Before Starmer gives a pitch-rolling speech for what’s predicted to be one of the largest tax-raising budgets in history Pat McFadden had the morning round. Some of the focus was on Labour’s manifesto pledge: “Labour will not increase taxes on working people”…
Since the election Labour completely changed the definition of “working people” and on the Today Programme McFadden suggested Labour wouldn’t be keeping to its pledge at all:
“We made promises in the manifesto about income tax, about National Insurance, and VAT. We will keep to those promises when the Chancellor gets to her feet on Wednesday.”
McFadden repeated the suggestion that the “working people” bit doesn’t count over on Sky. Voters seem to have thought Labour’s pledge was wider than those three taxes. Wonder what gave them that impression…
You’ve been played… pic.twitter.com/G3Ce2JLG2Q
— Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) July 31, 2024
Emma Barnett pointed out that Labour’s “wordplay” and dishonesty over their pledges has “alienated and annoyed a lot of people.” To which McFadden hit back:
“If people are annoyed what they should be annoyed at is the fiscal fiction the the fictions that we inherited that have forced us to face up to this situation.”
Tetchy. The public might not see things his way…
Radio 4’s Today Programme had a segment on the US election this morning. It’s now 11 days away and Trump is ahead…
On that Justin Webb decided to spend a whole 7 minutes discussing Trump’s “fitness for office or lack of such fitness” and the idea that “he doesn’t understand the Presidency and its responsibilities.” Bob Woodward came on to decry Trump’s high staff turnover and handling of Covid as a “moral felony”…
Webb pressed ex-Trump strategist Sam Nunberg on “the idea that Donald Trump doesn’t really understand the Presidency: the roles and responsibilities of being President of the United States.” Vice-President Harris, who Guido reminds the BBC has never served as President, didn’t even get a mention throughout the segment. Trump Derangement Syndrome is a hell of a thing…
Reform’s new leader Nigel Farage has just had the early slot on the Today Programme and hashed out some of his positions in the election with a testy Mishal Husain. As Husain argued the Tory corner and touted a few announced and recent changes to immigration policy Farage hit back:
“I mean, they’ve lied to us for 14 years about this and they thought they’d get away with it, well they can’t. It doesn’t even matter what Sunak pledges today.”
The Tories announced a cap on the number of migrants which would fall annually last night. As Guido reported yesterday, they are set to make a decision on the ECHR this week. Now Farage sets out Reform’s position, that net migration should be zero. The new front in this election has opened up wide…
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones had a difficult time on this morning’s Today Programme pinning down what exactly Labour’s economic policies are. When pushed by presenter Mishal Husain to name one policy since the party canned the £28 billion-a-year for green investment, Jones could only point to the wishy-washy slogan “stability, investment and reform”.
It’s not the first time Jones has proudly admitted he doesn’t know what Labour’s plans are. Meanwhile, Reeves is gearing up to talk all things economy in the City later this morning…
The BBC brought human rights lawyer Jacqueline McKenzie onto the Today Programme this morning to chat about the first voluntary Rwanda removal this week. What the BBC seems to have forgotten to mention is that McKenzie also has a role advising the Labour Party as a member of their “Race Equality Taskforce”. She spends her time on Twitter urging failed asylum seekers not to respond to the Home Office if they are contacted about voluntary departure, as well as accusing the Tory Party of launching “racist pile-ons” against her. Would have been useful for the BBC to mention…
Apart from vaguely rubbishing the story, she also failed to answer the fundamental question involved:
“What should happen to people who are here who have exhausted every effort to stay here, who are not here legally because they have failed to gain the right to be here legally?“
McKenzie eventually argued we shouldn’t worry about it because a “very small number” don’t get asylum and that “the UK doesn’t have a major problem with asylum seekers” – instead this country simply does not want to “do its bit“. Is that soon to be the official Labour position?
Labour have today pledged to renationalise most passenger rail services within five years if they grab the keys to Downing Street, bringing the railways under state control. Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh went on the Today Programme to try and sell the idea to listeners. Unsurprisingly, she wasn’t too convincing…
She repeatedly said “I can’t promise we will lower fares“, and even when faced with the question that fares could actually go up under the plans, Haigh didn’t deny it. Instead she rolled out the line that fares would be “simpler“. Simpler doesn’t mean cheaper…
