Oliver Dowden posed a straightforward question to Reeves in the Commons just now: “how will she fund the £9 billion Chagos deal – through higher taxes, more borrowing, or spending cuts?” Reeves spluttered:
“Uh…we are in discussions with the new uh Administration in the United States regarding the future of Diego Garcia, and we’ll outline the details in the spending review, as you would expect.”
Meanwhile, arch-surrenderer David Lammy has resorted to last-minute pleas to Donald Trump to approve the giveaway, despite growing opposition from US Senators and officials. As Reeves heads to Davos in a bid to reassure business leaders rattled by her budget bombshell, she’ll want to a find more convincing explanation for why taxpayer money is being spent to hand over the UK territory to China-aligned Mauritius. She’ll struggle to find one…
Labour’s hypocrisy is on full display yet again. During the election, they remained relatively quiet about Tory plans to cut disability benefits, which included slashing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) by £400 for new applicants by 2029 and reforming to the “fit for work” test (Work Capability Assessment). Plans that the high court has since ruled “unlawful”…
Now, with Rachel Reeves backed into a corner by her bombshell budget, Labour are rolling out the pitch to further welfare cuts, suggesting the planned disability benefits overhaul will be “delivered.” Another U-turn in the making…
Guido dug into the archives and found Reeves was singing a very different tune when she was Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Back when Theresa May proposed disability benefit cuts – swapping out the disability living allowance with the current PIP scheme that tightened eligibility criteria – Reeves was all over Twitter condemning the “disgraceful” plans. Labour’s now preparing to further cut May’s benefit overhaul – a move that Reeves so happily bashed at the time…
She proudly promoted Labour’s 2015 manifesto as the “#DisabilityManifesto,” standing firmly against any cuts. She even wrote to then-Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, slamming the proposed changes as “hugely damaging” to disabled people and their carers. She demanded transparency, declaring, “The public have a right to know what your plans are.” Fast forward, and those words are just as relevant now. Labour backbenchers will no doubt be seething at yet more party promises broken. The blame lies squarely with Reeves…
The lifeless corpse of Labour’s much vaunted Chagos giveaway is effectively dead now that President Trump is in the White House. But veteran international negotiator David Lammy is not giving up…
The foreign secretary is telling officials that he can personally intervene and convince President Trump that the agreement is still a good idea, according to sources with knowledge of the government’s plans. The UK Government has communicated that plan to Mauritius via diplomatic channels, assuring the Mauritians that Lammy’s personal capital with Trump will still swing it. The US administration is understood to have placed any approval of the UK deal on pause so that President Trump can study the details. Trump team sources tell Guido that the President is in the process of receiving national security briefings which will touch on the issue. Meanwhile, a growing number of US Senators and administration officials are publicly turning against the deal…
In Port Louis, Mauritius is simply playing for time and has instructed its ministers to renegotiate the deal again, now that there is a new US administration in place. It suits Mauritius as a domestic play to keep bidding up the price and changing the terms in its favour, even if the deal never happens…
Co-conspirators would be forgiven for wondering what magic Lammy will bring to the flailing process. He is on the record, after all, calling President Trump a “KKK/neo-Nazi sympathiser”…
Trump hit the ground running on his first day back in the Oval Office, wasting no time in signing off a flurry of executive orders yesterday to Make America Great Again, again. Supporters rallied with chants of “USA, USA!” as he moved swiftly to pardon over 1,000 individuals charged in connection with the 6 January Capitol riots and commuted the sentences of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders. Here is a (long) list of the key orders:
Meanwhile, Starmer’s first 100 days delivered nothing but a record slump in popularity. Brits can only dream of such efficiency…
Andy Burnham has criticised Reeves this morning for planning to approve at third runway at Heathrow in her Mansion House speech. A second runway at Gatwick and expanded capacity at Luton are also expected to be announced…
Burnham attacked the plans for trapping “knock-on infrastructure investment in London and the south-east” and used curiously Borisian language: “It’s a model for an ever overheating UK economy rather than a more balanced, levelled up economy, which is what we would argue for.” Burnham has long used his mayoralty to set himself apart from Labour’s Westminster leadership…
“I would ask the government to pause on this one to talk to northern MPs, talk to northern mayors, and come up with a plan that if it goes ahead, we can demonstrate that it’s not at the expense of essential investment in northern infrastructure.”
The mayor was quick recently to defy Starmer in calling for a full inquiry into rape gangs. Talking to Times Radio he also came close to criticising Downing Street’s handling of Southport: “Just because people are shouting for information doesn’t mean you can just throw information out in the public domain. But perhaps more of a balance needs to be struck.” Burnham has long eyed the Labour leadership. His opportunity may come sooner than he was expecting at the last election…
Last week the Speaker closed Strangers Bar in Parliament after a spiking incident and subsequent Met Police investigation. This was “while security and safety arrangements are reviewed.” Changes are already taking place…
After there were considerations around putting CCTV in the bar Guido can report evaluation work has already started on fitting cameras inside. The builders are in…
CCTV has been the main ask of concerned parliamentarians since the spiking incident because authorities initially claimed they would be unable to investigate without camera footage. Guido is also told maintenance staff are looking at fitting access restrictions from the terrace side to the bar. A heightened security presence for some time would not be surprising either…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”