POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

Peter, they have to get as many sensible people neutralised as soon as possible!
See THIS for what many believe is the reason Sunak called the election early. He doesn't believe the Rwanda scheme will work and doesn't want any humiliating climb downs during the campaign.
Apart from that it's the usual so far, they all promise jam tomorrow, Farage ducks out of any actual contest and as far as we can tell Dianne Abbot and Jeremy Corbyn are going to be excluded.

THIS thoughtful piece written by Henry Zefferman is worth a read.
“Labour MPs are happy. We’re not. That tells a story,” one minister fumed in my general direction as he reeled off a list of legislation he had been involved in, now headed for the shredder. That’s just one illustration of the explosive mood in Westminster on Wednesday evening as Conservative MPs reacted to Rishi Sunak’s sudden announcement of a July election with reactions ranging from enthusiasm to outrage. All of Mr Sunak’s MPs, though, were blindsided - including cabinet ministers who had no inkling of what was coming either, even being sent a fake agenda for their Wednesday afternoon meeting. Now that it’s clear that the election really is on, many Conservatives are asking each other a simple question: why?
My only comment is that I don't like the look of that Linton Crosby disciple!

[PanBiker]

Farage ducks out of any actual contest and as far as we can tell Dianne Abbot and Jeremy Corbyn are going to be excluded.

I couldn't care less about Farage, he is just a mouth on a stick. The treatment of Dianne Abbot is a disgrace and Jeremy has announced that he will stand as an Independent at the General Election.

[Stanley]

I've been listening to Keir Starmer wooing his Labour supporters in Scotland. I wonder if any of them remember the way Tony Blair's New Labour treated Scotland. At the time it was described as regarding the Scottish Labour Party as a regional office. If Starmer is clearly anything he is a Blairite.
Jeremy Corbyn is standing in Islington East as an Independent and the smart money says he will win, after all he has represented them for forty years. Someone should take Starmer on one side and tell him that now is the time for unity in the Party, not continued discord. That applies to Dianne Abbott as well.

[Stanley]

I saw THIS and my first thought was how will we manage without him?
Long-serving Conservative cabinet minister Michael Gove has announced he will not stand at the general election, as the second full day of campaigning was marked by an exodus of MPs. r Gove, first elected MP for Surrey Heath in 2005, is understood to have made the decision in the last couple of days. He is the most high-profile of the nearly 80 Conservative MPs who have stepped down ahead of the 4 July vote - alongside public health minister Dame Andrea Leadsom.

Than I saw THIS
The number of current MPs standing down rather than fighting the general election stands at 119. Conservative ex-prime minister Theresa May, former interim Labour leader Harriet Harman and I'm a Celebrity... star Matt Hancock are among those who have decided not to run for re-election. Around two-thirds of those stepping away are Conservatives, or those who were elected as Tory candidates but have since had the whip suspended - like Crispin Blunt or William Wragg. It means that whoever wins July's general election, there will be a significant number of new faces in the House of Commons.

Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he is standing as an Independent. This triggers his expulsion from the Party, up to now he has only had the whip withdrawn. That's sad. Starmer had better act fast or he may lose Dianne Abbott as well. Not a good note to start a campaign on.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report for one of the more surprising examples of what is seen by the Party Leaders as policies the public will support.
The Conservative Party has said it would bring back mandatory national service if it wins the general election. It said 18-year-olds would have a choice of either joining the military full-time, or volunteering one weekend every month carrying out a community service. The party is proposing a Royal Commission to consider the details but would plan for the first teenagers to take part in September 2025. The cost is expected to be around £2.5bn per year. Under the plans, young people could choose a full-time, 12-month placement in the armed forces or UK cyber defence, learning about logistics, cyber security, procurement or civil response operations. Their other option would be to volunteer one weekend per month - or 25 days per year - in their community with organisations such as fire, police and the NHS. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he believed bringing back compulsory service across the UK would help foster the "national spirit" that emerged during the pandemic.
My experience of National Service dates back seventy years and so could be said to be slightly outdated. However, My son in law Michael Ripley served more recently (He fought in the Falklands.) and was an RSM in one of the Guards regiments and so he is a reliable witness. He tells me that National Service as I experienced it, six weeks brutal training to get us in shape for service, couldn't possibly work nowadays. He reckons half the recruits would be over the wall in the first week!
So, sorry Sunak, but I think this is a bit desperate. It may well be that we will need to do something in the near future as the world becomes more and more unstable but to imagine that this could be an attractive policy and help in an election seems to me to be deluded.

