POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

See THIS for reactions to the Burnham challenge....
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is facing a backlash from dozens of Labour MPs over suggestions he could mount a challenge to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's leadership. Burnham has criticised the Labour government in a series of interviews, and says he has been contacted by Labour MPs urging him to stand. But the majority of Labour MPs who replied after being contacted by the BBC said they were against such a move. Speaking to BBC North West, Sir Keir said he would not "get drawn into commenting on the personal ambitions of the mayor". He also sought to compare Burnham's spending proposals with those of former Conservative prime minister Liz Truss, after the mayor complained about the government being "in hock" to investors in UK government debt. BBC Radio 5 Live asked 320 out of the 399 Labour MPs currently sitting in Parliament for comment. Many of the dozens who replied were unhappy at the performance of the Labour government, but few suggested Burnham's return would improve their fortunes. One said Burnham "seems to promote himself every time there's a perceived crack in the wall… a bit like Japanese knotweed" and a minister said a "few disgruntled MPs" made up "the Burnham fan club" and the rest just wanted him to "focus on his actual job in Manchester".

[Tripps]

I started watching this interview with Rupert Lowe last night. Much to my surprise - I found that I stayed with it until the end, and it's well over an hour long. I'll just put up the link not the full insert, as I don't expect it will find much support by poilitically active members on here. They are too entrenched in their views and waiting for the second coming of Aneurin Bevan and Co. I did not know much about him - just that he was wealthy, once had a connection with Southampton soccer club and went back a long way. He had a major fall out with Nigel Farage (the detail is worth a look) when they were both in Reform UK, and his account of that explains why Nigel will never be Prime Minister, despite being a certainty in the latest poll today.

He now is a sitting MP for Gt Yarmouth, and has his own organisation called (confusingly) 'Restore Britain' - at which I shall be taking a closer look.

Rupert Lowe interview

[Stanley]

See THIS report of Netanyahu speaking at the UN....
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has attacked the recognition of a Palestinian state by multiple Western countries during a combative speech at the UN General Assembly. Netanyahu labelled the recognition moves a "mark of shame" that sent the message "murdering Jews pays off". Dozens of officials and diplomats staged a walk-out as he took to the podium, leaving large parts of the conference hall empty. Outside, protesters against Israel's war in Gaza gathered in Times Square. Israel has come under huge international pressure over its military action in Gaza, culminating in the UK, France, Canada, Australia and other countries recognising the State of Palestine this week. In his opening remarks, Netanyahu displayed a map labelled "The Curse" that he said showed Iranian proxy groups across the Middle East. He then highlighted Israeli military operations across the past year against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in Gaza, and Iran. He thanked US President Donald Trump for American involvement in bombing Iran's Fordo nuclear site in June, and drew parallels between Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel and the 9/11 attack on the US. He said the two countries were fighting the same enemies, pointing to chants of "death to America" by groups linked to Iran.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report.....
Ex-shadow chancellor John McDonnell has been readmitted as a Labour MP alongside Apsana Begum, after a year-long ban for voting against the government on the two-child benefit cap. They were among seven left-wing MPs who, days after Labour's 2024 landslide, backed an SNP motion to scrap the cap - which prevents almost all parents from claiming Universal Credit or child tax credit for more than two children. Six of the MPs have now rejoined Labour, which has softened its stance on the cap in recent months. The seventh suspended MP, Zarah Sultana, resigned from Labour last month to set up a new party with ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn. Labour has not commented on why the MPs had the whip restored.
This couldn't possibly have anything to do with moves to hand Starmer his P45 could it?

[Stanley]

See THIS report from the Labour Conference.
Andy Burnham has warned against "underestimating the peril the party is in" at a fringe meeting at the Labour party conference. The mayor of Greater Manchester continued his criticism of Sir Keir Starmer's leadership at events at the Liverpool conference, telling audiences he would not shy away from debate on Labour's future. Despite a backlash from MPs, Burnham said Labour should not be "narrow and shallow", adding there was "too much of a climate of fear". Labour is trailing Reform in the opinion polls, indicating potential losses in the Welsh Senedd and local elections in May next year.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the Labour conference.....
28 minutes ago
British people stand "at a fork in the road", Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will tell the Labour Party conference later on Tuesday as he tries to inject some vigour into his vision for the country. In a speech being seen by his team as "his clearest statement yet of his political creed", he is expected to spell out what he sees as the stark difference between Labour's vision for the UK and that of Reform UK. With criticism of his leadership boiling over into an open challenge from Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, Sir Keir will argue that his is a "hard path" but one of "renewal" and "decency", starkly set against an alternative he portrays as decline and division. That route is one he has suggested belongs to Nigel Farage's Reform UK Party, which is attracting significant numbers of former Labour voters, and whose deportation policy Sir Keir branded "racist" at the start of the conference. It will feel personal for the prime minister whose judgement has been attacked in recent days following the loss of his US ambassador, Peter Mandelson, and his deputy, Angela Rayner, leading to a major ministerial reshuffle. Sir Keir has also seen the departure of a number of key aides from Downing Street as he seeks to bolster his communications strategy, which appears to be failing to cut through with swathes of the British public if dire opinion polls for the party are any indication.
It may be Starmer that stands at a 'fork in the road'. The brutal truth is that he is seen to have lost the advantage of the general election landslide and control of the Party.

