of all seats. Reform is not expected to see this anywhere.

Effectively, this means that while Reform has a more uniform level of middling vote share across seats, the Liberal Democrats experience very high support and very low support.

This feeling is not unique to Reform.

The Greens could have its vote share triple this year and even become the second party with younger parties, but are still only projected to pick up Brighton Pavillion and – maybe – Bristol Central.

Reform UK: Where did party come from and what are its policies?

Sophie Wingate and Ian Jones, PA
Fri, 14 June 2024 

With a major poll showing Reform UK edging past the Conservatives for the first time, Nigel Farage’s party has the potential to blow up the General Election.

Here the PA news agency answers some key questions on the party.

– Where did Reform UK come from?

It was formed in 2021 as a relaunch of Mr Farage’s previous project, the Brexit Party, which had in turn been founded from the remnants of Ukip.




Mr Farage helped found Ukip in the 1990s, which in later decades ate away at Tory support and proved instrumental in paving the way for the in-out referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU.

In the aftermath of Brexit, Mr Farage announced he was quitting for a third time as Ukip leader. As the party descended into infighting, amid claims of a sharp turn to the right, he dramatically announced he was returning to the political front line with the formation of the new Brexit Party.

Mr Farage and Richard Tice in 2020 announced the Brexit Party would be renamed Reform as they railed against Covid-19 lockdowns. Unusually, it was set up as an “entrepreneurial political start-up”, with Mr Farage the company’s majority shareholder and honorary president.

Reform remained relatively unknown until recently, despite a major boost with the defection of Tory party deputy chairman Lee Anderson earlier this year.

Lee Anderson defected to Reform while he was the MP for Ashfield (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Mr Anderson became the party’s first MP following his suspension from the Conservative Party over comments he made about London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

– What happened when the General Election was called?

After Rishi Sunak called the General Election, Mr Farage at first announced he would not stand as a Reform UK candidate, saying he would support his party from the sidelines while focusing on getting Donald Trump re-elected as US president.

But less than two weeks later, he performed a screeching U-turn. Not only would he seek to become the MP for Clacton, but he would do so as leader of Reform UK, replacing former businessman and MEP Mr Tice in the role.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage holding a McDonald’s banana milkshake after one was thrown at him in Essex (James Manning/PA)

Mr Farage, who has failed in his previous seven attempts to be elected to the Commons, said his decision was motivated by a “terrible sense of guilt” towards his supporters as he vowed to lead a “political revolt”.

His takeover came as a huge blow to Mr Sunak’s already faltering campaign, heightening Tory fears that Reform could snatch voters from the right.

Following the veteran Eurosceptic’s decision to stand, celebrated with great fanfare by party backers in the Essex seat he is hoping to win, Reform began to climb in the polls.



– What are Reform’s policies?

The party will fight the election on immigration, pledging an “employer immigration tax” on companies that choose to employ overseas workers instead of British citizens.

This would see businesses paying a national insurance “premium” of 20% of an employee’s salary, as opposed to 13.8%, if the worker is from overseas.

The party has vowed to freeze lawful immigration with the exception of healthcare and leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

On the economy, Reform has set out an ambition to slash £91 billion off public spending by stopping the Bank of England paying interest on quantitative easing reserves and finding £50 billion of wasteful spending in Whitehall.

It has promised there would be no tax on earnings under £20,000 a year.

Reform has also said it would abolish the Government’s net zero targets and “stand up for British culture, identity and values”.

The party is set to unveil its full manifesto on Monday June 17.



– How have Reform’s poll ratings changed since the campaign began?

On the day Mr Sunak called the election, Reform was averaging 11% in the opinion polls.

The party remained around this level until the first week of June, when – a few days after Mr Farage announced he was standing as a candidate – its average poll rating began to climb and currently stands at 15%, six points behind the Conservatives’ average of 21%.

While most polls published in the past two weeks show a clear rise in support for Reform, there is no agreement among them over how the party is faring in relation to the Conservatives.

Only one poll so far has put Reform ahead of the Tories. The YouGov poll put Reform at 19% to the Tories’ 18% in voting intention, although pollsters caveated that Reform’s lead is within the margin of error.

Five other polls have been published in the past 24 hours, all of which show Reform trailing the Conservatives between one percentage point (Redfield & Wilton) and 12 points (More in Common).

– So what are Reform’s chances in the election?

Mr Farage has been bullish about Reform’s chances, expressing hope the party can “get through the electoral threshold” while declining to put a target on the number of seats he believes it could win.

But the first-past-the-post electoral system means the party could gain millions of votes without taking a single constituency.

Nigel Farage and Richard Tice announcing their party’s economic policy (James Manning/PA)

Nonetheless, Reform could have a big impact on the result by taking votes away from the Conservatives and costing Tory candidates closely contested seats.

Mr Farage’s stated ambition is to engineer a reverse takeover of the Conservative Party to form a new centre-right grouping.

He has hinted at the possibility of striking an election deal with the Tories, although Mr Tice dismissed the comments as “banter”.

In 2019, the then-Brexit Party withdrew candidates in seats across the country in a bid to help then-Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson win.

What does Reform UK stand for? Their history and vision under Nigel Farage

Dominic Penna

THE TELEGRAPH
Fri, 14 June 2024 

Since rebranding itself in 2020, Reform UK has become a formidable force on the political scene

Founded in 2021 as a relaunch of the Brexit Party, Reform UK stands almost neck and neck with the Conservatives in the wake of Nigel Farage shock announcement that he will stand as an MP and the party’s leader.

They are on track to cost the Conservatives a significant proportion of voters from the political Right ahead of the looming general election on July 4, edging one point ahead of the Prime Minister’s party for the first time in the latest figures from YouGov.

Already, the party has faced pivotal change throughout their campaign with co-founder Mr Farage returning to front-line politics to lead a “political revolt” aimed at toppling the Conservative Party after replacing Richard Tice, a former businessman and MEP who has led the party since 2021.

His pledge came as a surprise to most given Mr Farage had previously ruled out standing in the general election in his first campaign speech on May 23, promising to support Mr Tice from the sidelines instead.

Reform gained its first MP in March after Lee Anderson, a former deputy chairman of the Tory Party, defected following his suspension over a row about Sadiq Khan.

Mr Tice and Mr Farage announced the Brexit Party would become Reform on Nov 1 2020 in an article for The Telegraph published at the start of the second Covid lockdown.

They used the joint article to declare “lockdowns don’t work” and instead advocated a policy of “focused protection” for the most vulnerable. They also called for sweeping reform of major institutions beyond the pandemic.

