Stephen Crabb attempted to sidestep claims that the government had been inconsistent with its Covid messaging as Jo Coburn and Bell Ribeiro-Addy performed a pincer attack on Politics Live this afternoon. 27 seconds is surely some kind of record…

Last Friday, Guido was alerted to the impending inaugural meeting of a new parliamentary APPG for “Afrikan Reparations”, to be lead by Bell Ribeiro-Addy and take place via Zoom this morning. The co-conspirator raised their eyebrows at the APPG, knowing that rules state a group must have cross-party support. Which Tory would be brave enough to back this hard-left, woke project?

Guido diligently tuned into the Zoom call and can reveal the Tory enabling the group to be none other than Father of the House Sir Peter Bottomley. Ribeiro-Addy thanked Sir Peter for volunteering and allowing the group to get off the ground. After seconding Ribeiro-Addy’s chairmanship, Sir Peter said he was happy to be put down as an “assistant secretary”, joining vice chairs Caroline Lucas and Marsha de Cordova.

The creation of the APPG followed a lobbying campaign by the group Stop The Maangamizi, who want to “address the legacies of Afrikan Enslavement” and:

“make recommendations to Parliament on how to redress the legacies of African enslavement, colonialism and neocolonialism today.”

The group also wants:

• Debt cancellation and repudiation
• Restitution of African cultural property and human remains
• To declare the UN’s ‘International Day for Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition’ a public holiday in the UK

During the APPG’s meeting, Ribeiro-Addy thanked Stop The Maangamizi for “providing a view on what could be done in terms of looking at the various issues over time and presenting some discussions and policy moving forward.”. The Labour MPs attending the call – also among them Zarah Sultana, Dawn Butler and Florence Eshalomi – were hardly surprising. Sir Peter’s involvement, however, has already raised some Tories’ eyebrows…

Anti-Brexit Politicians queued up to slam the Government over the summer for rejecting the EU’s common vaccine procurement and distribution scheme that has so far held up any EU member state from being able to vaccinate its population. Guido noted this morning that in two weeks the UK carried out more vaccinations than Germany expects to be able to in the early part of next year. Yet until recently the mainstream pro-EU view was that the UK had shot itself in the foot by leaving the EU’s collective vaccine scheme.

Guido has previously noted the now-comical media editorials, in both The Observer and Guardian recently claiming that “Brexit means coronavirus vaccine will be slower to reach the UK – and it will cost more here because of the UK pulling out of the European Medicines Agency on 30 December”, and the Independent claiming the Government was “putting Brexit before health”. Now we know if these pro-EU politicians had got their way we’d still be desperately waiting for a single vaccine dose:

• Labour’s Catherine West (a Shadow Europe Minister) said “UK opts out of EU vaccine scheme – Dumber and dumber.”
• LibDem’s Munira Wilson (Health spokesman) said “Shame we weren’t part of the EU vaccine procurement prog, or we’d have early access to the Moderna vaccine, as well as Pfizer vaccine.”
• Labour’s Ruth Cadbury said “Brexit = leaving the EMA = longer waits & higher prices for new drugs”
• LibDem’s Layla Moran (Foreign Affairs spokesman) said “Walking away from the EU vaccines scheme is putting ideology ahead of public health. You would think that during a pandemic ministers would put political dogma aside. But it seems for this government it’s Brexit over vaccines”
• Labour’s Bell Ribeiro-Addy said “by refusing to join the EU’s vaccine scheme, the Government is yet again putting ideology before saving lives.”
• LibDem’s Ed Davey (LibDem leader) said “The PM must confirm that the UK will take part in the EU vaccine plan. This is no time for silly Brexit games.”
• Labour’s Paul Blomfield (a Shadow Brexit Minister) said “Backing the EU initiative for a coronavirus vaccine is a positive step”

Meanwhile anti-Brexit campaign founded by Gina Miller Best for Britain hyped up the EU scheme mocked Matt Hancock for saying an independent Britain could do it faster, and even launched a campaign for the UK to join the EU’s vaccine procurement, saying “make sure Britain doesn’t fall to the back of the queue for a coronavirus vaccine.” Perhaps their efforts would have been better placed convincing the EU to let the UK run their procurement for them…

With babyfaced Socialist Campaign Group member Dan Carden resigning today, it can be hard to keep track of all the young loony left Labour MPs. As they make more headlines becoming increasingly assertive against Sir Keir, Guido today brings you a comprehensive guide to keeping track of the loony left’s 2019 intake. Some have already made quite a name for themselves…

