Author: Miles Donavan

It comes as former Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to hike gambling taxes so she can lift benefit restrictions at her autumn Budget. A clear majority of the British public support raising taxes on online gambling in order to fund efforts to tackle child poverty, a new poll has found. The poll, carried out by YouGov found that 70% of Britons would support raising taxes on online gambling, following Gordon Brown calling for an increase in the levies to fund efforts to tackle child poverty. Only 16% of those asked said they opposed the move. It…

The Green Party has said the Conservatives “are attempting to look just as cruel as Reform” Kemi Badenoch’s suggestion that asylum seekers should be housed in camps instead of hotels has been slammed by historian Dr Tessa Dunlop. The Tory leader made the comments yesterday while meeting locals in Epping, an area where there have recently been anti-migrant and far-right protests outside an asylum hotel. Dunlop condemned Badenoch’s choice of the word “camp”, recalling Britain’s role in establishing the world’s first concentration camps during the Boer War in South Africa in 1900. On the Jeremy Vine show, the historian said:…

‘What I’m not getting is what your actual policy ideas are’ Andrea Jenkyns failed to explain Reform’s asylum seeker policy and the link between migration and women’s safety in a car crash interview yesterday. Speaking to Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy after Reform’s conference on ‘women’s safety’, Jenkyns said Reform would “process” and deport asylum seekers living in Britain. Guru-Murthy pointed out that more than half of asylum seekers are granted leave to remain after being assessed.  Jenkyns said migrants would only be “processed” to determine their country of origin, but didn’t clarify if their claims would be assessed. In an…

Sarah Pochin quickly rowed back on her remarks Reform MP Sarah Pochin said Donald Trump can “certainly come across as … a bit of a chauvinist”. Pochin then went on to say that while the US President can appear “chauvinist” when she sees him on the TV or in the media but that “he clearly does respect women”. The Runcorn and Helsby MP referred to the fact that there are women in senior roles in Trump’s team as evidence.  Speaking to PA News Agency, Pochin said: “But look at his team. I mean, his press secretary [Karoline Leavitt] is awesome…

There have been no discussions about funding ‘Your Party’, Unite says At the Durham Miners’ Gala, Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham hinted at the prospect of Unite disaffiliating from Labour, sparking questions about whether the trade union might consider backing the new Corbyn-Sultana party. A Unite spokesperson told Left Foot Forward that there have been “no discussions” with the temporarily-named Your Party about providing funding.  The spokesperson added: “Unite voted to continue affiliating with Labour two years ago and, under current policy, cannot fund another political party.” Left Foot Forward understands that any decision on disaffiliation from Labour would not…

‘No mention of any of the causes of VAWG or policy solutions, just a Facebook group style moan in front of the cameras with cherry picked and manipulated statistics’ Reform UK’s conference on women’s safety as part of its six-week ‘Law and Order’ campaign has been called “a sham”. Greater Lincolnshire Mayor Andrea Jenkyns, Runcorn and Helsby MP Sarah Pochin, Westminster councillor Laila Cunningham and leader of Kent county council Linden Kemkaren spoke at the conference this morning. Kemkaren railed against trans women being allowed in women’s spaces and claimed “illegal migration is harming women and girls”.  Pochin claimed that…

There have been no discussions about funding ‘Your Party’, Unite says At the Durham Miners’ Gala, Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham hinted at the prospect of Unite disaffiliating from Labour, sparking questions about whether the trade union might consider backing the new Corbyn-Sultana party. A Unite spokesperson told Left Foot Forward that there have been “no discussions” with the temporarily-named Your Party about providing funding.  The spokesperson added: “Unite voted to continue affiliating with Labour two years ago and, under current policy, cannot fund another political party.” Left Foot Forward understands that any decision on disaffiliation from Labour would not…

She doesn’t hold back on delivering her verdict on Farage Former first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon didn’t hold back in an ITV interview set to air tonight, sharing her honest opinion of Reform leader Nigel Farage. The ex-leader of the Scottish National Party described Farage as having a “very very fragile ego” and said her impression was that he is not someone “who is not particularly comfortable, particularly around women”.  Referring to Sturgeon’s descriptions of Farage in her new memoir, Frankly, the interviewer says: “I mean you call him odious”. Sturgeon explains: “In the 2015 leaders’ debate, just before…

Half of those arrested were aged 60 or over, data has revealed Police arrested 532 people over the weekend at a protest linked to the now-proscribed group Palestine Action. According to Metropolitan police figures, over half of those who were arrested were aged 60 or above, including 100 in their 70s and 15 in their 80s. A blind disabled man was also among those arrested. Labour has come in for fierce criticism for proscribing Palestine Action last month and for the mass arrests at the weekend.  Saturday’s protest was organised by Defend Our Juries, which is campaigning to have the…

“Practical reality crashes into Brexit…” The right-wing media worked itself into a familiar frenzy recently over news that UK-made cars might have to include black boxes, breathalysers and other safety features under proposals to align with EU rules. GB News was quick to jump on the outrage: “UK-made cars could be forced to include ‘black boxes’ and other features as Labour sides with EU,” blared the headline, with a sub-header warning: “The proposed move has been slammed by Brexiteers who warn it will impact trade.” According to reports, the government is considering aligning with the EU’s General Safety Regulation 2…