To add insult to injury the bill for the restoration of the Churchill statue in Parliament Square is over a whopping £7,000. So much owed by so many…
The 12-foot Churchill was graffitied three separate times in 2020 and was targeted again in February this year when he was sprayed with red paint and slogans including “Zionist war criminal,” “Stop the Genocide,” “Free Palestine,” and “Globalise the Intifada.” Back in 2020 an Extinction Rebellion activist was fined £1,500 for daubing the statue…
These were the projected costs of restoring the statue this time:
The total emergency clean cost out of the GLA maintenance/restoration budget was £7,804.80. The police barrier hire was £734.40. A grand total of £8,539.20…
Jake Richards going for a Zoolander scene there. Guido spots certain IPSA-funded caseworkers accompanying Jake on his leafletting run – hope they’re on their day off…
In the latest development to the sorry tale of Labour’s ‘missions,’ the ‘Mission Boards’ that are supposed to deliver on them don’t even have terms of reference yet. Meaning no official structure or goal…
Co-conspirators may remember that the potemkin boards were meant to be chaired by Starmer and were initially set up as Cabinet committees with some weight. They were devolved in November last year and Darren Jones was chosen to chair three umbrella committees instead. Think that meant the end of the pointless mission boards? Au contraire…
Ed Miliband’s “Mission Board: Make Britain a Clean Energy Superpower” does not have a formal designation. The department says: “Terms of Reference for the Board are currently under review.” They’re thinking about it…
It also doesn’t have a list of members other than Miliband: “The board does not have a fixed list of internal or external members, and undertakes engagement with other government departments, external organisations and industry experts depending on the issues identified for discussion.“ Guido can report that government officials are working on coining a German word for that very specific feeling of dread when Ed Miliband sends you a meeting invitation…
Labour deployed a record number of volunteers to Gorton & Denton for a by-election in which it would record a 25.4 percentage point downward swing. Maybe try keeping the Labour activists away next time?
Latest minutes of Labour’s National Executive Committee meeting last week, released today by member Ann Black, detail the figures:
“General secretary Hollie Ridley thanked everyone who helped in the Gorton & Denton by-election and shared their disappointment. Record numbers of volunteers joined the campaign, with more than 1,000 out on polling day alone.”
Labour’s Angeliki Stogia came third with only 9,364 votes compared to the 18,555 won by Andrew Gwynne in 2024. Could Burnham have swung it… they’ll never know…
At the same meeting party treasurer Mike Payne said “continued to face political, financial and organisational challenges, with many factors beyond our control.” To add insult to injury between January and February “nearly 900 people complained [to the party] about the prime minister, the cabinet, or government policy or strategy.” Guido would like to lodge some constructive criticism of: all of the above…
Black appeared to suggest that the Unite union was suggesting that the funding taps would re-open once disputes were happily resolved:
“Unite representatives explained their members’ decision to reduce funding for the party, and resolving the long-running Birmingham bin strike would clearly help relations with all the unions.”
Labour is also feeling the burn from its election cancellation U-turn as it scrambles to mobilise ground campaigns. Black said: “Where councils face reorganisation some Labour leaders were advised to ask for elections to be postponed, took the flak for denying democracy, and then had to rearrange plans hastily when the elections were uncancelled.” They’re in the Steve Weeds…
New polling from the TaxPayers’ Alliance shows just 6% of Welsh voters now see Net Zero as a top priority, with the cost of living, NHS waiting times and illegal immigration all ranking far higher. A single tear runs down Miliband’s cheek…
The poll of 1,011 Welsh adults found only 22% are confident the government will hit its 2050 target. Voters believe the Welsh Government’s pledge to make the public sector Net Zero by 2030 is unachievable by a two-to-one margin. 63% of voters also believe the Government should only attempt to reach Net Zero targets in the public sector if they can guarantee they won’t hike taxes to do it. So… they don’t support it.
More voters oppose than support the ban on new petrol cars, with half not even considering switching to an EV. One focus group participant put it best:
“What are they gonna do? Give the whole police fleet electric cars? They won’t get past the village.”
Focus group participants also described Labour as “incompetent“, “out of touch” and “wasteful“. Hardly a mystery why First Minister Eluned Morgan is on track to lose her seat…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”