Author: Miles Donavan

‘Reform are proving every day that they are not capable of running the council.’ Another Reform UK deputy leader has quit just three months into the job. David Taylor resigned yesterday, but will remain a member of the cabinet, and Reform councillor Rob Wharton will fill in as deputy leader while the group decides on a permanent replacement. Reform has not given a reason for Taylor’s departure, though council leader Joanna Monk has confirmed that he has stepped down.   This comes after 22-year-old deputy leader of Leicestershire Council, Joseph Boam, was removed from his role over the weekend.  In June,…

‘There’s nothing worse than uncertainty, what residents and everyone that works for the council wants is stability and leadership’ The Tory leader of the opposition at Leicestershire County Council, Deborah Taylor, has criticised Reform UK for creating uncertainty since winning control of the council in May. Her comments follow the removal of 22-year-old councillor Joseph Boam from his roles as deputy leader and cabinet member for adult social care after just three months in the job. Taylor, who has been a councillor since 2017 and served as acting leader of the council before the local elections in May, said she…

IPSO found that the Telegraph had reported on the Thames Water findings in a way that was “inaccurate, misleading, or distorted”. Another right-wing paper has been found to have made a misleading claim when it comes to migrants. IPSO, the newspaper regulator, has found that The Telegraph’s sums to conclude that “one in 12 in London” is an illegal migrant were inaccurate. The misleading claim was also picked up by the Daily Mail which tried to say that it was fine for it to use the claim without checking because it was “reasonable for it to assume the central premise…

‘Oh, terrible. People having rights at work!’ Reform mayor for Greater Lincolnshire Andrea Jenkyns has said she doesn’t like trade unions and has criticised Labour for strengthening people’s rights at work. Speaking on the Jeremy Vine show today, Jenkyns was asked for her view on introducing a wealth tax on the super-rich. The Reform mayor expressed opposition to introducing a wealth tax, saying “I want wealth creators to come to Britain to create jobs” and that the 2% tax on wealth over £10 million would make the super rich leave the UK.  Jenkyns quickly went on to attack workers’ rights,…

“I’m a Londoner through and through, born in east London.” Labour MP Dawn Butler has said that she plans to stand to become the next Mayor of London should Sadiq Khan stand down. Butler, the MP for Brent East said she would “pop my hat in the ring” should a vacancy arise. During an episode of the Mirror’s web series Party Games, in which politicians take part in a number of light-hearted games, Ms Butler was asked if she would rather be prime minister or mayor of London. She replied: “London mayor, to represent London. I’m a Londoner through and…

‘Jenrick is fanning the flames of the far right by chasing Reform UK votes’ Shadow justice Robert Jenrick has been condemned for going to a far-right protest organised by Homeland Party members in Epping. At the anti-refugee rally on Sunday, Jenrick was pictured with Eddy Butler, an ex-BNP activist and former member of Nazi terror group Combat 18.  While an organiser for the BNP in East London, Butler spearheaded the party’s “Rights for Whites” campaign in 1993. After the demonstration, Butler posted a photo on Facebook of him standing behind Jenrick. The caption read: “At the Bell Hotel riding shotgun…

Farage previously said politics should be kept out of football Nigel Farage has been ridiculed for launching a Reform UK football shirt, given his past comments that politics should be kept out of football. Before the rescheduled Euros in June 2021, Farage said that England manager Gareth Southgate was “out of touch with England fans” and that they were “right to boo” when players take the knee in protest against racism. He famously said: “Let’s keep politics out of football this summer.” Fast forward a few summers, and Farage is doing the exact opposite.  The shirt also features a modified…

There was no mass exodus… While those on the right tried to whip up a moral panic over tax rises on ‘non-doms’, claiming that there would be a mass exodus of wealthy individuals leaving the UK, official data shows that their claims were once more overly exaggerated. In April the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, scrapped the non-domiciled tax status, which allowed wealthy individuals with connections abroad to avoid paying full UK tax on their overseas earnings. That led to a panic among right-wingers who tried to claim that it would lead to a mass exodus of wealthy elites which in turn…

Equitable distribution of income and wealth would go a long way towards stimulating domestic demand and investment… Prem Sikka is an Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, a Labour member of the House of Lords, and Contributing Editor at Left Foot Forward. The UK’s economic growth has slowed in the second quarter of the year to 0.3%.The economy grew by an average of 1.5% between 2009 and 2024. The UK remains trapped in low growth as the government’s chosen tools are deregulation and greater reliance on the finance sector. Right on cue,…

Seven in ten members say the move was wrong The large majority of Labour members believe that the government was wrong to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group. According to polling carried out by Survation for Labour List, one in seven or 71% of members said the move was wrong, while a small minority, 21%, said it was the right decision. Opposition to proscribing the group was strongest among 18-24 year olds, members aged over 65 and 96% of those who voted for Rebecca Long-Bailey to be leader, according to Labour List.  Palestine Action was proscribed last month, after…