David Lammy has been accused of misleading the Foreign Affairs Committee after the FCDO refused to fund efforts to track down missing Ukrainian children. An incredibly meaningful and sensitive issue…
Lammy said at a meeting of the committee this month that he takes “a particular interest in children and vulnerable children” from Ukraine and that “we are funding that work.” Conservative MP and committee member Aphra Brandreth asked Lammy for more information: had the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, which is doing that work, approached the foreign office for funding after having theirs withdrawn by the White House? Lammy dodged a direct answer and said instead:
“We are an active member of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. Obviously, I have a personal commitment, and we are doing work alongside Madam Zelensky in this area. I will write to you on that particular stream.”
Sounds promising. That is, until you realise that the Yale Lab’s executive director Nathanial Redmond appeared on the very same day on the Telegraph’s Ukraine podcast and confirmed that a funding request to help track down missing Ukrainian children had been denied by the FCDO with no explanation. At the same time as the Foreign Office scrambles to increase its ‘equalities’ overseas aid budget…
Brandreth has written to Lammy in a letter seen by Guido. She asks if the Foreign Secretary can confirm that the funding has been denied and what reason he has for that, “and why it is
not considered a suitable project for the UK to contribute to as part of our efforts in Ukraine?” She adds:
“And finally, please can you confirm if you agree with me that the work of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab is of the utmost importance not just for now but also for the future of Ukraine and ensuring justice is carried out for the horrific atrocities that Russia has committed during its illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
Mealy-mouthed Lammy will be forced to clarify the situation. If he is true to his word that he has a “particular interest” in helping find missing Ukrainian children…
Read Brandreth’s full letter below:
Labour-run Wandsworth Borough Council is now offering 50% off e-bike rentals to asylum seekers. Courtesy of the council…
Labour took over London’s seventh-largest borough from the Tories – who had held it since 1974 – in a historic 2022 rout. Since then they’ve been busy at work…
Last year the borough launched its new ‘Access for All’ concessions scheme which offers discounts from 50% to 100% on “key services from gym sessions to swimming lessons, wedding ceremonies to event tickets.” The scheme can only be accessed by:
The council has now announced a “pioneering deal with Lime, Forest and Voi” to offer a 50% discount for e-bike rentals. It broadcast last week:
“If you’re eligible for Access for All, you can now get 50% off rides on Lime and Forest e-bikes, and Lime and Voi e-scooters as part of a new deal we have struck with providers in our borough.“
Labour Council Leader Simon Hogg said this is “about opening up affordable, sustainable travel that helps our residents to access work and entertainment opportunities across the borough. We’re proud that Lime, Forest and Voi have agreed to join Access for All and to operate respectfully and safely. We are making sure that no one is priced out of healthy and sustainable travel.” Bad luck if you’re not an asylum seeker or PIP claimant…
UPDATE: Shadow Home Sec Chris Philp: “It is a slap in the face to hard-pressed taxpayers that are being forced by a Labour council to subsidise perks for illegal immigrants crossing the channel who then claim asylum.
At a time when people are struggling to make ends meet thanks to Labour’s tax rises, this woke council is funnelling public money to illegal immigrants.
It’s an insult to every struggling family in the country. Labour has the wrong priorities.”
UPDATE II: A Wandsworth Council spokesperson said:
“We’re proud that Lime, Forest and Voi have chosen to offer a 50% discount to Access for All members at no extra cost to Wandsworth Council taxpayers. We are committed to making Wandsworth a fairer place to live. Our Access for All scheme is Britain’s most generous concessionary scheme and breaks down barriers to makes sure all residents have an equal chance to access local opportunities. This includes tens of thousands of low-income residents who receive benefits, children who receive free school meals, looked after children and care leavers, as well as asylum seekers and refugees.”