Reform stood candidates at the London Assembly, Scottish Parliament and Senedd elections in 2021. Though failing to pick up any seats, the party gathered just over 42,500 supporters across all three elections.

The same year it won two council seats in the local elections, both in Derby.

Reform UK polls

The party’s backing in the polls remained largely static throughout 2021, averaging around three percentage points, although it had risen to an average of 6 per cent by the end of 2022 amid growing public frustration with the Conservative Party in the wake of the deposition of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.


The party’s fortunes improved vastly during 2023 and the early months of 2024, with average support for Reform almost doubling from 6 per cent in January 2023 to 10.1 per cent at the start of March.

The rise of Reform can be attributed to a combination of the party’s policy offer and fortuitous circumstances.
Reform UK policies

On the economic front, it has promised sweeping cuts to levies including corporation tax and inheritance tax at a time when Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are overseeing the country’s highest tax burden since the Second World War, with a further peak projected later this decade.

Despite successive Conservative governments promising to cut immigration, net migration reached record levels in 2022 and previous Reform leader Mr Tice has cited this “betrayal” by the Tory government of its past manifesto pledges as a driving force behind his party’s success.

Research from the More in Common think tank in February 2022 found that immigration was the main reason 2019 Tory voters were defecting to Reform, with around one in five of those who backed Boris Johnson and his party at the last election expected to support Mr Farage.

Reform’s promises on border control include “net zero immigration”, leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – a demand made by many Tory backbenchers, and a popular idea among the party’s grassroots – and declaring illegal immigration as a national security threat.

On May 30, the party announced plans to introduce a migrant tax that would force employers to pay a higher National Insurance (NI) rate on foreign workers.

Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Tice pledged a 20 per cent National Insurance rate for every foreign worker in comparison to the current 13.8 per cent for domestic British workers.

The party has also vowed to abolish the Government’s flagship net zero targets, claiming that the green push is doing more damage to the British economy than anything else.

There was a further bounce in support for Reform following Mr Sunak’s November reshuffle, in which Suella Braverman was sacked as Home Secretary over her criticism of pro-Palestinian protests, which she dubbed “hate marches”.

The same reshuffle took Westminster by surprise with the return of Lord Cameron as the new Foreign Secretary, a move that angered many on the Tory Right as the former prime minister is widely perceived to be on the liberal wing of the party.

Mr Tice told GB News at the time: “The truth is our server has almost exploded with fury at what’s happened today with the return of David Cameron. Let’s remember this is the gentleman who campaigned against Brexit, and almost everything he did on foreign policy was wrong.”

As a result of its outflanking of the Conservatives on the Right in many policy areas and channelling the disillusionment of traditional Tories with its rhetoric, the party may well have an even greater impact at the next general election than in 2019, when it stood aside from seats held by Mr Johnson’s Tory candidates.

Now commanding the support of around one in ten voters, the party could block Mr Sunak from winning in dozens of seats he may otherwise retain.

UK

RED TORY

Starmer says he is prepared to use nuclear weapons
Sam Francis - Political Reporter
Mon, June 3, 2024 

Sir Keir Starmer has said he would be prepared to use nuclear weapons if needed to defend the UK as he set out Labour's defence plans.

The Labour leader said "security will always come first" under his leadership and claimed his party has left behind Jeremy Corbyn's opposition to the Trident nuclear weapons system.

If elected, Sir Keir said he would increase defence spending and update the UK's nuclear arsenal.

Conservative defence secretary Grant Shapps said Labour represented a "danger to our national security".

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He called Labour's pledge to protect the nuclear deterrent "meaningless", given a dozen of Labour's current front bench team voted against renewing Trident in 2016 under Mr Corbyn, including shadow foreign secretary David Lammy and deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner.

At the time, Mr Lammy cited his Christian faith when explaining why he voted against it.

"Uncertain times call for a clear plan and bold action to chart a course to a secure future, only the Conservatives offer that," Mr Shapps said.

The Labour party was split when the House of Commons last voted to renew the UK's Trident nuclear weapons system, with 140 of the party's 230 MPs defying leader Mr Corbyn to back the motion.

But Sir Keir - who did vote to renew Trident - claimed he had his "whole shadow cabinet behind me" on plans to maintain the nuclear deterrent.

"This is a changed Labour party and the most important thing is I voted in favour of a nuclear deterrent," he said.

"I lead from the front, I've always lad from the front."

Asked by BBC Political Editor Chris Mason, if he would authorise the firing of nuclear weapons if he was prime minister, Sir Keir said: "We have to be prepared to use it.

"Now, nobody who aspires to be prime minister would set out the circumstances in which it would be used. That would be irresponsible.

"But it is there as a part, a vital part, of our defence."

Sir Keir used his speech to recommit Labour to boosting UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP - without setting a deadline. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to hit the target by 2030 if re-elected.

"Keeping our country safe is the bedrock of stability that the British people rightly expect from their government," Sir Keir said.

He committed Labour to a "nuclear triple lock": continuing to build four new nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness, maintaining Britain's at-sea deterrent, and delivering all future upgrades for submarine patrols.

The Trident system, based near the Firth of Clyde, includes four nuclear-powered Vanguard-class submarines, missiles and warheads.

Each submarine is designed to carry 16 Trident missiles, capable of delivering multiple warheads - but in recent years, they have carried eight missiles each, with a maximum of 40 warheads per boat.

The UK is already in the process of building four new nuclear submarines in Barrow in-Furness at a cost of £31bn over the lifetime of the programme. The country maintains a continuous at sea nuclear deterrent with its existing fleet.

The Conservatives have also commitment to continue this polices as well as delivering future upgrades.

SNP Spokesman Martin Docherty-Hughes said: "In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, it is objectively wrong that Keir Starmer would funnel billions of pounds of public money into keeping weapons of mass destruction on our doorstep in Scotland, while families are still living in poverty after 14 years of Tory austerity, and our budget from the UK government keeps getting slashed.

"Nuclear weapons have no place in Scotland, and only a vote for the SNP in July will protect Scotland's interest against the Labour and Tories - neither of whom will do what the people in Scotland want and scrap Trident nuclear weapons for good."

In another break from Mr Corbyn's leadership, Sir Keir used his speech to push for the UK to assume a "leading" role in Nato.

Sir Keir's predecessor criticised Nato's role and expansion, particularly in conflicts he found unjust - though did not push for the UK to leave.

These positions led to accusations from its opponents that Labour was weak on national security during Mr Corbyn's tenure.​

Sir Keir also announced he would keep a dedicated veterans minister in his cabinet if Labour wins election. The standalone role was created under Boris Johnson but later dropped and then restored by Rishi Sunak.

