POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on Diane Abbott's suspension from the Labour Party.
One of Labour's most senior MPs has said she would be sad if Diane Abbott's career ends without her being readmitted to the parliamentary party. Ex-deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman told the BBC Ms Abbott was "an amazing trailblazer" but said the party must investigate her according to its rules. Labour suspended Ms Abbott, who now sits as an independent MP, over alleged antisemitic comments. Ms Abbott withdrew her remarks and apologised "for any anguish caused". She was suspended by Labour in April 2023 having written in the Observer newspaper that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people "undoubtedly experience prejudice", which she said is "similar to racism". "But they are not all their lives subject to racism," she added.
This has gone on long enough and from the way Starmer presents it, 'the investigation must be allowed to take its course'. This is a lawyer's response not a humane one.
I have heard a whisper that the thing that is actually holding progress up is Diane refusing to attend an education course on Anti-Semiticism. I don't know if this is true but it sounds very likely to me and if that is the case the Leader should step in and cut through the Gordian Knot.
Starmer doesn't seem to realise just how damaging this and the arguments about the difference between being pro-Palestinian and anti-semitic are.

[Tripps]

I have heard a whisper that the thing that is actually holding progress up is Diane refusing to attend an education course on Anti-Semiticism. I don't know if this is true but it sounds very likely to me

Who is whispering to you? Diane Abbott says it isn't true. Someone's lying - her or your whisperer. How do we decide which person is telling the truth?

I just watched a live online Council Cabinet meeting -

The 'Chair' has just said "them opportunities don't mean nothing unless the residents and businesses benefit"

The next item (21) was announced as "Exclusion of the Press and the public". The screen immediately went blank.
Should either the Chair's poor grammar, or the lack of information and secrecy bother me at all?
I'm trying not to let it. . . .but it does.

[Stanley]

It was a comment on a radio programme David, I don't know who it was. As I said, it was a whisper and sounded plausible. I haven't heard her make any comment about it. As for who is telling the truth, we never know that do we until corroboration arrives. Something somewhere is holding up completion of the investigation into the affair.
Have a look at THISBBC report on the ping pong on Rwanda.
MPs have rejected the House of Lords' changes to the Rwanda Bill, which aims to deport asylum seekers to the east African country. All 10 amendments were rejected, including allowing courts to question Rwanda's safety. The government insists Rwanda is safe. Labour says each deportation will cost as much as sending six people to space. The proposed law aims to ensure the UK can deport asylum seekers to Rwanda by declaring it to be a safe place. Michael Tomlinson, Home Office minister, told the Commons on Monday that the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill was "an essential element" of protecting the UK's borders. He said that the bill did not conflict with the government's international obligations. Mr Tomlinson also criticised "systematic legal challenges" that he said continued to "frustrate and delay" removals.

[Stanley]

See THIS and ask yourself why Jeremy Hunt seems to be dropping hints.... Is he perhaps massaging his profile as one of the movers and shakers of the government in preparation for an eventual Leadership contest?
There should be no choice in the matter. As Ian pointed out only a few days ago, the PM of the day should be forced to use the same date as the local elections to make the elections more efficient and economic.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report for news of the latest vote in the House of Lords on the Migrant Bill.
The House of Lords has inflicted fresh defeats on the government over its flagship Rwanda bill. Seven proposed changes, including a provision to ensure "due regard" for domestic and international law, were passed by peers. MPs will now have to vote on the bill again, delaying the passage of the bill until after Easter.
I heard a commentator on R4 yesterday drawing attention to the fact that there were some Tory peers amongst the rebels, it isn't only the opposition parties.
See THIS for some good news.....
This year will "prove to be the year that the economy bounces back", Rishi Sunak has told the BBC after figures showed inflation fell to its lowest level in almost two and half years. "We have turned a corner after the shocks of the past few years," he said. Figures earlier showed inflation dropped to 3.4% last month as price rises for food and eating out slowed. But despite price rises slowing overall, housing and fuel prices continued to rise rapidly.
That last sentence is the killer. The only way people can feel better is either for their income to go up or prices to reduce and neither of those is happening.

[PanBiker]

This year will "prove to be the year that the economy bounces back", Rishi Sunak has told the BBC after figures showed inflation fell to its lowest level in almost two and half years. "We have turned a corner after the shocks of the past few years," he said.

Disgusting that the Tories had no regard for any of that over the last 14 years while they were trashing the economy.

[Stanley]

Indeed, quite right Ian....