• Nadia Whittome, MP for Nottingham East. Majority: 17,393. 24-year-old Baby of the House and former private school girl, Whittome made headlines by accidentally falling off the shadow ministerial ladder on live TV after voting against the Veterans Bill. Before being elected she worked as a Parliamentary intern for Pat Glass MP.
• Zarah Sultana, MP for Coventry South. Majority: 401. 26-year-old Zarah almost didn’t win her West Midlands seat in 2019, with Labour’s majority collapsing from 7,947 to just 401. Former NUS hack. Has begun to style herself as the Honourable Member for Twitter with often viral pithy yet platitudinous socialist tweets. Pays her staff what she calls ‘poverty wages‘…
• Claudia Webbe, MP for Leicester East and still a sitting Councillor in Islington. Majority: 6,019. Currently suspended as a Labour MP after being charged with harassment against a woman. Formerly Labour NEC member and head of disputes for the party. Formerly advisor to Ken Livingstone. Questionable judgement.
• Bell Ribeiro-Addy, MP for Streatham. Majority: 17,690. Another former NUS hack. As Black Students Officer at the NUS, she once shut down a debate at Durham University with threats of violence because a controversial speaker was invited. Spoke at a “salute” to the Second Intifada, which killed 1,000 Israelis. Keeps attending Zoom calls with former Labour members expelled for antisemitism…
• Charlotte Nichols, MP for Warrington North. Majority: 1,509. Daughter of the President of the TUC. Worked for a trade union for five years before becoming an MP. PPS to Emily Thornberry and Louise Haigh. Confused over lockdown communication. Not a fan of gay Tories.
• Apsana Begum, MP for Poplar and Limehouse. Majority: 28,904. In 2014 accused Tony Blair of “spreading Zionist propaganda”. Questions remain how she managed to leap to the top of her local council’s 18,000-strong housing list, securing a riverside apartment in months despite having no dependents.
• Sam Tarry, MP for Ilford South. Majority: 24,101. Mouthy director of Jeremy Corbyn’s 2016 Labour Party leadership campaign. Very friendly with Angela Rayner. Failed to be properly parachuted into Hull West in 2017. In Ilford South in 2019, his opponent was abruptly suspended over an allegation of sexual harassment. With his rival ineligible due to his suspension, Tarry was selected. Known locally as ‘Stitch up Sam‘…
• Olivia Blake, MP for Sheffield Hallam. Majority: 712. Daughter of the leader of Leeds City Council. Failed to be elected onto Labour NEC in 2013. Successfully elected with the backing of Momentum Labour’s National Policy Forum in 2018. Hard left Sheffield Councillor for six years. Supports a “National Food Service”. Resigned as a PPS in September after voting against the Veterans Bill.
• Tahir Ali, MP for Birmingham Hall Green. Majority: 28,508. Former trade union political officer. Ali was handed a formal warning by police after he broke government restrictions by attending a funeral with up to 100 mourners at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Beth Winter, MP for Cynon Valley. Majority: 8,822. Former Trade Union official. Resigned as a PPS in September after voting against the Veterans Bill. Shouted at tea.
• Nav Mishra, MP for Stockport. Majority: 10,039. Former trade union organiser and one of the founders of Stockport Momentum. A Labour NEC member on the JC9, then JC8 slate, who has supported Pete Willsman, Mishra sits on the NEC disputes panel.
• Ian Byrne, MP for Liverpool West Derby. Majority: 29,984. Former Trade Union organiser. Walks around with neighbouring Liverpool socialist MPs Paula Barker and Kim Johnson. Once shared abusive comments about female politicians…
• Paula Barker, MP for Liverpool Wavertree. Majority: 31,310. Former Trade Union convenor. Yet to speak out on the abuse that drove Luciana Berger out of the party which led to her getting the seat. In January pretended to go to a Holocaust Educational Trust event.
• Kim Johnson, MP for Liverpool Riverside. Majority: 37,043. Yet to speak out about the abuse that drove Louise Ellman out the party. In January pretended to go to a Holocaust Educational Trust event.

All are members of the Socialist Campaign Group – now boasting 34 MPs, along with stalwarts John McDonnell, Diane Abbott, and Jeremy Corbyn. It is striking how many replaced former centrist Labour MPs from Chuka Umunna and Mike Gapes to Luciana Berger, Ann Coffey, and Chris Leslie. Now hard left cranks sit in their former seats – many cushioned by massive majorities. What a stunning success ChangeUK was…

Last week, Keir Starmer was forced to admonish Diane Abbott and Bell Ribeiro-Addy for taking part in a Zoom chat with a number of notorious Labour antisemites, including Jackie Walker and Tony Greenstein. His warning clearly made no difference as Guido can now reveal just a day later Abbott and Ribeiro-Addy – who this time was hosting – held a Zoom festival sharing a platform with notorious Anti-Zionist Chris Williamson supporter Lindsey German. This time the pair were joined by Jeremy Corbyn and Apsana Begum…

German – who is the convenor of Stop the War Coalition – has:

• Claimed Israel is an “apartheid state“ and a “racist endeavour“
• Wrote articles denying antisemitism in Labour’s ranks
• Claimed accusations of antisemitism in Labour are “lies and slander”
• Claims Chris Williamson’s suspension was “unwarranted” because his remarks were not antisemitic
• Shared content saying “Zionism is racist”
• Shared content saying accusations of antisemitism in Labour are simply “smearing of Jeremy Corbyn”

Keir Starmer passed up the opportunity to act the first time Abbott and Ribeiro-Addy shared an online platform with antisemites, will he assert his authority this time?

Last night two former Shadow Ministers – Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Diane Abbott – were caught attending a Zoom Conference in which antisemitism within the party was denied without challenge from her, Ken Livingstone was defended and former Labour Councillor Jo Bird claimed some party members had died as a result of disciplinary cases. Also in attendance was Jackie Walker, whom even Corbyn found too antisemitic to remain as a Labour member…

The chat, organised by the Labour Representation Committee was watched and photographed by journalist Lee Harpin, who claims at one stage Jo Bird alleged, “BAME disciplinary complaints were ‘deprioritised’ while antisemitism complaints were ‘prioritised’.” Another attendee visible is Tony Greenstein, who was also expelled from Labour for ‘Antisemitic bullying’ and called Israel “Hitler’s bastard offspring“. While Diane’s participation is unsurprising at this stage, is Sir Keir happy for one of his new intake to be sharing a virtual platform with such cranks, in contravention of the pledge to the Board of Deputies he signed?

UPDATE: A Labour spokesman tells The Jewish Chronicle, “This is being made clear to the Labour MPs who attended the call in the strongest possible terms and they are being reminded of their responsibilities and obligations.” That’ll tell ’em…