Sir Keir Starmer has sacked Angela Rayner from her roles as Labour’s party chair and national campaign coordinator after the humiliating loss of the Hartlepool byelection.
If anyone wondered what all the strange pointing into the distance was from Starmer during this election campaign they know. It was Starmer ready to point the finger at Labour’s failings onto anyone but himself, it was the anticipated ‘Lord Sugar Apprentice-style you’re fired finger’ ready to point out his scapegoat.
The sacking signals cracks at the top of the party, with rows over who was to blame for the election strategy.
Speaking on Friday, leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was “bitterly disappointed” with the results and vowed to take responsibility and to fix Labour’s election woes.
Why then am I reminded of the Dennis Skinner quote on posh boys in trouble:
“When posh boys are in trouble, they sack the servants” – former Labour MP, Dennis Skinner
There is an old saying; “qui cum canibus concumbunt cum pulicibus surgent.” any good Barrister or QC could translate for you or in plain old English:
“If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas”
Unfortunately for Rayner, she’s been lying with dogs for so long many will now treat her like she has fleas.
Rayner may find herself in a very lonely position for awhile.
A shadow minister source has confirmed to Sky news a reshuffle is underway for Labour’s shadow cabinet, and that Ms Rayner has been offered a significant new role. However for us near mortals, it looks very much like after stating he will take full responsibility Starmer has passed the buck.
This isn’t leadership, it’s a cowardly avoidance of responsibility
Anglea Rayner has faced the sack for Hartlepool’s disaster (Image: Getty)
The party’s performance has sparked recriminations about the direction of the party under Sir Keir’s leadership, with some Labour figures demanding a change in strategy.
John McDonnell, shadow chancellor under Sir Keir’s predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, said Sir Keir was “scapegoating everyone apart from himself”.
He added: “This isn’t leadership, it’s a cowardly avoidance of responsibility.”
Where’s the vision?
When asked about policy and a vision for Labour Sir Keir Starmer stumbled for an answer and could only suggest a policy of stopping the in-fighting… Unfortunately sacking Angler Rynar for his own weak campaign will only escalate the ongoing civil war.
Richard Burgon, who also served in Mr Corbyn’s frontbench team, has called for a special party conference to devise a plan to revive Labour’s fortunes.
“Instead of making progress in the key areas we need to win back, at these elections we’ve gone backwards – this can’t go on,” he wrote on Twitter.
“There should now be a special Labour Party conference where the leadership outlines its plan to turn this around and seeks the confidence of the party for it.”
Andy Burnham, who has been re-elected for a second term as mayor of Greater Manchester, told Sky News that Labour had to do a “lot of soul searching” about its performance in this set of elections.
In a message to leader Sir Keir, he said the party “needs to change” and it “can’t just be cosmetic changes”.
And he did not completely rule out another bid for the top job himself, saying: “In the distant future, if the party were ever to feel it needed me, well I’m here and they should get in touch.”
Labour in turmoil as frontbencher Resigns: Party captured by ‘London-based bourgeoisie’ Khalid Mahmood
Starmer has been hit with a fresh blow with a member of his frontbencher quits his position after accusing the party of being captured by a “London-based bourgeoisie”.
Khalid Mahmood has been Labour’s shadow defence minister since Sir Keir took over the party leadership last April.
But following a dire set of election results for the party, including Hartlepool returning a Conservative MP to Westminster in a historic by-election upset, he has quit the frontbench.
Mr Mahmood says the party has lost its way, in the past decade Labour has lost touch with the people.
On the 13th of April 2021 I stepped down from the Labour front bench as Shadow Defence Procurement Minister.Being the first English Muslim MP in Parliament I want to concentrate on the issues of fighting manipulation of young Muslims by Extremist so called Muslim Organisations.
Voters are rejecting Labour because it’s been taken over by trendy Londoners and “woke social media warriors”, according to a city Labour MP.
Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, said Labour must appeal to patriotic voters and focus on creating jobs, including in manufacturing.
He made the comments following the party’s loss in the Hartlepool by-election, and poor showing in a number of council elections. Mr Mahmood also predicted Labour would lose the election for a West Midlands Mayor, although the result is not due to be announced until tomorrow, Saturday May 8.
In an article written for think tank Policy Exchange, Mr Mahmood said: “The Tories are deep into what was once safe Labour territory – the industrial heartlands of the North – with a 7,000 majority of their own. In the West Midlands, it looks again like Labour will lose out on the mayoral race and more.”
My view is simple: in the past decade, Labour has lost touch with ordinary British people. A London-based bourgeoisie, with the support of brigades of woke social media warriors, has effectively captured the party.
They mean well, of course, but their politics – obsessed with identity, division and even tech utopianism – have more in common with those of Californian high society than the kind of people who voted in Hartlepool yesterday.
The loudest voices in the Labour movement over the past year in particular have focused more on pulling down Churchill’s statue than they have on helping people pull themselves up in the world. No wonder it is doing better among rich urban liberals and young university graduates than it is amongst the most important part of its traditional electoral coalition, the working-class.
A bit of superficial flag-waving – reinforced by urgent memos from party HQ – isn’t going to fix that. We have to recognise that the patriotism of these voters runs much deeper than that. They are more alert to rebranding exercises than spin doctors give them credit for.
Their patriotism is about historic pride in their places, the heritage and stories of those places, and the Britishness and Englishness of the people and families that call them home.
Explaining what he believes has gone wrong, he said: “Labour has lost touch with ordinary British people. A London-based bourgeoisie, with the support of brigades of woke social media warriors, has effectively captured the party.
“They mean well, of course, but their politics – obsessed with identity, division and even tech utopianism – have more in common with those of Californian high society than the kind of people who voted in Hartlepool yesterday.
“The loudest voices in the Labour movement over the past year, in particular, have focused more on pulling down Churchill’s statue than they have on helping people pull themselves up in the world. No wonder it is doing better among rich urban liberals and young university graduates than it is amongst the most important part of its traditional electoral coalition, the working-class.”
