An entire year has passed since the Labour Party suspended Diane Abbott pending investigation for setting up her own handy racism hierarchy. Soon enough she declared the racism investigation racist…
Guido checked with Labour today that the investigation was still ongoing. They must really be poring over those 126 words…
When Starmer asked Abbott what he could do to help in the wake of Tory donor Frank Hester’s fruity remarks, she said “You could restore the whip.” No such luck. Her chum Angela Rayner has so far been unsuccessful in getting her back into the fold…
Internal sources say she ain’t coming back. Starmer has already called the comments antisemitic. Maybe they could wind up their extensive investigation. Judging by Bercow’s record stint under the spotlight Guido isn’t sure they will…
Housing is on the agenda today as Labour and the Tories spar with each other and their personnel. Rayner took the time to attack the Tories for watering down leasehold commitments in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill. Guido wonders what Labour has done in the capital city they control…
Sadiq Khan’s 2021 manifesto promised:
“I’ll pilot a commonhold scheme to show how this form of ownership can become the new national standard for new flats.“
That was followed by crickets for three years. Now his new manifesto doesn’t even repeat that last failed pledge:
“I will continue to campaign for an end to the feudal leasehold system and its replacement with Commonhold.“
Meanwhile, Khan slings mud at Gove for the Tories’ failure to fulfil their 2019 manifesto commitment on ground rents. The pot is screaming at the kettle…
Labour’s deputy, flame-haired and dressed in a blazing red smock sat in her place, as for a funeral pyre. She looked as if she could go up at any minute. Obsessives will know all the trouble she’s in and expected her immolation imminently.
Deputy Dowden had brought faggots and a match and had never looked more pleased with himself. What a magnificent beadle he will make, if ever the office is brought back.
Angela Rayner rose from her place to Tory shouts of More! More! Attack being the best form of attack, she plunged into the crowd with two broken bottles and laid waste to Tory expectations. “I know the party opposite is desperate to talk about my living arrangements but the public want to know what this Government is going to do about theirs.”
It was a neat trope and delivered with her characteristic flare.
It’s true her flame wavered occasionally. Her demand to know when the Government was going to do something to reform the rental market was answered with the words, “This afternoon. Renters (Reform) Bill: Remaining Stages. Until 7pm.” She shouldn’t attempt tongue twisters and her distinction between the freehold ban on houses rather than on flats was nice but niche for this level of PMQs.
The final twist in Dowden’s face of her broken bottle (backstabbing on behalf of a pint sized loser) will be remembered for days. So, she survived. Which is more than can be said for Frank Field (see below).
Mhairi Black put the mass grave of Gaza onto the Floor of the House without seeking moral profit from it. Why is the Government not designating the 300 executions a war crime and withholding arms for Israel? The way she asked the question meant that reasonable people could try and answer it.
Iain Duncan Smith described something closer to home and apparently less significant. Yes, it occurred in Essex, and true, it concerned Boots the chemist – but future historians might find it a greater factor in the death of western civilisation than all the atrocities of this century. It was the casual, unhurried looting of a high street Boots, without fear of being caught, or even criticised. It’s happening more and more, what with the police now working from home.
Labour’s Sarah Wood criticised the Tory mayoral candidate – commentators better informed than I will put a name to that person. Apparently, the candidate has said, “The Black community has a problem with crime.” Moans of Shame! Shame! around her. Perhaps she’ll be arrested before the polls open.
At least the increase in the Defence budget, welcomed by John Baron, will bring the DEI regiment up to fighting strength.
We heard of a Gay Tax that is pricing gay couples out of having a family – the state is refusing them free fertilisation facilities. There are other ways of going about that, of course. And what with school fees, the cost of healthcare and the price of preschool smart phones – heterosexual couples are being priced out of having families probably rather more.
Labour backbencher made a shocking claim, that the Tories had “given away the future of the children of Teeside”? That really made the blood boil. To give away children’s future – have you seen the Net Present Worth of a child? These people are Conservatives in Name Only. No wonder the public finances are as they are.
And on that perhaps depressing note, it must be reported that the death of Frank Field produced a shower of quite unforgivable remarks in the Chamber. What a nice fellow he was. How he worked to make the world a better place. What a tireless campaigner he was. It really takes the shine off dying to hear these things said out loud. And him no longer here to defend himself.