Looking at the political headlines this morning I see nothing but trouble for the Tories.
See THIS report about the defection of the Tory mayoral candidate for Manchester to Reform.
The Conservative candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester has defected to Reform UK, accusing his former party of "giving up" on the north of England. Dan Barker had been selected by the Conservatives in December to challenge current mayor, Labour's Andy Burnham. He follows Lee Anderson, the former Conservative party deputy chair, who defected to Reform UK on 11 March. Mr Barker said the Tories had abandoned northern areas to focus on other seats under threat from the Lib Dems. The Conservatives have 15 days to select a new candidate for mayor. A party spokesman said a selection process for a new candidate will begin shortly.
Things are not well in another part of the forest.... See THIS report about relations with the Israeli government.
Israel's English-language government spokesman Eylon Levy has been suspended, the BBC has confirmed. The Israeli prime minister's office has not given a reason. But it is understood that the decision is linked to a recent online row with the UK Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron. Mr Levy has so far not commented. On 8 March, he wrote a now-deleted post on X responding to another one from Lord Cameron that urged Israel "to allow more [aid] trucks into Gaza". "I hope you are also aware there are NO limits on the entry of food, water, medicine, or shelter equipment into Gaza, and in fact the crossings have EXCESS capacity," Mr Levy replied. "Test us. Send another 100 trucks a day to Kerem Shalom and we'll get them in," he added, referring to an Israeli-controlled border crossing. Two days earlier, he had written another post criticising a statement issued by Lord Cameron after a meeting with an Israeli minister in London. Israel's Channel 12 News reported on Tuesday that Mr Levy was suspended shortly after the UK Foreign Office wrote to Israel's foreign ministry to express its "surprise" and seek clarification on whether Mr Levy's posts represented the Israeli government's official position.
Add to this the worsening relations between the US and the Netanyahu government and you have a very uncertain picture if something doesn't change immediately!

[Tizer]

Stanley it will help readers if you put in a line space between stories when you have more than one in a post. Thanks.

[Stanley]

Will do Peter.....
See THIS BBC account of Sunaks performance on the stump yesterday.
Rishi Sunak has attacked Sir Keir Starmer for "arrogantly" taking voters for granted and "assuming he can just stroll into No 10". The PM claimed the Labour leader had no plan for how to run the country, at the Tories' local election campaign launch. Mr Sunak said voters should look to councils like Birmingham's to see what Labour would do if they win power. Sir Keir claims the PM is "scared" of calling an immediate general election because of his record in office. With Labour far ahead in national opinion polls, many Conservatives are braced for a bad night on 2 May, when council elections are being held across England and Wales. Mr Sunak, who has been dogged by speculation that rebel Tory MPs are plotting to replace him, sought to portray himself as an electoral underdog in a speech to Tory activists.
Sunak may well be right about Starmer's arrogance. He might deny it but too big a majority in the polls has that effect, I suspect the May election results won't do anything to improve that position and on the whole it looks as though the Tories are heading for historical defeats all round.

Meanwhile the really important matter of the WASPI protest is allowed to be swamped by the distraction of reports of cancer in the Monarchy. In political terms some matters are more important than others......

[Stanley]

There is no current political news but THIS report got my attention.
More than £420m from a pension scheme for mineworkers has flowed into the government's coffers in the past three years, the BBC can reveal. The government is entitled to half the surplus cash from the scheme under an agreement signed 30 years ago. Labour says the deal is unfair to former miners and their families. Shadow minister Ed Miliband says Labour will review the agreement if it wins power to "deliver the justice to which miners are entitled".In April 2021 a cross-party committee of MPs said the government should stop taking money from the scheme and pay back some of what it had already received. Ministers rejected those recommendations and data released to the BBC under Freedom of Information laws shows the government has received three annual payments of £142.4m since then.

[Stanley]

See THIS for news that the nice Mr Hunt is going to keep the Triple Lock and give us pensioners an 8.5% increase next month.
Jeremy Hunt has said the Conservatives will keep the triple lock system to decide rises in the state pension if they win the election. The chancellor confirmed the policy pledge, which means the increase in the state pension is the highest of average earnings growth, inflation or 2.5%. He told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg he was confident the "expensive" promise would be paid by growing the economy. Labour said it was "committed to retaining" the triple lock. However the party is yet to confirm if the pledge will feature in its election manifesto. "We will set out those plans for our manifesto in detail," Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds told the BBC programme. The state pension is to rise by 8.5% in April.
Of course he could do no other. The last thing the Tories want to do is rub the pensioners the wrong way and lose votes in the General Election.
I heard comments that Sunak's Tories might be about to emulate the Canadian Progressive Tories.....
In 1984, Brian Mulroney led the Progressive Conservatives to a majority government with the most seats in Canadian history, winning a majority of the seats in every province. The Liberals lost 95 seats in the worst defeat for a governing party at the federal level at the time.
Mulroney lost the confidence of the party and resigned in 1992. In the 1993 election his party lost 154 seats and only retained 2.
If you ask me really nicely I'll tell you my Mulroney story......