Mr Mahmood said that voters were patriotic, with an “historic pride in their places”. He warned: “Is there a danger that our party, in its opposition and confusion over Brexit, has veered towards an anti-British attitude? I certainly worry that some of our previous supporters will see it that way.”
Setting out the issues he believes the party should concentrate on, he said voters want job security, a well-funded NHS, investment in infrastructure, and in basic transport such as cleaner and greener buses.
Starmer’s lack of a coherent vision for Labour and his unforgivable choice of candidate has given away another brick in the Red wall
Jill Mortimer (Con): 15,529
Paul Williams (Lab): 8,589
Mortimer has won with a majority of 6,940
You would be forgiven for thinking a loss wasn’t planned, surely no leader could be so incompetent.
It’s shameful Labour losing this seat, there is no excuse, Sir Keir Starmer’s poor choice of candidate, Paul Williams, was a recipe for failure. The Labour Party Parachuted in an ‘Arch-Remainer’ to stand in ‘an overwhelmingly Labour leave voting seat and lost dramatically, who would have guessed? Well actually everyone.
A Remainer in Brexit Land
No lessons have been learnt by the Labour Party, they didn’t listen then and they aren’t listing now!
It Beggar’s Belief that the labour Party would select an Arch-Remainer in a seat that voted to leave the EU by nearly 70%
A forgotten fact, the six seats Labour lost on June 8 2017, every one of them was a Brexit town, a leave voting constituency.
In the disastrous 2019 General election, Labour lost 54 English seats, 52 of those seats voted to leave the EU in 2016.
One of those seats taken by the Tories was held by Paul Williams’ the constituency of Stockton South. Again a local authority area that includes the constituency of Stockton-on-Tees, which voted 61.7% Leave in the 2016 EU referendum.
Williams is an arch-Remainer he was a vocal advocate of a second Brexit referendum, while Hartlepool itself voted 69.6 per cent in favour of leaving the EU. That really did not go down well there ort in the other 60% of Labour constituencies that all voted to leave the EU.
Brexit still matters, no amount of flag-shagging will remove the betrayal felt in Labour Leave voting seats from Sir Keir Starmer’s second referendum policy.
The *exact* same people who are saying “Labour was always going to lose Hartlepool, it was a leave seat!” said Labour should have Sir Remain QC as the party leader because the issue no longer mattered.
“Parachuting someone like that in is about the best thing they could do – for the Tories,” one local councillor in the town said.
While Hartlepool has voted for a Labour MP since 1974., it now becomes the latest Red wall northern seat to turn blue.
Labour seem to be in Freefall and it’s all down to Sir Keir Starmer and his centrist position. Who wants a Tory alternative when they can have the real thing. Labour need to shift back to the Left
Labour should drop Starmer now before this ebbing tide carries away all hope.
Remember when Jess Phillips was caught on the hop overjoyed and laughing so much at the exit polls while the grim results came in she missed her cue on Channel 4
The Labour MP and Corbyn sceptic Jess Phillips appeared on Channel 4 to talk about how devastated she was following the news of exit polls showing her Labour’s crushing defeat in the 2019 general election, except the cameras switched on before she was prepared and caught her in the middle of a joyful chuckle.
It took several seconds and the overt reminders from the show’s hosts to put on a “straight face” and act suitable emotional before she could conceal her cheery mood as Corbyn’s Labour leadership was trampled underfoot.
“Good evening Jess,” said the program’s host Krishnan Guru-Murthy. “How are you feeling as these results unfold?”
Phillips, still unaware that the cameras were now rolling, did not interrupt the delighted guffaw she’d been enjoying.
“Can you hear me Jess Phillips?” the host asked over nervous tittering from the audience. “It’s Krishnan.”
“I can hear you, sorry,” Phillips said after a moment, literally putting her hand over her mouth for a few seconds to hide her giant grin.
“Straight face,” said Guru-Murthy, who then apparently realized that this was a bizarre thing to say and added “Actually you don’t have to have a straight face, umm, on this show. Umm… what are you thinking?”
“Oh are you talking to me now? Sorry that wasn’t clear,” said Phillips after a pause, her face now finally somewhat straightened out. “Sorry, I’m really tired. What I’m thinking is… it’s, it’s just totally devastating isn’t it? It’s totally devastating that all the people that I see every day, they’re gonna have nowhere to turn. I mean, I should probably do that thing where we all pretend that we’re gonna wait and see if the results are better than we thought, but it feels like a kick in the stomach.”
Jess Phillips didn’t look to devastated, the fact she had briefed against Corbyn and the Left for 4 years was expressed in her initial responses before realising she was on film. It would be wonderful to catch her reactions to these exit polls.
Stephen Kinnock classic gotcha on the 2017 general election exit poll
A BBC documentary that aired on 20 November gave Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters plenty to smile about. Labour – The Summer That Changed Everything followed a handful of MPs from the right of the Labour Party during the 2017 general election, documenting their hand-wringing about Corbyn’s leadership and their subsequent shock at the election results, which saw Theresa May lose her parliamentary majority.
But one 20-second clip – in which Stephen Kinnock MP and his father, former Labour Party leader Neil, tried to make sense of those results – stands out as comedy gold.
Blame Corbyn
Labour MPs Stephen Kinnock, Lucy Powell and Ruth Cadbury allcalledfor Corbyn to resign during 2016. And they all agreed to appear in a BBC documentary in the run-up to the 2017 general election. Their thoughts on Corbyn’s prospects in that election were pretty clear. This was Kinnock, speaking [05:00] to the BBC in May:
It looks at the moment like the 8th of June is not going to be a good night for us.
He pre-emptively tried to lay the blame [05:08] for the ‘inevitable’ Conservative landslide at Corbyn’s door:
“If a party fails after seven years in opposition to make good forward progress at an election, then the leader has to take responsibility for that. And, you know, on the 9th of June Jeremy is going to have to take a long look in the mirror and decide.
