Author: Miles Donavan

The Labour mayors have urged Keir Starmer to listen to MPs and rethink the cuts Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham have joined over 100 Labour MPs in urging Keir Starmer to drop the government’s proposed welfare cuts.  Their dramatic interventions came after 108 Labour MPs signed an amendment opposing the government’s bill. Hours later, the prime minister told journalists that he will press ahead with the plans.  The reforms include freezing the health element of Universal Credit, cutting it for new claimants, and changing eligibility for Personal Independence Payments (PIP).  The government’s own estimates suggest that the plans could push…

BBC right-wing bias is peculiarly dangerous precisely because it is subtle and exploits the corporation’s reputation for impartiality BBC news impartiality is a vexed question. The corporation has long been the locus of a left-right tug of war with each side accusing it of favouring the other. The BBC’s attempt to defend its neutrality by pointing to accusations of bias from both the left and the right isn’t valid. These opposing directions of criticism don’t mean the BBC enjoys an impartial resting point in the middle. The accusations are perfectly compatible with one, not the other, being correct.  There is…

‘Jeff Bezos is the second-richest man in the world yet is reported to pay a 1.1% true tax rate.’ Everyone Hates Elon and Greenpeace have unveiled a poster ahead of Jeff Bezos’ $48 million wedding this week, calling on the billionaire to pay more tax. Locals are also planning to disrupt the lavish wedding, by marching in the streets and swimming in the canals. On Monday, UK group Everyone Hates Elon and Greenpeace Italy unfurled a banner in St Mark’s Square, Venice which reads: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.” Bezos has paid…

Recognition of Somaliland could be a meaningful reset, an area where Labour in government and a Trump administration in Washington can align on values, strategy, and outcomes. Hanad Darwish is a political consultant, Director of Labour Friends of Somaliland, and a former Senior Advisor to the Government of Somaliland “Somaliland is not a breakaway province – it’s a nation that reasserted its independence and has shown a capacity for building its own democratic institutions, pursuing peace and security, and fostering economic growth.” Those are the words of New Labour minister and Welsh Labour grandee, Alun Michael, writing recently in The…

Yusuf’s in a muddle… Reform’s Zia Yusuf endured a car crash interview on the BBC, while trying to explain exactly how his party’s latest non-dom policy would work and whether it would apply to non-doms already in the UK. Nigel Farage has unveiled his plan for tax cuts for the wealthy, to restore non-dom tax breaks for the super-rich, in exchange for a ‘Britannia card’ worth £250,000 each, as part of a special tax regime. Farage likes to portray himself as a ‘man of the people’, and yet his priority is to help the super-rich. He has unveiled plans to…

‘Jeff Bezos is the second-richest man in the world yet is reported to pay a 1.1% true tax rate.’ Everyone Hates Elon and Greenpeace have unveiled a poster ahead of Jeff Bezos’ $48 million wedding this week, calling on the billionaire to pay more tax. Locals are also planning to disrupt the lavish wedding, by marching in the streets and swimming in the canals. On Monday, UK group Everyone Hates Elon and Greenpeace Italy unfurled a banner in St Mark’s Square, Venice which reads: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.” Bezos has paid…

Albie Amankona was dropped by GB News for calling out racism The Good Law Project is supporting a legal case by ex-GB News presenter Albie Amankona, who was taken off air after saying he believed Suella Braverman was “a racist and thoroughly bigoted woman”.  Amankona, who was dropped by GB News last August, is now taking the right-wing channel to an employment tribunal. His claim against GB News is that he was racially harassed, paid less than white colleagues, and when he spoke out against Braverman, he said he was discriminated against, unfairly dismissed and victimised. A GB news spokesperson…

We need ministers to stop pretending this is someone else’s problem Earlier this month, I stood in the House of Commons and told the story of Yeovil’s maternity unit. A much-valued, much-used service, where 1,300 babies are born each year, was forced to shut its doors with barely a week’s notice. The cause? A combination of staff sickness, pressure, and a damning Section 29A notice from the Care Quality Commission. This is not just a story about one hospital in Somerset. It is a warning about a national system in deep distress. Data compiled through the House of Commons library…

If the amendment passes, it would effectively kill the bill Labour MPs who oppose the government’s proposed disability benefit cuts have tabled a rebel amendment, which has been signed by 108 MPs so far. If the amendment passes, it would effectively kill the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill at a vote on 1 July.  In March, Liz Kendall, the Department for Work and Pensions Secretary, announced a raft of cuts to Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit, aimed at saving £5 billion a year by 2030.  The ‘reasoned’ amendment opposes giving the PIP cuts bill a second reading…

Seems as though Patel doesn’t seem too keen on having her own party’s record pointed out. The Tories seem to have short memories, after yet another one of its shadow cabinet members conveniently forgot about the disastrous decisions they had made while in office, enduring yet another humiliating interview. Priti Patel appeared on BBC Breakfast to discuss defence spending, where she tried to accuse the Labour government of not doing enough. It comes as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK is set to increase spending on defence, security and resilience to 5% of GDP by 2035 to meet…