[Tripps]

sorry Sunak, but I think this is a bit desperate.

I did suggest he should be sectioned a few days ago - I rest my case.

It has given the press somethng to talk about though. I'm struggling with the concept of a 'legally enforceable' 'volunteering' situation. So are they - since Cleverly has just said there will be no criminal record imposed on those who do not cooperate. Definite SPAD back of the envelope desperation stuff. and I'd suggest that the Fire Service and especially the Ambulance Service have no need of a bunch of unwilling, press ganged, untrained young people.

Wondergul 'gotcha' moment on LBC. Anas Sawar was having his tummy tickled when the interviewer asked him why his family firm (his interest having been passed to his wife) did not yet pay all its workers the national minimum wage. It didn't faze him for a moment - he said his ambition was not for just one company. but for the entire workforce of Scotland. Shameless.

I was waiting for the follow up - are you going to emulate your father and renounce your Scottish citizenship, and become Governor of the Punjab - but it never came. Shame.

[Stanley]

Fascinating insight into the man ..... Thanks David, I didn't know that!
See THIS for what appears to be an update....
A trade union representing workers at a business run by relatives of Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said they are paid above the real living wage. Mr Sarwar - whose party is promising a new deal for workers - was earlier accused of hypocrisy by political opponents after telling the BBC not all employees at United Wholesale currently received the rate. But in a statement issued late on Sunday the Usdaw union said recent pay negotiations meant all staff now received an income higher than the living wage. Anas Sarwar has no direct involvement and has relinquished shares in United Wholesale which his father originally set up.
It looks like some quick footwork to set the matter straight.

You're right about the effect that Sunak's NS announcement has had on the English Press. In the absence of anything more interesting it is the only thing being reported.

[Stanley]

See THIS for another election bribe,
The Conservatives have promised to raise the tax-free pension allowance via a "Triple Lock Plus" if they win the general election. Under the plans, the personal allowance for pensioners will increase at least 2.5% or in line with the highest of earnings or inflation. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the scheme "shows we are on the side of pensioners," who the Tories say will save £275 by 2030.
Obviously intended to be a desperate bid for the pensioner vote but what does 'save £275 by 2030.' mean?

The bit of political news that grabbed me was THIS.
The Conservative Party says MP Lucy Allan has been suspended for backing a Reform UK candidate. Ms Allan insists that she quit the party in order to support Reform UK candidate Alan Adams in the seat she is vacating. She publicly gave her support to Mr Adams rather than Tory Hannah Campbell in Telford, Shropshire. A Conservative Party spokesman said she had been suspended "with immediate effect" while the prime minister said a vote for Reform would "put Keir Starmer in power".
Not a good advertisement for the cohesion of the Tory Party.
I make it 37 days until the election. It can't come soon enough for me. I don't say that because I am expecting a Labour victory, simply to see the back of the Tories. As Starmer boasts in another report, he has changed Labour permanently. I fear he has and the new look does not appeal to me. It looks like a slightly left wing version of Conservatism to me.....

I think you will all have noted that Israel has wreaked more destruction on Rafah.....

[PanBiker]

As Starmer boasts in another report, he has changed Labour permanently. I fear he has and the new look does not appeal to me. It looks like a slightly left wing version of Conservatism to me.....

I remain active in the party as I believe you cannot change anything if you are not a member and involved. The most important thing to me is to get rid of the Tories and get our candidate into Parliament. That would be a start.
As to the statement that he has changed the party permanently that depends who is in charge and he won't be there forever. It has been claimed by most party leaders that I have known of over the years anyway, parties always change and the mechanism is still in place within the party to influence where it goes. It's a lot easier when the party has more to lose by not taking heed of the rank and file that supports it.

[Stanley]

Wise words Ian and like you I am still a card carrying member but of course not as active.

THIS got my attention this morning.
Diane Abbott has been readmitted as a Labour MP, the BBC understands, but it is unclear whether she will stand for the party at the general election. The former shadow home secretary was suspended in April 2023 after saying Jewish, Irish and Traveller people do not face racism "all their lives". Her suspension meant she would not be able to stand for Labour on 4 July. Party officials had tried to broker a deal by which she would get the whip back in return for standing down. It is not clear if the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP has accepted that arrangement. Labour has not said who its candidate will be in the Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat. Ms Abbott has been contacted for a comment.
I heard a report on R4 yesterday which said that the decision about Dianne lay with the Chief Whip. Dianne had done the re-education course they asked for in December but no reason why the ban was still in force was given.

