Bin The Labour Party: May 2021

Sunday, 30 May 2021

THE WEEK IN CARTOONS 23-29 MAY 2021

23.05.21 - Nick Newman, Sunday Times

23.05.21 - Morten Morland, Sunday Times

23.05.21 - Matt Pritchett, Sunday Telegraph

23.05.21 - Stanley McMurtry, Mail on Sunday

24.05.21 - Morten Morland, The Times

24.05.21 - Steve Bright, The Sun

24.05.21 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph

24.05.21 - Brian Adcock, Independent

25.05.21 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph

26.05.21 - Jimbob, Instagram

26.05.21 - Ben Garrison, Grrr Graphics

26.05.21 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph

26.05.21 - Guy Venables, Metro

26.05.21 - Peter Brookes, The Times

27.05.21 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph

27.05.21 - Christian Adams, Evening Standard

27.05.21 - Guy Venables, Metro

28.05.21 - AF Branco, Legal Insurrection

28.05.21 - Andy Davey, Daily Telegraph

28.05.21 - Dave Brown, Independent

28.05.21 - Andy Davey, Evening Standard

29.05.21 - Ben Jennings, i

29.05.21 - Paul Thomas, Daily Mail

29.05.21 - Andy Davey, Daily Telegraph

29.05.21 - Peter Brookes, The Times

29.05.21 - Robert Thompson, Spectator

29.05.21 - Grizelda, Spectator

Friday, 28 May 2021

RAYNER'S CUMMINGS HYPOCRISY

A year ago Labour were screaming for the head of Dominic Cummings. Remainers and leftists were whipping themselves up into a frenzy over his Barnard Castle jaunt (ironically the same people were quick enough to take to the streets in the name of George Floyd though). So when the sanctimonious Angela Rayner began bleating about Dom's 'serious allegations' about the government's conduct, she faced some legitimate questions about how and why his word has suddenly become the gospel.

Radio 4's Mishal Husain posed the question to Rayner twice yesterday, but didn't quite get an answer. The truth about this turnaround is quite simple - Dominic Cummings is a useful tool when he's slating the Tory government, otherwise he's the epitome of Brexit and therefore a wicked and devious individual who cannot be trusted. The Remain left want to have their cake and eat it.

Thursday, 27 May 2021

GOVE SLAPS DOWN SULTANA

Labour's Zarah Sultana was dealt a blunt dressing down by Michael Gove on Thursday when she lamented government plans for voter ID. Sultana addressed her question to Gove via Zoom, beginning with a very old Boris Johnson quote about ID cards. However, ID cards and voter ID are not the same thing. Of course Boris was opposed to ID cards back in his pre-Covid libertarian days, but Zarah's quote dated from a time in which it was a Labour government proposing them. Gove skipped over this fact and highlighted one of the 'Labour-voting' demographics on her list that would supposedly be hit hardest by a voter ID requirement - the working class. Gove pointed out that working class people were now more likely to vote Conservative than Labour. Ouch.

Click below for the clip.

GB NEWS TO LAUNCH JUNE 13

On Sunday 13 June at 20:00 the much anticipated GB News will launch with a programme entitled: 'Welcome to GB News'. Andrew Neil's venture looks set to feature a variety of programmes hosted by individuals that the lamestream media has either discarded or wouldn't touch with a bargepole. For the first time a news channel will feature lockdown scepticism as an opinion worthy of attention instead of derision. Woke political correctness and BBC terms such as 'fisher people' will be challenged instead of embraced. The msm protection racket will finally face some real competition and the mainstream news narrative will, it is hoped, face scrutiny at last.

The left are tearing their hair out about this station with good reason. Tonight Live will feature straight-talking lockdown sceptic Dan Wootton, Free Speech Nation will feature Andrew Doyle, the brains behind the woke parody Titania McGrath, Reform UK's Michelle Dewberry will host Dewbs and Co, former Brexit Party MEP Alex Phillips will co-host McCoy & Phillips, while Andrew Neil will also host his own show. Meanwhile, the legend that is Neil Oliver - critic of all things lockdown, SNP, woke and BLM - will host Neil Oliver Live.