The exit polls
Labour MPs Lucy Powell, Ruth Cadbury and Stephen Kinnock, who had been calling for Mr Corbyn to resign, as they’ll be seen on BBC2 Mon 9pm pic.twitter.com/yiYuHo3fvq
— BBC Daily Politics and Sunday Politics (@daily_politics) November 20, 2017
Fast forward to election night on 8 June 2017 Few who saw the documentary will be able to forget the reactions of the three MPs as they watched the exit polling:
We all wonder if the exit poll’s are as bad as we predict tonight will there be a call for Sir Keir Starmer to go, will the Labour Party stop trying to be a Tory alternative and tack Left?
Will someone please capture the expressions on Jess Philips and Stephen Kinnock faces when they realise they should have been a little more careful in what they wished for, now it has become a reality without the Left Labour are finished.
The Bank of England predicts gross domestic product will expand by 7.25% in 2021 – marking its strongest rate of growth since official records began in 1949
The economy is expected to expand by 7.25% this year, with extra government cash for workers and businesses helping to limit job losses.
This would be the strongest growth since official records began in 1949.
However, it comes after the economy shrank almost 10% last year in the sharpest drop in 300 years.
Bank policymakers also held interest rates at a record low of 0.1%.
The Bank expects the recovery to gather pace as the reopening of high streets paves the way for a mini-spending boom.
The UK’s rapid vaccine rollout is expected to support consumer confidence, with the economy expected to get back to its pre-pandemic size before the end of the year.
Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, compared the rapid expansion to the growth seen during the Industrial Revolution two centuries ago, when factories started using new manufacturing processes.
“I don’t think we’ve had a bounce-back quite of this nature, certainly in modern times,” he said.
While Mr Bailey cautioned that the surge in output would only return the UK economy back its 2019 size, he added: “Given what the economy has been through, it is good news.”
It’s widely agreed among forecasters that the UK economy will expand this year as it recovers from the coronavirus crisis.
Last year was turbulent for businesses as many spent months at a time closed – but there are hopes of the economy getting back on track thanks to the vaccines programme.
The tough measures saw GDP plunge by 9.8% over the course of the 12 months from January to December last year – the worst in modern records and wiping out seven years of economic growth.
The UK also plunged into its “worst ever” recession in 2020 as businesses continued to be shut down by the pandemic.
France has threatened to cut off Jersey’s electricity as it says fishing licences are being granted with conditions not agreed.
French trawler crews angry at post-Brexit restrictions on their access to British fishing grounds sailed in a flotilla to the British Channel island of Jersey on Thursday to register their protest.
A simmering row over fishing rights has escalated this week, with a French minister suggesting French electricity supplies to Jersey could be cut, and Britain despatching two navy patrol boats to the island.
Some of the French flotilla entered the harbour at the Jersey port of St. Helier at one point during their protest on Thursday morning. France later deployed two patrol boats to the area.
One of the trawlers positioned itself directly in front of the Commodore Goodwill, the ferry and freight vessel that connects the Channel islands to the British mainland and was at anchor in the harbour, according to social media posts by Marie Carof-Gadel, a French journalist on board the trawler.
The trawler later moved away. A representative of Jersey port said the Commodore Goodwill’s scheduled departure was delayed, but could not give further details.
The UK has sent two Royal Navy ships to Jersey “as a precaution” – HMS Severn and HMS Tamar are patrolling the waters around Jersey.
And French authorities have confirmed to that a vessel, the Military Ops ship Athos, will be arriving “imminently” to carry out a “patrol mission” – while local reports suggest another is also en route.
French gunboat
In a sign that French President Emmanuel Macron had decided on a tit-for-tat response to Boris Johnson’s deployment of the Royal Navy, a second French ship was also reported to be on its way.
The deployment, France says, is to “guarantee the safety” of people at sea and “accompany” the flotilla of around 50 French fishing vessels currently protesting off St Helier over a lack of access to waters around the Channel island.
Downing Street confirmed Boris Johnson spoke to the chief minister of Jersey, Senator John Le Fondre, the deputy chief minister, Lyndon Farnham and external affairs minister, Ian Gorst, on Thursday and reiterated his “unequivocal support”.
A spokesperson said: “The chief minister updated the prime minister on the latest developments with French fishing vessels around Jersey’s coast.
As tensions grew, Lord West, a former head of the Navy, warned that Royal Marine boarding squads could seize French fishing vessels if they blocked the port. He also unleashed a barrage of criticism after French maritime minister Annick Girardin warned of possible “retaliatory measures” in the post-Brexit fishing rights row, which could include cutting off electricity supplies to the island.
“It’s quite extraordinary to make threats of blockading, of cutting off power supplies, that really is rather sort of a 19th century way of behaving rather than a 21st century way of behaving,” he told Times Radio.
A neutral report from France 24
Jersey fisherman Loic Farnham said of his French counterparts: “They are professional fishermen, the same as we all are, we’d like to keep it all amicable so we can have access to the markets and they can carry on earning a living in our waters.”
An Elysée source said France was monitoring the situation “very closely”, adding that it is “currently calm and we hope that this will remain the case”.
“We want to be able to return to negotiations, that we can obtain the fishing licenses provided for in the agreement.”
The maritime prefecture of Manche and mer du Nord told the BBC the two French vessels, police boat Athos and patroller Themis, were not on military missions.
It said the boats’ roles were to stay in French waters and to be near to the fisherman in order to ensure safety.
A European Commission spokeswoman said talks were continuing with the UK.
MEP Stephanie Yon-Courtin, a member of the EU fisheries committee, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme said “all retaliatory measures will be explored”.
Of the threats to cut off electricity to Jersey, she said “these are only words we are not ready for war”.
On Thursday morning, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that the two Royal Navy vessels would “remain in place to monitor the situation as a precautionary measure”.
A statement from the Jersey government read: “Diplomatic efforts will continue to resolve the outstanding issues relating to fishing licences and to de-escalate the situation.”
