Viewers may have missed their Monday morning dose of Andrew Pierce on Good Morning Britain today, though fear not, as he still co-hosted his Britain’s Newsroom show on GB News this morning. Pierce’s non-appearance in his usual ITV slot is apparently because he is “taking a two week break” and coincidentally follows Guido’s report that the Daily Mail has appointed a KC to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against the journalist. ITV has reason to be cautious in this situation. Perhaps Pierce really is taking a two week break…
Speaking on GMB this morning, Diane Abbott took a principled stance against Keir Starmer’s chicanery. The former Shadow Home Secretary questioned Starmer’s decision to block Jeremy Corbyn from standing at the next election:
“Keir Starmer put a motion in front of the NEC to bar Jeremy as a candidate, but that motion said nothing about antisemitism. It said that because Jeremy had lost the 2019 election he couldn’t run. Well, really, if you stop people being MPs because they lose elections, why is Ed Miliband still an MP?”
She also claimed that if Corbyn decides to stand as an independent in Islington “he will win”.
Diane’s comments on Ed Miliband come in the context of Labour’s legalistic justification for blocking Corbyn put forward at the NEC – based on his electoral performance and not antisemitism. Starmer’s motion states that the party’s “standing with the electorate in the country, and its electoral prospects in seats it is required to win in order to secure a parliamentary majority and/or win the next general election, are both significantly diminished should Mr Corbyn be endorsed”.
As Ann Black points out for Labour List, “the motion was fundamentally dishonest, because the reasons given for blocking Corbyn’s candidacy were not the real reasons”. It’s one rule for Comrade Corbyn and another for Red Ed…
Ed Balls attempted a bulldozing interview strategy on Good Morning Britain this morning, only to be left with egg on his face – clearly, he’s been taking lessons from predecessor Piers. The former Shadow Chancellor took Security Minister Tom Tugendhat to task for apparent hypocrisy over increased defence spending – or rather the lack of it. Using backbench Tom’s own words against him, Balls asked minister Tom:
“Are you naive? Have you been captured by Treasury orthodoxy? Or are you another politician who spoke out from the backbenches, and now you’ve got your feet behind the desk in the Foreign Office, you’ve forgotten what you used to stand for?”
It’s a fair question. Unfortunately for Ed, his execution was left lacking, and Tom was well-prepped to hit back:
“First of all, I’m not in the Foreign Office, I’m in the Home Office. Secondly, you can speak for yourself but not for me. Third, if you read the articles [Balls interrupts] it actually talks about defence and intelligence in the articles [Balls interrupts] Ed I’m delighted for you to interview yourself if you like, or you can listen to my answer…”
Tugendhat was smiling through gritted teeth as he returned fire. Guido leaves it to co-conspirators to decide who won this round…
Good Morning Britain welcomed Hassan Akkad onto the programme this morning, introducing him as a “Syrian refugee”. Throughout the show, Hassan characteristically slammed Priti Patel’s Afghan resettlement scheme and the government’s approach to asylum seekers. Co-conspirators will be more than familiar with Akkad, although once again, GMB failed to mention that he’s an active Labour Party member, documentary maker and campaigner. Along with Susan Michie, he may be Guido’s most frequently called-out activist expert…
Guido hopes listeners of the programme weren’t left with the misguided impression that Hassan was an ordinary member of the public, rather than a political activist and Labour Party member. It’s a step back for GMB, who Guido last praised after Richard Madeley called out Michie’s communist beliefs…
In August Guido reported Unite and GMB were balloting strike action over potential sackings in Southside, after Labour’s general secretary David Evans said the party was seeking at least 90 redundancies. The results of the ballots are now in, and Labour staff have overwhelmingly backed action if the party pursues the sackings:
22% of members in the former, and 23% in the latter, voted no. If only Sir Keir could work out who they are they’d be great candidates for the sack…
The two unions now say they’ll meet Labour management on Friday and are hopeful “an agreement can be reached on a way forward that avoids compulsory redundancies and industrial action”. Another acutely awkward time for Labour ahead of Starmer’s first in-person conference…
Unite and GMB are balloting strike action after plans to “reorganise” the Labour Party were announced to staff on Tuesday. The proposed cuts would result in approximately 90 redundancies. Hardly a surprise; Labour’s finances are in the gutter. Three elections, declining membership numbers, and a series of legal fights over antisemitism have inevitably taken their toll…
London region organiser for the GMB Vaughan West said:
“GMB will ask members if they are willing to strike over compulsory redundancies. If the answer is yes, we will not hesitate to move to a formal strike ballot.”
A regional officer for Unite added:
“Labour staff have worked tirelessly for the party and should not be made to pay the price for this reorganisation.”
This does not bode well for Starmer…
