Keir Starmer and David Lammy’s lack of competence on foreign policy has been exposed over the Chagos giveaway – currently being slammed by all sides in the Commons. Labour insiders are now raising the alarm about other brewing global controversies they foresee coming down the track. One issue is elections due in Kurdistan at the end of the month. Starmer and Lammy would ordinarily be expected to take a balanced position, in favour of UK interests…

Weirdly, though, a party in the region which has been described as having ‘strong ties to the Iranian government’ has an unusually close relationship with Starmer’s Labour. Bafel Jalal Talabani – reportedly a UK citizen – is challenging the incumbent Kurdish administration. His office praised Starmer on his election: “Congratulations to PM Keir Starmer, the newly elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I also would like to congratulate the Labour Party on the victory in this election.” Multiple Labour and security sources say PUK officials are in regular contact with Labour officials, and attendees with PUK connections were spotted at the party’s annual conference in Liverpool…

The PUK has some questionable links. Just last month the party welcomed Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian President, on a visit to Kurdistan. BBC Monitoring submitted evidence to Parliament: ‘The PUK is open about its own strong ties to the Iranian government’. And the PUK mourned the death of Hezbollah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah last month, with a post referring to it as a ‘martyrdom’ (Hezbollah is a proscribed organisation in the UK). Is this the next Labour foreign policy scandal about to blow up?

Ongoing scandal is blighting the start of Labour’s conference in Liverpool, and the historical examples of embattled Labour ministers crowing about the Tories are coming thick and fast. The scandal is also running one of Labour’s major policy ideas into the rocks… 

New York tourist Angela Rayner’s main campaign in the run up to the General Election was that a new Labour administration would overhaul the standards system. She said in a speech to the Institute for Government in November 2021:

“Under the next Labour government the rules will be strengthened. Enforcement will be toughened up, independent of political control.  Labour’s new Independent Ethics & Integrity Commission will oversee and enforce standards in Government, ending the current situation in which the Prime Minister is the judge and jury on every case of ministerial misconduct. We will create a new, genuinely independent Ethics and Integrity Commission.”

Labour has made little progress on the Commission since it was elected. In an update to the Commons in July, Pat McFadden said:

“It is important to restore confidence in Government and public life, and to ensure the best possible standards. This was an important manifesto commitment. We will establish a new independent ethics and integrity commission, with its own independent chair, to ensure the highest possible standards. Work has begun on that, and I will keep the House up to date as it develops.”

Civil service insiders are now wondering how Labour can dismantle the current standards system and replace it with a new Commission, given the current heat. A number of sources looking at the proposals tell Guido that it will be near impossible to take forward given the current situation. Looks like Rayner will not get her political court after all…

Guido has uncovered the threat of mass of US-style class action lawsuits under Labour, thanks in part to measures included in Angela Rayner’s ‘Plan to Make Work Pay’, targeting job creators and high street businesses (making it easier to sue them on political grounds). Labour’s extensive links to the lefty lawfare industry are unravelling…

Word is spreading as councils and companies face ever-increasing legal demands – and a recent appointment by Starmer won’t calm nerves. On Thursday, Sir Keir promoted Catherine Smith KC to one of the highest legal positions in the land: Advocate General for Scotland. Smith is Labour royalty: not only is she the daughter of former Labour leader John Smith (a red princess to match Labour’s collection of red princes), but she is yet another experienced claimant lawyer, specialising in “personal injury, clinical negligence and judicial review cases.” A speciality which often means clobbering employers and businesses with expensive legal action…

Starmer has once again promoted a claimant lawyer to a top role. Packing the place with lefty activist lawyers, no wonder UK firms think the shine is coming off Labour’s attempt to woo business…

Starmer has generally made a decent effort at holding back the nuts pro-Kremlin wing of his own party – and has so far navigated an apparently supportive policy on Ukraine. Over the weekend, however, Volodymyr Zelensky swiped hard at Starmer – saying British support was “slowing down”…

The Ukranian leader said:

“Unfortunately, the situation has slowed down recently… we will discuss how to fix this because long-range capabilities are vital for us. The whole world sees how effective Ukrainians are – how our entire nation defends its independence…”

Starmer has refused to allow UK manufactured Storm Shadow missiles (with a range of 190 miles) to be used inside Russian territory for offensive purposes during the latest series of Ukrainian incursions. UK kit like the Challenger 2 tank has, however, been used on Russian soil…

In order to unlock the use of the decisive weaponry, both the UK, France and the US must sign off on the plan. The White House yesterday denied reports that the US was blocking an ask from the UK for the use of the missiles to be approved, saying no such request had been made. So Starmer has not picked up the phone to Biden about it – why the delay?

Could an SW1 staple on Wilfred Street be the latest victim of the decolonisation woke agenda? Popular pub The Colonies has been spruced up recently… but reopened under the new (less flavoursome) name The Pineapple. Despite its homage to colonial Africa and imperial theme, the watering hole was a particular favourite of right on Home Office civil servants, not to mention CCHQ staff…

It’s not all bad news though for culture warriors and history warriors – the name change is just a throwback to the pub’s previous incarnation – the original tavern on the site was named The Pineapple as far back as 1809. As the Campaign for Real Ale notes:

“Named the Pineapple until 1974 and refurbished ten years later to reflect an African colonial theme, this comfortable, split level pub has an extensive back courtyard garden leading to Castle Street. Some interesting prints are displayed on the panelled walls.”

Guido’s looking forward to the new menu, and catching up with some civil servants from 4 p.m. onwards…

As Rachel Reeves announced the government would be removing the winter fuel payment upsetting millions of pensioners, a measure punishing owners of traditional holiday lets in rural and coastal communities slipped by without as much notice. The abolition of the furnished holiday lettings tax regime was first announced by Jeremy Hunt in the pre-election budget – he claimed it was being abused by ultra-wealthy second home owners. But the plans were blasted by the operators of modest businesses and other small business lets, which are the bedrock of the UK staycation industry…
Now Labour has confirmed plans will still go ahead and HMT expects to raise £245 million a year in revenue from the change. Labour’s revival of the policy will surprise nobody – except those who thought they might offer a different set of fiscal policies to the Conservatives. Perhaps the Tories should focus on finding a new leader who believes in cutting tax, rather than just giving Labour a free pass to remove tax-breaks…