Shadow chancellor says she holds her ‘hands up’ in response to FT piece on seemingly copied passages in work on female economists
Rachel Reeves has said she holds her hands up and acknowledges making mistakes in her new book about female economists after she faced allegations of plagiarism.
The shadow chancellor admitted on Thursday that some sentences in her book, The Women Who Made Modern Economics, were “not properly referenced in the bibliography”.
Continue reading...Labour leader will also meet MPs today to discuss party’s position on Israel and Gaza
Rishi Sunak will be taking PMQs shortly. It will be his first prime minister’s questions with Keir Starmer since his visit to Israel and the Middle East.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
When Rishi Sunak became prime minister a year ago today, he took immediate action to support families with the cost of living, paying half their energy bills. Since then we have made good progress towards halving inflation, growing the economy, reducing debt, cutting NHS waiting lists, and stopping the boats.
But for the last 30 years, the prime minister recognises that there has been too much short-term political decision making, politicians taking the easy way out, ducking the hard choices, rather than fixing the underlying problems.
The prime minister has proven he is the only person who is determined to change that.
Continue reading...Party to encourage Wellingborough voters to sign petition if Commons votes to suspend Bone on Wednesday
Labour is ramping up plans to force another byelection ahead of a vote on Wednesday to suspend Peter Bone from parliament for six weeks.
Bone was stripped of the Conservative whip after being found by a watchdog to have bullied and harassed a member of staff and exposed his genitals near their face.
Continue reading...The PM, just back in the Commons after meeting Netanyahu, had only vain hopes to offer in the search for peace between Israel and Hamas
Call it war fatigue. So soon. Last week it was standing room only on both sides of the house for Rishi Sunak’s statement on Israel and Gaza. For the update on Monday there were plenty of gaps on the green benches. Especially on the Tory side. Already the Middle East has been filed under something too difficult, too unbearable and too far away. Most Conservatives no longer have the bandwidth for the conflict. They are too busy contemplating their own more immediate eternity. Losing the next general election.
Many of Sunak’s opening remarks were more or less a reprise of what he had said last week. Horror at the 7 October attacks on Israel by Hamas. A commitment to stand with Israel and a reaffirmation of its right to defend itself and to retrieve its hostages. An acknowledgment that the Palestinians are also victims of Hamas. Their need for humanitarian aid and for Israel to respond within international law. Hard to argue with any of that.
Continue reading...Cross-party MPs host inaugural conference to agree on common statement to put to parliament
Politicians, campaigners and community groups are uniting for the first time to make “a very distinct and clear call for reparative justice” at an inaugural reparations conference this weekend.
The all-party parliamentary group for Afrikan reparations (APPG-AR), a group of cross-party MPs, is hosting its first reparations conference in Euston in north London to collectively agree on a common statement with stakeholders and grassroots campaigners that can be used by MPs to push forward a policy for reparative justice in the House of Commons.
Continue reading...Tories may also reduce stamp duty in bid to win back voters and reduce pressure on PM, reports say
Rishi Sunak is considering a tax cut for the 5 million highest earners and reducing stamp duty in an attempt to ease the pressure on his leadership after two historic byelection defeats, it has been reported.
The Conservatives may raise the 40% income tax threshold after Labour’s victory in Mid Bedfordshire, Nadine Dorries’ former seat. It was the largest majority to be overturned at a byelection.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer’s aides warn against complacency as huge swings from Tories raise prospect of 1997-style landslide next year
Labour has overturned massive Conservative majorities in a history-making pair of byelections, sending the Tories deeper into in-fighting and acrimony over the prospect of a landslide defeat at the upcoming general election.
The wins in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth prompted gleeful talk within Labour of a possible 1997-type win on the horizon, but Keir Starmer’s aides were quick to warn MPs and the party more widely against complacency.
Continue reading...Labour wins Tamworth with swing of 23.9 percentage points from Tories, then Mid Bedfordshire in largest ever turnaround of majority in UK byelection
Prof Sir John Curtice told the Today programme that there were two points in this parliament when Tory support rapidly switched to Labour: when the first Partygate revelations came out, and Liz Truss’s mini-budget. He said you could “reasonably argue” that those two events were more important in explaining why Labour is now doing so well than Keir Starmer’s changes to the Labour party. But if Starmer had not changed Labour, then the party might not have benefited to the extent it has, he said.
