Standing ovation in the conference hall as Jeremy Corbyn calls on the PM to resign. “Johnson out!” shouts start again #Lab19
To counteract the possibility that the court ruling feeds into Johnson’s ‘people vs establishment’ narrative, Labour is highlighting the entitlement aspect of unlawful prorogation. “He thinks he’s above us all. He is part of an elite that disdains democracy.”
Corbyn now addresses this head on: “Johnson and his wealthy friends are not only on the side of the establishment, they are the establishment.”
Biggest rounds of applause so far: for pledges to scrap the Trade Union Act and to take mail, rail, water, national grid into public ownership. #Lab19
Only new policy announcement so far is the one about big pharma - “we will create a new publicly owned generic drugs manufacturer to supply cheaper medicines to our NHS”. Labour: public health, not private wealth. #Lab19
Key line, which sums up the leadership’s Brexit line: “We stand not just for the 52 per cent or the 48 per cent but for the 99 per cent.”
Corbyn ad libbing here as he talks about Islington North community, how “you learn from listening” and “freely given” advice. He thanks his wife. These lines weren’t in the press released text of the speech.
Speech coming to an end. Jeremy Corbyn says he will be “a very different kind of Prime Minister”. He won’t be there out of “a sense of born-to-rule entitlement” nor “some personal power trip”. #Lab19
Ends with ‘Get Ready’ by The Temptations, and shadow cabinet joins him in stage. Now for the Red Flag. 🚩
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
I’m at an event by the Centre for Social Justice, “From baby boom to baby bust”. Miriam Cates says polling shows 92.4% of UK young women want to become mothers but 69% of young women believe waiting til 35 to start a family is no problem despite fertility stats.
Cates says she was surprised by how toxic the response was when she talked about this subject in parliament. She says Rosie Duffield was supposed to be on the panel but hasn’t joined today as she fears for her safety due to the controversial nature of the discussion.
IDS from the audience says migration is neither the answer nor a problem. He says he has 4 children, all nearing or over 30, and only one grandchild, so he can see this play out in his family. He is concerned about parents who want to stay home being punished via the tax system.
“The Labour Party will always stand up for working people fighting for better pay, terms and conditions at work.
“This isn’t about appearing on a picket line. Members of the frontbench sign up to collective responsibility. That includes media appearances being approved and speaking to agreed frontbench positions.
I’m told “There hasn't been anything from LOTO ahead of the latest set of strikes.” i.e. there was no fresh warning from the Labour leadership to frontbenchers not to join picket lines. Whether there is a reaction to Sam Tarry’s decision to join one today remains to be seen.
It’s summer recess and some of the frontbenchers who might have been joining Sam Tarry on the picket line today - after joining last time - are currently away.
Labour whip Nav Mishra is in Cyprus with the Royal Air Force (along with other MPs) 👇
It's been more than three months since I moved to @TheHouseMag, where I'm interviewing parliamentarians of all parties and writing features on all sorts of subjects. Here's a lil thread on highlights so far... 🧵
I was particularly pleased with this feature, speaking to Labour MP Andy McDonald and Conservative Duncan Baker about opening their homes to Ukrainian refugees – personal stories with heart: politicshome.com/thehouse/artic…
Another story with a lot of heart – I spoke to the fascinating Anoosheh Ashoori, his wife Sherry and MP Janet Daby about his experience of being detained in Iran, ongoing fight for those left behind and feelings towards Boris Johnson: politicshome.com/thehouse/artic…
Keir Starmer is addressing the PLP tonight at an in-person meeting.
“Two and a half years ago people said Labour was finished,” he says. “After the Hartlepool by-election last year, we all felt the profound disappointment that we weren’t yet where we needed to be.”
But Starmer says the local election results showed “red shoots” – “not just the red shoots of recovery… but the red shoots of a new beginning”
Labour is “now fighting its way back to government”, he says
Starmer gives special thanks to Anas Sarwar for Scotland results and to Conor McGinn and Shabana Mahmood for “disciplined, focused, positive” campaign
Reporting today from @thefabians 2022 new year conference, their first ever hybrid one. Half of the delegates are here in person and half online. #fepsfab22
Keir Starmer has taken to the stage for his keynote speech. He’s expected to set out an NHS reform plan that will lead to a health system focused on “prevention as much as cure”: labourlist.org/2022/01/starme…
Starmer gets applause as he says Tory MPs should have known from the start that Boris Johnson was not fit for office, and says they now "bicker and fight each other on WhatsApp" instead of addressing NHS challenges. #fepsfab22