Topic: Labour Thread * No Gaza *

[TepidT2O]

They are now going after Rayner for breaking electoral law - being registered in the wrong constituency.

 

If it were you or I and someone reported this to the police, nothing would happen. Literally nothing. This is a total waste of everyone’s time and they won’t bring any charges.


One thing it shows is that Angela Rayner is felt to be a real threat to the Tories, they wouldn’t bother otherwise

[Kenny's Jacket]

If it were you or I and someone reported this to the police, nothing would happen. Literally nothing. This is a total waste of everyone’s time and they won’t bring any charges.


One thing it shows is that Angela Rayner is felt to be a real threat to the Tories, they wouldn’t bother otherwise

Absolutely. 

[Kenny's Jacket]

We will once again, get constantly reminded that Johnson lost his job for eating cake and not the reality that he lost his job for being a liar.

[rob1966]

If it were you or I and someone reported this to the police, nothing would happen. Literally nothing. This is a total waste of everyone’s time and they won’t bring any charges.


One thing it shows is that Angela Rayner is felt to be a real threat to the Tories, they wouldn’t bother otherwise

I'm fucking fuming, GMP are too understaffed to be wasting time on shit like this - sort out the robbing little bastards first eh?

[filopastry]

If it were you or I and someone reported this to the police, nothing would happen. Literally nothing. This is a total waste of everyone’s time and they won’t bring any charges.


One thing it shows is that Angela Rayner is felt to be a real threat to the Tories, they wouldn’t bother otherwise

I'm not sure its honestly that much to do with Rayner herself, more the fact that she is a senior Labour figure and the Tories are so buried in sleeze that they will grab anything that helps play into the "they're all the same" narrative that people on the right love to push.

I mean its nonsense, but it won't stop them trying, they are desperate.

[Kenny's Jacket]

Dan Hodges is one of the journalists leading the attack on Rayner, Ive just discovered he is Glenda Jacksons son 

[filopastry]

Dan Hodges is one of the journalists leading the attack on Rayner, Ive just discovered he is Glenda Jacksons son 

Yeah I know, that connection is pretty nuts!

[west_london_red]

Dan Hodges is one of the journalists leading the attack on Rayner, Ive just discovered he is Glenda Jacksons son 

I have always assumed she accidentally dropped him on his head many times as a kid.

[oldfordie]

I'm not sure its honestly that much to do with Rayner herself, more the fact that she is a senior Labour figure and the Tories are so buried in sleeze that they will grab anything that helps play into the "they're all the same" narrative that people on the right love to push.

I mean its nonsense, but it won't stop them trying, they are desperate.

That's about it, it's not just the narrative the right want to push, people who should know the difference say Labour are just as bad.
It's important for Labour to hammer this point after Raynor is cleared, the whole country knew the Torys were going to get nasty and it's important the public should expect more of this over the rest of the year.  Police resources used to investigate a possible £1.500 claim which had already faced scrutiny and cleared while many Torys get away with Millions in tax evasion, not avoidance, yet a excuse of honest mistake I forgot is accepted.
We can expect more of this and the public need to be aware of it. the more the Torys try it the more they lose the respect of the country.

[TepidT2O]

The chances of anything happening are minimal…

I'm not sure this police investigation into whether Angela Rayner broke electoral law will get very far.  When we found on C4 News in Stoke by-election that Ukip leader was registered at address he'd told me he'd never yet visited, Staffs police investigated & dropped the case.

And in a 1991 BBC Panorama programme we showed PM John Major had been registered in 1968 at a house the owner told me he'd never lived at - not even for one night.  Again, there was a big fuss, but no action was taken.

https://twitter.com/michaellcrick/status/1778762308606447834?s=61&t=IBM61bzNciP9yNB3C-HiEg

It’s just harassment

[oldfordie]

I don't know if it's true but read the Mail tried to dig up some dirt, best they could get was Neighbours say they never saw her, turns out those were people who lived 2 streets from her house. you would assume they went knocking on the doors in her street first and got nothing.

[RedDeadRejection]

Tories holding on to these attacks before an election is about as desperate as it gets.