Many of our readers have stated they cannot vote for ‘Sir Keir Starmer’s New Labour‘ and have asked, rather than spoil their ballots is there an alternative Left vote?
This is where the new parties, the independents and those with a passion to serve their communities enter the race.
Of course, there are quite a few independents standing and many are in fact former Labour members that have recently been suspended by the Labour Party.
There are of course many Labour candidates that deserve your vote no matter what your opinion of the national party and its present course under Sir Keir Starmer. We don’t advocate our readers vote for any particular representatives. Always vote for the best person to represent you and your community.
However, there are many other Left-wingers standing too, socialist, Communist Workers Party members and over 330 TUSC candidates up and down the country, all participating in the local elections, Not to mention NIP and their whippet biting chunks out of Labour in the Hartlepool by-election.
Here is a list of some of the main candidates for today and a brief of what they stand for.
WORKERS PARTY GB
The Workers Party are fielding 27 candidates in the Local elections.
The Workers Party believes that the present economic crisis, compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, has demonstrated that it is the working class who keep Britain ticking. They are a viable left-wing alternative that has made much ground over the last few years. Read more…
All Workers Party candidates stand for the principles enshrined in their ten-point programme. In the local elections in England and Wales, their candidates are also standing on the following programme, confirming the definite steps they will take to alleviate the distress of the British working class.
The Workers Party of Britain candidates, standing for election right across Britain in May, are some of the most normal people you will ever meet. But have the desire to help build better communities while fighting for a more equal and prosperous sociaty.
If elected to office, their members will struggle in their communities for:
Local opportunities to rebuild British industry and infrastructure and protect local businesses, jobs, services and our natural environment.
No increase in council tax until local authorities have lobbied and won from national government a policy of a Corona Tax of 5% on the wealth of those individuals with fortunes in excess of £10 million. Such a tax on the richest members of our society has the potential to generate more than £17bn in tax revenue from just 4,500 multimillionaires – more than enough revenue to protect jobs and services.
Decent, affordable, secure housing for all, the protection of social housing stock and the rights of tenants and small landlords in the face of aggressive monopolistic groupings.
Free school meals for all children at local authority schools and academies, paid for from the cash reserves built up since 2010 by local authorities, which now sit on billions of pounds’ worth of ringfenced reserves.
Protection of local healthcare services, including the provision of all necessary support services for the disabled and the elderly, with full support to enable families to look after their elderly, including nursing homes and sheltered accommodation for those in need of them, so that all workers are able to live full, dignified and meaningful lives.
Free travel for children on buses throughout Britain. Whilst children in London have benefitted from such a scheme for many years, the bus companies in most cities and towns, as well as in rural areas, hold a virtual monopoly on public transport. Free travel on buses will provide children with access to education, work, cultural and social opportunities, as well as alleviating some of the excessive burden upon parents’ incomes. Additionally, such a measure will help to reduce the emissions from cars on the roads. Many concessionary schemes are already part funded through taxpayers’ money, and full funding of such schemes will benefit local economies rather than hindering them. Rather than allowing the scheme in London to be abolished, we want to see it in place across Britain.
ALL FOR UNITY
With 56 candidates dotted across Scotland, the All For Unity Party, founded by the former Labour MP George Galloway, All for Unity will be running in the Scottish Holyrood Elections.
The party supports the union and hopes “to put an end to SNP rule and IndyRef2”
It wants to create a cross-party Government of National Unity with Scottish Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat MSPs after the election.
They are urging people to vote for them on the regional list. Read more…
CPB: Communist Party
The CPB plans its biggest electoral campaign since the 1980s, it is fielding 16 candidates in both the Greater London Assembly and around England. Read more…
The Party has promised to campaign for working class, popular and socialist policies aimed at organising youth to fight for a future, including:
Opposition to cuts – investing in public services and sustainable jobs in manufacturing.
Implementing a Zero-Covid strategy.
Restoring power to education authorities.
Ending privatisation in the NHS, making the case for a pay rise for NHS workers and restoring publicly-provided social and elderly care.
A concerted programme of investment in home-building – led by local councils.
Investment in public transport – taking services back into accountable public ownership.
The need for powers and resources to be devolved to national governments and the English regions; and
asserting ‘progressive federalism’, to build working class unity at national and local government level, equipped with radical powers to redistribute wealth.
Scotland: CPB
Scotland’s CPB are running three bright young articulate Canadettes
Matthew Waddell, Daniel Lambe, Johnnie Hunter, all with a strong sense of working class values and the right attitude to help build a strong community Read more…
Scotland’s Communists are calling for:
A real living wage for all workers of at least £10.32 per hour.
A ban on zero hours and non-permanent contracts, day one employment rights and rights to equal treatment with permanent and full-time workers.
A new government-backed apprenticeship system focused on real skills and real jobs with a real living wage and day one trade union and employment rights.
A statutory right to an apprenticeship or a two-year work placement for all school leavers up to the age of 25, with a real living wage.
An increase to the state pension entitlement.
A real end to austerity; investment in jobs and public services.
Cutting income tax on the lowest earners.
A cut to VAT on essential goods and services.
The replacement of council tax with local income, wealth, land and property taxes based clearly on the ability to pay.
A Green New Deal and investment in useful infrastructure such as warm, well-insulated buildings and renewable energy.
100,000 new municipally-owned council houses to be built within the next 5 years, with a minimum supply of 20,000 new council houses per year afterwards.
An immediate 30% reduction in all private sector rents across the board.
We fully endorse the proposals of the Living Rent Tenant’s Manifesto and are calling for a new system of rent control.
Amend the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1987 to provide homeless households immediate cash grants where local authorities fail to provide temporary accommodation.
A new law placing a legal duty on the owners of long-term empty homes (including second homes) to i) make them available for secure tenants at an affordable rent or ii) sell them at an affordable price, with new compulsory purchase powers for local authorities to increase council and social housing stock.