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of the downfall of yet another Tory MP.
Former Conservative MP Scott Benton has resigned, setting up a by-election to replace him in his Blackpool South constituency. He was facing a local vote on whether to remove him, following the imposition of a Commons ban in the wake of a lobbying scandal. It followed a newspaper sting in April last year, after which he was suspended as a Tory MP. Local voters had until 22 April to decide whether to sack him as their MP. But in a statement on Facebook, he has now announced he has officially tendered his resignation, setting up a vote to replace him. It will create another headache for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, following a string of by-election defeats in recent months.

THIS matter has been rumbling on for weeks now and doesn't seem to be going away.
The energy secretary questioned the decision to approve a controversial power plant in the constituency of a cabinet colleague. Claire Coutinho's department admitted she had sought "clarification" on the process that led to the waste-burning incinerator being signed off. But it denied a claim in leaked legal advice that she had wanted to overturn approval of the scheme. The project is opposed by Environment Secretary Steve Barclay, the local MP. MVV Environment, a German energy company, wants to build the plant in Wisbech, in Mr Barclay's North East Cambridgeshire constituency. It would be one of Europe's biggest waste-to-energy incinerators, burning non-recyclable waste in order to generate energy for local industrial use.
It's all too complicated for my small brain but it seems to be getting those concerned more and more angry (Mr Barclay is said to be 'livid'). Where will it all end I ask myself?

[Stanley]

See THIS for some rearranging of the deck chairs.
Two ministers have quit their government roles forcing Rishi Sunak to reshuffle his team. Robert Halfon announced he was resigning as an education minister, while James Heappey followed through on a previous promise to step down as armed forces minister. Both MPs are standing down at the next general election. In their place, Leo Docherty will become armed forces minister and Luke Hall education minister. Mr Heappey, who has represented Wells in Somerset since 2015, announced his intention to quit as an MP and stand down as a minister earlier this month. Mr Halfon, who as a minister had responsibility for apprenticeships and skills, has been Tory MP for Harlow since 2010.
Their resignation letters are said to be so sycophantic they could have been written by Number Ten.

[PanBiker]

If the Tories keep going like this there will be no one left by the General Election. Is it 69 now who have bailed out?

[PanBiker]

Northern News tonight quotes over 100 will not be fighting their seats. That's very nearly a third of the Tory seats in the House of Commons.

[Stanley]

See THIS Report on 'fleeceholds'.
A Conservative peer - and ex-adviser to Boris Johnson - has warned "fleeceholds" will be "the next great scandal" to hit the housing market. The term is used to describe the plight of homeowners on new-build estates locked into private maintenance contracts for communal areas. More than 40 Tory MPs have called for a ban on such contracts. Lord Moylan, who advised Mr Johnson when he was London mayor, blamed councils for abandoning their duties. "They will accept the additional council tax that is generated by the new properties but they will not take on the responsibilities for maintaining those common amenities," he told peers during the Lords' second reading of the bill. He added: "I think this is the next great scandal approaching the housing market."
Regardless of the fact he is a Tory, I think the Noble Lord is correct. Leaseholds are a feudal hangover and should have been abolished decades ago. The changes proposed in the new act don't go far enough but they are a start.
Ian the phrase that springs to mind is "The writing on the wall".

[Stanley]

See THIS for yet another example of why the 'Honours System' is rotten to the core.
Rishi Sunak is facing criticism after a major Conservative Party donor was given a knighthood. Businessman Mohamed Mansour, a senior treasurer for the party, has been honoured for his business, charity and political service. Last year he gave £5m, at the time the party's biggest donation since 2001. Labour has accused the prime minister of showing "blatant disrespect for the office he should feel privileged to hold". Sir Mohamed was given a knighthood alongside Farming Minister Mark Spencer and Shipley's Conservative MP Philip Davies, as well as damehoods for former ministers Tracey Crouch and Harriett Baldwin. Mr Sunak recommended the honours to the King. Typically lists of people who have received honours are published at New Year and on the King's official birthday in June. However, the announcement, which also included honours for film director Christopher Nolan and his wife, film producer Emma Thomas, came at the start of the Parliamentary recess.
Further, I saw a typo yesterday which I commend to you all.
THE PM, RISHI SUNK
Breaking political news at 13:00 that the Democratic Unionist Party has announced that their Leader Sir Geoffrey Donaldson has stepped retired because he has been accused of historic offences. These have been characterised by some commentators as 'sexual'. Much more later I suspect.....

