Braintree Conservatives spent the weekend campaigning against the construction of a ‘mega prison’ at RAF Wethersfield, with constituency MP James Cleverly spotted sharing the below leaflet yesterday:
“Only the Conservatives say no to a prison at Wethersfield“… apart from the Leader of the Conservative Party. Just six weeks ago, Kemi Badenoch called for just that. Here’s what she said about that exact site on 30 June…
“I know many people in the area did not necessarily want a prison, but the people in the surrounding area of Essex did want one and we have to do the right thing… We need more prison places. I stood on a manifesto to deliver that.”
Tanks on the lawn…
Labour’s extension of the “deport now, appeal later” scheme would only apply to 1.6% of small boat migrants and a tiny number of Foreign National Offenders. A potemkin move…
The government announced to much fanfare last night that the “scheme will be nearly trebled from eight countries to 23, with foreign nationals from those countries (listed below) now expected to be deported to their home countries before they can appeal against that decision.” This is in order to reduce the Foreign National Offender (FNO) prison population which it the highest it has ever been at 12%. The scheme was started by the Tories and had a few countries including Albania on it. Wait till you see the countries added: Angola, Australia, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Uganda and Zambia…
There will be a deterrent effect but anyone familiar with the FNO figures will know that these additions will make next to no impact to the existing prison population as of July: “The most common nationalities after British Nationals in prisons are Albanian (11% of the FNO prison population), Polish (7%), Romanian (7%), Irish (7%) and Lithuanian (3%).” The government naturally refuses to publish a more detailed breakdown…
The government says “foreign nationals who have had their human rights claim refused will be removed from the UK to their home country before they can appeal the decision.” The number of people crossing by small boat illegally since 2018 who would be covered by this extension number number 2,449 of a total 147,820. Guido makes that 1.66%…
Labour says it wants to add more countries to the scheme. It better hope that it does…
The Guardian has run an entirely uncritical interview of Tulip Siddiq on the day that her trial begins in Bangladesh. She’s making the same points as usual…
The ex-corruption minister said she had no intention of turning up: “I’m yet to see an official summons … I mean, I’m supposedly days away from a showcase trial in a foreign country, and I still don’t know what the charges are against me. I feel a bit like I’m trapped in this Kafkaesque nightmare where I’ve been put on trial and I genuinely haven’t found out what the allegations are and what the trial is about.” As prominent journalist writing on Bangladesh David Bergman points out, if Siddiq had any intention of interacting in good faith with the legal process there she could have appointed a solicitor in Bangladesh to represent her interests. She has not done so and continues to claim to be oblivious to everything…
She blamed the memory of her “elderly parents” for her apparent failure to realise that a flat in King’s Cross had actually been gifted to her by an Awami-League-linked developer. She also refused to distance herself from ousted dictator Sheikh Hasina: “I’m not here to defend my aunt… I know there’s an investigation going on about how her term in government ended. And I really hope the people of Bangladesh get the closure that they want.” Guido has extensively covered the Awami League’s proximity to the Labour party and Tulip in recent years. Siddiq remained silent as the UN accused her aunt’s regime of killing children…
Siddiq maintains she is “collateral damage” in a political dispute between Hasina and Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus. She was formally indicted in Dhaka last week and the trial – which relates to alleged impropriety in new land allocation – is set to begin today. Tulip has always denied wrongdoing. Siddiq’s lawyers have said in a statement: “For nearly a year, the Bangladesh authorities have been making false allegations against Tulip Siddiq. Ms Siddiq has not been contacted or received any official communication from the court and does not and has never owned any land in Purbachal.” The trial begins today.
This week 701,253 visitors visited 810,256 times viewing 862,334 pages. The most read and shared stories in order of popularity were:
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You’re either in front of Guido, or you are behind…
Former North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll looks to have abandoned the far-left splinter party he set up just a few months ago. Oh no! Anyway…
In the “Who we are” section of the new Your Party Corbyn/Sultana website it is explained: “For donation processing, MoU Operations Ltd (Company number 16359847) acts as the data controller. MoU Operations Ltd is responsible for collecting and processing personal data associated with donations made via this website and any related financial transactions.” Jamie Driscoll is one of the three directors of MOU Operations Ltd…
So Driscoll is the data controller for Corbyn’s new operation. Interesting seeing as he set up a party of his own in December of 2024 with some fanfare – it even fielded a candidate in the locals. The “Majority” party is also fully registered with the Electoral Commission – something that can’t be said for Corbyn’s outfit. Driscoll can presumably help with that now he’s parked his own nascent party…
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.”
