With the rate at which splinter left-wing movements are spawning some are at risk of becoming even less relevant. Owen Jones is trying his best…
Co-conspirators may remember that Jones left Labour last March to front the new campaign group We Deserve Better which said it would back “socialist candidates” regardless of party to support “transformative policies.” You guessed it: “taxing the rich to fund public services, backing public ownership, tackling the climate crisis and opposing war crimes in Gaza”…
Jones’ group has responded to the launch of the new Corbyn-Sultana party by calling for socialist unity:
“It’s clear there’s a huge hunger out there for a progressive alternative, and a big opportunity for the Left – but to win, we must unite. That means Greens, Independents and the new left party working together, with unified candidates. United, we can win seats from Birmingham to Bristol, London to Liverpool; divided, we risk losing them. United, we can win mayoralties and councils; divided, we may fall short. Unity is the key. To that end, we will now focus our efforts on securing an electoral alliance of the Left. We will pull every available lever to ensure a pact is in place as soon as possible. We urge all those who believe in the unity of the left to support this campaign, and donate to help make it a reality.”
It also boasts about having 200,000 supporters – Corbyn has more than doubled that in a matter of days. Owen himself says: “To win under first-past-the-post, the Left must be united. That must mean electoral pacts between the new party and the Greens.” We Deserve Better is taking its self-appointed role seriously by asking for more cash from supporters to get the “cutting-edge digital campaigning resources we need to make this campaign a success.” Not that it got any coverage…
Sitting next to Starmer, President Trump offered his thoughts on Sadiq Khan:
“I’m not a fan of your mayor. I think he has done a terrible job, the mayor of London. A nasty person.”
To which Starmer offered: “he’s a friend of mine”…
UPDATE: Sadiq Khan’s spokesperson says:
“Sadiq is delighted that President Trump wants to come to the greatest city in the world. He’d see how our diversity makes us stronger not weaker; richer, not poorer. Perhaps these are the reasons why a record number of Americans have applied for British citizenship under his Presidency”
As part of Guido’s ongoing Asylum Freebiegate series, it can now be revealed that Richmond Council is the latest to dish out discounts to asylum seekers. Asylum seekers are handed “Richmond Cards” free of charge. The scheme includes a raft of giveaways that hard-pressed locals still have to pay for. With a Richmond Card, you can get:
If you’re a working local, the card will cost you £52.50 a month. If you’re on benefits, it’s still £30 a month. All of this is funded by the council as part of its annual budget, which hiked council tax by 5% this year. Are you surprised…
The pair are at the Turnberry. Watch along…
At the Lobby briefing of Westminster journalists Starmer’s spokesman has confirmed the PM’s U-turn on a bank holiday to celebrate the Lionesses’ victory last night. Scandalous…
Back in 2022 Starmer said there should be a “day of celebration” if the women’s team won the World Cup – “one that should be marked with a proper day of celebration, where clubs can open and promote access for women and girls.” No extra time off – how things change when you end up staring that £2.4 billion GDP hit in the face…
Now the line from Downing Street is: “If we had a bank holiday every time the lionesses win we’d never go to work.” Thousands of young sportswomen are now aware of Starmer’s propensity for sharp U-turns…
Keir Starmer is in Scotland to hold a bilateral meeting with President Trump this morning. The question of illegal immigration came up…
Trump reiterated that Europe and Britain cannot be “ruined” by immigration, saying:
“I love this country. Europe is a much different place than it was just five years ago, 10 years ago. And they’ve got to get their act together. If they don’t, you’re not going to have Europe anymore as you know it. You cannot let people come in here illegally.”
On the small boats crisis, Trump added:
“If the boats are loaded up with bad people, and they usually are because, you know, other countries don’t send their best. And what happens is there’ll be murderers, there’ll be drug dealers, there’ll be all sorts of things that other countries don’t want. And they send them to you and they send them to us. And you’ve got to stop them.”
Starmer didn’t mention the fact that small boats crossings are up by more than 50% on last year…
Paula Barker, Liverpool Wavertree MP backing Andy Burnham, told Times Radio there wouldn’t be trouble from the markets under Burnham:
“The markets will have to fall in line.”