GB News will be housed on the following channels:

Freeview and YouView 236

Sky 515

Virgin 626

Freesat 216

GB News will also stream 24/7 on YouTube.

Let's hope it all lives up to the hype and presents a real mainstream alternative to the woke left bias of the lockdown channels.

DATE FOR BATLEY BY-ELECTION

The date has been set for the Batley and Spen by-election and it will be held five weeks today on July 1. The vultures will be circling for Keir Starmer if Labour lose the seat, which they have held since 1997. The party is pinning its hopes on a sympathy vote, having selected the sister of the late MP Jo Cox. Cox had been the MP here for just over a year prior to her murder.

Labour were so desperate to select Kim Leadbeater that they waived a membership rule in order to allow her to stand. Candidates are normally required to have at least one year's party membership in order to contest a seat, but Leadbeater only joined the party in 'the last month', although it is not clear if she joined before or after Tracy Brabin was elected West Yorkshire mayor. She was one of the first to publicly declare an interest in standing, while claiming that she is 'no political animal' and Westminster needed more 'real people'. Given what appears to have been a cynical and opportunist endeavour in obtaining the candidacy, Leadbeater will slot right in on the Westminster gravy train - should she win.

44-year-old Leadbeater is a personal trainer and former college lecturer who rose to prominence as an ambassador for the Jo Cox Foundation. She was awarded an MBE this year in recognition of her voluntary work during the pandemic. Like her sister, she is Batley born and bread.

Going up against Leadbeater will be Leeds Tory councillor Ryan Stephenson. The Woodhouse ward which he represents is roughly ten miles from Batley, but that didn't do the party much harm in Hartlepool, where a councillor from 45 miles away won the seat.

The Green Party, George Galloway's Workers Party of Britain and the Yorkshire Party are among the other parties to have announced they will be contesting the by-election.

Labour will be defending a 3,525 majority going into this by-election, a majority that had already more than halved from the 8,961 majority the party enjoyed in the 2017 general election. The Labour majority going into the recent Hartlepool by-election was 3,595.

Batley & Spen, 2019 general election

Tracy Brabin (Lab) 22,594 (42.7%) -12.8%

Mark Brooks (Con) 19,069 (36.0%) -2.8%

Paul Halloran (Ind) 6,432 (12.2%) New

John Lawson (LDem) 2,462 (4.7%) +2.4%

Clive Minihan (Brexit) 1,678 (3.2%) New

Ty Akram (Green) 692 (1.3%) n/c

Wednesday, 26 May 2021

PRIME MINISTER'S QUESTIONS 26.05.21

Tuesday, 25 May 2021

ABBOTT JUMPS THE GUN

Diane Abbott has been accused of inflaming tensions following the shooting of a prominent BLM activist over the weekend. Sasha Johnson was shot in the head at a property in Peckham, south London, in the early hours of Sunday morning. A party had been in progress when a group of men arrived, followed by a disturbance that appears to have culminated in the shooting. Despite police statements to the contrary, Abbott tweeted the following day to suggest that Johnson had been specifically targeted because of her activism (see below).

Police have also confirmed they are hunting 'four young black males' in relation to the attack, but Abbott has refused to revise her speculative version of events. Speaking to LBC Radio's Iain Dale on Monday night, Abbott struggled to justify her position after he accused her of inflaming tensions. Click below for that video, bearing in mind that Johnson is still alive at the time of writing, despite Abbott and Dale referring to the shooting as a 'killing'.

Abbott also appeared a short time later on Newsnight, where she faced a similar grilling from Emily Maitlis. This time Abbott had a more coherent excuse, suggesting that she had based her imaginary version of events on statements from Ms Johnson's political party, that are similarly in denial about the apparent nature of the shooting. Unfortunately for Diane, there was simply no getting away from the fact that she had blatantly tried to stir up racial tensions. No amount of trying to infer that people who call her out are 'racist' will change that.