A fairer social security framework to replace Universal Credit.
Fixed price public transport network cards with capped affordable prices, providing unlimited access to the local and national rail, bus and city transport networks.
Nationalisation of rail and intercity bus services and local authority control of urban and rural bus services.
Improved public transport links for rural and islands communities to enable people to live, work and study in their communities.
The replacement of student loans with a guaranteed bursary for all students.
NIP: Northern Independence Party
Of course, there’s Hartlepool NIP are going for glory and fielding Thelma Walker former a Labour Party MP. NIP has made a big impact on social media the big question is can that huge following they have obtained be translated into votes.
With a recent poll putting them in third place in the Hartlepool by-election, the Northern Independence Party (NIP) is likely still some way from sending an MP to Westminster.
But having launched during the pandemic and with those limitations on organising, the party has found a credible candidate and hastily pulled together a working campaign.
This former Labour Yorkshire MP standing for the new Northern Independence Party against her old colleagues in a key by-election hopes her bid will send a message about the ‘managed neglect’ of the North.
The Northern Independence Party is a democratic socialist party, who are committed to uplifting the voices of our members. We were founded in 2020 to combat the injustice of the north/south divide. We stand opposed to all forms of ideology based on hatred and bigotry. Read more…
To build a better, fairer and freer North for all.
To campaign for a referendum on the independence of the North, to be decided by the people of the North.
A green industrial rebirth.
TUSC: Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
TUSC is running a whopping 330 candidates. Their message is clear, it’s a fightback on Austerity and a campaign to fight the Tories against their continued attacks on the working class.
TUSC is contesting three regional lists and three constituencies in the Scottish parliament elections on May 6th; all five regional lists for the Welsh Senedd contest; the all-London list for the Greater London Authority assembly and three GLA constituencies; the city Mayoral contests in Bristol and Liverpool; and 285 council seats in 90 local authorities.
Stop all privatisation, including the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). Bring privatised public services, industries and utilities back into public ownership under democratic control, with compensation only on the basis of proven need.
No to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and all secret austerity treaties.
NO CUTS – FOR QUALITY PUBLIC SERVICES
Re-nationalise all rail, bus and ferry services to build an integrated, low-pollution public transport system. Take Royal Mail back into public ownership to guarantee our postal services. Bring prisons, probation, and all other parts of the justice system back into the public sector.
For a high-quality, free National Health Service under democratic public ownership and control.
Stop council estate sell-offs and build high-standard, eco-friendly, affordable council housing.
No to academies and ‘free schools’. Good, free education for all, under democratic local authority control; student grants not fees.
JOBS, NOT HANDOUTS TO THE BANKERS AND BILLIONAIRES
Bring banks and finance institutions into genuine public ownership under democratic control, instead of giving huge handouts to the very capitalists who caused the crisis.
Tax the rich. For progressive tax on rich corporations and individuals and an end to tax avoidance.
For massive investment in environmental projects.
EMPLOYMENT AND TRADE UNION RIGHTS
Repeal the anti-trade union laws, reverse attacks on facility time and the right to collect subs by check-off for trade unions, particularly in the public-sector.
Support the TUC’s demand to increase the minimum wage to £10 an hour, and for it then to rise in line with inflation or wages, whichever is higher.
Scrap zero hour contracts. Guaranteed hours and full employment rights for all. Cut the working week to 35 hours with no loss of pay.
Invest to create and protect jobs, including for young people.
Solidarity with workers taking action to defend jobs, conditions, pensions, public services and trade unions. Reinstate full trade union rights to prison officers.
PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT – STOP GLOBAL WARMING
Deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions – otherwise climate change, caused by capitalism, will destroy us.
Invest in publicly-owned and controlled renewable energy. Oppose fracking.
Move to sustainable, low-pollution industry and farming – stop the pollution that is destroying our environment. No to profit-driven GM technology.
Produce for need, not profit, and design goods for reuse and recycling.
DECENT PENSIONS AND BENEFITS
Abolish the bedroom tax.
Reverse cuts to benefits; for living benefits; end child poverty. Scrap benefit sanctions.
Restore the pre-Thatcher real value of pensions. Reverse the increases imposed on the state retirement age, creating jobs for younger people.
STOP THE ATTACKS ON DISABLED PEOPLE
Promote inclusive policies to enable disabled people to participate in, and have equal access to, education, employment, housing, transport and welfare provision.
Support measures to ensure disabled people receive a level of income according to needs. Equal pay for equal work.
DEMOCRACY, DIVERSITY AND JUSTICE
Welcome diversity and oppose racism, fascism and discrimination. Defend the right to asylum, repeal the 2014 Immigration Act and all racist immigration controls.
Ensure women have genuinely equal rights and pay.
Full equality for LGBT people.
Defend our liberties and make police and security democratically accountable.
For the right to vote at 16.
SOLIDARITY NOT WAR
No to imperialist wars and occupations!
Justice for the Palestinians, lift the siege of Gaza, recognise the state of Palestine.
No more spending on a new generation of nuclear weapons, huge aircraft carriers or irrelevant eurofighters – convert arms spending into socially useful products and services.
An independent foreign policy, based on international solidarity – no more being a US poodle, no moves towards a capitalist, militarist United States of Europe. No to austerity and anti-working class policies, whether from the EU or Britain.
SOCIALISM
For a democratic socialist society run in the interests of people, not millionaires. For bringing into democratic public ownership the major companies and banks that dominate the economy, so that production and services can be planned to meet the needs of all and to protect the environment.
Nine UK regions are in the top ten of northern Europe’s most deprived areas.
The findings centered around data produced by Eurostat, the E.U.’s data agency. Eurostat measured GDP per head in regions throughout Britain, taking into account different costs in different areas. These stats have not changed for 3 years.
The report revealed that West Wales is the poorest area in Northern Europe, followed by seven other U.K. regions. Number nine on the poorest regions list is Hainaut, in Belgium, followed by the U.K.’s East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.