[LuverlyRita]

I'm not sure its honestly that much to do with Rayner herself, more the fact that she is a senior Labour figure and the Tories are so buried in sleeze that they will grab anything that helps play into the "they're all the same" narrative that people on the right love to push.

I mean its nonsense, but it won't stop them trying, they are desperate.

It sounds to me like classic distraction tactics probably to stop further coverage of the Wragg scandal. You get the feeling that some big names might have been caught up in that.

[PaulF]

That's about it, it's not just the narrative the right want to push, people who should know the difference say Labour are just as bad.
It's important for Labour to hammer this point after Raynor is cleared, the whole country knew the Torys were going to get nasty and it's important the public should expect more of this over the rest of the year.  Police resources used to investigate a possible £1.500 claim which had already faced scrutiny and cleared while many Torys get away with Millions in tax avoidance, not evasion, avoidance. yet a excuse of honest mistake I forgot is accepted.
We can expect more of this and the public need to be aware of it. the more the Torys try it the more they lose the respect of the country.

Do you mean that the right way? Tax avoidence is completely legal. Pension payments are essentially tax avoiding measures.

[oldfordie]

Do you mean that the right way? Tax avoidence is completely legal. Pension payments are essentially tax avoiding measures.

Yep. typing away without concentrating.

[Red Beret]

The chances of anything happening are minimal…
https://twitter.com/michaellcrick/status/1778762308606447834?s=61&t=IBM61bzNciP9yNB3C-HiEg

It’s just harassment

Throwing mud to see what sticks at this point.

[TSC]

This Rayner issue is just this week’s ’look over there’ Tory effort.  They have absolutely zip to offer to the electorate, beyond ongoing misery.

And here’s the latest Tory quitter

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/graham-stuart-quits-energy-minister-tory-mp/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68797259

[Kashinoda]

Fucking vile lot.

[Schmarn]

The hypocrisy is staggering. Jeremy H*nt owns so many properties he can’t remember how many. But it’s all hidden behind a blind trust so the public have no way of knowing what he’s doing with his tax affairs. A single mum sells a council house for a gain that is pocket change for these c*nts and it’s a police matter. They have clearly leaned on the police here which is an abuse of power.

They tried the same trick with Starmer over lockdown breaches and got nowhere. It’s all about stemming the tide of bad news for a few days. I’d like to see Labour throwing the kitchen sink at this lot.

[Red-Soldier]

Desperate stuff.

It never changes, though.  Labour have always been held to different standards and have to jump through numerous hoops.

[TSC]

The hypocrisy is staggering. Jeremy H*nt owns so many properties he can’t remember how many. But it’s all hidden behind a blind trust so the public have no way of knowing what he’s doing with his tax affairs. A single mum sells a council house for a gain that is pocket change for these c*nts and it’s a police matter. They have clearly leaned on the police here which is an abuse of power.

They tried the same trick with Starmer over lockdown breaches and got nowhere. It’s all about stemming the tide of bad news for a few days. I’d like to see Labour throwing the kitchen sink at this lot.

Grant Shapps or whatever he calls himself these days welcomes investigation into Rayner.

https://www.itn.co.uk/news/shapps-welcomes-police-investigation-rayner

I wonder why

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/labour-grant-shapps-probe-tory-sleaze-scandal-boris-johnson-b966225.html

[thejbs]

Won’t somebody please spare a thought for petrified billionaires and millionaires:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/apr/13/uk-non-doms-uk-labour-tax-plans

[Draex]

The hypocrisy is staggering. Jeremy H*nt owns so many properties he can’t remember how many. But it’s all hidden behind a blind trust so the public have no way of knowing what he’s doing with his tax affairs. A single mum sells a council house for a gain that is pocket change for these c*nts and it’s a police matter. They have clearly leaned on the police here which is an abuse of power.

They tried the same trick with Starmer over lockdown breaches and got nowhere. It’s all about stemming the tide of bad news for a few days. I’d like to see Labour throwing the kitchen sink at this lot.

Exactly £1.5 vs £1.5bil+ of Tory illegal shit, like Mone.

Tory’s are in total dead cat mode but failing miserably.

[Yorkykopite]

That was a good response from Starmer today. Keep highlighting the staggering, unearned wealth and the tax evasion of the Prime Minister (and other leading Tories). They hate Angela Rayner precisely because she is working class. And smart. And threatening to them. Starmer should keep on pointing all these things out because it gets them where it hurts.