[Stanley]

See THIS for more detail about the resignation if Sir Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP has been charged with rape and other historical sexual offences and has resigned as Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader. A 57-year-old woman has also been charged with aiding and abetting in connection with the alleged offences. They were both arrested on Thursday morning by PSNI detectives and were questioned before being charged on Thursday night. Sir Jeffrey had said that he will be strenuously contesting the charges. He and the 57-year-old woman are due to appear in court next month. In a statement the DUP said: "The party chairman has received a letter from Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP confirming that he has been charged with allegations of an historical nature and indicating that he is stepping down as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party with immediate effect. "In accordance with the party rules, the party officers have suspended Mr Donaldson from membership, pending the outcome of a judicial process. "The Party Officers have this morning unanimously appointed Mr Gavin Robinson MP as the interim party leader." Sir Jeffrey's letter to the DUP states he will be strenuously contesting the charges.
I have no comment. This is outside my experience and like the rest of you all I can do is watch and wonder and hope that it doesn't trigger another bout of instability at Stormont.

On the wider political scene THIS alarms me and makes me very uneasy.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned Europe is in a "pre-war era" and Ukraine must not be defeated by Russia for the good of the whole continent. He said war was "no longer a concept from the past", adding: "It's real and it started over two years ago." His comments came after Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine's energy system on Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week Moscow had "no aggressive intentions" towards NATO countries. The idea that his country, which has one of the world's largest nuclear arsenals, would attack Poland, the Baltic states and the Czech Republic - which are all members of the NATO alliance unlike Ukraine - was "complete nonsense", he said. However, he warned that if Ukraine used Western F-16 warplanes from airfields in other countries, they would become "legitimate targets, wherever they might be located".
I believe Donald Tusk is right and unthinkable though the concept of a wider war is, I remember what happened in the 1930s when another rogue political leader pressed his luck to gain advantage for his country. Then as now the other nations stood back believing that war was not imminent.
Please tell me I am wrong and being alarmist.....

[Tizer]

Talking of Donald tusk and Poland, this Radio 4 programme is good...
`The Reinvention of Poland' Radio 4
This is the BBC summary...
Anne McElvoy goes on the road in Poland in the latest in her series of programmes exploring the waves of change sweeping through Europe. She takes the temperature of a nation still reeling from last year’s political revolution, in which the centrist liberal alliance led by Donald Tusk overturned the populist government of the Law and Justice (PIS) party after eight years in power.

Tusk has pledged to remake Poland as a progressive liberal democracy at the heart of the EU, purging and recapturing institutions, the judiciary and civil society from the ultra-conservative PIS. This while defending Poland’s borders and reasserting its role as Ukraine’s key ally and a buffer on the front line of Europe. But Poland is deeply divided; Tusk’s narrow victory and recent protests by supporters of the old regime make clear that there will be stiff resistance. The role of the Church – once a buffer against totalitarianism under communism, and now bulwark of deep social conservatism – is crucial. National identity is a strong but complex force in a country which has had to reinvent itself before, having been literally wiped off the map in the 19th century, then carved up by Nazi Germany and Communist Russia.

Anne explores Poland’s modern reinvention, talking to Poles about themselves, weaving real stories and testimony with political analysis and her own European expertise and perspective.

Interviewees include Justice Minister Dariusz Mazur, Law and Justice MP Pawel Jablonski, historian Professor Natalia Nowakowska, Law Professor Piotr Bogdanowicz, activists Jakub Kocjan & Joanna Parniewska and commentators Aleksandra Rybinska & Jan Cienski.

[Stanley]

I'd recommend anyone who is interested in Poland should read 'God's Playground', the two volume history by Norman Davies and recognised as the definitive account of the last 1,000 years even by the Poles.

See THIS BBC report of what Robert Jenrick is saying.
Details of nationality, immigration and visa status should be recorded whenever a criminal is convicted, ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick has proposed. Mr Jenrick has submitted an amendment to the government's Criminal Justice Bill, saying the data would help to inform deportation and visa policies. "We would want to apply a higher level of scrutiny to nationalities that are higher risk," he said. Rishi Sunak has been under pressure to cut net migration figures. Revised estimates published in November indicated net migration - the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving Britain - reached a record 745,000 in 2022. Mr Jenrick resigned as immigration minister in December in protest at the prime minister's Rwanda deportation plan.
I freely admit that I do not trust this man and this latest bid for publicity seems to me to be him trying to demonise migrants. There is a suspicion that he is acting as a front for Suella Braverman (Remember her?) and promoting far right policies.

