After losing the Penrith and Solway selection to Mark Jenkinson, Neil Hudson seems determined not to make the same mistake again as he faces Tory members in West Suffolk on Sunday. Guido’s Cumbrian sources tell him Hudson’s decision to continue living in Edinburgh – even as MP for Penrith and the Border on the English side of Hadrian’s Wall – went down badly with his members. Hudson has now set his sights on West Suffolk – a mere 250 miles south of Penrith and 363 miles from his family in Edinburgh – and to make sure he doesn’t repeat his failure to be selected somebody has been cleaning up his Wikipedia page. Who could it be?
Among the deleted history is Hudson’s family life in Edinburgh, and the name of his wife – presumably because poor old Nicola works for the Scottish Parliament. Also deleted are details of Hudson’s controversial selection in Penrith, his Lib Dem brother Grahame, and the time he stood in his local seat, Edinburgh South. All down the memory hole…
Whoever it was who was so keen to clean up Hudson’s past did a poor job of clearing up their own digital tracks. The Soviet-style censor seems to have edited and removed various facts on Hudson’s page … and nothing else. Not everything is so easily deleted, however. Guido has reported before on Hudson’s rebellious streak and unpopularity with his colleagues in Parliament. And then there’s the Commons register of interests, which shows Hudson remains on sabbatical leave from his position as a lecturer at his local university … in Edinburgh. Good luck with the West Suffolk selection tomorrow…
This week 163,177 visitors visited 422,250 times viewing 568,141 pages. The most read and shared stories in order of popularity were:
You’re either in front of Guido, or you are behind…
Wes Streeting has become the latest Labour frontbencher to blast Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ expansion, just hours after the High Court ruled the policy was lawful and Khan vowed to press ahead next month. Sir Keir himself has already advised Khan should “reflect” on the move, and Rachel Reeves yesterday said it wasn’t the time to “clobber” families with the £12.50 charge. Now Streeting has also said in no uncertain terms it’s the wrong move. They all need to sit down together and clear the air…
He told Times Radio:
“My anxiety throughout, which I’ve always voiced privately with Sadiq and his team, rather than criticise him publicly, has been, look, I appreciate what you’re doing, I support the goal of the policy, but the cost is a problem. And if you look at who pays ULEZ it tends to be poorer families. And smaller businesses… I’m afraid that the hard truth is that £12 a day fee cost Labour that by-election. And I think it tells you how up against it people are at the moment in terms of their household finances. And if people can’t afford it, they won’t vote for it.”
That’s three of Labour’s most prominent front benchers all telling their party’s own mayor to U-turn, which admittedly is their solution to everything. In the meantime, the well-remunerated David Lammy was on LBC this afternoon, trying to convince one furious caller – who’s struggling to support his family already – that the ULEZ is somehow necessary to stop his kids “get[ting] ill“. According to the caller, the expansion will cost his family around £200 a month…
The de-banking scandal is drawing together unprecedented new alliances. Now that ‘True and Fair’ Party Leader Gina Miller has revealed her party’s Monzo account was closed unexpectedly earlier this month, the Remainiac-in-Chief is linked arm-in-arm with none other than Nigel Farage in the fight against mysterious bank account closures. Nigel saying he “stands with” Gina Miller isn’t a quote Guido ever expected to see…
This is just plain wrong at every level. I stand with @thatginamiller. https://t.co/cK1GcCRjcE
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 28, 2023
According to the BBC, Monzo explained their rationale:
“…the account wasn’t originally categorised as a political party. After this was identified and corrected, the customer was given notice that the account would be closed. We recognise that this experience will have been frustrating for the customer and we’re sorry for that.”
After years of feuding, finally a consensus is found.
UPDATE: Gina responds…
Thank you
— Gina Miller (@thatginamiller) July 28, 2023
The enemy of my enemy is my friend…
Sadiq Khan has praised the High Court’s ruling that his ULEZ expansion is lawful, and vowed to push ahead with the “hard decision” next month despite the growing opposition within Labour circles. He told Sky News this afternoon:
“It was a hard decision for me to make to expand the ULEZ. I welcome the decision from the High Court today, because it means we can go head on the 29th August and expand it so those in outer London, who breathe the worst air, five million Londoners… for me clean air isn’t a privilege, it’s a human right. Nobody would accept dirty water, why dirty air?”
Of course that doesn’t mean he’s particularly worried about the air pollution on the tube, which is far worse. He has at least announced an expansion of the ULEZ scrappage scheme to Londoners on Child Benefit. Whether that’s good enough for Rachel Reeves – who yesterday said now isn’t the time to “clobber” London with the expansion – is another question…
Entries in the comments…
