Rare scenes of civil liberty unity on Question Time last night as every panellist came out against domestic covid passports, and a forced requirement by employees for workers to have the vaccine; with the far-left Nadia Whittome, hardline-centrist Layla Moran and CRG chair Mark Harper all opposing the floated measure for different reasons:
The founder and CEO of the Oakman Inns chain, also on the panel, said he would be “deeply uncomfortable” with enforcing the principle of ‘no jab, no job’ for his employees. It seems Covid has met a rival pandemic that’s spreading even more rapidly: common sense…
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…
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…
Brilliant scenes on Peston last night as baby Corbynista Nadia Whittome found out she’d been forcibly resigned by the Labour Party from her PPS role after voting against the Overseas Operation Bill. Labour had put in a one-line whip to abstain on the bill, however Nadia voted against it along with her pals Corbyn, McDonnell, Abbott, other hard-liners and two fellow PPSs.
The Mirror’s Oliver Milne was correct that, as Nadia was being interviewed, she’d been removed from her post. When Labour said the three frontbenchers had “resigned”, they in fact meant sacked or ‘forcibly resigned’ – as opposed to the three submitting letters of resignation prior to breaking the whip. If you thought Nadia finding out was funny, the reaction of the TrotsApp crowd on Twitter was even more funny…
UPDATE: Read Nadia’s full statement on her sacking below:
Three MPs – Beth Winter, Nadia Whittome and Olivia Blake – have been “resigned”:from their roles as Shadow PPSs after voting against the government’s Overseas Operation Bill, against the party whip to abstain. Will the last Corbynista to leave the shadow front bench please turn the light off…
Nadia Whittome has told Peston she doesn’t consider herself resigned as it was a one-line whip, however a Labour spokesperson tells Guido all three are definitely gone as PPSs. Sacked in other words. Nadia doesn’t seem to understand she was sacked and the “resignation” was entirely euphemistic…
23 year old Corbynista MP Nadia Whittome made a splash yesterday evening as she declared she had been ‘sacked’ from her role as a casual worker at a retirement home in her constituency. Whittome claims that she was ‘sacked’ for “speaking out about a lack of PPE”. This is despite the home, which has not had a single Coronavirus death, saying it has “three months’ supply of PPE, including over 25,000 pairs of gloves, 7,700 aprons and nearly 6,000 masks”. Despite working just eight casual shifts at the home all year, the incident is gaining significant media attention…
Guido has seen the letter Whittome was sent, which curiously has not been reported in other news outlets:
“On Thursday, I was approached by several Lark Hill residents, our staff, our head office team and executive who were anxious about comments in the Nottingham Post around ‘a lack of PPE’. This is a position myself and the charity disagrees with and is not supported by the facts.
Our protocol hasn’t been met and ongoing press coverage of Lark Hill isn’t benefiting our residents, staff or charity; managing feedback is time consuming for myself and our wider team at a time of crisis when we simply wish and need to be focused on our day to day work, protecting our staff and residents’ lives in the community.”
Guido can see why a retirement home may ask a gobby casual worker to no longer very occasionally saunter in, especially if her media appearances from the local press to Newsnight were unduly scaring the residents.
There are, of course, extensive legal protections in the UK that prevent whistleblowers losing their jobs. If Whittome genuinely believes she was “sacked for speaking out about PPE” then Guido is expecting a tribunal…
UPDATE: A Government source tells Guido “Another week, another false story lapped up by the BBC.”