[Stanley]

See THIS report about housing Afghan families.
A military complex will be used to house people who worked with the UK government in Afghanistan, but fled after the Taliban seized power. East Camp in St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan, will house 50 people by the end of March with more arriving in April, the Ministry of Defence said. The site can host a maximum of 180 people. Those arriving are eligible under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) programme. The scheme is for those who worked for or with the UK government in Afghanistan in "exposed or meaningful" roles. It is aimed at those who could face retribution by the Taliban, which re-took power in Afghanistan in August 2021, due to their association with international forces.
The small numbers worry me and I have seen the reports that acceptance of some Afghans has been blocked by Special Forces because Members of the Afghan 333 and 444 units, known as the Triples, who are in the UK could in theory be asked to give evidence if they were present on contentious SAS night raids, where it is alleged 80 civilians were killed in cold blood in Helmand province between 2010 and 2013.

[PanBiker]

In the local part of the forest that Is Pendle Council, all 20 Labour Councillors have resigned and are now serving and will stand at the forthcoming elections as Independents!

This has put the cat among the pigeons somewhat and is the first time since I have been involved in local politics, (around 40 years) that we have not had a single Labour Councillor in the Borough. Sad day that it has come to this. Reasons stated are not Gaza related but alleged interference from the National Labour Party akin to bullying regarding the selection of candidates and the treatment of sitting councillors and the former Labour Group.

[Stanley]

And interference with local parties and control from the centre has worried me for a long time. If you remember this was what killed the Scottish Labour Party. They said they felt they were being treated as the local office of the Party in London. It would appear that this is what these councillors feel.
THIS is what I found....
Twenty Lancashire councillors have resigned their Labour memberships in protest over the party's leadership. The councillors each sit on Pendle Borough Council, Nelson Town Council or Brierfield Town Council. They claim Sir Keir Starmer's leadership no longer reflects their views and say they will now serve as independents. The Labour Party said its focus was on winning the next general election. The mass resignation is believed to be the largest defection under Sir Keir's leadership. In November, 11 councillors quit the party in Burnley over his decision not to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
This is further evidence of what I have been suspecting for months. That Starmer and Party Central are pursuing power by centralisation of the Party and moving to the Right and in doing so are losing the support of some of their longest serving Members.
I've said it before and no doubt I will say it again, Clause IV needed revision but not abolition. The Blair government made a big mistake. and we are still suffering the consequences.
On another matter. I was disgusted to hear reports that some right wing Tory MPs are calling for the clause in the Criminal Justice Bill that criminalises rough sleeping to be reinstated. Remember Suella branding them 'a public nuisance'?

[Stanley]

See THIS report.....
Homeless people should not be arrested just because they smell, a minister has said. A bill in the Commons could criminalise rough sleepers if they cause a nuisance, including "excessive" smells. More than 10 Conservative MPs are backing changes to ensure action is only taken against people who are begging and not just sleeping rough. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the most important thing was to support people to get off the streets. Asked by Sky News if people should be arrested if they smell, she said: "No, people should not be arrested just if they smell.
There seems to be some confused thinking here. It would appear that whatever is said, there is going to be a new offence of being poor and forced into actions that would not normally be considered, like begging. As I remember it, it was Suella Braverman that started this by saying that rough sleepers were a 'public nuisance'.
There are so many things wrong in this country today and Parliamentary time is being spent on this. The best way to improve the Criminal Justice system would be to finance the police, courts and prisons adequately instead of shackling them with Austerity because this is what is happening.

[Stanley]

See THIS for some unwelcome news.
The government has revealed how much companies will have to pay to import foods from the EU due to Brexit. Small imports of products such as fish, salami, sausage, cheese and yoghurt will be subject to fees of up to £145 from 30 April, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The Cold Chain Federation said the new charges would hit food prices. The government said the fees would pay for "world-class border facilities". The fee, known as the "common user charge", will apply to animal products, plants and plant products entering the UK from the EU through the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel at Folkestone. It will be charged per type of good imported - the "commodity line" - and capped at £145 for mixed consignments. Individual products will face charges of up to £29. It will apply to goods deemed low, medium and high risk. The Cold Chain Federation's chief executive Phil Pluck said the fee would have to be passed on to "either the EU importer, the smaller UK retailer, or the UK consumer". "Ultimately, this will increase business costs and food prices and potentially lower choices for the shopper," he said. He added that the government had "announced the charges at the last minute, leaving affected businesses little time to revise their commercial arrangements".
Now where have we heard that descriptor 'World Class' before? This is part of 'Let's get Brexit Done' but no sign of the Brexiteers now. They think it's all over......