Ahead of his speech, Sir Keir unveiled a "record" 14 ex-military candidates, which he said "is evidence of a changed Labour Party".

In recent years, armed forces veterans have been rare among Labour's MPs.

In the last parliament only two Labour MPs had military service - Dan Jarvis, who served 16 years in the Parachute Regiment, and Clive Lewis who reached the rank of Lieutenant in the Territorial Army.

The ex-military candidates announced by Labour include:

Al Carns, a Royal Marines colonel who stepped down from the military last week


Calvin Bailey, a former Royal Air Force commanding officer


Neil Guild, who served in the British Army for more than six years and now works as a civil engineer


Louise Jones, a former army intelligence officer.

Speaking on Monday, Ms Jones, the Labour candidate in North East Derbyshire, said: "Labour has national security at its core. Our commitment to Nato is unshakable.

"Only labour recognises the duty we have as a nation to our armed forces, only Labour has the leader we can fully trust with our national security and only Labour will put this country first."


UK's Starmer seeks to reassure voters with defence pledge

Updated Mon, June 3, 2024 


British Labour Party campaigns across the country in the lead up to the election

By Elizabeth Piper

LONDON (Reuters) -British opposition leader Keir Starmer pledged on Monday to secure the country's armed forces and nuclear deterrent, trying to reassure voters before an election that the nation would be safe in the hands of a Labour government.

Describing Labour as the "party of national security", Starmer turned his campaign focus to defence, seen as a weak spot for Britain's main opposition party under his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, a long-time supporter of nuclear disarmament.

With conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, defence is taking centre stage before the July 4 election. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said last month that only his Conservative Party could keep voters safe in an increasingly dangerous world.

Standing in front of 14 former military Labour candidates, Starmer told an audience: "The people of Britain need to know that their leaders will keep them safe - and we will."

"This Labour Party is totally committed to the security of our nation, to our armed forces and, importantly, to our nuclear deterrent."

He made a commitment to a so-called "nuclear deterrent triple lock" - constructing four new nuclear submarines, maintaining a continuous at-sea deterrent and the delivery of all future upgrades needed for those submarines.

Even though Labour is far ahead in the polls, officials say they still need to convince thousands of undecided voters to back what Starmer repeatedly calls a "changed party", one which can be trusted on defence, health and tackling immigration.

The Conservatives believe they have a stronger defence offering, with a pledge to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP a year by 2030 - a target Labour says it wants to match "as soon as possible".

The Labour leader was again asked about his party's stance on the Gaza conflict, after Labour has struggled to hold on to the support of some Muslim voters in local elections.

"The best thing ... for everybody concerned is to press for that ceasefire immediately, straightaway," he said. "That has been our position for weeks and weeks and weeks and months."

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Susan Fenton and Alex Richardson)

Keir Starmer marches his troops onto traditional Tory territory in battle for best party on defence

Nicholas Cecil and Richard Wheeler
Mon, June 3, 2024 


Sir Keir Starmer arguing that Labour is the better party on defence (PA Wire)

Sir Keir Starmer marched his troops onto traditional Tory territory in an election battle over which party is better on defence.

He pitched Labour as the “party of national security”, contrasting the party’s position now compared to the Corbyn years.

The Labour leader was expected to meet with forces veterans and a group of his party’s candidates when he campaigns in the North West of England on Monday.

Sir Keir reaffirmed his commitment to a “nuclear deterrent triple lock” as well as his ambition to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of the size of the economy.

No longer the party of protest, Labour is the party of national security

Sir Keir Starmer

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made clear he wants to meet the 2.5 per target by 2030.

But Labour has so far declined to outline its timeline, only noting they would do so when economic conditions allow.

Labour says its nuclear deterrent triple lock involves: a commitment to construct the four new nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness; maintaining Britain’s continuous at-sea deterrent; and the delivery of all future upgrades needed for the submarines to patrol the waters.

The Vanguard-class submarines are due to be replaced by the bigger Dreadnought-class submarines in the 2030s.

Between £31 billion and £41 billion has been set aside for the wider programme of replacing the Vanguard-class submarines, according to figures from the House of Commons Library.

Sir Keir has been attempting to shift perceptions of Labour’s defence stance following the party’s time under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, a long-standing critic of Nato and Trident.

Sir Keir said: “National security will always come first in the changed Labour Party I lead.

“Keeping our country safe is the bedrock of stability that the British people rightly expect from their government.

“My message to them is clear: Labour has changed. No longer the party of protest, Labour is the party of national security.

“The excellent former service personnel that are standing as Labour candidates are a testament to that change.”

He added: “In the face of increasing threats to national security, actions will speak louder than words.

“That’s why, alongside our unshakeable commitment to Nato, an incoming Labour government will introduce a ‘triple lock’ commitment on our nuclear deterrent – providing vital protection for the UK and our Nato allies in the years ahead, as well as supporting thousands of high paying jobs across the UK.”

The Tories have normally been ahead in polls on which party is best for defence of the nation, and some still show it leading Labour while it is behind on a string of other issues including the economy, NHS, tax and sometimes immigration.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Twelve members of Starmer’s front bench team, including Angela Rayner and David Lammy, voted against Trident.

“We know Rayner is now making the decisions in Labour, so Starmer’s supposed backing for Trident is meaningless.

“Labour’s refusal to commit to 2.5% defence spending by 2030 shows that they are a danger to our national security. Uncertain times call for a clear plan and bold action to chart a course to a secure future, only the Conservatives offer that.”

SCCOTLAND
Starmer rejects claims thousands of jobs at risk due to oil and gas stance



Oil rigs anchored in the Cromarty Firth, Invergordon

 (JAne Barlow/PA)

By Craig Paton, PA Scotland Deputy Political Editor

Today 

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has rejected claims his party’s stance on oil and gas would cost jobs in the North Sea.

The party has said it would not allow new licences for oil and gas exploration if Sir Keir becomes prime minister after the July 4 election.

But some in the north east of Scotland, including the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce this week, have said the next government has 100 days to save 100,000 jobs in the sector.

“We’re not going to turn the pipes off instantaneously, that’s never been part of our plan,” he told BBC Radio Scotland.

“We’re not going to revoke licences… that means that oil and gas will be part of the mix for decades to come.

“The question is what we do about the transition.”

“I do reject that analysis,” he said when questioned on potential job losses.

“In fact, I am absolutely convinced that the transition could bring more jobs to Scotland and jobs that will last for decades.”



Sir Keir Starmer holding a Labour pledge card (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Sir Keir went on to compare the current situation with the end of coal mining in Britain during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher.

“I think a huge mistake was made when coal started coming to an end and the government of the day didn’t plan for the future and I’m not prepared to let an incoming Labour Government be in that position,” he said.

