UK Politics

> Labour will make it easier to change gender and is considering allowing a single family doctor to sign off on the decision under plans to “simplify” the process. > > The party is considering how to make the legally binding certificate easier to obtain while still having guardrails to prevent mirroring controversial ­proposals in Scotland that would have ­removed doctors from the process ­altogether. > > The plans include ditching a panel of doctors and lawyers that approve ­gender recognition certificates, the document allowing transgender people to have their affirmed gender legally recognised, and only requiring one doctor to be involved in the process. > > The Times understands that one option under consideration is that the doctor could be a GP. Labour would ­also ­remove the ability of a spouse to object to the change. A source said the party wanted to make the process “less medicalised” but added that the plans would retain the involvement of a doctor and would not allow people to self-identify in order to obtain legal changes. > > They said it had not yet been decided whether the medical professional would be a GP or a gender specialist, with the issue likely to go to consultation if the party wins the next election. > > The discussions centre on concerns that if the single doctor was a specialist, a GP would still need to make the ­referral, therefore retaining the two-step process that Labour wants to drop. > > There were also questions over ­whether GPs were qualified or had the capacity to make the decision. The Royal College of GPs said its ­members were already working under “considerable pressure”. > > ... > > Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said she would be concerned about “shifting sole responsibility for signing gender recognition certificates to GPs”. > > She said while the college supported improving care for patients with gender dysphoria “including tackling the long waits they face for treatment and ­services”, she added: “For most GPs, detailed management of gender dysphoria is outside of our area of expertise.”

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In short, they're sticking with the New Deal for Workers, the unions won, it's great stuff.

The party may have a 30-point lead in the polls, but its lack of real offering to voters will soon cause problems - Paul Rogers

I love how they use the term could 🤣. FFS, this lot!

> The High Court in Belfast on Monday morning ordered the "disapplication" of sections of the act as they undermine human rights protections guaranteed in the region under post-Brexit arrangements. > > The Illegal Migration Act provides new powers for the government to detain and remove asylum seekers it deems to have arrived illegally in the UK. Central to the new laws is the scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. > > Mr Justice Humphreys said aspects of the Illegal Migration Act were also incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). > > Following Brexit, the UK and the EU agreed the Windsor Framework, which stipulates there can be no diminution of the rights provisions contained within the Good Friday peace agreement of 1998, even if they differ from the rest of the UK. > > The judge found several elements of the Illegal Immigration Act cause a "significant" diminution of the rights enjoyed by asylum seekers in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. > > "I have found that there is a relevant diminution of right in each of the areas relied upon by the applicants," he said.

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> Wes Streeting has defended his party’s policy not to scrap the cap on child benefit for just two children in each household. > […] > Labour had been in favour of scrapping the child benefit cap but reversed on the proposal late last summer because shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said it was unaffordable, provoking huge anger and debate in the party. > […] > [Ms Braverman wrote in The Daily Telegraph]: "The truth is that Conservatives should do more to support families and children on lower incomes... A crucial reform that Frank [Field] advocated was to scrap the two-child benefits limit, restricting child tax credits and universal credit to the first two children in a family. If they have a third or fourth child, a low-income family will lose about £3,200 per year. > > "Over 400,000 families are affected and all the evidence suggests that it is not having the effect of increasing employment or alleviating poverty. Instead, it’s aggravating child poverty." > > Mr Streeting told The Independent that poverty in the UK is forcing women to choose to have abortions because they cannot aford to keep the child. > > But when The Independent asked him about Labour’s U-turn on scrapping the two child benefit cap, he insisisted that dealing with child poverty was “more than just about handouts”. > […] > [He said]: "I also know that that the answer to child poverty, ultimately, is not simply about handouts, it is about a social security safety net, that also acts as a springboard that helps people into work and with good work that makes the cost of living affordable for everyone. > > "That means that if you aren't doing the right thing, and earning a living and playing by the rules, that you don't just have enough to make ends meet, but you have enough to do the things that make life worth living. And we’re some way from that from that now."

