Category Archives: POLITICS

Exclusive: Richard Holden Slapped Down After Calling For Removal Of Gender-Neutral Toilets The Tories Installed

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A former Tory chairman has been left embarrassed after calling for the removal of gender-neutral toilets his own government installed.

Richard Holden made the request in a written question to home secretary Yvette Cooper.

He asked “if she will make it her policy to remove the gender-neutral toilets in her department in Marsham Street”.

Replying on behalf of her boss, Home Office minister Diana Johnson said: “The current number and location of gender neutral toilets in the Home Office’s Marsham office was established under the previous government in October 2017, at a cost of £36,963.20, and has remained unchanged since that time.

“There are no plans to spend further public money on the reconfiguration of the Home Office’s toilets.”

Holden’s slapdown emerged just a day after another Home Office minister, Angela Eagle, delivered a withering response in the House of Commons to another Tory MP’s question.

Sarah Bool, the MP for South Northamptonshire, asked: “Does the Secretary of State believe it is fair that undocumented illegal migrants get priority access to the NHS over British taxpayers?”

Eagle, who is the immigration minister, replied: “Mr Speaker, they don’t.”

The MP’s question followed reports earlier this month that undocumented migrants were receiving preferential treatment when it comes to hospital treatment.

But an NHS spokesman told the Daily Express: “The NHS is legally required to provide healthcare services to asylum seekers and migrants which are free at the point of use, with local integrated care boards (ICBs) responsible for commissioning these services based on need while ensuring all local residents can still access care.

“ICBs also have a legal duty to address inequalities in access to NHS services, which can include rolling out dedicated services to communities experiencing the worst health inequities, while also supporting all those who need care.”

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‘Politically Suicidal’: John McDonnell Warns Reeves Spending Cuts Could Cause Recession

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John McDonnell has warned Rachel Reeves that any public spending cuts would be “politically suicidal” and risk tipping the UK into recession.

The former shadow chancellor said Labour should instead increase taxes on the wealthy.

Keir Starmer yesterday said the government will be “ruthless” in sticking to its fiscal rules as he repeatedly refused to rule out further spending cuts.

Treasury sources have also told HuffPost UK that the chancellor is determined to have an “iron grip” on the public finances.

Reeves finds herself under intense pressure as the value of the pound falls, government borrowing costs soar and inflation goes up.

On Radio 4′s Today programme this morning, McDonnell said any cuts to Whitehall budgets would be counter-productive.

He said: “There is obviously a problem. There is turbulence in the international markets and we’ve just got to see those through.

“The way you do that is you don’t turn to cuts. Not only would that be politically suicidal, it would undermine the political support upon which Labour got elected.

“In addition to that you would be taking demand out of the economy and you would be looking at, in doing that, turning a crisis into a recession.

“So I think you just need to see through the turbulence that is in the markets and in this instance we need to look to the Bank of England to intervene if necessary.”

McDonnell said Labour was wrong to rule out putting up income tax on the rich, or putting up corporation tax.

And he said Reform UK stood to benefit if cuts led to more voter disillusionment with the political process.

He added: “When we were preparing for government, we were looking to the bank of England to see us through the turbulence.

“There are two groups of people who make judgments on an incoming government. One is the international money markets, but the most important people are the electorate.

“I think what has to happen here is the electorate have to be protected, otherwise I’m afraid we’re looking at a level of disillusionment which then turns people towards Reform and I think that would be a disaster for the country.

“We have to look to what the response from the electorate would be to another round of cuts.”

McDonnell also warned that more cuts to the welfare budget, as Reeves is thought to be considering, would “force more into poverty and cause real hardship”.

He added: “When you’re in this situation, those with the broadest shoulders should carry the heaviest burden. I would look at increasing income tax on the wealthiest, but I would look at an honest discussion on how we tax wealth in our country.

“That way you can overcome these problems that we have in the markets because you’ll have a solid tax base.”

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Liz Truss Has 1 Truly Outlandish Idea To Fix UK’s Economic Turmoil

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Liz Truss has just advised chancellor Rachel Reeves to follow her mini-Budget from 2022 to get the UK out of its current economic mess.

Government borrowing costs have soared since Labour got into power in July, while inflation crept up to 2.6% in the 12 months to November and the value of the pound has dropped.

The economy stagnated over the second half of 2024 too, suggesting the UK is rather a long way off Labour’s number one mission of higher growth.

Naturally, the government’s critics have rallied together to slam Reeves’ efforts to boost the country’s finances – including none other than Truss, who only lasted 49 days in office after crashing the economy.

Responding to reports that Reeves is feeling “very depressed” about the UK’s economic outlook, the former PM wrote on X that “the way out” was to “cut taxes, cut regulation, get fracking, limit the benefits bill”.

She then posted the front cover of “The Growth Plan 2022” – better known as the mini-Budget, which was so disastrous Truss was kicked out of office.

Her plan for £45bn of unfunded tax cuts sent the market into turmoil and the pound plummeting, so much so the Bank of England had to step in with the UK hours away from total financial meltdown.

She even became the centre of social media mockery after a viral stunt asked which would last longer: Truss in office or a lettuce head with a short shelf life (the lettuce won).

