John Healey Canvassed With Disgraced Rotherham Councillor Over the Weekend

It looks like some Labour officials haven’t got the memo about keeping their shadow ministers away from disgraced Rotherham councillors implicated in the mismanagement of the child sexual abuse scandal. Shadow defence secretary John Healey and Rother Valley Labour parliamentary candidate Jake Richards went out leafletting on Sunday with councillor Sue Ellis. Ellis is reportedly standing downvoluntarily” over her presence on the council during the scandal and at the notorious 2005 meeting in which details of abuse were supplied and ignored by the council. She’s already stood down from the Parish Council. Labour HQ has been purging the councillors in waves as it looks ahead to the local elections, though it seems as though they’re still happy to send out shadow ministers to canvas with them. Locals might not be too pleased to see them at their door…

Rotherham Tory leader Simon Ball gets in touch with Guido:

Survivors I speak to are sick of seeing John Healey smiling next to these same councillors who everyone knows stayed silent while they were raped and abused. While Starmer is busy deselecting those councillors who are not retiring into the sunset, his Shadow Defence Secretary is out campaigning with them. I know they are short of volunteers in Rotherham Labour – but this is desperate“.

Not a good look for a changed party…

mdi-timer 28 November 2023 @ 15:15 28 Nov 2023 @ 15:15 mdi-twitter mdi-facebook mdi-whatsapp mdi-telegram mdi-linkedin mdi-email mdi-comment View Comments
10 Labour Frontbenchers Resign To Support a Ceasefire

10 of Starmer’s frontbenchers resigned last night to vote in favour of a ceasefire in a symbolic vote organised by the SNP. The King’s Speech amendment calling for “all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire” was defeated by a majority of 168. Performative, pointless…

Labour’s front bench resignations were:

  • Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding Jess Phillips.
  • Shadow Minister for Crime Reduction Naz Shah.
  • Shadow Minister for Devolution and the English Regions Paula Barker.
  • Shadow Minister for Local Government and Faith Sarah Owen.
  • Shadow Minister for Exports Afzal Khan.
  • Shadow Minister for Veterans Rachel Hopkins.
  • Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales Andy Slaughter.
  • Shadow equalities minister Yasmin Qureshi.
  • Shadow treasury PPS Dan Carden.
  • PPS to Angela Rayner Mary Foy.

A total of 56 Labour MPs – over a quarter – rebelled. Starmer’s statement reiterated his support for Israel and added – “I regret that some colleagues felt unable to support the position tonight“. John Healey said this morning that Labour is “acting in these very difficult circumstances as if we were in government“. Oh dear…

mdi-timer 16 November 2023 @ 08:24 16 Nov 2023 @ 08:24 mdi-twitter mdi-facebook mdi-whatsapp mdi-telegram mdi-linkedin mdi-email mdi-comment View Comments
Healey Has “Absolutely No Idea” Whether Starmer Took off Poppy
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Healey Argues It “Should Be Possible To Manage Both Cenotaph Parade and Allow the Protesters”
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Healey Says “There Is a Danger of Israel Going Too Far”
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Shadow Ministers’ Elite Education Cost A Packet

Given Sir Keir spent most of PMQs trying to hammer the government over tax benefits for private schools – “trickle-down education” is apparently the soundbite of the day – Guido thought it was worth taking a look at those sitting on Starmer’s own frontbench. After all, the parents of 600,000 kids struggling to pay fees might be entitled to think it is some cheek to put VAT on the schools they themselves attended…

  • Keir Starmer attended Reigate Grammar School, which, as Guido reported, became a fee-paying independent school whilst he was studying there. When Keir joined in 1974, the school had been a state grammar for 30 years. In 1976, however, it went private – and according to their website of ‘notable Reigatians’ Starmer remained a student there until 1981. Today his old school charges £20,000 a year.
  • Party Chair Anneliese Dodds attended Robert Gordon’s College. The independent Aberdeen school currently charges fees of almost £14,000 a year…
  • Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey went to Guy Fawkes’ alma mater, St Peter’s School in York. St Peter’s School is an independent school where fees currently cost almost £20,000 a year…
  • Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Louise Haigh was a student at Sheffield High School. Fees are currently almost £15,000 a year…·
  • Shadow Leader of Commons Thangam Debbonaire went to two independent schools – Bradford Girls’ Grammar School and Chetham’s School of Music. Bradford Girls Grammar School didn’t end its fee-paying status until 2011…

The backbenches are also packed with those more than familiar with private education: John McDonnell skirts over his days at St Joseph’s College. Jeremy Corbyn, the independent Member for Islington North tries to forget he went to a prep school until he was 11. Diane Abbott, Emily Thornberry and Shami Chakrabarti in the Lords all sent their children to independent schools. Still, “trickle-down education” is a nice headline…

mdi-timer 30 November 2022 @ 16:00 30 Nov 2022 @ 16:00 mdi-twitter mdi-facebook mdi-whatsapp mdi-telegram mdi-linkedin mdi-email mdi-comment View Comments
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