Now the Met’s Partygate investigation has concluded with no additional fines for the PM, Labour is realising they’ve truly backed themselves into an awkward corner given it’s now Starmer more likely to be defenestrated. Back when Durham Police launched their investigation, Labour was apoplectic with fury. Emily Thornberry went on LBC to slam the Tories and the press for forcing a politically-motivated hit job on the party:
“I think they have been put under pressure, not just by the media by Conservative MPs, I think there’s been a campaign… I’m saying there’s been systematic pressure and there’s been an enterprise put together by the attack unit at Conservative Party Central Office, this is not being denied…”
Marr: “And the police have folded – I don’t think Durham police would be very happy to hear you say that.”
Now Thornberry appears to have totally changed her tune. With a crocodile smile on Newsnight yesterday she claimed to viewers:
“We welcome the fact Durham are investigating this, and Keir has been perfectly clear about this…
Derbyshire: You don’t welcome it, Emily Thornberry, come on!”
Does Emily really think voters believe her claim that Keir, who looks to be in pain in interviews, welcomes the investigation?
Good to see Thornberry out on top form this morning. Being interviewed by Kay Burley on the volatile Russia situation, the shadow attorney general ended up losing her train of thought and admitted she couldn’t remember the question, to peals of laughter. Sir Keir probably has few regrets about demoting Thornberry…
Today marks Holocaust Memorial Day, when politicians of all colours come together once again to remember the millions of people murdered under the Nazi regime. That said, not all politicians have come together…
Yesterday Guido reported on Emily Thornberry’s interesting PMQs defence, which involved praising Lenin and Castro as “great people”. According to an outraged Tory MP Marco Longhi, Thornberry was subsequently seen in the queue for the Commons Holocaust Memorial book showing off the social media posts and “laughing about” it with colleagues – something the MP for Dudley MP found “disgusting”. Thornberry is yet to post her subsequent solemn book signing photo…
Despite being handed a major demotion in Starmer’s last shadow cabinet reshuffle, Emily Thornberry hasn’t stopped rushing to the aid of her boss after a PMQs pasting by Boris. After the PM tried out his new line on Starmer – that “he’s a lawyer, not a leader” – Thornberry came up with a list of other famous lawyers-turned-politicians. She describes them as “many great people”:
The list includes Obama, Mandela, Blair, Gandhi, Clinton, Roosevelt, Lenin and Lincoln. On Twitter she subsequently added, “Attlee, Lloyd George, Castro and if you insist Thatcher.” Given Sir Keir’s centrist rebrand, Guido imagines he’ll be more irritated by the Lenin and Castro comparison than Maggie…
Today Labour’s new shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the party would scrap business rates to try and boost the high street – a policy that would reduce HMRC’s revenue by £25 billion. Asked about the policy announcement on Politics Live, Emily Thornberry suggested the digital services tax would be increased from 2% to 12% to pay for it – a tax increase that, even if it excluded tech firms scarpering abroad – would raise just £2.5 billion. Did Diane help with the sums?
Guido’s taken some time to look over Labour’s current tax and spend policies, and spots a rather large discrepancy between the two figures:
Spending:
- Scrap business rates – £25 billion a year
- Green investment deal – £28 billion a year
- Reinstate Universal Credit £20 uplift – over £6 billion a year
- Supported Kevan Collins’s full schools catch up package – £15 billion
Opposing the government’s tax rises/spending cuts:
- Opposed the health and social care levy – £12 billion a year
- Opposed corporation tax increase – £48 billion* by 2025
- Opposed maintaining income tax personal thresholds at the March Budget – raising £19.2 billion by 2025
- Opposed public sector pay freeze – saving £4.7 billion a year
- Opposed the temporary switch from a triple to a double pensions lock – saving £5 billion a year
- Opposed cutting foreign aid to 0.5% – saving £4.5 billion a year
- Opposed extending ability of councils to raise tax – saving £2 billion a year
Total: £170 billion
Labour’s proposed revenue raisers:
- Scrap charitable status for private schools – +£1.7 billion a year
- Increase tax on private equity firms – +£500 million a year
- Increase Digital Services Tax from existing 2% to 12% – +£2.5 billion
- Scrapping Boris’s trade yacht – £300 million one-off saving
- Office for Value for Money – Unknown
- Global 15% minimum rate of corporation tax – irrelevant as UK rate is higher anyway
Total: £5 billion
Maybe Labour in Communications was right – Starmer should stop announcing policy if he wants to get near No. 10…
*If you believe the Treasury.
