Downing Street is punting all questions relating to the ludicrous investigation into the Labour Together smear scandal over to the Cabinet Office. Speaking at the Lobby briefing of political hacks this afternoon, the Number 10 spokesman refused to reveal which individuals are leading the ‘fact-finding mission’, when that ‘mission’ is expected to conclude, why the Cabinet Office is investigating the issue in the first place (given the central figure is a Cabinet Office minister), and even whether Josh Simons has recused himself from the probe. All these questions produced a near-identical response: “The Cabinet Office has more details”…
Except the Cabinet Office is also keeping shtum, even when asked to provide a few more of those “details” which Number 10 suggested it would provide. It’s a “fact-finding mission“, and… that’s it. Total cover-up…
Shabana Mahmood is currently set to decide whether fellow Labour MP Tulip Siddiq can be extradited to Bangladesh to serve a four-year prison sentence. Or risk a diplomatic incident…
Following historic elections in the country the man set to become Bangladesh’s foreign minister has told the Independent that the new government will seek extradition. Humayun Kabir – a foreign affairs adviser to PM-elect Tarique Rahman and tipped to be the new foreign minister – described Siddiq as a “convicted criminal” and “an embarrassment” to the UK government. He added:
“So we expect the UK government will sternly deal with all those Awami League criminals and terrorists on UK soil who try to terrorise and destabilise Bangladesh using money laundering activities. And we will provide a list to the British government… We want them back. And in terms of extradition, we would want the UK to track these criminals. If we are going to be a strong partner with the UK on dealing with illegal migration, why can’t the UK be any different in dealing with criminals that have fled to the UK territory from Bangladesh?”
Bangladesh is classed by Britain as a Category 2 Type B country for extradition. This is the process for those:
Siddiq has always denied all wrongdoing. This means that at three stages a decision will have to be made by Shabana Mahmood – if she is still Home Secretary at the time – with regard to Siddiq if an extradition request is made. Downing Street has always refused to say if the government will comply with an extradition request…
When this issue last came up Starmer refused to meet Bangladesh’s leader on his visit to London while the Labour Party attacked the judicial process applied to Tulip Siddiq in strong terms. Starmer met Bangladesh’s ousted dictator Sheikh Hasina, who is Tulip’s aunt, several times…
The likely outcome is that British diplomats are instructed by Labour to expend significant political capital to try to make the Tulip issue go away with their Bangladeshi counterparts. Even then the new BNP government may demand their judicial process is followed to its conclusion…
A damning new report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development shows that more than a third of businesses plan to cut hiring thanks to Labour’s Employment Rights Act. A survey of more than 2,000 businesses found:
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said:
“Hiring intentions are down and redundancies are up as the direct result of Rachel Reeves’ taxes and Angela Rayner’s dogmatic red tape employment bill. With unemployment rising, it’s time this Labour cabinet were first in line for their P45s.”
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is set to hit an 11-year high this year at 5.4%, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. Labour isn’t working…
This is the twelfth scandal Keir Starmer has claimed to know nothing about since entering Downing Street. The government is in meltdown. Get the gossip first. Click here to become a Guido member today and receive 50% off your first month…
Labour is planning to ban Virtual Private Networks for children after insisting it would not do so. What number U-turn is that?
Back when the Online Safety Act first came in Guido exclusively reported on Labour’s support for action against VPN usage. The party supported Sarah Champion’s proposals to look at curbing their use if, after the OSA was introduced, people were circumventing the age verification firewall. Exactly what has happened – every outlet was very keen to run the government’s denial of this at the time…
Peter Kyle claimed in July last year that the government was “not considering a VPN ban” because there are “far more people who are actually there to prove their age in a legitimate way.” This was written up as Labour ‘ruling out’ a ban…
The position now, as per Starmer’s Substack: “Limiting VPN access for kids: to make it harder for kids to get around age limits of services or certain functionalities.”
That’s now been U-turned on. VPNs are crucial for internet security – Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo points out that an age threshold is effectively a ban on usage. Is Starmer going to start giving his speeches in Mandarin, too?
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall was quizzed on the Today Programme this morning about Labour Together commissioning covert research on two journalists to undermine their coverage of the organisation. At the time now-Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons was running the think tank. Asked if Simons’ position was ‘tenable’, Kendall said:
“He has welcomed the investigation, rightly so, by the regulatory body, the body responsible for regulating public affairs. As I said, the Cabinet Office will also be looking into the facts of this case, but it is absolutely essential that we protect the freedom of the press.”
Handing it over to the department of cover-ups instead…
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.”