Frank was deeply ashamed of his hubris, thinking he could win as an independent in the constituency he had worked for decades. He never said a thing your sketchwriter disagreed with, which makes his survival in the Labour party a marvel. He campaigned energetically against the disadvantaged, dispossessed and disenfranchised designating them as Neighbours From Hell. He advocated removing their benefits and housing them in cages underneath the southern flyover. As a young and affectionate sketchwriter, I thought it better for his sake not to report that modest proposal he gave me in his 2001 campaign. To his credit, he never forgave me.
What important thing he knew we shall never know now, but it must have been pretty good to have got him into the Lords. Ave atque vale, Frank.
Guido revealed a recording earlier today of Khan’s Deputy Mayor for Business, Howard Dawber, hosting a meeting at City Hall urging the room to come out and help people vote for Labour. Now, Neil Garratt – group leader of the City Hall Conservatives – has written to the GLA to call for an investigation into the incident. Bad timing for Khan…
The potential breach of GLA’s Guidance on Political Restriction wasn’t the only thing on the Tories’ mind. They also point out that Dawber may have breached the GLA Use of Resource guidance, as the meeting appeared to be political, having been chaired on behalf of SME4Labour. The guidance clearly states that GLA facilities and funds should not be used for “party political activity and electoral campaigning”. Double trouble for Dawber…
Read the letter in full below:
Ofcom has got into a spat with Today presenter Nick Robinson over the channel’s rulings on GB News. Robinson complained this morning that Nigel Farage can present programmes on the channel along with Reform leader Tice and Lee Anderson MP. When someone pointed out that David Lammy, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, has a show on LBC, Robinson said “he’ll be a candidate so not permitted to present during an election campaign“. Which also applies to Anderson – D’oh!
So, @Nigel_Farage – one of the founders & owners of @reformparty_uk – can present an “impartial” programme on a TV “news” channel during the general election according to the broadcasting regulator @ofcom. The leader of the party @TiceRichard & its only MP @LeeAndersonMP_ can… https://t.co/G210M6rTp3
— Nick Robinson (@bbcnickrobinson) April 24, 2024
Ofcom’s executive for broadcast regulation Cristina Nicolotti Squires has admitted anti-GB News fanatics are hell-bent on destroying the channel:
“There are some people who won’t be happy unless we shut GB News down tomorrow and that’s not the kind of country we live in. We’re not censors. Nick would be the first one to be cross if Ofcom told him how Today ought to be. We live in a country with editorial freedom and the right for broadcasters to decide how they make programmes. It’s up to them to make them impartial.”
Ofcom is yet to decide if Farage is counted as a politician, which would make his show very difficult to do according to the rules. Even ITV refers to him as an “ex-politician”…
With London Mayoral election day next week, Khan’s team are eyeing a third term. Feeling certain of victory, they are getting careless…
Guido can reveal a video recording of a meeting from the second week of March addressed by Khan’s Deputy Mayor for Business, Howard Dawber, hosted at City Hall to discuss the role played by British Bangladeshi SMEs. After stating “unfortunately I’m not Bangladeshi but I’d like to be“, Dawber appears to urge the room to come out and help people vote for Labour:
“Obviously we have an election coming up, I need to mention that, on 2nd May. Those of you who are in London, I can’t, I don’t think I am allowed to say which way you should vote, but I do want you to vote, please. And if you were going to support us, take the day off, now arrange to take the day off, come out and help us to get other people, as it is going to be on turnout. If our voters come out we are fine. If they don’t come out we are not fine.”
According to GLA’s Guidance on Political Restriction, Deputy Mayors must not “speak to the public at large or to a section of the public with the apparent intention of affecting public support for a UK political party“. Dawber is politically restricted. Neil Garratt, group leader of City Hall Conservatives group, tells Guido:
“Mayor Khan’s Deputy appears to be hosting Labour Party election rallies at City Hall disguised as official events, misusing taxpayer funded facilities for party political use. Did they also fundraise for Labour at these dodgy events?”
Dawber, Khan’s most recent hire, on a salary of £141,406, may be in trouble. Guido has contacted Khan’s office for a comment. What will Khan say?
UPDATE: A London Labour spokesman said:
“As the recording shows, the Deputy Mayor is clear that he is not telling anybody how to vote. However, the choice on May 2 is clear: a pro-business Labour mayor building a better London for everyone, or the Tories’ Susan Hall who will take London backwards and doesn’t even mention business or jobs in her manifesto.”