Somewhat astonishingly – though entirely understandable given the trends of inequality – inner London mapped out as the very richest region in Northern Europe, followed by Luxembourg, Brussels, Hamburg, Ile de France, Groningen in the Netherlands, Stockholm, Oberbayern in Germany, Vienna and Darmstadt in Germany.
According to Inequality Briefing, although U.K. citizens think of themselves as enjoying similar living standards as neighboring Northern European countries like France, Germany, Belgium and Holland, in reality Great Britain is much poorer. This is because much higher levels of inequality exist here than in those countries.
Figure the contrast: While nine British regions represent the 10 most economically deprived areas in northern Europe, inner London is basking in the limelight as the absolute richest place on or off the continent.
This is the fifth richest country in the world and we have 9 of Northern Europe’s poorest regions.
With the exception of Northern Ireland these regions represent strong leave voting areas, of course, London is ‘Central Remainia’ itself and benefitted far more than any of the poorer regions during the UK’s EU membership.
This situation has worsened over time. In 2008, there were just three UK regions with GDP per capita below 75% of the EU average. Similarly, only six regions were below 80% of the EU average in 2008, compared with 11 in the most recent figures. The number of regions below 90% of the EU average
This is taking back control and it starts with your local councils.
Although the UK has left the EU these statistics are still relevant and also in part the very reason, Red wall voters voted to leave the EU. They felt not only had consecutive national governments failed them but that our EU membership gave them little value. If taking back control meant anything it meant holding our elected representatives to account.
Inner London is ranked as the richest area in northern Europe, meaning the gap between the richest and poorest region in the UK is the widest in the EU.
The UK is more unequal than other nearby countries. There is no longer the excuse of EU legislations and articles holding us back, Britain is free to invest in our poorer regions to a much larger extent.
Ask what your council will be doing to bring in investment.
Are your council building houses? If not ask why not!
Councils can now build more social housing caps were lifted in 2018. With no borrowing cap, more councils can now be built on their own land.
Councils are able to use more of their Right to Buy receipts and commuted sums, which can be combined with borrowing to build social homes rather than sitting unspent in Treasury or council coffers.
They’ll have the means to take advantage of their strong position to borrow – with ultra-low borrowing costs and many underleveraged assets – to bring forward housing schemes that no one else could.
On Thursday don’t just give your vote make the candidate earn it. take away a promise at least or make them understand you want change.
It is precisely at this point before elections, we the people have power. We have the power of our vote, our only real leverage at this point. Unfortunately, we have become lazy in how we lend this power to our representatives, we no longer question their intentions, we accept the soundbites and the repetitive pledges posted through our letterboxes. We vote on faith, mainstream parties have relied on ‘Political tribalism’ or the old chestnut of alternatives splitting the vote, they have taken us for granted and we have fallen into apathy.
“The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor” – Voltaire
If parties and politicians want your vote make them earn it.
Ask what your council is doing to help alleviate the poor, the homeless, ask what schemes they support, ask about green investment. Make them earn your support because one thing is for sure the statistics show something is failing in your area and unless you start asking the hard questions then they will keep failing you.
Ask your candidate what he will do to bring change for you, your family and your community, let them know your support depends on real change, not just promises but on real change.
If you live in any of these area’s ask why your region is so poor. After all the UK is the 5th richest country in the world.
Northern Europe’s top ten poorest regions
1. West Wales UK
2. Cornwall UK
3. Durham and Tees Valley UK
4. Lincolnshire UK
5. South Yorkshire UK
6. Shropshire and Staffordshire UK
7. Lancashire UK
8. Northern Ireland UK
9. Hainaut Belgium
10. East Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire UK
* Northern Europe includes France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands. Information from Eurostat, the data agency of the European Union.
All of the local authorities with the highest proportion of deprived neighbourhoods are in the north – Middlesbrough, Knowsley, Hull, Liverpool and Manchester.
Why are the majority all in the north of England?
A report from, MHCLG said the study revealed “concentrations of deprivation in large urban conurbations, areas that have historically had large heavy industry manufacturing and/or mining sectors (such as Birmingham, Nottingham, Hartlepool), coastal towns (such as Blackpool or Hastings), and parts of east London”.
Two former paratroopers accused of the murder of an Official IRA leader have been formally acquitted after prosecutors offered no further evidence at their trial.
The veterans’ trial at Belfast Crown Court collapsed after the Public Prosecution Service confirmed it would not appeal against a decision by Mr Justice O’Hara to exclude statements given by the ex-soldiers about the shooting of Joe McCann in 1972.
It was the first trial in several years that involved charges against former military personnel who served in the Northern Ireland conflict.
Four other cases involving the prosecution of veterans are at the pre-trial stage in the region’s courts.
Joe McCann, 24, was shot dead by paratroopers as he attempted to evade arrest by a plain-clothed police officer in the Markets Area of Belfast in April 1972.
The court heard he was evading arrest when soldiers opened fire, killing him.
Soldiers A and C, both in their 70s, had pleaded not guilty. The men admitted firing shots but said they had acted lawfully when doing so.
Both soldiers were interviewed by a police legacy unit, the Historical Enquiries Team (HET), in 2010 and it was this evidence that formed a substantial part of the prosecution’s case.
The judge ruled this evidence as inadmissible and the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) on Tuesday confirmed it would not appeal against that decision, meaning the case could not proceed.
Not guilty of the charge of murder
After the prosecution confirmed it would be presenting no further evidence in the case, the judge told both former soldiers: “In the circumstances, Mr A and C, I formally find you not guilty of the charge of murder.”
Mr Justice O’ Hara said during a discrete hearing on the admissibility issue: ‘One of the remarkable features of the case is after the HET interviews they weren’t interviewed by the PSNI, they weren’t arrested, but they are in court on trial for murder.’
Philip Barden, the senior partner at Devonshires solicitors who represented soldiers A and C, said the firm made legal submissions back in 2016 making clear that the evidence from their clients would not be admissible.