I tend to agree with what David said in an earlier post, we are less than a week in to the campaign and it has already become boring and predictable. The sooner we vote the better.

[PanBiker]

She has had the whip returned and therefore is a member of the party. She has been denied the right to stand though as a Labour candidate, which in my book is discriminatory. End result of course will be she either has to stand as an independent which will mean she is kicked out again or not bother at all. Between a rock and a hard place comes to mind. She was staunch supporter of Jeremy Corbyn so I suppose her fate is sealed. There will have to be a reckoning at some point in the future.

[Tripps]

she either has to stand as an independent which will mean she is kicked out again

She would probably win though - but that would be goodbye to the peerage.
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PS Stop Press (Oh do keep up Tripps )

Keir Starmer now says it’s “not true” that Diane Abbott has been barred from standing for Labour in the election when asked at a Q&A by Sky News.

“No decision has been taken to bar Diane Abbott from standing.”
**************************************

This would be a good time to remind ourselves of the loss to Parliament which would result from the absence of this lady from the chamber of the Commons. Remember she was Shadow Home Secretary at the time of this memorable interview. (Good grief )

[Stanley]

A bit later and even more confusion about Dianne Abbott. I refuse to try to detail the different elements. All I can say is that confusion like this is down to bad leadership and so it is Starmer who should be cutting the Gordian Knots and giving us clarity. (Fat chance! )

[Tripps]

I refuse to try to detail the different elements. All I can say is that confusion like this is down to bad leadership

In my opinion - you are wise to refuse, and quite correct in your conclusion.

The difficulty is that this man is most likely to be Prime Minister in five weeks time. For whom shall one vote?

The Tories want a kicking (and surely will get one ) - the Libs are OK for the Parish, but not much more, and which Labour party would you get? There are as demonstrated above, at least two. The speed and depth of communication now make cogent leadership difficult - and arguably impossible.

None of the above is clear favourite in my current thinking.
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PS MATT has put his finger on it again. . . .

Abbott.jpg

[Stanley]

I agree with you David. I heard one commentator say that the problem was Starmer's 'close circle' of friends who seem to be controlling him. That doesn't excuse anything in my book, we need a leader who is dynamic and forceful and makes his own decisions! The ridiculous cock up over Dianne Abbott is just the latest example. Remember the confusion over ULEZ and then the complete cock-up of what constituted Anti-Semitism. All down to clarity and lack of leadership and an indication of what we'll get if he becomes PM.

Have a look at THIS
Diane Abbott says she wants to carry on as the MP in her area, but that Labour wants to "exclude" her from Parliament. It comes amid a row over whether the party will select the veteran MP to run in her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat at July's election. In an emotional speech to supporters, she said Labour wanted to ban her from running, after reports she will not be picked. Sir Keir Starmer has denied the party has decided to bar her from standing.
Now ask yourself what is a black voter to think about this terribly disrespectful treatment of the first black woman to be elected as an MP? It is disgraceful behaviour and will deter many voters.
I don't think I have ever seen a worse-run election campaign.

[Stanley]

Latest news coming in suggests that there is a movement inside Starmer's version of Labour that is actively discouraging or excluding left wing candidates.
That makes sense when you consider the latest cock-ups.
This is disastrous. I said earlier that Labour getting power isn't a done deal and none of these matters makes their chances better.

[Tripps]

Quote from blogger Owen Jones who is a bit of a lefty. .

"Labour is run by a bunch of hideous toxic gangsters
They''ll walk this election. They'll fall apart in Government."

Many (including myself) have said this is the first thing he has ever written, with which they agree.

Sunak wrong footed (blind sided?) everyone last week. Starmer thought he had six months to purge the party of left wingers. In fact he has only until June 7th - a week tomorrow - by which time candidates must be registered, and brutality is the order of the day.

I almost felt sorry for the shell shocked (former - with 5 hours notice) labour Candidate Faiza Shaheen on Newsnight last evening. M' Learned friends are going to be busy. She played every card available. Racism, recovering from childbirth, crying baby. even mastitis! which is surely a first. She has a PhD in such matters and is the wrong sort of person to make an enemy.

Must get some more popcorn in. . . .

[Whyperion]

Another Jump Ship has been reported.
Mark Logan, who was elected Conservative MP for Bolton North East in 2019, has told Sky News he is quitting the Tories and is urging people to vote Labour in the general election on 4 July.

