February remained frosty for Starmer, with the month kicking off with VoiceCoachGate. Starmer was revealed to have met his personal voice coach Leonie Mellinger in person on Christmas Eve 2020, during Tier 4 lockdown… despite her claiming she was only working remotely at the time. Guido also revealed that Starmer had founded and run a death-penalty charity with Mellinger’s husband. When asked whether he followed all Covid rules, Starmer refused to say yes…
For Labour, one scandal per month is never enough: Guido exposed yet another Labour cabinet minister whose CV didn’t quite match reality. Then-Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds wasn’t actually a solicitor, despite having claimed the title in Parliament. He was only ever a trainee. He quietly edited his LinkedIn page and eventually corrected the record a month later…
Then came Rachel Reeves, who found herself in an unflattering BBC story alleging she’d once been caught up in an HBOS expenses probe featuring eyebrow-raising claims like handbags and perfume. Her spokesman denied any controversy. Which always inspires confidence…
Starmer rounded off the month by announcing defence spending would rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, funded by slicing foreign aid from 0.5% to 0.3%. Leftie Labour MPs howled accordingly. Anneliese Dodds even resigned as International Development Minister in protest. Guido helpfully provided a long list of where Labour could start cutting wasteful spending…
Speaking of spending, Pat McFadden boldly declared he’d “freeze” all taxpayer credit cards. Co-conspirators will have noticed that didn’t happen “immediately”. Spending actually rose across the Home Office, the Cabinet Office, and most other departments…
In the States, Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s first trip to Washington since Trump returned to power took an ugly turn. Their confrontation in the Oval Office would become one of the most notorious political catfights of the year, with all of it unravelling in front of the world’s press. They’d patch things up, at least publicly, in the months ahead. But with no real progress on the ground…
Over in Toryland, Kemi Badenoch summoned her CCHQ staff for a pep talk after 100 days in LOTO. Her message was clear: “pull your weight or leave”. Staff were reminded they had exactly “two jobs: campaigning and fundraising. If you’re not doing something to make either of those happen, you’re not doing your job right”. The ‘come to Jesus’ moment upset a few staff. Another wave of redundancies rolled in…
Meanwhile Reform hit first place in a YouGov poll for the first time. And they’ve pretty much stayed there since…
Honourable Mentions:
Headline of the Month:
IN FULL: Labour’s Long List of Sleaze and Scandal Since Coming to Office
Reform MP Danny Kruger welcomed adult film star Bonnie Blue’s support for the party, adding:
“I’m not going to be judgemental about people who want to vote Reform. We want all the support we can get – quite like Bonnie Blue.”