“We have to plan for the future, do the transition properly and that is the best way to ensure that jobs are there, not just for this generation, but for the next generation after that.”


Sir Keir was also questioned on GB Energy, one of the party’s key pledges in this election campaign, which he said would be an “investment vehicle” as opposed to an energy generation company.

The firm, which he has maintained would be headquartered in Scotland, would be set up with £8 billion of borrowing and would attract, the Labour leader hoped, three times as much in private investment.

“It would be an investment vehicle, not an energy company,” he said.

“The money going into it would be public money, but used to trigger private investment alongside it.”

Sir Keir will travel to Scotland on Friday to speak alongside Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, laying out the party’s six promises to Scotland ahead of the July 4 election.





Scottish National Party leader John Swinney said Labour was offering no change (Jane Barlow/PA)

Speaking ahead of the visit, Sir Keir said: “Labour will deliver a decade of national renewal and the steps set out today are our down payment on that promise.

“From cutting bills to boosting pay to protecting the NHS, the Labour government I lead will be on your side and relentlessly focused on the issues that matter to you.”

However, Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney claimed Sir Keir is “offering no change at all” and has challenged the Labour leader to produce an emergency budget to reverse “Tory austerity cuts”.

Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy said the party had “already been at the heart of government” in Scotland by backing “the failed SNP-Green coalition on some of their worst decisions”.

“On raising taxes, the disastrous gender self-ID legislation, the illiberal Hate Crimes Act and profoundly damaging rent controls, Scottish Labour MSPs have lined up to back the SNP,” he added.

RED TORY, SIR Keir Starmer vows to work with Donald Trump if both win power despite guilty verdict

Cabinet minister Mel Stride also comments on the ‘extraordinary events’ in Manhattan


TRUMP AFTER HIS CONVICTION FOR FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS AT MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT
AP

JITENDRA JOSHI, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR @JITJOSHI|NICHOLAS CECIL, POLITICAL EDITOR @NICHOLASCECIL

1 HOUR AGO

Sir Keir Starmer said on Friday that he would work with Donald Trump if both win power, even after the US Republican became the first former president to be convicted of a crime.

Mr Trump’s sentencing after the historic conviction in his hush money trial will take place on July 11, a week after the UK general election when the Labour leader is tipped to replace Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister.

Sir Keir noted that the process was not complete, with the US Republican expected to appeal after lashing out at the judge, the jury and his accusers - his former lawyer Michael Cohen and ex-porn star Stormy Daniels.

“Obviously we respect the decision of the independent court. There is a bit of process to go with sentencing and appeal,” the Labour leader told BBC Good Morning Scotland.


“But we are in an unprecedented situation, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“Ultimately, whether he’s elected president will be a matter for the American people.

“Obviously, if we are privileged to come into serve we would work with whowever they choose as their president.

“But there is no getting away from the fact that this is a wholly unprecedented situation.”

Mr Trump, 77 faces fines or jail time of up to four years after he was found guilty by a New York jury on all 34 counts of falsifying business records.

The sentencing is scheduled to happen days before the Republican convention opens on July 15, when he should be formally designated the party’s candidate to take on Joe Biden in the November 4 election.

The sentencing date also marks the conclusion of a Nato summit in Washington when President Biden will be hosting the newly elected UK prime minister and other European leaders.

It could well mark Sir Keir’s debut on the global stage if Labour beat the Conservatives on July 4, as pollsters overwhelmingly expect.

For the Tories, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride declined to comment on the climactic outcome of the trial in New York but echoed that the UK Government would work with whoever is elected in November.

He told Times Radio: “Obviously these are extraordinary events.”

Pressed about whether the PM should trust the president of Britain’s closest ally if he is a convicted criminal, Mr Stride added: “What I’m absolutely sure of is whatever the outcome of the election, and I very much hope that Rishi is back in No10, that we will have a good and enduring, continuing positive relationship with the United States whoever goes on to be president in November.

“That relationship goes back many decades, has always been solid and has always been to our advantage and to the advantage of America in her leadership of the West.”

UK

Keir Starmer refuses to back Diane Abbott to be MP as he looks to 'future' for Labour

The party is being gripped by a huge row over whether the veteran MP should be allowed to stand again for Parliament

NICHOLAS CECIL, POLITICAL EDITOR @NICHOLASCECIL

1 HOUR AGO

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to back Diane Abbott standing at the general election for the party as it looks to have a slate of candidates for the “future”.

Senior Labour figures sought to put a lid on the public row over whether the veteran MP, aged 70, should be allowed to stand again as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.

Deputy Leader Angela Rayner and six union bosses have thrown their support behind Ms Abbott, Britain’s first black female MP.

Ms Abbott, who was suspended from the Labour Parliamentary Party over comments she made about racism, had the whip restored earlier this week.

This was seen at Westminster as part of a plan to allow her to retire as an MP with dignity after her decades-long parliamentary career.

But a huge row erupted after The Times was briefed that the Leftwinger was being barred from standing as an MP.

She later confirmed to The Standard that she believed she was being stopped from standing.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland during a visit north of the border, Sir Keir said the decision on Ms Abbott standing for Labour would be made by the party’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC).

“Diane Abbott has had the whip returned to her, no decision has been taken to bar her from standing and the NEC will come to a decision in due course,” he said.

Asked if he would like her to be a candidate, the Labour leader added: “Ultimately, that will be a matter for the NEC but no decision has been taken.”

He also praised Ms Abbott, first elected in 1987, as a “trailblazer”.

Shadow science secretary Peter Kyle echoed the “trailblazer” praise and that it was a decision for the NEC.

He added that the issue should be treated with “privacy” and in a “sensitive way as possible”

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Diane Abbott was a trailblazer, we have a lot of respect for that.

“This election, though, is about the future and the NEC will be making sure that our party is fit for the future.”

He also stressed that Sir Keir was seeking to impose “standards” in the party after a string of controversies.

Labour withdrew the whip in April 2023 from Ms Abbott after she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experienced prejudice, but not racism all their lives.

She later said that she wished to "wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them".

Labour's handling of Diane Abbott seals Starmer's black betrayal

By shunning Diane Abbott, Keir Starmer's Labour has doubled down on its anti-black purge, ostracising minority voices in the process, writes Richard Sudan.


Richard Sudan
31 May, 2024


If Labour can do this to Diane Abbott in opposition, what might they do in power, asks Richard Sudan [photo credit: Getty Images]


No matter how many black votes Keir Starmer manages to salvage in this summer's general election, they won't be an endorsement of his candidacy but a rejection of the Tory government and the crisis in its wake.

