As Guido was promised, farmers are back in Whitehall, with around 300 farmers driving in their tractors to protest against Labour’s family farm death tax. Last month over 13,000 farmers across the country, some who’d never even been to London before, took to the streets. Labour didn’t listen then, though they’re promising to protest until they do…
Nigel Farage once again joined the farmers as hundreds of tractors gear up to plough through Parliament Square right after PMQs. One protest organiser from Kent Fairness For Farmers warned:
“We need to show this government that we will not be pushed over and have our farms destroyed! This is war and we will win and force the government into a U-turn.”
Watch live as hundreds of tractors are expected to descend on Westminster in an “RIP British Farming” protesthttps://t.co/5CMk0k8RBb
— PA Media (@PA) December 11, 2024
So far some of the slogans rolling throughout Whitehall are:
- “This is the last straw”.
- “Reaper Reeves will decimate family farms”
- “Starmer the farmer harmer.”
- “RIP British farming.”
- “Support your local farmer not Reeves and Starmer.”
- “Save British farming.”
Meanwhile, DEFRA haven’t even done an impact assessment on the tax, while the Treasury’s estimate that only 500 farms will be affected were based on old figures and only accounted for one half of the capped threshold. Guido suspects this won’t be the last protest against the tractor tax…
Labour has once again proved it has the comedic sensibilities of a wet blanket, with an internal complaint filed against Health Secretary Wes Streeting over jokes he made at the Spectator Awards dinner last week. Streeting quipped about a “spate of bike thefts around Westminster lately. Police urge vigilance,” as an image of convicted fraudster Louise Haigh cycling appeared on screen. He followed up with, “No, seriously, I love Louise, and I’m going to call her tomorrow on one of her phones.” Proof that at least one Labour MP can crack a decent joke…
Naturally, the humourless Labour officials weren’t amused. Complaints have rolled in, accusing Streeting of “bullying,” “defamation/libel,” and of course “uncomradely behaviour.” The official complaint argues that Streeting’s remarks falls within Labour’s bullying and harassment policy, which covers “derogatory remarks, jokes, insults, offensive language, gossip and slander”. Perhaps Streeting should join the Free Speech Union…
Ironically, Louise Haigh herself isn’t unknown to tease her own colleagues, joking this summer about Ed Miliband’s infamous sandwich photo in reference to complaints about food catering on trains: “Reader, it was @Ed_Miliband I blocked.” Every joke is a tiny revolution…
After Starmer’s reset – his 19th so far – Guido thought it might be useful for co-conspirators to have a visualisation of the PM’s clear and bold plan for government. Hope that clears things up…
Starmer has just finished delivering yet another change of plan, marking the 19th time he’s relaunched himself since becoming Labour leader in 2020. Guido gives you a list of all the rebrands he’s done so far…
- September 2020: Starmer used a ‘new leadership’ slogan to try and relaunch his leadership.
- January 2021: Starmer used another speech to launch the slogan ‘Secure, Protect, Rebuild’
- February 2021: Starmer launched his ‘New Chapter for Britain’ with a ‘policy blitz’.
- June 2021: Labour changed slogan to ‘Stronger Together’.
- September 2021: Starmer wrote a 14,000 word ‘mission statement’ with no new policies in an attempt to ‘reset’ his leadership.
- December 2021: Starmer claimed that after a year and a half of leadership, he would be setting out his ‘ideas’ to ‘build a new Britain’ throughout 2022.
- January 2022: A year after ‘secure, protect, rebuild’, Starmer reset his leadership with a ‘security, prosperity, respect’ slogan.
- April 2022: Starmer relaunched his leadership with a new slogan, ‘On your side’.
- June 2022: Labour confirmed another ‘policy blitz’ after their failed ‘blitz’ in 2021.
- January 2023: Starmer used a speech to reset his leadership and pitch himself as the ‘candidate of optimism.’
- February 2023: Starmer set out his own Five Missions for Britain.
- March 2023: Starmer launched his local elections campaign with his twelfth slogan: ‘Build a better Britain’.
- May 2023: Starmer set out his plan to reform the Labour Party, going ‘further and deeper than New Labour’s rewriting of clause iv’.
- October 2023: Starmer changed his Five Missions for Britain – ditching his commitment to the highest growth in the G7 to ‘get Britain building again’.
- January 2024: Starmer used his new year speech to pitch the general election as a chance to ‘turn the page, lift the weight off our shoulders, unite as a country, and get out future back’.
- May 2024: Starmer relaunched Tony Blair’s 1997-style pledge card.
- July 2024: Starmer changed Labour’s primary mission again to ‘securing economic growth’.
- October 2024: Starmer was forced into relaunching his Number 10 operation following the resignation of Sue Gray.
- December 2024: Starmer delivers his “Plan for Change”.
How many resets will Starmer get to by 2029?
The number of companies fleeing the London Stock Exchange has soared to its highest level in 14 years – when Labour was last in government – as the UK’s investment appeal continues to tumble. A staggering 45 companies have de-listed so far this year, the most since 2010, according to Bloomberg data. Meanwhile, confidence in the UK’s business climate has plunged to its lowest point since December 2022, with employment dipping for the second month in a row…
The London Stock Exchange is no longer a draw for major players, with Labour’s high tax, high regulatory environment turning away big business. Revolut’s CEO, Nikolay Storonsky, bluntly declared this week that listing in London is “not rational”. Investors are voting with their feet…
Before the election, Keir Starmer was optimistically sold to the public as “Blair without the flair.” A moniker he likely welcomed, given Blair’s historic landslide and decade-long premiership. Though while Starmer certainly lacks the flair, he’s also proving he’s no Blair either…
Guido happened upon an intriguing nugget from Charles Moore in The Telegraph, recounting a moment when David Blunkett, then shadow education secretary, briefed a paper about Labour’s plan to slap VAT on private school fees. According to Alastair Campbell’s diaries at the turn of 1994-5, Blair went “berserk”:
“Are you telling me,” said Tony, “that one of our own people has done an interview and… we are going into the New Year with a story about Labour taxing people to educate their children?…Do we care about what a few activists think, or do we care about what millions of people think? Will we ever get serious?”
Fast forward to today, and Blair’s words might as well be aimed directly at his successor. Moore gathers Blair has “strong views on the matter,” while Blair says he speaks to Starmer “frequently”. Meanwhile, a source close to Blair recently offered a scathing summary of Starmer’s government: “a bunch of librarians and academics in charge of a government.” Blair could remind Keir this isn’t the “modernisation” people voted for…
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.”
