MANY congratulations, then, to Sir Keir Starmer.
The Prime Minister won his battle in the House of Commons to ensure pensioners turn into icicles this winter.
PAKeir Starmer won his battle in the House of Commons to ensure pensioners turn into icicles this winter[/caption]
GettyQuite a few Labour MPs had enough conscience not to vote for the proposal to end winter fuel payments for the elderly[/caption]
He doesn’t like pensioners, you see.
He won the vote by 348 to 228.
Quite a few Labour MPs had enough conscience not to vote for the proposal to end winter fuel payments for the elderly.
Not just the usual leftie suspects such as John McDonnell. But the excellent Rosie Duffield, from the centre of the party, abstained.
A whole bunch more of Labour’s MPs decided it would be better not to bother turning up at all.
Because they were feeling a bit peaky, or wanted to watch Lingo with the slightly annoying Adil Ray on ITV.
It was billed as Starmer’s first big test. But the result was never in doubt.
Because we have a truly stupid electoral system, Labour have way, way more MPs than they should.
But it all tells you something about the sheer ruthlessness of this new Labour government.
Sir Keir and his lackeys explained that stopping the winter fuel payments was a “hard decision” to take.
And an “unpopular” decision, too.
Well, right second time around.
He also blamed the previous government for having left a black hole in our finances.
You’ll hear this a lot over the next six months. Everything that goes wrong will be the Tories’ fault.
This excuse would hold more water if it were not for the fact that Sir Keir had decided to spaff a vast amount of money on pay rises for young doctors and train drivers.
But he did.
A remarkable 22 per cent rise for the doctors, for example.
And here’s the thing.
Doctors vote Labour, pensioners vote Tory.
A ResearchGate poll found 60 per cent of doctors were “left-leaning”.
While a recent opinion poll showed that if voting had been restricted to the over-65s, the Conservative Party would have a majority of 78 seats.
So you see my point. And you see Sir Keir’s point, too.
He doesn’t lose many votes at all by stuffing the pensioners and ensuring they have to burn their own slippers to keep warm this winter.
Gravy train
Sod them, is his attitude. They will pay for their political leanings!
But he has to keep the doctors happy. And for that matter all the other public sector workers.
They were the bedrock of that huge Labour win back in July.
So you can expect to see Labour forking out right, left and centre to ensure that their client group gets a good slurp from the gravy train.
Suddenly the economy will be in a good enough shape to ensure that these enormous pay demands will be met.
Despite Sir Keir arguing, pre-election, that they wouldn’t meet such demands. He was very clear about that.
But then he’s been very clear about a lot of things but has since changed his mind.
All we can hope, in the coming months, is that Starmer at least faces a bit of resistance from within his own party when he decides to enact a cruel policy based on spite.
Because there’s precious little resistance from the other parties.
It’s pop, Bey, by a country mile
BEYONCE’S dad is on the warpath.
Mathew Knowles reckons his daughter’s album Cowboy Carter was snubbed by the Country Music Association Awards because she is black.
InstagramBeyonce’s version of Paul McCartney’s Blackbird is as pretty a pop song as you’ll ever hear[/caption]
Well maybe, maybe not.
Cowboy Carter is a lovely album, without doubt.
Beyonce’s version of Paul McCartney’s Blackbird is as pretty a pop song as you’ll ever hear.
But it’s not really a country album.
It’s a kinda p**s-take of country, which is maybe why the country establishment didn’t like it much.
So maybe race doesn’t come into it.
JUST occasionally you see something that sums up the country.
Very pithily in only a handful of words.
So respect to the workman or builder who left a sign by his kit bag, saying: “Don’t rob my tools.
“I need them to pay your benefits.”
Never a truer word.
Oh no, here’s Lammy
THEY get invaded by Russia. Their capital city is shelled.
Swathes of territory are gobbled up by Vladimir Putin’s forces.
ReutersDavid Lammy has already enraged half the world by shoving an arms embargo on Israel[/caption]
Millions of their women and children flee abroad.
You just wonder – could things get any worse for the people of Ukraine?
Yes! David Lammy has just arrived there.
There isn’t any crisis this numbskull couldn’t make worse.
The Foreign Secretary – yes, yes, I know – has already enraged half the world by shoving an arms embargo on Israel.
Listen, Lammy.
Your job is to give President Volodymyr Zelensky what he wants and get out sharpish.
Keeping your gob shut. Comprenez?
CAN someone explain to me why our bloody probation officers still get to work from home?
Shouldn’t they show more interest in their work and get up close and personal with their charges more?
It’s the same old story.
Public sector workers thinking they can get away with a lifestyle, pay and working conditions which are unrealistic.
Come on you dorks.
Shake a leg. Get those ankle tags charged up.
Don not top dog
I FEAR Donald Trump is on a one-way ticket to the booby hatch.
His performance in the debate against Kamala Harris was kind of mental, alleging, as he did at one point, that Haitian immigrants were chowing down on local cats and dogs.
AFPDonald Trump’s performance in the debate against Kamala Harris was kind of mental[/caption]
Frighteningly, it looks like the wholly useless Harris is on course for a thumping victory.
Bad news for America.
Bad news for us.
Bad news for the world.
EU red tape a threat
THE European Union is in deep economic trouble.
Germany hasn’t seen any meaningful growth since 2018, for example.
EPAGiorgia Meloni has noted, in 1990 the 12 countries of the EU contributed 26 per cent of the world’s wealth[/caption]
All the economies are pretty much in free fall. France is in perpetual crisis.
As the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has noted, in 1990 the 12 countries of the EU contributed 26 per cent of the world’s wealth.
Now with more than double the number of countries it contributes just 16 per cent.
The problems are many and various.
Immigration has been hugely costly to the continent.
Which is why nobody votes for the dim-witted liberal centre parties any more.
But it is also the EU’s stifling, glacially slow, bureaucracy that restricts economic growth.
As Meloni said: “America innovates, China replicates, Europe regulates.
“It is an extraordinary picture of our situation, because it’s true.”
Take note, Sir Keir – we were right to get out.
Keep it Greal to win
THAT was a bit better from England, beating both Ireland and Finland in the Nations League over the last few days.
There was a bit of attacking verve in the first half against Ireland.
GettyIt was great to see Jack Grealish back in the England team[/caption]
And it was great to see Jack Grealish back in the team.
So all credit to the new manager, Lee Carsley (aka The Man Who Cannot Sing).
Mind, I suspect you and me could beat Ireland (jumpers for goalposts, no offside).
But still. I wonder how much better England would have been in the Euros if Carsley had been in charge?
Gary Lineker was right – the changes Carsley made were exactly those half the country demanded in summer.