Many disillusioned black voters, however, will likely sit this one out. Starmer's Labour has seriously eroded trust among black and minority communities in the UK, and the damage may be beyond repair.

Earlier this year I wrote in The Voice — the UK's only black national newspaper, that "Keir Starmer doesn't care about black people". Sadly, Labour's actions this week have only confirmed this suspicion. For many black people in the UK, the party they'd been loyal to for decades is no longer for them.

"Labour may win a first term, but they may have now lost the support they need for a second"

We've finally reached the end of our tether. Our patience has reached an end. The relationship has fractured. The idea that black people are permanently wedded to Labour has run its course.

And the Labour Party's handling of Diane Abbott MP — the UK's first black MP and sitting Member of Parliament for 37 years — might be the final nail in the coffin.

Keir Starmer's left-wing purge continues

The reaction, outrage, and protests at Labour's treatment of Keir Starmer is the clearest measure of this increasingly messy betrayal. The prolonged and opaque process surrounding the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP's suspension — and the contradictory statements from Labour as to Abbott's fate — is a crisis of Labour's own making.

The revelation that the investigation — which kept Abbott suspended for over a year — actually concluded months ago is beyond shocking. It's been a bombshell for our communities. We've been lied to and thoroughly disrespected, yet again.

Malcolm X was an ally to the oppressed. That's why he matters

Whatever mistake Diane Abbott has made she's paid and apologised for. Ill-judged comments do not warrant how Labour has treated the black British stateswoman. Suspending her for over a year is completely disproportionate and without precedent.

It really seems that the delay in releasing the findings of the investigation is a snide ploy and blunt strategic manoeuvre to limit Diane Abbott's influence. Abbott herself criticised the investigation process as fraudulent pointing out the factionalism within Labour that targets black and non-white members disproportionately.

This will have taken a toll on her — she's already received more abuse than any other MP. Juxtapose Abbott's treatment with other MPs, white men, who've been swiftly readmitted to the party having made serious antisemitic comments and done far worse.

Darren Rowell is Labour's parliamentary candidate in Barking despite having made horrendous anti-black comments. Labour frontbencher Steve Reed implied that a Jewish Tory party was a "puppet master". Both cases, predictably, received little press attention.
After Diane Abbott, will the black vote shun Labour?

Hypocrisy, the treatment of Diane Abbott, and the Forde report — which showed that the Labour Party had normalised a culture of anti-black racism within the party — will all be issues in the back of our minds on July 4.

The backlash against Labour’s handling of Abbott’s case, in particular, is profound, and I believe will be a decisive factor in the outcome of the election. Labour may win a first term, but they may have now lost the support they need for a second.

Black and Muslim communities, of which there exists an intersection, will not forgive Keir Starmer for his actions towards Abbott and Gaza.

How the Gaza war loomed over UK's Labour Party conference

But it's not just the treatment of Diane Abbott which is deeply concerning, it's who she is and what she represents to the UK black community. We see the attack on her as an attack on us. Her treatment shows us what we can expect from Labour should they be elected into government; a litmus test of how they view us as the black community and black voters. If Labour can do this to Abbott in opposition, what might they do in power?


Labour's handling of Abbott's suspension is, simply put, a spectacular failure to read the room. It shows sublime ignorance and breathtaking indifference. Diane Abbott represents progress and advocacy within the black community. Her career is characterised by relentless campaigning against racism and inequality, living, enduring, and overcoming obstacles familiar to many of us.

Black people are demanding reparations. It's time to listen

The prolonged suspension and the opaque handling of her case raise serious questions, and possibly damning answers, about Labour’s commitment to racial equality, fair treatment, and judgement.

The calls for Diane Abbott to remain a Labour candidate are not just about one individual’s career, or about the right of constituents to choose their member of parliament, but about addressing a broader issue of justice and representation.

I’d need a thesis to name all of the great parliamentary candidates, and potential candidates who’ve been blocked or sidelined by Labour and the same goes for councillors too. It’s a shameful cynical attack on democracy and is rolling back progress by decades.

Two years ago I thought Starmer was a mediocre technocrat and an out-of-touch centrist regarding his stance on race equality. But it’s more than that. His primary concern is power, not principle, and this makes him dangerous. He’s certainly changed the Labour Party as he liked to remind us – he’s purged it of all of the individuals and ideas which made it popular several years ago and saw membership rise significantly.

What has happened to Diane Abbott is horrendous, but if she isn’t safe then no one is. Several other black MPs have told me recently that they seriously fear deselection. Purge is the common phrase used to describe his control of Labour and it’s entirely appropriate.

Did Keir Starmer misrepresent Welsh Muslims on purpose?

Last year, in a Q&A with the Guardian, Starmer said the trait he most deplores is disrespect. His treatment of Diane Abbott however, suggests it should be at the top of his CV.

You don’t have to agree with Abbott on every issue to acknowledge and condemn the injustice in her treatment. As an MP her positions have often sparked debate. She’s a politician and not beyond criticism. But her consistent championing of social justice, anti-racism, and equality for decades has been steadfast and at the least means she should be permitted to stand and remain as the representative of her constituents if they so choose.

Anything less is an affront to democracy and a direct insult to black communties.

As the general election approaches, how Labour navigates this issue will be crucial. It is not only about Abbott’s future but also about the party’s relationship with its Black supporters and its broader commitment to fairness and equality.


Richard Sudan is a journalist and writer specialising in anti-racism and has reported on various human rights issues from around the world. His writing has been published by The Guardian, Independent, The Voice and many others.

Follow him on Twitter: @richardsudan

In Starmer’s Labour, Only ‘Zionist Shitlords’ Are Welcome

Buckle up, folks.

by Aaron Bastani
29 May 2024

Posters supporting Diane Abbott, who has been barred from standing for Labour at the next general election. Thomas Krych/Reuters

The verdict is in: Diane Abbott will be blocked from standing for the Labour party at the forthcoming election. Could the former shadow home secretary be replaced by a man who describes himself as a “zionist shitlord”? Maybe. Because Labour really is that weird now.

Abbott has been an MP since 1987, making her one of Westinster’s longest serving parliamentarians. While she was Britain’s first black female MP, she was for much of her career better known to the public through her weekly appearances alongside Michael Portillo and Andrew Neil on the BBC’s ‘This Week’.

But then something strange happened: the British left achieved a modicum of power. And so national treasure in waiting, along with Westminster’s resident niceguy (Jeremy ‘allotment-man’ Corbyn) were demonised faster than you can say ‘red scare’.

Both Abbott and Corbyn have lost the whip at different points during Starmer’s leadership. Last week, it was confirmed that Corbyn would not have the option of contesting his Islington seat as a Labour candidate. Abbott has now seemingly met the same fate.