> Reform UK’s election efforts are being hampered by a lack of money and resources and the party has so far largely relied on £1.4m of loans from its leader, Richard Tice. > > The party is ultimately owned by Nigel Farage, but electoral and corporate filings show it has been mainly bankrolled by Tice, who has contributed about 80% of its declared funding in loans and donations since he took over in 2021. > > ... > > Reform insists that traditional former Tory donors are now beginning to open their chequebooks for the party as the election approaches, even without Farage. > > However, Tice told an audience this month that it would not be easy to run an effective ground campaign at the next election on the money coming into the party. He said it was spending “less than £1.5m a year” compared with the £35m allowed for each party nationally and likely to be spent by the Conservatives and Labour in the year before an election. In contrast, the Brexit party brought in £17m in donations in 2019. > > Tice’s personal company, Tisun Investments, has been loaning the party money in increments of £10,000-£50,000 since before he took over as leader. As of the end of 2023, outstanding loans of about £1.4m were due to Tisun, according to the Electoral Commission. Tice has also contributed £150,000 through another company, Britain Means Business. > > ... > > Reform sources said the party was heavily reliant on volunteers and had been short-staffed on the ground at recent byelections. It has about 15 staff, with admin based in Ashby de la Zouch in Leicestershire and the rest of its employees largely working from home. It is headquartered in Victoria in central London, but this was described by one Reform source as “more of a room” than an office. > > Tice has said he wants to run candidates in all constituencies at the general election, having picked about 450 hopefuls so far, but it managed to contest only 323 seats at the most recent council elections. The only two Reform candidates who won council seats have been investigated by the party over social media posts that praised the far-right leader Tommy Robinson. > > General election candidates have been given their seats after applying through the website, and will largely have to run their own campaign operations. > > ... > > The party’s biggest donor last year was Terence Mordaunt, a previous Tory donor, businessman and former chair of the climate change sceptic Global Warming Policy Foundation, whose companies have given £200,000 to Reform. > > Other major donors have dropped off since the Brexit party rebranded itself as Reform. Jeremy Hosking, who gave £2.2m to the Brexit party in 2019 and £15,000 to Reform last year, told the Guardian he had now ended his donations to Reform UK, having once hoped they would cooperate with the Reclaim party led by Laurence Fox. > > Hosking is now supporting Reclaim, which he said was “ever more engaged in hand-to-hand combat in the culture war/free speech areas, and established political parties like Reform are not really comfortable around that”. > > Another major donor to the Brexit party in 2019-20 was Christopher Harborne, who gave in the region of £10m. He has since given £1m to the office of Boris Johnson and has not donated so far to Reform.

The fact the UK is doing the right thing actually makes me happy.

This rhetoric is exhausting.

> Wes Streeting has told The Independent that he has personally spoken to Tory MPs who are considering defecting to Labour because of the “division and incompetence” in Rishi Sunak’s government. > > But the shadow health secretary insisted that Labour will not take just any Tory MP. > > Referencing Mr Sunak’s predecessor’s short term in office, he noted: “If Liz Truss were to want to cross the floor, and I don’t imagine she would, I would rather take the lettuce.”

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> Asked if Mr Farage would be welcome if he wanted to join Labour, Ms Dodds said: "Nigel Farage is someone who is well outside any kind of Labour values. > > "He has proven that time and time and time again." > > She said the former Brexit leader and Ms Elphicke are not comparable, as Mr Farage is "someone whose values are completely inimical to the Labour Party". > > "I think in what Natalie Elphicke has set out today she's very clearly shown she is very concerned about the issues that both Labour MPs are concerned about and Labour members, and indeed many Labour voters," Ms Dodds said. > > "She's very concerned about the impact of that lack of delivery of housing on people up and down our country."

I think this is true.

I've been a big supporter of Starmer doing things I don't personally like in order to smash the Tories, but the local elections showed that the downsides of his strategy are starting to appear. He needs to shore up that left leaning vote, now, and he should look to Sadiq Khan and the other successful metro mayors to see how it's done. Luckily, and partly thanks to Starmer's leadership, he has plenty of examples to pick from!

The Rt Hon Nadhim Zahawi MP Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon

With the exception of convincing my wife to marry me, it has been the greatest honour of my life to represent the people of Stratford-on-Avon and serve as a Minister of the Crown. But after 14 years in Parliament, and multiple roles in Cabinet and Government, I have come to the decision not to stand again at the next general election. Every morning as I shave my head in the mirror, I have to pinch myself. How is it that a boy from Baghdad who came to these shores, fleeing persecution and unable to speak a word of English, was able to do as much as I have? For all our challenges, this is the best country on Earth, and it helped me make my British dream come true. It was where I built a Great British business, YouGov, and it was where I raised my wonderful family. And it was the nation to which I was proud to return such a favour when I led the world-leading coronavirus vaccination rollout. I feel immensely privileged to have been called upon to serve my country across Government. As Education Secretary I kept schools open during Omicron, and as Chancellor of the Exchequer, In ensured Ukraine's valiant efforts against Russia were properly supported. I was also given the unique responsibility of coordinating the funeral commemorations for our beloved Queen Elizabeth II. I was also proud to become Chairman of the Conservative Party to which I have belonged for most of my adult life, first as a councillor and then as an MP, and to have become Patron of the Adam Smith Institute. But serving the constituents of Stratford-on-Avon is the most important work I have done as a Member of Parliament. Whether they are struggling against the dead hand of bureaucracy, or are stricken by tragedy, being able to help them in their time of need remains one of the most meaningful things I have ever done. I am proud that my constituents felt able to confide in me. I was able to do this thanks to my amazing association chairman, Lynda Organ, her association officers, my election agent Jill Simpson-Vince, and the rest of the local team who work so hard, and who form a shining example of Burke's little platoons. But as my most famous constituent once wrote: "Go to your bosom; knock there and ask your heart what it doth know". I have come to feel that the time is right for a new, energetic Conservative to fight for the honour of representing Stratford-on-Avon and assuming the mantle of MP for Shakespeare. I will, of course, serve my constituents with dedication and determination until then, and the Prime Minister, and the Conservative Party, will continue to have my unswerving support into and beyond the next general election. Parting is such sweet sorrow. I would like to thank all of my parliamentary staff and colleagues, civil service officials, special advisers, and everyone else who has ever given me advice, praise, or kept me in check with criticism. My mistakes have been mine, and my successes have come from working with, and leading, amazing people. I am most grateful of all for the love of my family and friends, especially Lana.