“The stress of these proceedings on the soldiers and their families cannot be underestimated,” he said.
“This is a prosecution that should never have got off the ground. Before initiating the prosecution, the PPS had all the relevant information to conclude that the evidence was clearly inadmissible. Despite this, the prosecution proceeded.”
He added: “I call for an inquiry by a senior judge to investigate the decision-making process and to ensure that the decision to prosecute these veterans was not political.”
Joe McCann became recruitment poster of the IRA
The Official IRA leader was a republican legend even before his killing for organising the “Battle of Inglis’ Bakery” in the Market district of Belfast on 9 August 1971. Nine months later, McCann was shot dead by troops in the same area.
Pictured wielding a gun on a Belfast street, McCann is the subject of one of the most iconic images of the Northern Ireland troubles. T photograph showing him crouched with a gun in the burning building made him a nationalist pin-up. Some have suggested the cover for U2’s 1983 album Under A Blood Red Sky was inspired by the picture.
McCann’s death, nine weeks after Bloody Sunday, sparked five days of rioting. And in a series of brutal acts of revenge, the IRA shot five British soldiers, killing three.
A report into the death by the Historic Allegations Team concluded McCann was regarded by security forces as a “dangerous terrorist and someone who would not hesitate to use his weapon to resist arrest”.
A few days after the shooting McCann’s body was returned to the family home in Turf Lodge, where it was left to lie in state.
The funeral was one of the biggest in Belfast with a procession of more than 2,000 following the tricolour-draped coffin, led by a lone piper and McCann’s Irish Wolfhound. Around 20,000 lined the route. A memorial to him at the site of his death lauds him as an IRA captain. McCann was born in the Lower Falls area and joined the Republican movement while a teenager.
By 20 he had been jailed for possessing weapons. In August 1969 he helped to organise riots in Divis Street, which raged for two days with petrol bombs thrown and gunfire exchanged, resulting in several deaths.
Fr. Edward Daly, the priest who famously waved a white handkerchief on Bloody Six months later, the IRA murdered a close friend of his, as he recalled in his book, A Troubled See: Read more
IRA commander ‘had killed 15 British soldiers by the time he was shot dead’, court told
Belfast Crown Court heard the prominent member of the old Official IRA had been responsible for the deaths of 15 British soldiers in Northern Ireland.
His widow Anne and their family had waited nearly 49 years for their day in court, only to see the trial collapse in a week.
His family have said they will apply to the Attorney General to open an inquest into his killing.
Speaking outside the court, the McCann family’s lawyer Niall Murphy said: “This ruling does not acquit the state of murder. This ruling does not mean that Joe McCann was not murdered by the British Army.
“This trial has heard very clear evidence that Joe McCann was murdered by the British Army. He was shot in the back whilst unarmed from a distance of 40m posing no threat. It was easier to arrest him than to murder him.
“He was murdered because the British Army operated with impunity for their crimes.”
He said that there was “no doubt” that the soldiers did shoot McCann and said it was not the end of the family’s demand for justice.
“They will now apply to the current Attorney General to open the inquest at which Soldiers A and C will be compelled to appear and give evidence and be cross-examined,” he said.
1972 evidence ‘dressed up with 2010 cover’
The trial opened last Monday and heard a day of evidence before moving to the issue of whether statements and interviews given by the ex-soldiers would be admissible.
The court was told that evidence implicating the soldiers came from two sources – statements given to the Royal Military Police in 1972 and interview answers given to the HET in 2010.
The PPS accepted that the 1972 statements would be inadmissible in isolation, due to deficiencies in how they were taken including that the soldiers were ordered to make them and they were not conducted under caution.
However, prosecutors argued that the information in the 1972 statements became admissible because they were adopted and accepted by the defendants during their engagement with the HET in March 2010.
However, the judge said it was not legitimate to put the 1972 evidence before the court “dressed up and freshened up with a new 2010 cover”.
He questioned why the HET’s re-examination did not prompt a fresh investigation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), with the veterans interviewed under caution.
The judge suggested that course of action might have made a prosecution more sustainable.
“Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, veterans are being left open to prosecution while terrorists have been cleansed of their past crimes.
‘Live the rest of their lives in peace’
Former Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer, who left the government in April over legal protections for troops who served during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, attended the trial.
image captionFormer Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer attended the trial in Belfast
Speaking after it collapsed, he said he was “delighted” for the former soldiers, adding he hoped they could “go and live the rest of their lives in peace”.
“The government has made very clear promises, and the prime minister has made very clear promises, on legislation to end the relentless pursuit of those who served their country in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“It is time to deliver on that.”
Four other cases in relation to Army veterans are currently before the courts.
Operation Banner in Northern Ireland was the longest continuous deployment of Armed Forces personnel in British military history and involved over 250,000 military personnel.
Between August 1969 and July 2007 1,441 military personnel died as a result of operations in Northern Ireland. 722 of those personnel were killed in paramilitary attacks.
During the same period the British military were responsible for the deaths of 301 individuals, over half of whom were civilians.
In total, around 3,520 individuals lost their lives during the Troubles.
Military law and the rules of engagement
Military personnel are, at all times, subject to both Service law and civilian law, wherever they are serving in the world. As such, Armed Forces personnel are not immune from prosecution for offences committed whilst serving.
For every military operation personnel are issued with a specific set of Rules of Engagement which establish the circumstances and limitations under which personnel can use armed force. They are operation, not Service, specific and are intended to help commanders and soldiers to operate within the law or any political restraints under which they may be operating. They do not, however, have any legal force.
The Rules of Engagement for personnel serving in Northern Ireland were contained in what was commonly referred to as ‘The Yellow Card’. The original version of the Card, which extended to 21 distinct rules, was considered too detailed and complex, and was subsequently amended in 1980 to contain just 6 rules. Among them was the directive that only the minimum force necessary was to be used and that firearms should only be used as a last resort. The Card was amended again in 1994, following a court judgement in the case of Private Lee Clegg the previous year.