Yesterday, Newsnight’s Victoria Derbyshire broke the news that Abbott’s disciplinary process was settled late last year. Labour subsequently briefed the media that the whip had finally been restored to the Hackney MP. But this, apparently, is a temporary dispensation, and Abbott won’t be allowed to stand again for Labour under any circumstances.

Speaking on Newsnight, the BBC’s Nick Watt described how sources close to Starmer described Abbott as an “icon”, but said she couldn’t stay in the parliamentary party. Why? Because she’s associated with the failure of 2019. This would make more sense if Starmer hadn’t also been a leading Labour light that year, or the party hadn’t recorded a higher share of the vote than in either 2010 or 2015 (Ed Miliband is in Starmer’s shadow cabinet too, remember).

Watt added how his source claimed Abbott “comes up on the doorstep”. While that’s hard to believe, if it’s accurate, then why is her case any different to that of Liam Byrne – who famously left a note to his Tory successor in 2010 claiming there was no money left? Rightwing rent-a-gobs still bang on about that 14 years later.

And here’s the most important part. As recently as last Friday, Starmer told the BBC that Abbott was “going through, and being part of, and getting to the end of … a disciplinary process because of something she has said”. Yet we now know that this process didn’t end last week, but six months ago. So either Starmer didn’t know it had been completed or – more likely – he lied. The latter appears to be something of a habit.

This charade is made all the more grotesque by the fact that Labour, in response to the news that Tory donor Frank Hester said Abbott “should be shot”, sent a fundraising email asking for money. Trying to profit from someone else’s misery – which you soon intend to compound – would seem deeply dishonourable to any normal person. But then again, ‘honourable’ isn’t a word you’d associate with the permanent political class.

Who might Labour seek to replace Abbott? One option would be Mete Coban – a councillor so relentlessly committed to Hackney he recently tried his luck in Kensington. Anntoinette Bramble and Sem Moema are two other names who have been mentioned.

But I’d expect many more to be interested. After all, Hackney North and Stoke Newington has a large majority, is a short distance from the Houses of Parliament and – let’s be brutally honest – has some of the best restaurants and bars in the country. The natural wines at Cadet are a must. Or so I’m told.

One person who may be eyeing up the seat is Luke ‘the Nuke’ Akehurst. After all, he previously lived in Hackney for 16 years, serving as a councillor for 12 of them. Could one of the great civil libertarians of recent years be replaced by someone who thinks the good guys in the Vietnam War were… the Americans? That would certainly say something about the direction of British politics.

Aaron Bastani is a Novara Media contributing editor and co-founder.

Labour’s Messy Leftwing Purge Isn’t As Smart As It Seems

‘Starmer isn’t even in control.’

OPINION
by Moya Lothian-McLean
30 May 2024

Faiza Shaheen, who has been barred from standing as the Labour candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green. John Sibley/Reuters


The era of “Grey Labour”, as writer Alex Niven has dubbed the current iteration of the parliamentary Labour party, has been marked by u-turns and discarded pledges. But in one crusade, Keir Starmer and his kingmakers have remained steadfast from the start: purging the left.

With a surprise election on the horizon, that offensive has stepped up a gear. Last week, Labour HQ confirmed that Jeremy Corbyn would not be able to stand for re-election as a Labour MP in Islington North, after keeping the former leader in limbo since suspending the whip in 2020. Corbyn promptly launched a campaign to represent his constituency of 41 years as an independent.

Yesterday, though, came a flurry of action that I’m dubbing ‘Grey Labour’s Night of the Butter Knives’, as a series of vocally leftwing MPs and prospective parliamentary candidates were blocked from representing the party. It began with a Times exclusive: after months of obfuscation from the Labour leadership, Diane Abbott, Britain’s first Black female MP, was going to be banned from reselection.

At first, both Abbott and Starmer refuted these reports. But by Wednesday evening, Abbott had confirmed the rumours, telling the crowd at a local rally that she had been “banned from standing as a Labour candidate”. She also took to social media to condemn the wider “cull of leftwingers” conducted throughout the day.

Those leftwingers included sitting MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle and party activist Faiza Shaheen, who was, until 12 hours ago, the Labour candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green. Both are firmly on Labour’s left; Russell-Moyle is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs, and Shaheen has been dubbed the ‘Chingford Corbynista’ by rightwing newspapers.

Russell-Moyle told Novara Media yesterday that he had been informed of his “administrative suspension” as a result of a historic complaint he deems “vexatious and politically motivated”. He won’t be able to contest the complaint in time for the 4 June cut off period for selecting candidates, meaning he is effectively barred from restanding.

Shaheen has suffered a similar indignity: after five years of diligent campaigning as the Labour candidate apparent – and toeing an increasingly draconian line (which occasionally attracted her critique from fellow leftwingers) – her candidacy has been blocked at the last minute by Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

In an emotional interview with BBC Newsnight, Shaheen told presenter Victoria Derbyshire that Labour’s NEC proffered 14 tweets as grounds for her deselection, including ones where she discussed her experiences of Islamophobia within Labour. The NEC had also flagged a tweet Shaheen ‘liked’, which detailed how mild critique of Israel is subject to intense, “hysterical” pushback.

“Moreover, you can’t easily ignore them because those are not just random people,” the supposedly offending tweet read. “They tend to be friends or people who move in the same circles as you. Those people are mobilised by professional organisations.”

Shaheen said she had no memory of ‘liking’ the tweet and apologised for “play[ng] into a trope” by citing “professional organisations” acting in Israel’s interests.

As Shaheen struggled not to cry on live TV, news dropped that Luke Akehurst – Labour NEC member and director of professional Zionist lobbying organisation We Believe in Israel – had been selected without consultation for the safe seat of North Durham.

His candidacy is one of several declared in the last few days, as a slew of Labour MPs – including the brother-in-law of Rachel Reeves – have announced conveniently last-minute retirements. This has freed-up seats for Grey Labour allies to be parachuted in without input from local constituency parties under new selection rules approved by Labour’s NEC last year.

Alongside Akehurst, Josh Simons, director of the powerful pro-Starmer think tank Labour Together, has already been confirmed as one of these candidates, as has lobby journalist Paul Waugh and former Camden council leader Georgia Gould.

The key takeaways here are twofold. Firstly, the faction behind Starmer doesn’t think that this sort of political manipulation – that which disproportionately excludes and disrespects leftwing MPs and candidates from minority groups – matters to the wider electorate. And to most, it probably doesn’t. It won’t stop Labour winning the general election. But it will further disillusion amongst some of Labour’s traditional voter base, already appalled by the right of the party’s war on anything deemed ‘left’ which is currently expressed through attacking anyone publicly opposed to the genocide in Gaza.

