ANDREW PIERCE: The Labour Party’s empty benches… and empty guarantees
Unveiling six nebulous and uncosted pledges last week, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer finally made tackling illegal migration one of the party’s priorities after years of ignoring the issue.
Sir Keir vowed to ditch Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda scheme ‘straight away’ if he wins power — despite signs it is already having a deterrent effect — and revealed plans for yet another quango to stop the small boats. But how seriously should we really take Labour’s commitment to fixing the crisis?
Only two days before Starmer’s showboating there was an urgent Commons debate on illegal migration, initiated by Ulster’s DUP. Thirteen Tory MPs joined in the debate. So how many Labour backbench MPs turned up to speak? Not one.
Sir Keir vowed to ditch Rishi Sunak ’s Rwanda scheme ‘straight away’ if he wins power. Keir Starmer unveils the six ‘ambitions’ for a Labour government
Not even Tory defector Natalie Elphicke could be bothered to show up — even though, as the MP for Dover, she represents one of the constituencies most affected by the influx of illegal migrants.
As the Home Secretary James Cleverley put it: ‘Labour — empty benches, empty promises.’
Talking of defectors, former Tory whip Gyles Brandreth revealed how it felt to be abandoned by party colleagues. ‘The only consolation is that you are united in your contempt for the defectors,’ he writes in The Spectator. ‘As a rule it’s vanity, arrogance, disappointment or mental instability that makes them go Awol. You have the comfort of knowing they are never really welcomed by the other side.’
Ol’ Blue Eyes Bill beat Living Doll Blair
Speaking on a podcast, Peston said: ‘Back in the late 1990s, we went over to Washington and I had a bit of time with Clinton’
ITV political editor Robert Peston says Bill Clinton is the most charismatic politician he has encountered. Tony Blair will not be happy.
Speaking on a podcast, Peston said: ‘Back in the late 1990s, we went over to Washington and I had a bit of time with Clinton.
‘Just as a pure political operator, Clinton was astonishing. By UK standards Tony Blair is a pretty impressive politician, but I remember thinking when I saw them together, it was a bit like seeing Cliff Richard with Frank Sinatra. Clinton just had some magic.’
Parliament’s restaurants and bars are operating a patriotic ‘buy British’ policy.
‘There is a mandatory inclusion of wines from England and Wales. Cakes and dairy ice cream are only UK-made,’ says Sir Charles Walker, the Tory MP in charge of catering.
There’s good news for pint-loving Nigel Farage if he finally succeeds in being elected as an MP.
‘The Strangers Bar offers members the opportunity to request that a specific cask ale from a brewer from their constituency be offered for sale.’
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle visited the home of soap Emmerdale ahead of its 10,000th episode this week, saying: ‘As a Lancastrian, I am hugely impressed by the talent of our friends on “the other side” of the Pennines’.
His hosts glossed over the fact the Speaker called rival Coronation Street ‘the best soap in world’ in 2021.
It’s six years since the death of former Labour Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell, after a battle with brain cancer.
What better way to mark her passing than the announcement last week from the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission of new funding into brain tumour research as part of a £40 million Government pledge.
The disease is one of the biggest killers of children in this country. Jowell would have been so proud.
£651 m but it’s still not Rishi’s round
‘Some say our PM is out of touch with the common man,’ said former immigration minister Robert Jenrick
Can Rishi Sunak, whose wife is billionaire heiress Akshata Murty, really connect with ordinary voters? Their joint fortune rose £122 million last year according to the latest rich list, putting their worth at £651 million.
But former immigration minister Robert Jenrick has a more prosaic definition.
‘Some say our PM is out of touch with the common man,’ he said last week. ‘I agree with one aspect at least. Our teetotal PM has no idea that a pint of lager at the Red Lion [a Westminster pub] costs seven quid.’