[Stanley]

See THIS report from the Labour Conference by Chris Mason......
9 hours ago
Sir Keir Starmer was last year's big winner at the general election. This year saw the prime minister sharpening his argument against Nigel Farage and - by extension - against those within his own party, from the cabinet down, who fret he's not the best frontman for the fight that beckons with Reform UK. There is a defiance and steeliness to the prime minister; with this performance, he reminded his internal critics just who it was who won that whopping majority in the election 15 months ago. The year gone by has been a relentless grind – not least the last few weeks, after losing the former deputy PM Angela Rayner and US ambassador Peter Mandelson - and in his speech, the prime minister wanted to remind the audience of the achievements of the past months. His critics within the Labour party remind him, relentlessly, that Labour's politics must be politically more aggressive, front-footed and pointed in order to defeat a communicator of Nigel Farage's ability.
My problem with Starmer isn't that he is a bad communicator (Although that's true....) It is that he is not a socialist but a centre right populist like Blair.

[Stanley]

See THIS report of the London Mayor's reaction to the news about the Metropolitan police...
Updated 2 hours ago
London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has said he is "disgusted and appalled" by footage of some Metropolitan Police officers at Charing Cross police station after it was exposed in a BBC Panorama documentary. Serving Met Officers called for immigrants to be shot, revelled in the use of force and were dismissive of rape claims in footage captured by a Panorama undercover reporter. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described the footage, which also shows officers making sexualised comments to colleagues and sharing racist views about immigrants and Muslims, as "disturbing" and "sickening". Sir Mark Rowley, head of the Met Police, has apologised for the "reprehensible and completely unacceptable" behaviour.

THIS report cheered me up no end.....
A company linked to peer Baroness Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman has been ordered to pay £122m in damages after a judge ruled it breached a government contract for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the Covid pandemic. The Department of Health and Social Care sued PPE Medpro over claims the medical gowns it supplied did not comply with relevant healthcare standards. The High Court ruled Medpro failed to prove whether or not its surgical gowns, which were to be used by NHS workers, had undergone a validated sterilisation process. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said it was beyond her powers for Baroness Mone to be stripped of her peerage. But speaking to Matt Chorley on BBC Radio 5 Live, Reeves said: "I hope she won't be back in the House of Lords."
This was just one of the suspect contracts issued under the 'VIP Lane' procedure which has been seen to be deeply suspect.
Perhaps after all there is a God!

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on Michelle Mone's reaction to the fine on Medpro....
8 hours ago
Baroness Michelle Mone has accused the chancellor of using "dangerous and inflammatory" language after a firm linked to her and her husband was ordered to pay £122m for breaching a Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) contract. During a fringe event at Labour's party conference this week, Rachel Reeves reportedly joked the government had a vendetta against the peer. In a letter to the prime minister, Baroness Mone said her language was "incendiary and has directly increased the risks to my personal safety". She claimed she received "threats and abuse" on social media since Reeves' remarks.
Methinks the lady doth protest too much. Any abuse she has received is more likely to be triggered by the nature of the offence than any other reaction. In another part of the forest there are calls for her to be stripped of her peerage.

[Stanley]

See THIS account of Kemi Badenoch's latest attempt to lead the Tories.....
5 hours ago
The Conservatives will take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if they win the next election, Kemi Badenoch has announced. The announcement comes after a review by the Conservative party's lead lawyer found staying in the ECHR blocks migration reform and leads to the persecution of military veterans. Last year Badenoch said leaving the treaty would not be a "silver bullet" for tackling immigration, but on Friday argued the move was necessary to "protect our borders, our veterans, and our citizens". Labour said the Conservative leader had adopted "a policy she argued against" because she is "too weak to stand up to her own party in the face of Reform". The announcement on the eve of the party's conference in Manchester will settle the party's position following months of internal divisions.

[Stanley]

See THIS for the opening gambit at the Tory Conference....
6 hours ago
The Conservatives say they would task officials with removing 750,000 illegal immigrants from the UK within five years if they win the next election. Under plans unveiled as its annual conference begins, the party has pledged to ban people who enter the UK without permission from ever claiming asylum. It would also prevent those whose claims are rejected from challenging decisions in the courts, with appeals instead handled by Home Office officials. Border officials would be instructed to remove people "within hours or at most a few days", the Tories say, with a reformed "Removals Force" unit seeing their funding doubled to £1.6bn per year.
The fact is that the main business of this conference is to prove that what the Tories think matters.......