There is quite obvious racism at play here – just look at the targets of Labour’s purge. Look at the excuses used to banish them from the party they’ve dedicated lives to, while a lobbyist for a foreign power, currently under investigation for war crimes and genocide, is allowed to stand as a Labour representative. Look at who is shut out and who is welcomed with open arms.

There will be more such examples to come as 4 June approaches. Already Apsana Begum, the socialist MP for Poplar and Limehouse, seems at risk of a fresh deselection attempt after she previously accused Labour of “weaponising” her domestic abuse to push her out of the party. I worry about where the voters alienated by Labour’s machinations will go; which new, economically left but socially conservative parties they might end up clinging to, lured in by those taking unequivocal pro-Palestine stances – but at the cost of ignoring anti-climate change and anti-LGBTQ messaging.

The second conclusion is that Starmer has lost internal authority – if he ever had it to begin with. The purging operation has been a mess of leaks and counter-briefings, piecemeal rumours and rogue emails, all of which expose Labour’s internal wranglings to the general public and make Starmer himself seem weak and out of the loop. Labour right bods boosted into safe seats are also often political hot potatoes, with pasts far more chequered than those leftwingers who have been expelled – risky people that any canny political strategist would not put front and centre.

The fact is that the faction that ushered Starmer into the leadership, and now seeks to install him in Number 10, has little regard for its own figurehead or his – and the party’s – wider reputation. As reported by Politico London, Labour campaign chief Morgan McSweeney’s eradication operation is going down “poorly” across the political spectrum.

“Starmer isn’t in control,” one Labour insider told me. “He wants to run the country, but he can’t even run his own office.”

This article was amended on 30/05/2024 to reflect that Faiza Shaheen ‘liked’ a tweet referring to professional organisations mobilising pro-Israel support, and did not author it.


Moya Lothian-McLean is a contributing editor at Novara Media.

 

Labour Leadership Disappointed By “Unwelcome Distraction” Of Diane Abbott Row

Keir Starmer speaks at the launch of Labour's six steps for change in Wales on the General Election campaign trail in May 2024 (Credit: PA Images / Alamy)

 

Sienna Rodgers

@siennamarla

The Labour leadership is disappointed by the way that the row over longtime MP Diane Abbott’s candidacy has become an “unwelcome distraction”, PoliticsHome understands.

After having the Labour whip withdrawn last year due to alleging that Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers do not experience racism "all their lives”, in comments for which she apologised, Abbott had the whip restored earlier this week.

But it was reported by The Times the same day that Abbott was being barred from standing for re-election. On Thursday, Labour leader Keir Starmer denied that the decision had been made to stop Abbott from being a Labour candidate, and deputy leader Angela Rayner went further. “I don’t see any reason why she can’t stand,” she said on Thursday.

Labour sources say there was a plan agreed that would see the leadership restore the whip and Abbott subsequently announce her retirement – but the briefing to The Times disrupted the arrangement.

A source close to the leadership said the row over Abbott was the result of “tragic miscommunication” and “macho” briefing, and it has become an “unwelcome distraction” during the election campaign.
Related

Local Figures Line Up To Succeed Diane Abbott As Labour Candidate

By Sienna Rodgers
29 May

"Nobody wants this – a load of internal focus – we want to get on with speeches in factories about employment rights," they added. "But in some ways it’s better to get it out of the way before nominations close."

Shadow cabinet member Peter Kyle hinted on Friday morning that Abbott would indeed be barred. “Diane Abbott was a trailblazer… This election, though, is about the future and the NEC will be making sure that our party is fit for the future,” he told the BBC.

The row over Abbott was fuelled further by the deselection on Wednesday of Faiza Shaheen, a left-wing candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green. She said she would be discussing “next steps” with her legal team.

Leadership-favoured Shama Tatler, a Brent councillor who had expressed an interest in the Queen’s Park and Maida Vale constituency, was swiftly chosen by Labour's national executive committee on Thursday to contest the seat. 

Shaheen reacted to the news by tweeting: “Really?! Wow a Brent councillor with no history here at all. They would rather lose than have a left pro Palestine candidate. This is offensive to my community”.

There was also disquiet over the suspension of Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who was the incumbent candidate for Brighton Kemptown, following a complaint that was investigated by the party last weekend. He is no longer eligible to stand as a Labour candidate as there is not enough time to conclude the full investigation process before the candidate nominations deadline next week.

It was widely assumed the move against Russell-Moyle, who is on the party’s left, was a factionally motivated attack. However, the complaint against him is believed to have come from the left – specifically, someone who was removed from the Labour Party for antisemitism.

Russell-Moyle has described the complaint, which is about his behaviour eight years ago, as “vexatious and politically motivated”.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: "The Labour Party takes all complaints extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken."

Chris Ward, a close friend of Starmer who worked as his aide for six years, has been chosen as Labour’s candidate for Brighton Kemptown.  

Other Labour selections announced on Thursday include trade unionists – Unison's Mark Ferguson and Usdaw's Michael Wheeler, who are also NEC members, plus Community union's Kate Dearden – and NEC member Gurinder Singh Josan. 

Former Starmer staffer Uma Kumaran was also made a candidate. All were chosen directly by NEC panels under emergency selection procedures.

Keir Starmer distances himself from Angela 

Rayner in row over Diane Abbott


The Labour leader broke with Ms Rayner and declined to give a view on whether the veteran left-winger should be allowed to run as a Labour candidate

Archie Mitchell,David Maddox


Keir Starmer denies Labour 'left-wing cull' after Faiza Shaheen blocked from election

Sir Keir Starmer has distanced himself from Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner and refused to say if he would like Diane Abbott to stand in the general election.

The Labour leader broke with Ms Rayner and declined to give a view on whether the veteran left-winger should be allowed to run as a Labour candidate.

A day earlier, the Labour deputy said “as the deputy leader of the Labour Party… I don’t see any reason why Diane Abbott can’t stand as a Labour MP going forward”.

Sir Keir Starmer refused to say if he would like to see Diane Abbott stand 

(Getty)

She heaped praise on Ms Abbott, describing her as an inspiration and a trailblazer. And Ms Rayner appeared to take aim at Sir Keir and his inner circle, stressing that she is “not happy” about negative briefings to newspapers about Ms Abbott from senior Labour sources.

“I don’t think that is how we should conduct ourselves,” she told ITV.

Asked by BBC Radio Scotland for his own view on whether Ms Abbott should be allowed to run for Labour on 4 July, Sir Keir said a decision would be made by the party’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC).