Prosecutions of Armed Forces personnel during the Troubles
Any fatalities involving the Armed Forces were investigated by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) at the time and, in some cases, prosecutions were brought against military personnel.
In most cases those fatalities were a direct result of operations and “centred around the key issue of whether the soldier had the right to open fire in the particular circumstances pertaining at the time”. This resulted in a number of convictions, although in the majority of cases the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland directed that there was no case to answer, or the defendants were acquitted at trial.
Good Friday Agreement and “On the Runs”
The 1998 Good Friday Agreement made no provision for the investigation or prosecution of former members of the Armed Forces, focusing instead upon the early release of prisoners affiliated to paramilitary organisations. There was no amnesty for crimes which had not yet been prosecuted.
From 2000 to 2014, the UK Government operated an administrative scheme by which individuals suspected of terrorism crimes in Northern Ireland could find out whether they were at risk of arrest or prosecution if they returned to the UK. The collapse of a trial in 2014 led to a judge-led review. The report of that review criticised the scheme for systematic failings, but emphasised that it did not constitute an amnesty or immunity from prosecution.
Investigation of deaths related to the Troubles
In 2006 the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) was set up by the Government as part of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in response to judgements at the European Court of Human Rights related to the investigation of deaths in which State involvement was alleged. Those judgements found various shortcomings which amounted to breaches of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights relating to the protection, by law, of the right to life.
The role of the HET was to examine all deaths attributable to the security situation that occurred in Northern Ireland between 1968 and the Belfast Agreement in 1998.
The HET looked into cases on a chronological basis, with some exceptions: previously opened investigations, those with humanitarian considerations, investigations involving issues of serious public interest and linked series of murders.
In 2012 the Minister of Justice for Northern Ireland commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) to inspect the role and function of the Historical Enquiries Team. The inspection focused on whether the HET’s approach to reviewing cases involving the security forces conformed to current policing standards and policy; if it adopted a consistent approach to all cases and if the HET’s review process met the requirements that would ensure its compliance with Article 2 of the ECHR. The subsequent report of the HMIC was highly critical of the HET and in 2013 the PSNI announced that it would review all military cases relating to the period 1968 up until the Good Friday Agreement was signed, in order “to ensure the quality of the review reached the required standard”.
The Legacy Investigations Branch
As a result of budget cuts to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the HET was disbanded in September 2014. In its place the PSNI stated that a much smaller Legacy Investigations Branch (LIB) would be formed.
The LIB continues to review all murder cases linked to the Troubles. That review does not examine cases chronologically but uses a case sequencing model, which looks at forensic opportunities, available witnesses and other investigative material when deciding which cases to tackle first. The PSNI has stated that it does not prioritise military cases, which account for approximately 30% of its workload.
Any decision by the LIB to prosecute is referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland. The MOD, and the British Government, is entirely independent of this process.
There has been significant criticism, on all sides, of the process by which legacy investigations have been, and continue to be, undertaken. Concerns have been expressed over the credibility and reliability of evidence and witness statements that may be over 40 years old and the re-opening of investigations that had already concluded. Most notable has been the widespread perception that investigations have disproportionately focused on the actions of the armed forces and former police officers, which account for 30% of the LIB’s workload but only form 10% of the overall deaths during the Troubles.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The big question for many people has been why a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission for Northern Ireland was not commissioned whereby witnesses would get immunity from prosecution in an attempt to deal with the legacy of the Troubles, including combatants from all sides.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like restorative justice body assembled in South Africa after the end of apartheid. Witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations were invited to give statements about their experiences, and some were selected for public hearings. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution.
The TRC, the first of the 1003 held internationally to stage public hearings, was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa. Despite some flaws, it is generally (although not universally) thought to have been successful.
The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation was established in 2000 as the successor organisation of the TRC.
The giving of statements and amnesty from prosecution would have gone a long way to help bereaved families from all sides of the troubles.
Howard Beckett says If elected General Secretary of Unite he promises to take Boris Johnson to court on charges of 150,000 Covid murders.
Unite general secretary candidate Howard Beckett made a video statement declaring his promise to bring Boris Johnson to account for the 150k avoidable covid deaths
In the no holds barredstatement Beckett the Unite union assistant general secretary and candidate for general secretary made the promise to bring Johnson to court over the murder of 150,000 covid victims.
Beckett declared: “If I am elected General Secretary, on the first day I will instruct our legal team to take Boris Johnson to court on 150,000+ charges of murder.”
If I am elected General Secretary, on the first day I will instruct our legal team to take Boris Johnson to court on 150,000+ charges of murder. pic.twitter.com/k1BTnXSqXg
Unit is no longer the biggest union in the UK – that accolade belongs to public service union Unison – but it is the largest affiliate to Labour.
And with around 1.2 million members, Unite is very influential.
It contributed £3m to Labour’s coffers in the run-up to the last general election.
Mr Beckett, a solicitor by profession, is also an assistant general secretary of Unite the union.
He strongly opposed the Labour leader’s decision to settle legal action by – and pay what were described as “substantial damages” to – former party staff who had spoken to the BBC’s Panorama about the handling of anti-Semitism cases under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
Starmer supporters fear he may cut funding further, were he to win.
Mr Beckett has put forward the idea of a union-funded TV station to challenge the mainstream media, and that could be at the expense of Labour donations.
A member of the party’s ruling National Executive (NEC), he led a walk-out (or a “switch-off”, as it was a virtual meeting) of left-wing members last autumn.
They were protesting against the “factional decisions” of “the current Labour leader”.
This followed Mr Corbyn’s suspension from the Parliamentary Labour Party and the elevation of Starmer ally Dame Margaret Beckett to chair the NEC.
Mr Beckett has also been critical of Starmer’s handling of the pandemic.
Beckett sounds exactly the right sort of balance the Labour movement needs to keep pushing the PLP back to the LeFT
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