Category Archives: Labour

Labour pledges to fast-track rape and domestic violence cases through courts

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Boris Johnson’s ‘appalling’ attitude to women to blame for lack of progress on gender-based violence, suggests Keir Starmer

Rape and domestic violence cases will be fast-tracked through the courts under a Labour government so that no victim has to wait more than a year for justice, Keir Starmer has pledged.

In an interview with the Guardian, the Labour leader said Boris Johnson had made no progress tackling gender-based violence during his premiership because of his “appalling” attitude towards women.

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Tory leadership: Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak clash in heated BBC debate – as it happened

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Latest updates: final two candidates exchange blows over plans for cost of living, levelling up and China

Starmer says Labour’s approach to levelling up will be based on a practical plan, unlike the government’s.

And he says he was impressed by the approach of Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, whom he met in Berlin recently. Starmer suggests Britain could learn from the way new battery factories are located in poor regions in Germany.

There will be no magic money tree economics with us.

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Tory leadership race live: Kemi Badenoch eliminated as Rishi Sunak tops poll of MPs

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Candidates for next prime minister reduced to three ahead of final MPs’ vote on Wednesday

Penny Mordaunt’s supporters do believe that No 10 has removed the whip from Tobias Ellwood to stop him voting for her in the leadership ballot (contrary to what Nadine Dorries claims - see 11.21am), Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt reports.

Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary and Boris Johnson loyalist, has dismissed as “ridiculous” claims that Tobias Ellwood has had the Tory whip removed to stop him voting against the Johnson candidate in the leadership contest. (See 10.08am and 10.45am.)

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Antisemitism issue used as ‘factional weapon’ in Labour, report finds

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Report commissioned by Keir Starmer highlights ‘toxicity on both sides’ under Jeremy Corbyn

Labour under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn was riven by bitter infighting, with his supporters and opponents using the issue of antisemitism within the party “as a factional weapon”, a long-awaited report has said.

Corbyn declined to be interviewed for the Forde report but he signed a joint submission to the inquiry. It described the former Labour leader as “notably silent”.

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Tony Blair was warned repeal of anti-gay section 28 might harm election chances

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Archives reveal David Blunkett voiced concerns about overturning ban on ‘promotion’ of homosexuality

Tony Blair was warned about his government’s commitment to overturning a ban on the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools in the run-up to the 2001 general election, previously classified records show.

David Blunkett, then the education secretary, twice wrote to the prime minister to voice his concerns regarding the furore over section 28. It followed months of debate over potential changes to same-sex education in schools.

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Tory contest shows government levelling up agenda is dead, Lisa Nandy to say

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Shadow minister to say PM hopefuls are vying ‘for the mantle of Margaret Thatcher, promising tax cuts for the wealthy’

The shadow communities secretary, Lisa Nandy, will claim the Conservative leadership contest has shown the government’s commitment to levelling up is dead, as she announces plans to give local communities the right to buy up assets such as empty shops.

Nandy will use a speech in Darlington to say Labour would press ahead with handing power to communities outside London and the south-east in an attempt to rebalance the UK’s economy.

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Climate chief Alok Sharma warns: I may quit if new PM dumps net zero pledge

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The cabinet minister and Cop26 president could resign if the new Tory leader fails to commit to a strong green agenda

The cabinet minister who led last year’s landmark Cop26 UN climate summit has made a dramatic intervention in the Tory leadership race, suggesting he could resign if the incoming prime minister fails to commit to a strong agenda on the climate crisis.

In an interview with the Observer, Alok Sharma said a total commitment to the net zero agenda from whoever is to lead the country would be essential to avoid “incredible damage” to Britain’s global standing, as well as irreversible harm to the UK and international economies.

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‘Travelling circus’: Starmer says Tory hopefuls have lost economic credibility

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Exclusive: Labour leader, speaking after meeting German chancellor, condemns candidates’ ‘fanciful’ spending plans

Keir Starmer has dismissed the acrimonious Conservative leadership race as a “travelling circus”, in which the candidates have demolished their party’s economic credibility by promising billions of pounds of unfunded tax cuts.

Speaking on a visit to Berlin where he held talks with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the Labour leader highlighted the “fanciful” spending pledges made by the five contenders battling it out to succeed Boris Johnson.

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Eight MPs make it on to first Tory leadership ballot as Sajid Javid pulls out of the race – live

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Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat and Nadhim Zahawi garner enough support

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Brexit opportunities minister, and Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, have just told Sky News that they are backing Liz Truss for the Tory leadership.

Rees-Mogg says Truss had been his strongest supporter in cabinet in terms of seeking Brexit opportunities. He went on:

When we discussed taxation, Liz was always opposed to Rishi’s higher taxes. That again is proper Conservatism. And I think she’s got the character to lead the party and the nation.

Liz Truss is the best candidate. She’s a proper Eurosceptic. She will deliver for the voters. She’ll deliver for the voters. She believes in low taxation.

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Government refuses Labour time to debate no-confidence motion

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Labour criticises ‘unprecedented’ refusal to allow debate time for motion of no confidence in Boris Johnson

A bitter row has broken out between Labour and the government over Keir Starmer’s plan to table a motion of no confidence in Boris Johnson’s government.