But, Truss – who also lost her seat in the general election – has actually been blaming the Bank of England for the crisis ever since.

Last week, she even issued a cease and desist letter to Keir Starmer demanding the PM stop saying she “crashed the economy”, and calling it “false and defamatory”.

This caused “Liz Truss crashed the economy” to start trending on social media.

Labour has repeatedly attributed their “tough” financial decisions – complete with £40bn of tax rises – to the black hole the Tories (especially Truss) left in the public finances.

And the prime minister’s spokesperson suggested Starmer would not stop pointing the finger at Truss, telling reporters the PM “absolutely stands by” what he has said about his predecessor.

So Truss’ attempt to promote her mini-Budget once again has, of course, sparked quite the reaction online….

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Elon Musk Should Be Treated As ‘A National Enemy’ Of The UK, Says Former Labour Leader

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Elon Musk should be “regarded as a national enemy” of the UK over his attacks on Keir Starmer, a former Labour leader has declared.

Neil Kinnock said supporters of all parties should oppose the tech billionaire, who is set to be a major figure in the incoming Donald Trump administration.

Musk, the world’s richest man and owner of the X social media platform, has spent months lambasting the prime minister over his response to last summer’s riots, the state of the UK economy and, most recently, the child grooming gangs scandal.

He accused Starmer of being “complicit” and of failing to prosecute those involved when he was head of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Starmer hit out at Musk last week, saying he had “crossed a line” by personally attacking safeguarding minister Jess Phillips and saying that she should be jailed.

On Radio 4′s Broadcasting House programme on Sunday, Kinnock – who led Labour from 1983 until 1992 – said politicians should unite against Musk.

He said: “Trump has given Musk official status. He is going to be in charge, together with another guy, of a federal government department, and that’s on top of being the most powerful private individual in human history, as well as being the world’s richest man.

“He’s gunning for Keir and he’s got to be resisted, and I don’t think that should be limited to Labour supporters.

“I think that when somebody has very clearly declared antagonism on this level to the prime minister of the United Kingdom, he should be regarded as a national enemy.”

Kinnock’s comments came as Dan Carden became the first Labour MP to echo Tory and Reform UK calls for a national inquiry into the grooming scandal.

He said: “The public call for justice must be heeded. It is shocking that people in positions of power could have covered up and refused to act to avoid confronting racial for cultural issues or because victims were poor or working-class.

“We must question and challenge the orthodoxy of progressive liberal multiculturalism that led to authorities failing to act. We need a new doctrine to take our multi-ethnic society into the future.”

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‘Very Unsatisfied’: Michael Cohen Reacts To Trump Sentencing In Hush Money Trial

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Michael Cohen, an ex-personal attorney and former fixer for Donald Trump who pled guilty and served time in prison for charges tied to a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, said he feels “very unsatisfied” after the president-elect was sentenced without penalty in a historic New York trial.

Cohen told MSNBC’s The Weekend on Saturday that there should’ve been “accountability” or the case should’ve been dismissed.

“I believe that if there’s no accountability, there’s no deterrence. And if there’s no deterrence, no accountability, what’s the point to have the case anyway? So that we can all just turn around and refer to him now as the felon president?” said Cohen.

Friday’s sentencing arrived after a jury convicted Trump last year of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to the payment made in the final days of his 2016 campaign.

The president-elect would took to his Truth Social platform Friday to vow that he’ll “appeal this Hoax” after he was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, or effectively no punishment.

Cohen declared on MSNBC that “nobody in this country” — whether they’re a Republican, Democrat or independent — should take “solace” in the fact that Trump is a convicted felon when he takes office in just over a week.

Cohen, who was disbarred from practicing law in New York State and has been a fierce Trump critic since being sentenced in 2018, said he’s “never heard” of an unconditional discharge in his “entire life” before adding that he couldn’t find a single case with such a sentence when he searched for one on ChatGPT.

He declared that Trump should’ve been sentenced to a “conditional discharge” and suggested that the president-elect be asked to work in a soup kitchen or to pick up garbage on the side of the West Side Highway in New York City.

“I did six years, three years of incarceration and three years of supervised release without a single second, not a second, not a minute, not an hour off of my sentence and he doesn’t even get a slap on the wrist. So I feel unsatisfied,” Cohen said.

Cohen later declared that Trump, who has complained about being the victim of a two-tiered justice system, has “taught us all” that there are people above the law.

“When you hear, ‘We’re a country of laws without justice’ — yeah, that’s an accurate statement. And worse than that is that the law is not applied equally to all citizens,” he said.

“There are three sets of laws — there’s for you and for me and for the average Joe and Jane, there’s for those that are powerful whether it’s politically powerful or financially super powerful and then, of course, there’s Donald Trump. He stands unique and alone.”

He went on to acknowledge that Trump’s election win was the one way he could’ve avoided incarceration, probation or responsibility despite “everything that was thrown against him.”

“All of this somehow managed to become inconsequential to a plurality of Americans who voted for him based upon three words: gasoline and groceries. That’s an amazing trick,” Cohen said.

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