The Sun reported this week that a breakaway police officer group called the National Police Association wants to open the door to strikes after having “launched a legal challenge to the law which stops officers unionising.” This was denied furiously by the NPA, which said it is a “the mistaken belief that our mission and legal challenge exists to ‘open the door to strikes”…
The NPA was founded last year by ex-Police Federation officials and is led by Lee Broadbent, who used to chair the Greater Manchester branch of that organisation. Broadbent has been quite vocal in the past about one thing: giving police the right to strike:
- July 2025: “As part of the legal advice, I did ask for advice on the right to take industrial action in some forms and received advice back on that. And, both sets of the advice under the Article 11 and obviously the right to take industrial action, right to strike, didn’t close the door on the argument. There were avenues that could be pursued.”
- July 2025: “we have the choice to make. Do we resolve the one argument that we have, end the monopoly, break the monopoly that the Federation hold, completely revolutionise the way that police officers are represented in this country, allow us to form our own union and organisation, and then should we want to visit the question of the right to take industrial action and the right to strike, then we start building a war chest as a new union association? And we might have that fight down the line.”
- December 2025: Reposts cartoon showing ‘right to strike’ on police officer’s wish list.
- July 2025: “Arguably, where [sic] we to pursue a right to strike or take industrial action, that [crown] status may change, but that’s not what this challenge is about. This challenge is about creating change/choice in who has the privilege of representing police officers.”
- February 2023: “I think the conversation around changing strike legislation (safe staffing levels) presents an opening we could exploit… starting that conversation and applying pressure would be a meaningful step.”
Another NPA founder Steve Hartshorn told the BBC in 2023 that giving police a right to strike is “a potential we have to look at, yes.” Striking police officers are exactly the kind of headache to come in under a Labour government…
Both Labour and the Greens are out canvassing hard in Gorton & Denton with Muslim voters. They are mobilising on the Gaza issue…
Labour candidate Angeliki Stogia has been joined by Lucy Powell and backbench MP Afzal Khan at local mosques today. Party activists are distributing a letter from Khan which says the following:
“Assalamualaikum,
As we enter the blessed month of Ramadan we must come together. We must not let those who seek to divide us win and use our community for political gain.
My thoughts are never far from those whose lives have been upended by conflict, particularly our brothers and sisters in Gaza.
Labour’s priorities are to ensure the ceasefire is upheld, get aid into Gaza, and support rebuilding. We took the historic step of recognising the State of Palestine and we will never stop working for lasting peace and a two-state solution. Only Labour is serious about delivering for our community. A vote for the Greens will let Reform and their racist policies win. Vote Labour for unity, not division.”
The Greens – Polanski and candidate Hannah Spencer are also in town – have meanwhile targeted 14 local mosques and are distributing Ramadan cards of their own. Guido has seen the notes for activists:
“A warm and joyful greeting of “As-salaamu alaykum” and “Ramadan Mubarak” when handing over the card is essential.
When someone accepts a leaflet, saying “JazakAllah” (thank you) is respectful and appreciated.
Wearing a keffiyeh is always a bonus.
Wrap up warm — it’s a two-hour shift.
A happy, respectful canvasser is always the best kind.
Mosque leads will be paired with volunteers at HQ.
High street and supermarket visits are also available for Ramadan card distribution to the public.”
A constituency-level poll from Omnisis, whose methodology has been heavily criticised by Labour and some other pollsters online, has the Greens leading on 22% versus Reform on 20% and Labour in third on 18%. 31% are undecided. It’s all to play for…
Latest ONS figures show average UK house prices decreased by 0.7% between November 2025 and December 2025, compared with a decrease of 0.2% in the same period 12 months ago. House prices in inner London boroughs declined on average by 4.6% during 2025. The biggest annual drop since 2008…
Unsold homes are piling up in London, with Zoopla reporting 14% more properties than a year ago. In parts of London, 15% of homes for sale have already had price cuts. Last year, London homes took 72 days to find a buyer, with houses taking on average 63 days to go under offer and flats 85 days, according to Hamptons. One in three sales still fell through…
Higher mortgage rates have curtailed affordability, along with Reeves’ mansion tax imposed in the last Budget – where owners of homes worth more than £2 million will have to pay an additional “high value council tax surcharge”. Labour’s stamp duty changes, raising costs on foreign buyers while cutting thresholds, have also crushed confidence. In April 2025, the nil-rate Stamp Duty threshold was cut from £425,000 to £300,000, with relief lost entirely for properties worth more than £500,000 – dragging nearly 37,000 first-time buyers into paying stamp duty in 2024/25. London’s housing market hitting a brick wall…
Labour is carping on about the large tax intake reported by the ONS this morning – a large quantity of which derives from a mass asset sell-off. This is the month of the self-assessment tax return…
Exchequer revenue was £30.4 billion higher than public spending last month which is the largest surplus since records began back in 1993. Partially driven by lower debt interest payments, National Insurance revenue is also up 15% year on year. A rise dwarfed by that of Capital Gains Tax revenue…
CGT revenue is up a whopping 42% on the 23/24 tax year, up to £17 billion. This is entirely thanks to pre-Budget speculation as to which taxes Reeves would raise and the extent to which CGT would be hiked, which it was. Needless to say that’s one-off revenue which ain’t recurring…
Entries in the comments…
Starmer was read out a list of his 13 U-turns on BBC Radio 2, to which he responded:
“Well, I am a common sense merchant.”