Curtice ended his interview with a big ‘what if?’
Let us say those Partygate happenings had never happened, or at least we had never heard of them. And as a result Boris Johnson was still in 10 Downing Street today. Would Labour be doing as well in the polls as they are at present?
These were always going to be challenging by-elections and the rule of thumb is that governments don’t win them. We have seen little to no enthusiasm for Sir Keir Starmer who voters can see stands for nothing and always puts short term political gain first.
The truth is these were not ordinary government losses. The swing in Tamworth, at just below 24%, is the second biggest swing from Conservative to Labour in postwar electoral history. And at just over 20% the swing in Mid Bedfordshire is also in the top 10.
No government has previously lost to the principal opposition party a seat as safe as Tamworth. You have to go back to 1977 and the Ashfield byelection to find an equivalent.
You can argue maybe there isn’t as much enthusiasm for Labour as there is discontent with the conservatives. But, nevertheless, when Labour have been challenged, they still managed to win that challenge.
Continue reading...Ability to regain marginals as well as eat into Tory heartlands shows party is on course for stunning general election win
Labour is deservedly basking in its byelection successes in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth. The 2019 general election results left the party with a mountain to climb if it were to achieve an overall majority. It needed a huge swing to reclaim many traditional marginals that had supported Tony Blair back in the day, or else make progress in constituencies that had never been Labour before, even at the peaks in 1945 and 1997. These byelection victories show that Labour can achieve both objectives.
Tamworth was a traditional bellwether that had shifted well to the right. Mid Bedfordshire was the archetypal home counties Conservative stronghold, which had been true blue since 1931.
Continue reading...Sayeeda Warsi criticises party for strongly advising its councillors not to attend pro-Palestine-related demonstrations
A senior Conservative peer has warned the Labour party not to join a race to the bottom over Israel-Hamas war protests as a council leader urged Keir Starmer to show “sympathy to the plight of Palestinians”.
Sayeeda Warsi criticised Labour for strongly advising its councillors not to attend pro-Palestine demonstrations last weekend, “despite having spent months before the recess fighting the government to protect the right to protest in the public order act”.
Continue reading...Formerly safe Tory seats in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth could fall to opponents in test of Sunak’s electoral fortunes
Rishi Sunak has arrived in Tel Aviv. As mentioned earlier, the British prime minister is due to meet his counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israeli resident. Sunak is also expected to ask for aid to be allowed into Gaza and for Britons stranded there to be allowed to leave the area.
Reuters has these early remarks from the British prime minister.
Above all, I’m here to express my solidarity with the Israeli people. You have suffered an unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism and I want you to know that the United Kingdom and I stand with you.
Continue reading...Leaked memo suggests party’s votes could halve to 30% in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire
In the world of expectation management, a “leaked” memo can be a useful tool for a political party on the eve of a tricky byelection. So the publication of an internal report prepared for the Conservative party chair, Greg Hands, was initially met with some scepticism.
The document, based on telephone canvassing data from recent days, claimed the Tory vote in Thursday’s two byelections in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire could halve to about 30%, creating more problems for Rishi Sunak.
Continue reading...Letter from Labour leader stresses his concern for international law and sympathy with the plight of the Palestinian people
Rishi Sunak will be taking PMQs shortly. It will be his first exchange with Keir Starmer since the party conferences.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
We were the victims of an inside job by someone, we believe, who over a long period of time was stealing from the museum and the museum put trust in.
There are lots of lessons to be learnt as a result of that, the member of staff has been dismissed by us. The objects have started to be recovered … We have changed our whistleblowing code, changed our policy on thefts … tightened up security on thefts.
If someone is entrusted by an organisation to look after something and they are the person removing those objects, that is hard for any organisation, and it was hard for the museum, where there is a trusting culture.
If that trust is completely abused and as I think will become clear in the coming months quite a lot of steps were taken to conceal that, it wasn’t just that things were taken, records were altered and the like, it’s hard to spot.
We are intending to put on display the objects we have recovered, there is a lot of public interest in these objects.
350 have now been recovered and titles have been transferred to us so we have the makings of a good exhibition that was not previously planned.