This means that after negotiations with Wandsworth Borough Council Lime, Forest, and Voi are subsidising the travel of asylum seekers on their services…
Read the list of other discounts the borough is offering asylum seekers below:
Continue reading “EXC: London Borough Offers Half-Price Lime Bike Rides to Asylum Seekers”
Alarm bells were ringing in the Lords last night over clause 113 in Rayner’s (Un)Employment Rights Bill. The late addition, tabled at the eleventh hour during last month’s Commons report stage, gives Labour ministers the power to bring employment tribunal claims on behalf of any worker in Britain. Even without their consent, or against their wishes…
Yes, Angela Rayner wants the power to unilaterally launch legal action on your behalf against your employer, without your permission. A phalanx of peers including Lord Carter, Lord Murray of Blidworth, Lord Garnier, Lord Pannick and Baroness Neville-Rolfe opposed the measure in a spicy debate. Lord Murray slammed the plan in a passionate speech; legal supremo Lord Pannick called the measure “bonkers”. Claimants would still be on the hook for legal costs even if Rayner’s cases failed…
Like much of the Bill, the clause hands more power to the unions, who would likely bring a judicial review if the Secretary of State failed to exercise these powers – leading to a flood of politicised litigation. Rayner’s Employment Rights Bill is being gutted in the Lords…
Jonathan Reynolds has defended the police’s conduct after their disastrous handling of the Epping protest and subsequent chaos press conference. Labour has been increasingly under pressure for its part in the mishandling of the Epping situation…
The Business and Trade Secretary was asked on Sky News what he made of Essex Police’s escorting of pro-migrant demonstrators to the protest in Epping and bussing of protesters away. He said:
“I don’t think it’s helpful to speculate or comment on that as someone who hasn’t been part of that decision-making. I think the police in the main do an excellent job in really difficult circumstances when you’ve got two sides two sides of British public opinion rightfully protesting in a in a way which is legitimate.”
Essex Police’s Chief Constable has so far resisted calls to resign, giving a press conference yesterday in which he claimed he could not comment on the decisions his own force made. Reynolds was also asked if the government was preparing for wider-scale unrest this summer: “Look, all the government, all the key agencies, the police, they prepare for all situations. So, I wouldn’t want you to be sort of talking this up or or speculating in a way which is unhelpful. Of course, the state prepares for all situations.” Stop ‘speculating,’ nothing to see here…
Despite repeated promises from ministers that they’re cutting waste in Whitehall, the blob still manages to find ways to casually spend taxpayer money. Co-conspirators can guess where…
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology admitted via a written parliamentary question that it spent £350 on a single rainbow flag and £225 on rainbow pins last year. To put that in perspective: a large 8-foot “Intersex Progress Pride” flag goes for £25 on Amazon. Rainbow badges are around 75p each – with that budget, roughly 300 pen-pushers would have been wearing one. No ceiling to Labour’s appetite for taxpayer-funded virtue signalling…
In an urgent question debate in the Lords Labour has been attacked on multiple fronts for the events unfolding in Epping. The Commons has risen for recess, the Lords is still going until tomorrow…
While Home Office minister Lord Hanson complained about “misinformation being spread deliberately to to encourage disorder” Eleanor Laing – formerly MP for Epping Forest for 27 years – pointed out that Labour reopened the Bell Hotel in the area after it was closed for asylum seeker use:
“It has long been recognised that the Bell Hotel is not a good place for asylum seekers to be housed. And I’m sure the minister will recall that the Conservative Home Secretary closed the Bell Hotel in Epping in April 2024 and these asylum seekers were dispersed to other places. The minister’s colleagues reopened the hotel without any consultation with the district council which is somewhat unfortunate.”
Lord Hanson had no response to the attack. Claire Fox then took Labour to task over its focus on ‘misinformation’ driving ‘violence.’ Co-conspirators will remember that it was Essex Police who escorted pro-migrant demonstrators closer to the ongoing protest…
“Does the minister recognise the legitimate fury and frustration of local people whether in Epping about the fact that they feel their voices are not heard in relation to the concerns about hotel and their genuine fear for their children… does the minister acknowledge that some misinformation can be in calling those local people ‘far-right thugs,’ which to a certain extent is the most insulting thing you can call people who are genuinely protesting. Will the minister distance himself from that misinformation as well as the other misinformation he’s mentioned?”
The Labour minister declined to distance himself from those accusations and instead said it’s vital to “ensure that we find political solutions to some of the challenges that we have but not in any way shape and form to inflame or encourage inflammatory action against the police, the community or indeed people who are not committing crimes who happen to reside in a particular place at a particular time.” After Essex Police’s disaster press conference today Labour’s line appears increasingly tone deaf…
Starmer loyalist and Housing Secretary Steve Reed told Sky News that Starmer should not be replaced:
“We saw what the Tories did. They were in power for 14 years, and after 2016, I think we had nine education secretaries, seven chancellors, and five Prime Ministers. Doomscrolling through Prime Ministers doesn’t resolve the problem.”