It’s the battle of the deputies today as Dowden and Rayner trade blows in the Commons while Starmer flies to Samoa. Dowden jumped in with a simple question: “What is the Deputy Prime Minister’s definition of working people?”
Rayner swerved in response:
“The definition of working people are the people that the Tory party have failed for the last fourteen years.”
Dowden pressed on: Are the 5 million small business owners in Britain working people? Again Rayner dodged the question…
Rachel Reeves made it clear and public what the party’s definition of working people was during the election campaign: “Working people are people who get their income from going out to work everyday, and also pensioners that have worked all their lives and are now in retirement.” The upcoming budget has had quite the effect on the Cabinet’s memories…
The Lords Commissioner Standards has completed an investigation into Lord Alli’s potential breaches of conduct. It concludes there are four breaches:
“Finally, while I consider each individual breach of the Code to be minor, I have found there to be four breaches in total, and have therefore recommended that Lord Alli write a letter of apology to the Chair of the Conduct Committee, Baroness Manningham-Buller.”
Lord Alli’s apology:
“I am writing to you today to offer my apology for my breach of conduct by not registering my interests correctly. I will endeavour to keep to the Code of Conduct at all times to avoid such circumstances again.”
The breaches are explained:
Read the full report below:
Number 10 is frantically fire-fighting the fallout after Trump accused Labour of election interference last night. Starmer’s crows that this won’t ruin his relationship with Trump is falling flat. His cabinet is full of Trump-bashing ministers, who’ve not shied away from voicing their hatred of the former President. Guido thought he’d do a timeline of Labour figures’ thoughts on the potential new President:
This latest saga could be the final straw for Trump…
William Hague has levelled his guns over the prisoner release scheme at… the Tories. Raising a few eyebrows there…
The former Tory leader says Labour has “a really good point actually” when it blames its predecessors, like everything else, while letting thousands of prisoners out early:
“The Conservative government failed to grasp either they either had to build more prison places or they had to let people out, and they didn’t want to face up to it either over a long period. That’s a real failure um and so this situation now does focus everybody’s minds on what are we going to do.”
Guido didn’t realise that releasing the wrong prisoners and letting them cheer Keir Starmer while driving away in their sports cars was the Tories’ fault. One Tory source tells Guido: “No wonder the Tories are so irrelevant when their former leaders row in behind Labour to defend mass prisoner releases.” Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is uncorking the Gauke to lead a sentencing review – probably so she can blame another (former) Tory when it goes wrong…
It’s trouble in paradise for Labour HQ after Donald Trump unleashed a furious legal complaint, accusing the Party of “blatant foreign interference” in the election. The fallout stems from Labour staff organising a trip for nearly 100 activists to campaign for Kamala Harris. Trump’s camp are up in arms, claiming Labour has been funnelling “illegal foreign campaign contributions” and branding the party as “far-Left” for pushing Harris’ dangerously “liberal” agenda. Friends across the Pond are not amused…
Starmer is now desperately trying to salvage the situation, insisting he can still have a “good relationship” with Trump despite this. Environmental Secretary Steve Reed was shoved onto the morning media round for damage control, downplaying the debacle by saying, “it’s not unusual for supporters of a party in one country to go and campaign for a sister party in another.” Unlikely that line will reassure The Donald…
Meanwhile, Elon Musk, one of Trump’s close allies, has thrown more fuel on the fire by declaring “war” on a Labour-linked campaign group – Morgan McSweeney among its ex-directors – aimed at tackling online misinformation after one of its main missions was revealed to be “Kill Musk’s Twitter”. With Trump rising in the polls, the special relationship will be in for a bumpy ride if he ends up back in the White House…
