Net Zero zealot Ed Miliband’s eco-obsessed targets are set to ignite a housing market “frenzy,” experts warn, driving up prices and creating a dire shortage of homes. Labour’s green blueprint prioritises properties “wired” for smart tech or fitted with pricey heat pumps, just as the government plots a contentious overhaul of energy performance certificates (EPCs) by 2030. Leaving landlords scrambling to sell up before coughing up…
Ryan Etchells of a buy-to-let lender Together, cautioned that government policies had already drained landlord investment, and Miliband’s latest plans will plunge the sector further into darkness, saying “if we’re not careful it could become a frenzy.” Meanwhile, Angela Rayner’s planned overhaul of Thatcher’s Right to Buy scheme is set to pull the plug on half a million council tenants’ homeownership dreams. So much for Labour being the ‘party of more housing’…
While Siddiq was being ejected from government late yesterday another Labour MP landed himself in hot water. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards published his report into Clive Lewis’ involvement with Jolyon’s Good Law Project. In a 52-page report he concludes Lewis broke clear parliamentary rules…
Last year the Good Law Project teamed up with MPs Lewis, Layla Moran, and Caroline Lucas to try to bring legal action against the Charity Commission for its handling of their previous campaigns against the Global Warming Policy Foundation and Institute of Economic Affairs. Another hare-brained scheme for which the GLP solicited donations from its supporters…
The problem is that only Moran registered, as per the Category 8 rules, the “funds established to defray legal costs arising out of the Member’s work, including ‘crowdfunded’ legal funds for action to which the Member is a party.” Lewis claims he was not aware that the GLP would fund the litigation along with an array of other excuses, including that he was ignored in communications from Jolyon’s outfit. The commissioner concludes “that there has been a breach of Rule 5 as the Crowdfunder detailed above should have been registered in the Register of Member’s Financial Interests.” Lewis gets a slap on the wrist…
As per procedure Lewis has had to send an email back apologising. The whole exchange of letters makes for entertaining reading. Even the most progressive MPs might think twice before signing themselves onto Jolyon’s next mad project after this…
More in Common has Reform taking two points from the Tories and Labour to reach (almost) a perfect three-way split. Well within the margin of error to be sure…
Suella Braverman said on LBC yesterday that “if there is alignment between the Conservatives and the Reform Party at the time of the next election, if it means stopping another five years of Labour, I would support it.” Reform’s response? “There will be no deal.”
On the Today Programme this morning Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones crystallised much of yesterday evening’s spin from Labour types on Tulip Siddiq’s resignation. Damage control in full deployment…
Laurie Magnus’ soft-touch “fact-finding exercise” blamed Siddiq for not anticipating optical problems with her taking the anti-corruption brief. Over a tetchy enough five minutes of questions from Justin Webb the takeaways from Jones are:
Labour will be hoping this will all go away now. Events in Bangladesh and closer to home may prevent that…
Starmer is facing a wave of outrage over plans to scrap parts of the Tories’ 2023 Northern Ireland Troubles Act that banned Gerry Adams and 400 other IRA suspects detained in the 1970s from claiming compensation. Meaning taxpayers’ money could end up in the pockets of the former Sinn Fein leader and hundreds of IRA-linked figures…
Last night Policy Exchange published a damning report from 16 peers including former Labour security minister Lord West, and former DPP Lord MacDonald pushing for Labour to reconsider its decision. Unsurprisingly IRA victims have slammed the move as “unacceptable”, pointing out that “considering the IRA victims have not received any compensation, how could Gerry Adams get compensation?” Eyebrows have also been raised over the fact that Labour’s Attorney General Lord Hermer represented Gerry Adams in a damages claim back in 2023. Meanwhile ‘human rights lawyer’ Starmer still refuses to hold a public inquiry into rape gangs…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”