In recent months he has been a fierce critic of the government's policy on Gaza and is now calling on the UK to recognise Palestine as a country.
Since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October last year, Mr Logan - whose constituency has a large Muslim population - has been increasingly critical of UK policy and the actions of the Israeli government during its response in Gaza.

A former UK diplomat serving in China who is fluent in Mandarin and Japanese, his dramatic switch follows secret talks with Labour chief whip Sir Alan Campbell and members of Sir Keir's inner circle.

Given his stance on Palestine and Gaza I wonder what the talks with the Inner Circle were actually about, - surely something in Galloway's Gang would have been more appropriate for a see the light socialist ? I understand he wont be standing in Bolton North East but hopes to stand for Labour somewhere else (presumably where they havent got a cats chance in hell)

Should Dianne Abbott be just sent to the HoL? My personal experience of her is that she does not have (even after all these years) an indepth grasp of the required politics nationally and internationally , OK as a person and her heart is probably in the right place.

[Whyperion]

Donald Trump (pending appeal) found Guilty of a criminal offence in the US. A Convicted Criminal - will it effect the likely votes for the republican-unlikely, it is not as if the case was unaware of during nomination votes. The conviction to me is strange - covering up (false accounting if you like), a financial transaction that itself was being made for a criminal purpose. I am not sure how much "hush money" is as a criminal purpose assuming it has not been requested as blackmail. The technical areas I suppose are for Companys , the officers and directors have duty that payments are made only for company purposes and not for the benefit of directors etc to the detriment of the creditors and members of the company, for "sole trader/partnerships" the payment is probably not allowed against tax as not being for a business purpose.

[Stanley]

See THIS for Chris Mason's latest take on the Starmer left wing purge. (I think David is spot on with his analysis that Starmer was blind-sided and has been forced to do his purge of Lefties harder and faster.)
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of carrying out a purge of left-wing candidates ahead of the selection deadline for the general election. The Labour leader denies this but some in his party don't believe him. “This factional, vindictive behaviour is designed to humiliate socialist candidates as well as block them.” These are the words of Beth Winter, – who was, until Wednesday, a Labour MP and is standing down.
There is much more and the article makes sense.
My personal opinion is that the leadership of the Labour party is now so right of centre that it will eventually trigger a backlash. Starmer has shot himself in the foot. Owen Jones is correct.

Donald Trump, the 45th president of the US, has become the first current or former president to be found guilty of a crime Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to a porn star He is due to be sentenced on 11 July, just four days before the Republican Party formally picks him to run for president at their party conference He has slammed the verdict, and announced that he will hold a news conference on Friday morning at Trump Tower in Manhattan The impact of the historic verdict remains extremely unclear, in terms of how it affects Trump's electability The Biden campaign released a statement, reminding voters that the only way to defeat Trump is at the ballot box, not the courtroom.
If the Republicans endorse him as their candidate in spite of this verdict it will not only be a ridiculous choice but eventually will cripple the GOP.
The world has gone mad.

[PanBiker]

Contrast the fact that even if he is sent to prison he can still be elected President with the rules in the UK which disbars anyone with a criminal record from standing as a political candidate for election. I remember when Sally stood for the County Council she had to give her job up at the time as she worked at the youth and PHAB group run by the CC from the venue under the Civic Hall. Simply working for the organisation banned you from standing.

You can be a pastor though, how does that work? You are right Stanley, the world has gone mad.

[Tripps]

I have almost no interest in Donald Trump - but he paid $130,000 to a woman as "hush money". I read that is qute legal - if a bit morally dubious. His crime was to put the money through his company books as a legitimate business expense. I guess that would not be the first time that has happened.

How can that result in thirty four (count them) separate felonious convictions?

[Stanley]

Starmer has just announced that Dianne Abbott will stand as a candidate in the General Election.
No clarification of a possible problem with the Left. This is not the end of the matter.

[Tripps]

but he paid $130,000 to a woman as "hush money".

Speaking of hush money reminded me that there is an altogether classier British way to deal with an awkward situation. The amounts involved here makes the Donald look like a novice - and all done by asking your mum for a sub, and without breaking into a sweat.
"the multimillion-pound out-of-court settlement - which is reported to be as much as £12m".
Donald Trump failed to get the "hush" even after he had paid the "money". Some businessman.
Prince Andrew

[Stanley]

You have reminded me of another puzzle David, the eviction of Fergie and Andrew.... What complicated lives they do lead....
Laura Kuenssberg has written a thoughtful piece on the Abbott affair. See THIS in BBC Politics thread. Worth reading and it reminds me of this because Blairism was the root of the same conflict within the Party.