Shadow Secretary of State for Housing John Healey told newly defected TIG MP Angela Smith that she and her six colleagues should face by-elections. It’s time for a People’s Vote…
UPDATE: John McDonnell has also called for the Centrist Seven to face by-elections…
John Healey had an Urgent Question this morning demanding to know why the government hasn’t provided additional funds for fire safety post-Grenfell:
“The Secretary of State has refused any government funds for essential fire safety work… can he confirm… there will be no government funding for councils or housing associations for essential retrofit fire safety work?”
When the boot was on the other foot in 2009, the then Housing minister John Healey was asked the same question in the wake of the Lakanal House fire. Guess what. Healey said no to any additional funds for fire safety:
“The resources local authorities receive for management and maintenance and major repairs should enable them to implement necessary fire safety measures in council housing.”
Hansard never forgets…
Shadow housing minister John Healey and veteran Labour MP Margaret Hodge have condemned John McDonnell’s remarks on the Grenfell tragedy, which he described as “murder” caused by “political decisions“. Hodge said on the Daily Politics: “that is language of the hard left which is not done in my name”. Still, good to rile up the nutters online.
Labour MP John Healey is poking fun at his opponents on the campaign trail in Dinnington, where he claims the “UKIP councillor walked away from his job”. Well, sort of. Cllr Ian Finnie resigned last month, explaining that he no longer wanted to take public money for a job he could not devote himself to following tragic family circumstances:
“the loss of two of my very close brothers this year and another with serious health issues has taken its toll on me and my family. My full time time job is also a factor and my own constant illnesses in and out of hospital are too… I feel that I cannot give enough time to fulfil my duties expected of me. I will not claim public money for a role that I cannot give enough time to.”
Guido will give Healey the benefit of the doubt and say presumably he didn’t know about all this. Though he has been repeatedly informed on Twitter and has decided not to clarify, which is a bit off. The pitfalls of tweeting before thinking.
Last in, first out:
“Three quarters of Labour MPs have now nominated but only two candidates are on the ballot, and there’s a very real danger that we only have a narrow range of deputy leader candidates.
I have the most backing of those not on the ballot so far, and my decision is designed to give more of the other candidates the chance to make the cut. I’m withdrawing now to make sure we get the range and number of candidates that Party members deserve. And I encourage those who already have the required 35 nominations to bear this in mind too.
I joined the contest for deputy leader to talk about the deeper thinking Labour must now do, and the big challenges we must face. I’ll continue to do this as part of Labour’s team as we rethink and rebuild to win in 2020.
I really appreciate the strong support from those MPs who’ve nominated me. We know the mountain Labour must now climb to convince people that we’re ready again to lead the country.”
A significant development for the growing stop Watson movement.
