Author: Miles Donavan

Yesterday ex-Reform MP James McMurdock permanently removed the whip after allegations were made about his use of Covid loans The day after Reform UK lost another MP, James McMurdock, due to allegations surrounding his use of covid loans, Keir Starmer vowed to go after “fraudsters, grifters and con artists” who exploited them. Labour MP for Rugby John Slinger asked Starmer “In light of recent events could the prime minister update the House on the work of the covid corruption commissioner.” He added: “Does he agree with my constituents […] that there should be no place in public life for people…

“The reason for that is he has no interest in fixing the problem because he wants to milk it and exploit it.” Labour leader Keir Starmer slapped down Nigel Farage at PMQs over his divisive politics and wanting to exploit issues for personal gain, as the Reform UK leader once more endured another humiliating PMQs. Farage was heckled by MPs as he stood up to ask a question, with shouts of ‘because they were lied to’ as he tried to explain why people voted for Brexit. The arch-Brexiteer then tried to once more exploit the issue of small boat crossings…

Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed repeatedly shouted that people voted for Brexit “because they were lied to”. It was another embarrassing PMQs for Nigel Farage today. Farage’s question to the prime minister began with laughs and shouts of “here here” from other MPs, coming moments after Keir Starmer had vowed to go after “fraudsters, grifters and con artists” who exploited Covid support schemes. Yesterday, former Reform MP James McMurdock announced that he would permanently sit as an independent MP after a Sunday Times investigation into government-backed Covid loans he took out for two of his companies. After the Speaker intervened to…

MPs have put forward dozens of amendments to the bill The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill will return to Parliament at 7pm tonight for committee stage and third reading. On 1 July, the bill passed its second reading with 335 votes to 260, with 49 Labour MPs voting against the government. MPs and the government have since tabled a raft of amendments to the bill, spanning 33 pages, which will be debated at committee stage. If the bill passes at third reading, it will move to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.  Among the most contentious proposals…

It comes as a number of recent opinion polls show Reform’s lead in the polls falling, as the party begins to face growing media scrutiny over its policies and after it continues to be hit with scandals. Reform UK have peaked and their support in the polls has topped out, a pollster has claimed. Analysing the result of recent council by-elections, which saw Reform lose seats it was defending, Tory peer Robert Hayward told The Independent that along with a slight fall in the party’s polling figures, Nigel Farage’s march to Downing Street could already have stopped in its tracks.…

Three-quarters of the public support introducing a 2% tax on wealth above £10 million The public overwhelmingly supports a wealth tax on the super-rich, including a majority of Tory and Reform voters, a new YouGov poll has revealed. According to the survey of over 4,000 adults, 75% of Brits want to see a wealth tax introduced.  Tax Justice UK estimates that a 2% tax on individuals with wealth above £10 million – around 20,000 people – could raise £24 billion a year. Speaking on Sky News on Sunday, former Labour leader Neil Kinnock backed growing calls for the government to…

‘This creates a two-tier welfare state: those lucky enough to qualify before the changes will receive support to live, though not necessarily with dignity’ Andrew Joseph McDonald is the Labour Party MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East Last week in Parliament, nearly 50 Labour MPs took a principled stand and voted against the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. They did so because they could not support measures that will take billions from disabled people—many already struggling to make ends meet—and deepen the poverty that continues to scar our country. And I know many other colleagues shared our view. This Bill will, even…

One wonders what his constituents make of his latest lucrative job. Former Tory leader Rishi Sunak has been warned of a potential conflict of interest risk from his appointment as an advisor to Goldman Sachs, after it was revealed that he is set to re-join the bank in his first major role since he resigned as Conservative party leader last year. Sunak, who has insisted that he will continue to serve as an MP and represent his constituents after the humiliating Tory defeat at the last general election, marks a return to the Wall Street investment bank with whom he…

He says he will now sit as an independent MP James McMurdock has now announced that he will sit as an independent MP amid allegations about his business activities during the pandemic. The Reform MP removed the whip from himself over the weekend ahead of the Sunday Times publishing an investigation into his use of government-backed Covid Bounce Back loans. The Times raised questions about whether the two businesses he borrowed money met the necessary turnover requirements. On Saturday, McMurdock said he had asked for the whip to be suspended temporarily. He also told The Times  “all my business dealings had…

“They’re just blindly rifling through a bag of dumb cruelty now. Desperate stuff.” The Tories have been slammed for their latest far-right policy proposal, to exclude any household with a foreign national from any benefit, in what has been called a ‘racist approach to policymaking’. In an attempt to outdo Reform and whip up a moral panic over foreigners and the welfare bill, Tory MP Matt Vickers appeared on Sky News to set out his party’s latest proposal. Vickers was asked to explain in detail his party’s policy plans for no benefits to foreigners, to which Vickers replied: “This is…