[lobsterboy]

A dozen detectives for a Tory dead cat story.
The GMP are as rotten as the MET.

[Yorkykopite]

Two huge figures in Labour politics died earlier this week - Frank Field, local MP, Child Poverty Action Group director, briefly a Minister under Blair and an independent and maverick thinker all his life.

And David Marquand, the social-democratic intellectual. Wrote one of the greatest political biographies of the last 100 years (on Ramsay MacDonald) and several other books on British and European history and politics which still stand tall (The Progressive Dilemma and The Unprincipled Society particularly).

https://labourlist.org/2024/04/frank-field-david-marquand-tributes-paid-death-funeral/

[thaddeus]

Arguably deserves its own thread but I'll put it here.  Very sad news, albeit not unexpected given his recent health issues.

Former Labour minister Frank Field dies aged 81

Former Labour minister and crossbench peer Frank Field has died aged 81, his family has announced.

"He will be mourned by admirers across politics but above all he will be greatly missed by those lucky enough to have enjoyed his laughter and friendship," a statement said.

Lord Field spent 40 years as MP for Birkenhead and was a leading voice on welfare reform for much of his career.

RIP Frank.  Apparently he was my MP when I was born before we moved saaarf.  Tainted his reputation more recently - primarily his stance on Brexit for me - but did and campaigned for a lot of good over his lifetime.

[TepidT2O]

Angela Rayner just murdered Oliver Dowden at PMQs. 

Total destruction. Very funny.

[oldfordie]

Angela Rayner just murdered Oliver Dowden at PMQs. 

Total destruction. Very funny.

  Could be worse, my dad called me Half-Pint when I was little 
Politics UK
@PolitlcsUK
🚨 NEW: Angela Rayner says the Tories ditched their biggest election winner - Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson - and replaced him with a "pint size loser" #PMQs

[thaddeus]

  Could be worse, my dad called me Half-Pint when I was little 
Politics UK
@PolitlcsUK
🚨 NEW: Angela Rayner says the Tories ditched their biggest election winner - Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson - and replaced him with a "pint size loser" #PMQs

I'm glad to see the Tory smear campaign has done nothing to dull her fire!

[John C]

Two huge figures in Labour politics died earlier this week - Frank Field, local MP, Child Poverty Action Group director, briefly a Minister under Blair and an independent and maverick thinker all his life.

Yep, RIP both.

[Jshooters]

Arguably deserves its own thread but I'll put it here.  Very sad news, albeit not unexpected given his recent health issues.

RIP Frank.  Apparently he was my MP when I was born before we moved saaarf.  Tainted his reputation more recently - primarily his stance on Brexit for me - but did and campaigned for a lot of good over his lifetime.

Was also my MP and personally intervened after my wife was denied a visa to the UK in 2008. 

RIP

[oldfordie]

I'm glad to see the Tory smear campaign has done nothing to dull her fire!

Nahh, I think she just laughed at the Torys rather than being upset, Dowden looked a mini-me of Sunak. a forced smile to give the impression he's enjoying giving Labour a good kicking, he's not very good at it. he looks completely out of his comfort zone.

[gazzalfc]

Labour starting to show some cards

Promise to fully nationalise rail in 5 years

[killer-heels]

Labour starting to show some cards

Promise to fully nationalise rail in 5 years

Yep saw that on Newsnight. Good stuff and a proper pledge that.

[kavah]

Labour starting to show some cards

Promise to fully nationalise rail in 5 years

Great stuff. They need 2 or 3 terms - please for let it happen

[ToneLa]

Angela Rayner just murdered Oliver Dowden at PMQs. 

Total destruction. Very funny.

I thought the one-two punch was great - she really set Dowden up, knowing he'd go after her TOTAL NON STORY issue floating about, as if the Tory treasurer himself doesn't have links to Putin

Just in case anybody thought that allegation had a shred of legitimacy, Politico reprinted this from Private Eye

What Angie will be reading: The report in Private Eye about Greater Manchester Police chief Stephen Watson (the bloke who re-opened the probe into Rayner’s housing arrangements) speaking at a Conservative conference event in 2023. The mag notes Watson has since been talked up by Conservative backbencher James Daly (the bloke who made the police complaint about Angie to the Manchester force) as a possible future Met boss.

