Andy Burnham has joined the Labour revolt against Shabana Mahmood’s immigration plans. Hitting out at the idea refugees should wait 20 years for permanent residency, he told the Today Programme:
“I do have a concern about leaving people without the ability to settle…And it also may leave people in a sense of limbo and unable to integrate…What I would say is, it’s really important, on the back of the measures that she’s announced, that there is a considered debate.”
He then went on to promote his record on “leadership on growth” as Greater Manchester Mayor and what he thinks he could bring to Westminster, adding:
“I’m providing leadership on growth, which is what I think the country needs and is helpful to the Government right now, and we’re doing this in advance of the Budget. I hope to really bring to life the growth story for the Government… I think part of the country’s problem is the political culture of Westminster, which is playing out in front of us right now. In Greater Manchester, we’ve built a new economy and a new way of doing politics and more of that is what the country needs.”
The King of the North also thanked Labour MP Clive Lewis for his “support” after Lewis suggested he’d give up his seat for him – an offer he later backtracked on. As Guido has noted before, Labour’s National Executive Committee remains determined to block Burnham’s early return to Westminster. He’s not the only one Starmer’s trying to fend off…
Bridget Phillipson has been sitting on the EHRC’s final guidance on single-sex spaces for almost three months. Another Labour meltdown incoming…
Civil servants say Labour ministers are withholding the publication of the guidance. According to the Times the guidance, which has clarified procedures for venues post-Supreme Court ruling, tells them to challenge trans people on what loos they should use “based on how they look, their behaviour or concerns raised by others.” Also that there is a “a legitimate aim” when it comes to loos in “ensuring the safety of women or the privacy and dignity of women and/or men”…
The guidance says that trans people should be offered alternative facilities but:
“It may be that offering alternative arrangements is not reasonably possible […] this may be because of the type of service being provided, the needs of the service users, the physical constraints of any building, or because of the disproportionate financial costs associated with making those arrangements.”
The government claims “we are working quickly to review it with the care it deserves.” At this point Bridget has mastered the art of delaying guidance on anything to do with trans issues…
BBC journalists are moving on to pastures identical after its Head of News and Director-General were forced to resign over accusations of the corporation’s left-wing bias. They’re now working on a nationwide story to whinge about people flying Union Jacks…
BBC Breakfast and BBC News at One hacks have fired off a mass email to every regional outpost today asking colleagues to find material on council workers being ‘abused’ for taking down flags in their area. Should make for gripping TV…
As Guido reported, Essex Council have already offered support to staff feeling “unsettled” by the very sight of a St George’s flag. Wonder if the BBC will flag that…
It is one week before the Winter Budget in which Reeves will hammer the economy once again with a smorgasbord of manifesto-breaking tax rises. Something she promised last time she would never do again…
Politicians like Reeves cannot be trusted with voters’ cash, and neither can their promises with regard to tax. This is why Guido is today launching the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a written guarantee to those voters…
The pledge binds each elected official to the following promise:
“I believe that Britain is heavily over-taxed. I will oppose new taxes and increases in existing tax rates which raise the overall tax burden and work to bring it down in the future. I support, where possible and fiscally prudent, the repeal of existing taxes and cutting tax rates and will work toward this aim.”
Guido will be running this project for the foreseeable future and into the next election. MPs and elected officials who wish to sign the pledge can inform Guido of this at team@order-order.com…
The pledge can be downloaded for printing and physical signing here:
Numerous politicians have signed on to the pledge on launch, including Badenoch and a large part of the Shadow Cabinet, Reform’s Deputy Leader Richard Tice, and party Chief Whip Lee Anderson. The pledge extends to mayors and councillors – Tory mayor Ben Houchen and Reform’s Andrea Jenkyns have signed on…
The pledge database:
The pledge is non-partisan and Guido invites politicians of all parties to make the commitment. Woe betide those who break it…
The broadcasting watchdog-turned online sheriff Ofcom has declared it has “sovereign immunity” from a lawsuit filed by US-based site 4chan, after the site sued the regulator for violating its First Amendment protections. It is the latest in a free speech clash sparked by (what else?) the Online Safety Act, which Ofcom used to fine 4chan £20,000 earlier this year. A fine 4chan is refusing to pay…
In response to 4chan’s latest counterattack, Ofcom filed a notice in federal court in DC:
“Ofcom is a UK public regulatory authority and has substantial grounds for seeking dismissal of this lawsuit based on sovereign immunity.”
4chan’s lawyers argue that since Ofcom operates as a “commercial enterprise” , it should not benefit from sovereign immunity. Ofcom, meanwhile, still insists 4chan is not protected by the First Amendment and is demanding the cash. It’s all out war…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”