"Diane Abbott has had the whip returned to her, no decision has been taken to bar her from standing and the NEC will come to a decision in due course," he said.

Asked if he would like her to be a candidate, Sir Keir added: "Ultimately, that will be a matter for the NEC but no decision has been taken."

Labour Party deputy leader Angela Rayner has defended Diane Abbott (PA Wire)

He also praised the MP - the first Black woman to be elected to the Commons - as a "trailblazer".

Despite heaping praise on Ms Abbott, he refused to follow Ms Rayner in giving a personal view on whether he would like to see her continue as a Labour MP.


Ms Abbott was given the Labour whip back this week, but it was briefed out that she would be “barred” from running as a Labour candidate in the general election.

It had been suggested she was planning to retire, but at a rally in support of her on Wednesday Ms Abbott declared that she would stand for parliament again.

Unions have backed Ms Abbott, with TUC president Matt Wrack warning against double standards being applied.

Ms Abbott had the Labour whip returned this week (PA Wire)

Mr Wrack, who is also the Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said: “Diane Abbott is a powerful, popular advocate for Labour. She and other candidates have been treated in an appalling manner.

“There are clearly double standards in how they have been treated as left-wingers and as women of colour when compared to more centrist MPs.”

Ms Abbott said on Thursday she has met with leading trade unionists who have offered her their backing to be a Labour candidate at a meeting next week of Labour’s NEC.

The deadline for the party to rubber stamp its general election candidates is 4 June

Labour must unite and reinstate barred candidates – Matt Wrack, FBU

30th May 2024Leave a Commenton Labour must unite and reinstate barred candidates – Matt Wrack, FBU

“There are clearly double standards in how they have been treated as left wingers and as women of colour when compared to more centrist MPs.”

Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union General Secretary

In recent days, there have been conflicting reports about the status of Diane Abbott as a parliamentary candidate. Other left wing Labour candidates have also reportedly been barred from running.

Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said:

“After 14 years of austerity, misery and chaos, people are sick of the Tories. Now is the time for Labour to unite to sweep them from power. 

“Diane Abbott is a powerful, popular advocate for Labour. She and other candidates have been treated in an appalling manner.

“There are clearly double standards in how they have been treated as left wingers and as women of colour when compared to more centrist MPs. It is only a matter of weeks since hard-right Tory Natalie Elphicke was welcomed with open arms.

“This has all been an embarrassing distraction. The Labour leadership must now act decisively to reinstate the affected candidates and ensure that no one is barred from standing at the last minute with no due process.”

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• Six Labour-Affiliated Trade Union General Secretary have written to Keir Starmer calling on the Labour Leader to let Diane run as Labour Candidate.
• Labour Peers Baroness Christine Blower and John Hendy KC have written to Keir Starmer delivering a 17,000-strong petition calling for Diane Abbott to be Labour’s candidate.
• Young Labour and Labour Students members have called on the Labour Leader to confirm that Diane Abbott will be the Labour candidate for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
• This article was originally published by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) on May 30th, 2024.

10,000s back Diane – Labour Lords write to Keir Starmer saying let her stand

29th May 20241 Commenton 10,000s back Diane – Labour Lords write to Keir Starmer saying let her stand

“The idea that Diane Abbott should not also be permitted to stand as a Labour Party candidate in the forthcoming general election is unthinkable.”

Letter to Keir Starmer from Baroness Christine Blower & Lord John Hendy KC

By Matt Willgress, Labour Outlook

Two well-respected, decades-long labour movement campaigners who are current Labour members of the House of Lords have written to Keir Starmer to deliver in behalf of its signatories a petition in support of Diane Abbott. It has been signed by over 17,500 people from over 550 parliamentary constituencies.

The petition was initiated by the Labour Assembly Against Austerity and Arise – a Festival of Left Ideas.

Their letter reads as follows:

Dear Sir Keir,

We are writing to draw your attention to the fact that over 17,5000 people have now signed this petition in support of the PLP whip to be restored to Diane Abbott petition.

In light of this level of support, the idea that Diane Abbott should not also be permitted to stand as a Labour Party candidate in the forthcoming general election is unthinkable.

As the General Secretaries of ASLEF, the CWU, FBU, NUM, TSSA and Unite said in their recent letter to you on this matter, “For over thirty years – since becoming the first Black woman ever elected to parliament – Diane has stood in every election as a Labour Party candidate.

“We believe that the whip should be restored to Diane and that she should be confirmed as the candidate at the general election for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, which she has represented for so long.”

Yours,
Baroness Christine Blower,
Lord John Hendy KC

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• Over 17,500 activists have previously signed a petition to Keir Starmer calling on the Labour Leader to restore the whip to Diane Abbott.

Young Labour & Labour Students members urge Starmer to let Diane Abbott stand

29th May 2024Leave a Commenton Young Labour & Labour Students members urge Starmer to let Diane Abbott stand

“Diane is a trailblazer who inspires thousands of young people across the country, and is a valuable, popular asset to our party amongst young voters.”

Young Labour and Labour Students members have called on Keir Starmer to confirm that Diane Abbott will be allowed to stand as a Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington. You can read the statement published below:

As young people and students who are members of the Labour Party, we urge you to confirm that Diane Abbott will be allowed to be the Parliamentary candidate for Labour in her constituency now that the whip has been restored. Diane is a trailblazer who inspires thousands of young people across the country, and is a valuable, popular asset to our party amongst young voters. If the PLP can be a broad enough church to host Natalie Elphicke, then it can surely find a space for Diane, who voters in Hackney clearly wish to be their Labour MP.

Aaron Stringer, Nottinghamshire Young Labour
Anya Wilkinson, Lancaster University Labour Club
Alec Severs, Manchester Labour Students
Alex Bourne, Derbyshire Young Labour
Alex Burt, Leicester Young Labour
Alexy King, NTU Labour Society
Django Perks, Yorkshire and Humber Young Labour
Emily Payne, Warwick University Labour Society
Erin Hall, Lancaster University Labour Club
Fraser McGuire, Manchester Labour Students
Harriet Limb, Derbyshire Young Labour
Harry Wrench, Lancaster University Labour Club
James Varney, Warwick University Labour Society
Liv Marshall, Nottinghamshire Young Labour
Luca Dunmore, Cambridge University Labour Club
Niamh Iliff, Nottingham Labour Students
Ollie Chapman, Warwick University Labour Society
Ollie Probert-Hill, North West Young Labour
Oliver Mousley, Derby Labour Students
Rufus Sammels-Moore, Derbyshire Young Labour
Sohail Hussain, Birmingham University Labour Society
Vanisha Karna, South East Young Labour
Will Jones, Liverpool Labour Students