Labour clearly aren’t giving an inch in their war on Corbyn. As the excommunicated socialist lays the groundwork to battle his former party at the next election as an independent – with his comrades in the Islington North CLP preparing to join him – the shadow cabinet are more than happy to take on the fight. Yesterday it was Ed Miliband, this morning it’s Wes Streeting. Attacking Jezza must focus group really well…
Appearing on GB News, Streeting gave Corbyn both barrels:
“I’m afraid Jeremy Corbyn has no one to blame but himself for this outcome. His response Equality and Human Rights Commission’s damning indictment of the Labour Party and antisemitism under his leadership was frankly appalling. He was given ample time and space to apologise – he didn’t […] I think the decision taken yesterday makes it more likely for Labour to win the next general election […] and frankly shows the voters who gave us a massive kicking at the last election […] gives them the respect they deserve.”
John McDonnell and Nadia Whittome are inevitably defending Jeremy already. Get the popcorn…
Labour’s National Executive Committee has voted to pass Keir Starmer’s motion to block Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate at the next election. The motion passed 22 votes to 12.
Guido’s old enough to remember when the Starmer of 2020 said selections needed to be more “democratic“:
The selections for Labour candidates needs to be more democratic and we should end NEC impositions of candidates. Local Party members should select their candidates for every election.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) February 4, 2020
With friends like these, Jeremy…
UPDATE: The Islington North Labour Party makes the exact same point:
Solidarity comrades!
The Labour Party’s faction fight has gained another combatant this morning: soft-left Ed Miliband is throwing his weight behind Keir Starmer’s plan to block Jeremy Corbyn from standing for the party at the next election. Starmer is set to propose his motion to the NEC at noon, on the grounds that “it is not in the best interests of the Labour Party” to allow his “friend” Jeremy to stand as a candidate partly because he lost so badly in 2019. Not one mention of the antisemitism that festered under Corbyn’s leadership, even though Miliband says this morning that’s exactly why he’s supporting the motion in the first place…
“Keir Starmer, when he became leader, said he was going to do everything he could to root out antisemitism so we don’t have at the next election what we had at the last, which is Labour and antisemitism being talked about in the same sentence…”
Of course it would be a bit rich of Ed Miliband to support throwing out Corbyn for losing an election. Even so, Corbyn warned “we are not going anywhere” yesterday, with a growing assumption he’ll stand as an independent anyway…
Keir Starmer has written a motion to block his former “friend” and predecessor Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour MP at the next election. He will officially put forward the motion at the National Executive Committee meeting tomorrow, seconded by Shabana Mahmood MP. Starmer claims it is “not in the Labour Party’s interests, and its political interests at the next general election”, to allow the man he campaigned twice to make Prime Minister to stand for Labour…
Read the full motion below:
UPDATE: Corbyn responds
“Today, Keir Starmer has broken his commitment to respect the rights of Labour members and denigrated the democratic foundations of our Party. I have been elected as the Labour MP for Islington North on 10 consecutive occasions since 1983. I am proud to represent a community that supports vulnerable people, joins workers on the picket line and fights for transformative change.
This latest move represents a leadership increasingly unwilling to offer solutions that meet the scale of the crises facing us all. As the government plunges millions into poverty and demonises refugees, Keir Starmer has focused his opposition on those demanding a more progressive and humane alternative.
I joined the Labour Party when I was 16 years old because, like millions of others, I believed in a redistribution of wealth and power. Our message is clear: we are not going anywhere. Neither is our determination to stand up for a better world.”
Read Starmer’s motion in full below:
Guido has been taking the opportunity of Keir and Rishi publishing their tax returns to delve deeper into their finances and noticed a discrepancy. In 2021/22 Keir reported only £453 of self-employed income. This is far less than the figure declared on his Register of Interests in the same period.
In August 2021, Keir declared receiving £17,598.60 for legal services – this wasn’t reported on his tax statement as self-employed income in 2021/22. Labour explain that this was an old debt from before 2008, so Starmer had already paid tax on it, which Guido finds odd. Even taken at face value, Labour are still under-representing his earnings.
Sir Keir’s sums for 2020/21 don’t add up either. By Guido’s calculations he declared £23,394 in this financial year – compared to the £21,295 reported on his return. Labour again says Starmer paid tax on the difference in a prior year.
Going by the Register of Interests, you can also see why Keir was keen to publish reports from the past two years and not beforehand. He’s raked in over £295,000 in additional income, on top of his MPs’ salary, since he became an MP in 2015.
If any bean-counting co-conspirators can explain why a barrister might supposedly pay income taxes in advance of receiving the income, please let Guido know. Is this normal?
UPDATE: Bean counters say barristers pay tax on an accruals basis.
Starmer paid £67,033 in tax last year, and £51,427 the year before. He’s only published the years since he became leader, presumably because the years prior are far better remunerated…
He made £212,087 in 21/22, putting him comfortably in the top 1% and his effective tax rate was 31.6%. What was he saying about the wealthy being out of touch?