Continue reading...Sober assessment of UK failings from body set up by a Conservative chancellor poses ideological problem for government
The cost of upgrading the UK’s infrastructure to make it fit for the future is likely to be £30bn a year of public money, plus about £40bn-50bn a year of private sector investment, the National Infrastructure Commission has said.
That figure of £30bn is strikingly similar to the Labour party’s promised investment of £28bn a year to meet the UK’s net zero targets, shift the economy permanently to a low-carbon footing, and create new green jobs.
Continue reading...Commons will vote on suspension recommended by independent expert panel after investigation
Peter Bone has issued a statement saying that the bullying and sexual misconduct claims about him made by a former employed, that have led to the IEP recommending a six-week suspension, are false and without foundation. He says the complainant did not raise them at the time and only submitted a complaint years after they had left.
As I have maintained throughout these proceedings, none of the misconduct allegations against me ever took place. They are false and untrue claims. They are without foundation.
The allegations by an ex-employee refer to events of more than 10 years ago that spanned no more than a few months. The complainant first made the allegations years after they left my employment. They did not raise them at any time during their employment, either in writing or verbally with me, nor with their line managers …
I am also firmly of the opinion that on this occasion the independent complaints and grievance scheme investigation was flawed, procedurally unfair and didn’t comply with its own rules and regulations. It is my belief that they have operated outside of the powers given to them by parliament and I am currently discussing with lawyers what action could and should be taken.
The commissioner found the following allegations proved:
Allegation 1: Mr Bone “verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated” the complainant, and this was bullying.
Continue reading...Figures released before Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire contests hint at opposition parties making space for each other
Labour and the Liberal Democrats appear to have made space for each other in byelections held in Conservative seats, spending figures acquired by the Guardian show.
The figures also show Labour lost the Uxbridge and South Ruislip byelection despite outspending the Conservatives by more than £21,000 in the campaign.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer also backs Israel but issues call for all parties to act in line with international law
Rishi Sunak has voiced “unequivocal” UK support for Israel “not just today, not just tomorrow, but always” in a lengthy statement to mark one week since Hamas militants murdered 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers, and took more than 150 people hostage. The prime minister’s remarks – in which he makes no mention of the plight of innocent Palestinians now trapped in Gaza, or the need for their safe evacuation – come amid growing political tensions in the UK over how to respond to Israel’s retaliatory bombing of Gaza, and its orders to more than 1 million Palestinians to flee their homes for their own safety.
Senior Labour figures believe the Conservatives are deliberately trying to paint them as less supportive of Israel, and to suggest that some on the left of the party are somehow sympathetic to Hamas and antisemitic, because they are pro-Palestinian.
Continue reading...Labour leader’s personal popularity jumps after party conference speech in Liverpool was interrupted by protester
Keir Starmer appears to have enjoyed a “glitter-bomb bounce” from the Labour conference, a new Observer poll suggests, amid Tory concerns that only an economic upturn can reverse their party’s fortunes.
The Labour leader was covered in glitter by a protester at the start of his Labour conference speech in Liverpool last week. He responded by taking off his jacket, rolling up his sleeves and telling delegates he favoured “power, not protest”.
Continue reading...Disagreements over who is best placed to take Nadine Dorries’s seat could threaten tactical voting strategies at general election
The fierce byelection battle in Mid Bedfordshire is poisoning relations between Labour and the Lib Dems and risks denting informal cooperation to remove the Tory government, senior Labour figures have warned.
An incredibly close three-way battle has emerged in the seat formerly held by Boris Johnson ally Nadine Dorries, who quit after being refused a place on the former prime minister’s peerages list. Labour and the Lib Dems are both convinced they have the better chance of overturning the colossal 24,664-vote majority and pulling off one of the biggest byelection wins in history this week.
Continue reading...Finance minister offers standing invitation to ‘intensify your trade relationship to the EU’
The German finance minister has issued an open invitation to the UK to reach a new deal to improve Brexit trading relations that would reduce trade barriers and “obstacles in daily business life”.
Christian Lindner told the BBC: “This is a standing invitation for the UK: if you want to intensify your trade relationship to the EU, call us. We really appreciate the United Kingdom and its values, its people … and I would really, really appreciate it if we can intensify [the trade relationship] again.”
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