The shooting of Sasha Johnson highlights an awkward issue for BLM and its supporters - the harsh reality of the black-on-black violence that the organisation routinely and deliberately ignores. Abbott's apparent refusal to accept that Johnson's assailants were fellow black people is part of an inherent culture of denial. If Johnson survives, she is going to have to confront an uncomfortable reality.

The 27-year-old likes to be known as the 'Black Panther of Oxford', alluding to her love of paramilitary gear and Marxism. She reportedly moved to London from Oxford recently, although it is not clear if it was her home at which the shooting took place. During last year's BLM protests in London she addressed rallies while wearing combat gear and called for a 'black militia'. She went on to co-found the Taking the Initiative Party (TTIP). The party stood four candidates in this year's local elections - two in Croydon and two in Enfield - none of whom were elected.

Sasha Johnson pictured addressing a BLM rally last summer

TTIP have responded angrily to police statements following the recent shooting. Echoing Abbott's views, the party released a statement on its Instagram account: "We are disgusted by the way that this narrative has been portrayed as a ‘black-on-black crime’ and a ‘gang crime’, not acknowledging that this is a hate crime or a targeted attack at worst". It appears that, like Abbott, they will not acknowledge black-on-black crime even when they fall victim to it themselves. These professional race baiters are in denial about a crime-wave that is responsible for way more loss of life in the black community than the police are. How ironic.

VAL VAZ QUESTIONS PM'S ILLNESS

Ex-Labour frontbencher Valerie Vaz has apologised after appearing to suggest something untoward about Boris Johnson's Covid illness last spring. The MP for Walsall South made the extraordinary remarks on the BBC's Politics Live on Monday, much to the disgust of Tory MP Simon Clarke. When asked by host Jo Coburn if she wished to rescind the comments, Vaz dodged the question and said: "None of us were in the room".

Vaz's remarks came during a debate on Dominic Cummings' latest allegations about the government's conduct during the pandemic. Also taking part were former Labour MP Caroline Flint and ex-Tory MP Matthew Parris. Flint branded Vaz's remarks 'terrible'. By Monday evening Vaz had apologised, telling BirminghamLive: "I have had the opportunity to watch my comments on Politics Live today. I wish to clarify my remarks and apologise if any offence was caused. I never intended to give the suggestion that the Prime Minister was not seriously ill".

Click below for the clip.

Vaz was sacked from Labour's front bench in Starmer's emergency post-election reshuffle. She had been the shadow leader of the House of Commons. In hindsight that has saved the Labour leader further embarrassment now.

WHITTOME GOES OFF SICK

Nadia Whittome is to take time off work for mental health reasons. The far left MP for Nottingham East released a statement this morning, naming post-traumatic stress disorder as the main reason. PTSD is normally associated with Armed Forces veterans and was referred to as 'shell shock' in survivors of World War I trenches. In her statement (see below) Whittome doesn't expand on what 'traumatic stress' she has gone through, but some critics have pointed to her status as 'Baby of the House' as a potential factor.

Elected at 23 years old in 2019, Whittome is currently the youngest Member of Parliament. She was notably absent from the most recent pro-Palestine/anti-Israeli protests over the weekend.

Whittome's humble thanks to Keir Starmer will have raised a few eyebrows, given that the Socialist Campaign Group to which she belongs has been engaged in a war of attrition since the Labour leader stripped Jeremy Corbyn of the party whip.

Corbyn was among the first to lend his support to Whittome and attempted to get #StandWithNadia trending on Twitter. It hasn't, in fact there were less than two dozen tweets containing that hashtag at the time of writing. It is also interesting to note how few of Whittome's colleagues have expressed support. Of her far left Parliamentary comrades only Mary Foy, Kate Osamor and Kate Osborne followed Corbyn in posting a public message of support on Twitter. Does this denote how little is felt about Whittome on a personal level, how mental illness is perceived or how they feel about her gratitude to Starmer?