Will Starmer’s latest relaunch be undermined – by Jeremy Corbyn? [Also in the news]
Keir Starmer’s bid to “reinvigorate” his leadership of the Labour Party at this autumn’s conference could be torpedoed by grassroots members – and Jeremy Corbyn.
The party rank-and-files that Starmer has spent the last year trying to marginalise are circulating a motion to give final say on disciplinary action against MPs to the membership at large.
It’s a terrific idea because it would ensure that the leadership couldn’t influence decisions in favour of its favoured (right-wing) members… if ever that should seem attractive to Starmer and his cronies.
But more crippling for Starmer will be the fact that his decision to exclude Corbyn from the Parliamentary Labour Party could be reversed – by the members he hates, ruining his “reinvigoration”:
Jeremy Corbyn could be reinstated as Labour MP under leftwing challenge to Starmer https://t.co/2KA2f2xTwL
— christian barnaby🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@christi02455387) August 8, 2021
Also in the news today:
1. Dido Harding will stand down as NHS Improvement boss in October.
It means the organisation’s title may finally stop being a contradiction in terms.
But what part of the national infrastructure will Harding try to blight with her presence next?
https://t.co/5DX4V4PF3d she has made her millions, was an absolute disaster, she may have fooled Johnson and other tories but she never fooled jo public it was a shocking appointment it cost the nation lives.
— Isobel_Waby we NEED a COALITION (@Isobel_waby) August 9, 2021
2. Thousands of ESA claimants are to receive thousands of pounds in back payments
A four-year review of ESA claims has ended, with thousands of people receiving thousands of pounds.
And the families of many more who have died will receive a £3,000 payout.
But here’s the problem: if they had received that money when they were alive, would they still have died?
DWP update thousands of ESA claimants could be entitled to back pay of £5,000 https://t.co/8d62eNonc9 @SueJonesSays @charlotteh71 @AnitaBellows12 @premnsikka @blueannoyed @irisstylosa @gildy61 @angiebabie2009 @paulapeters2 @dorset_eye
— Kilroy Was here (@1kilroywashere) August 9, 2021
3. David Cameron allegedly made millions by cashing in his shares in Greensill before it collapsed.
He had tried to get his former colleagues in the Tory government to invest in the company’s loans, before it collapsed when its insurer refused to renew cover for the same loans.
By that time, we’re told, Cameron had cashed in his own shares in the company, making £7.2 million.
It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good, eh?
BREAKING David Cameron paid £7.2m by collapsed finance firm he lobbied for, documents suggesthttps://t.co/cSmgAtaK2n pic.twitter.com/3TzMGqdoSw
— Mirror Breaking News (@MirrorBreaking_) August 9, 2021
4. NHS hospital wards may have been filled with toxins because the government ignored SAGE
Several NHS hospitals have trialled air purification products that could produce dangerous levels of toxins after the government ignored advice from its Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) to implement new guidelines for air purification systems.
Sage’s environmental modelling group in November urged the Government to draw up “impartial guidance” on air purifiers following a spike in sales during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sage’s advice was repeatedly ignored. Business minister Paul Scully told MPs eight months later, in July, that current trading regulations are adequate to keep consumers safe.
Industry figures raised concerns after several NHS hospitals trialled air purification systems made by decontamination technology firm Airora that could generate potentially dangerous levels of formaldehyde and ozone.
Government 'ignored advice from Sage to implement new guidelines for air purification systems' https://t.co/K1AKh8Sa1z
— Samuel Miller (@Hephaestus7) August 9, 2021
5. The government’s new disability strategy is to carry on pushing people off benefits
“The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Shaping Future Support: the health and disability green paper, released a week before the NDS, confirmed that it has no intention of easing up on its attempts to push disabled people off benefits.”
This is embarrassing for the Tories as it undermines anything in the NDS – or it would, if there was anything to undermine.
The strategy itself seems to be to award empty “accessibility promotion” job titles to non-disabled people.
The issues of most importance to people with disabilities – benefits and social care support – are conspicuous by their absence.
The Government’s New Disability Strategy Proves It Doesn’t Give a Shit About Disabled People | Novara Media https://t.co/szXUTjqUtO
— Samuel Miller (@Hephaestus7) August 9, 2021
6. DWP is handing Universal Credit information to local councils – to undermine the vulnerable?
Consider this:
DWP confirms it is working to increase the range of universal credit data it shares with local authorities to help them identify vulnerable families – Rightsnet https://t.co/nTlVMiSxYz
— Samuel Miller (@Hephaestus7) August 9, 2021
… and have them evicted?
7. Right-wing think tank loses complaint over radio comments
This is unfortunate – for the Institute of Economic Affairs:
Ofcom rules against Institute of Economic Affairs complaint against critical comments by @PeterKGeoghegan and @mrjamesob – https://t.co/dPl6tbx9Nf
including that IEA is a “politically biased” "hard-right lobby group" of “questionable provenance, with dubious ideas and validity”— Steve Peers (@StevePeers) August 9, 2021
Am I right in thinking we can all now say that the IEA is a politically-biased hard-right lobby group of questionable provenance, with dubious ideas and validity?
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
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Have you actually read Michael Savage’s piece in The Observer, Mike? It’s APPALLING! Talk about slanted for Starmer and the neo-Tory faction…! For the Observer to publish this as a news item labels that organ as far from a NEWSpaper. Rampant political bias in spades.