Labour reacted with fury after Downing Street refused to allow parliamentary time for a motion it had tabled, expressing no confidence in the government under Boris Johnson.

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The Moscow moves: how Mandelson’s firm helped Uber reach Russian elite

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Leak shows how the former Labour minister used his access to pro-Kremlin oligarchs, including some now under sanctions

Even before Uber’s top executives arrived in Davos in January 2016, its bosses were trying to secure invitations to the exclusive party hosted by the billionaire Russian metals magnate Oleg Deripaska. Famous for its free-flowing vodka, the event was an invitation-only, after-hours fixture of the world economic forum, the annual gathering of corporate leaders and politicians in the Swiss Alps.

Fortunately for Uber, it had hired someone who could pull strings. “Put them on list at door,” ordered Peter Mandelson, according to messages in the Uber files data leak.

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Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid become latest Tories to declare leadership bids – UK politics live

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String of candidates announced on Saturday including Kemi Badenoch, Liz Truss, Grant Shapps and Nadhim Zahawi

Tory MP Rehman Chishti has confirmed he is “actively considering” running for leader.

The newly appointed Foreign Office minister retweeted quotes attributed to him by the BBC, stating: “We need leaders who best reflect modern Britain and can provide solutions to the challenges our nation is facing now.”

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Rishi Sunak launches bid to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative leader – live

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Former chancellor says it it time to restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country

More now from the 1922 Committee’s Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who says that while in an “ideal world” deputy PM Dominic Raab would have been made caretaker prime minister after Johnson’s speech yesterday, “that ship has sailed”.

I think in an ideal world, Dominic Raab, as deputy prime minister, should have been the caretaker prime minister, but that ship I think has sailed and we must we must now live with the fact that Boris Johnson will be prime minister until a successor can be voted on.

[Johnson] has said very clearly that he won’t be making any major changes during that period. And I think that is a good thing.

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Starmer ends Labour silence on Brexit as he rules out rejoining single market

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Labour leader says he will rebuild trust with EU and get ‘a better deal for the British people’

Keir Starmer has thrown Labour back into the Brexit debate by ruling out any return to the single market or customs union, but arguing he could remove trade and travel barriers as prime minister because the EU would trust him.

In a speech on Monday evening that ended Labour’s habitual silence on the subject since the referendum, Starmer pledged to tackle what he called a “fatberg of red tape and bureaucracy” caused by Johnson’s Brexit deal.

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Jess Phillips says allegations about MPs should be investigated without formal complaint

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Labour MP wants inquiries into potential sexual misconduct to be possible before a specific victim comes forward

Sexual misconduct allegations about MPs should be investigated without always needing a victim to formally come forward, Jess Phillips, the Labour MP and victims advocate, has said.

Phillips, a shadow Home Office minister, said it was not right that Boris Johnson used the lack of a formal complaint against Chris Pincher as an “excuse” for the Conservative party not to have looked into widespread rumours about his conduct.

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Labour to aim to launch national care service inspired by creation of NHS

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Exclusive: shadow health secretary says service in England would be brought in over several parliaments

Labour will aim to bring in a national care service in England with just as much ambition as the 1945 government that brought in the NHS, the shadow health secretary has said, launching a review of how it would work.

In an interview with the Guardian, Wes Streeting said he had asked the Fabian Society to look at how the service would be funded and structured, with a view to bringing it in over the course of several parliaments.

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Labour accused of ‘silencing’ women in row over sex-based rights group

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Party denies ‘gender-critical’ group’s claims that refusal of a conference stand was a ‘political judgment’

A Labour frontbencher is among a group of MPs and peers calling on the party to reconsider its decision not to hand a presence at its conference to a group campaigning for sex-based rights.

A debate continues to rage within Labour over what approach the party should take on gender issues. Boris Johnson also sought to inflame the issue by suggesting that Labour leader Keir Starmer “struggled to define what a woman was”.

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Starmer allies reject claims leftwingers blocked from standing for Labour

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Party figures understood to have urged leader to rein in acolytes after candidates from left excluded from longlists

Keir Starmer’s allies have rejected claims he is acting to block “anyone to the left of Tony Blair” from standing for the party at the next general election, as his project of reshaping Labour moves to its next stage: parliamentary selections.

Since the swing of more than 12% to Labour in last week’s Wakefield byelection raised the possibility of an outright majority for Starmer at the next general election, the focus on the party’s next wave of MPs has intensified.

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Standards watchdog urges Boris Johnson to appoint new ethics adviser

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Letter from Lord Evans to Angela Rayner says PM must act now to avoid undermining public confidence

The chair of the committee on standards in public life has urged Boris Johnson to appoint a new ethics adviser immediately or risk undermining public confidence in the rules.

Christopher Geidt resigned as the prime minister’s ethics adviser earlier this month, saying he had been put in an “impossible and odious” position by being asked to rubber stamp a plan to maintain steel tariffs.

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Labour must not side with Heathrow staff in pay dispute, says David Lammy

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Shadow foreign secretary says party needs to show it is fit for government by seeking negotiated outcomes over strikes

Labour should categorically refuse to back demands from airline workers for a pay rise of about 10% in order to show it is serious about seeking negotiated outcomes to disputes, David Lammy has said.

The shadow foreign secretary said Labour had to act like a party of government and that responsible governments believed in negotiation and compromise.

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