Bloated, corrupt, and in Tory pockets....  if he's a racist too he will be perfect for the Met

[Red Beret]

Great news about Labour's pledge to re-nationalise the railways!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/24/labours-plans-for-great-british-railway-all-but-set-up-by-tory-government

This is one renationalisation that even an ultra-cautious Labour had to embrace: voters like it, there is no upfront outlay, and the Conservative government has already done most of the work to get there.

The rail plans announced by shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, will confirm the longstanding Labour policy of taking national rail operations back into public ownership as contracts expire. Now, though, that appears to be an imminent reality, as all contracts are expected to lapse within four years of the coming election.

The industry is largely already in public hands; Network Rail has been on the state’s books since 2014, and four major English networks are being run by the Department for Transport’s own operator of last resort.

The success of the likes of LNER – run by the same management as the collapsed Virgin East Coast, but on behalf of the taxpayer – suggests there will be little for passengers to fear.

Ownership aside, Labour’s plans for a separate arm’s-length body to run the railway are very much on the track laid out by the Conservatives – underlined by the endorsement of Keith Williams, who drew up essentially the same scheme for Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and Grant Shapps.

Notably, it is the first time Labour has publicly embraced their Great British Railways by the same name. The echoes of British Rail appeared to make the Tories alarmed at their own plans, and subsequent ministerial refettling to ensure a prime role for private operators ran, Labour argues, against its logic.

The problems identified by Williams included the fragmentation, waste and bureaucracy that beset privatised rail. Teams from track and train and government vied over roles, and legions of lawyers tried to establish which part of the railway bore responsibility for delays and compensation.

The Tories claimed GBR would save £1.5bn annually, and removing the additional “friction costs” of private sector involvement could cut another £700m, Haigh claims.

Full renationalisation might arguably include the rolling stock companies, or roscos, to ensure that Britain owns the trains rather than simply leases them – especially given the dividends that have exceeded the “profits leaking out to private operators” cited by Labour.

But that comes with expenditure that the party could not countenance in an election campaign. Instead, Labour have made clear that the roscos are onside.

It will also allow private “open access” train services, such as Lumo or Hull Trains, to continue, illustrating again that this renationalisation remains more pragmatic than dogmatic.

Beyond addressing rail’s ownership and structure, Labour’s plan contains one or two eye-catching proposals that give substance to the rhetorical flourish beloved of industry leaders and politicians of every stripe, to “put the passenger first”.

Guaranteeing a best-priced fare looks a solid principle to hasten the end of the confusing, multiple ticketing options that still trip passengers up. And a new Passenger Standards Authority, combining and streamlining the functions of the Office of Rail and Road and the Transport Focus watchdog, should have more teeth with which to hold the industry to account.

Labour will still have to deal with rail’s immediate crises, of falling commuter revenues and toxic industrial relations. If Aslef’s enthusiasm can translate into a deal to end strikes that the government admits have cost billions, it could give Labour a flying start.

For most who work on or use the trains, six years since reform was announced, arriving at a Great British Railways of any hue can’t come soon enough.

Obviously still a lot to do. Ideally, we want the whole system, from rolling stock to track, to be reintegrated. But as per the bold bit, that's out of the country's price range as yet. And clearly the ticketing system needs to be streamlined and simplified - and hopefully we might see a real terms price reduction inside of ten years.

I follow some rail bloggers on YT, and one using Spanish trains remarked that standard class in Spain was almost as good as first class in the UK - and only 18 Euros. What commuters are paying in the UK is a bad joke, especially when you consider the quality of service people are getting.

[TepidT2O]

Here’s the plan

https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GETTING-BRITAIN-MOVING-Labours-Plan-to-Fix-Britains-Railways.pdf

I would suggest that it will be a vote winner with nearly anyone who has to use a train

[Lisan Al Gaib]

What commuters are paying in the UK is a bad joke, especially when you consider the quality of service people are getting.

Wouldn't mind paying what we're paying at the moment if the money actually went back into improving the railways rather than into an executives pocket!