Labour could ‘go under’ with Starmer at the helm, says outgoing Unite boss

Published

3 years ago

August 11, 2021

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Firebrand union leader Len McCluskey has fired a vicious parting shot against Sir Keir Starmer, claiming Labour’s ship could “go under” with him at the helm.

In hard-hitting memoirs to mark his retirement, the Unite general secretary known as “Red Len” suggests Sir Keir will fail to win back the “Red Wall” seats Labour lost to the Tories in 2019.

Mr McCluskey, still Jeremy Corbyn‘s chief union cheerleader, accuses the Labour leader of struggling to inspire the public, “vapid New Labour cliches”, and an “anti-democratic crackdown on the left”.

In the book, titled Always Red, he settles old scores with enemies in the Labour movement including Tom Watson and Gerard Coyne – the rival he narrowly defeated in an election in 2017 who is now a candidate for general secretary once again.

And Mr McCluskey also confirms one of Westminster’s worst kept secrets: that he is in a relationship with Mr Corbyn’s chief of staff Karie Murphy, who is singled out for praise several times in the book.

Writing about rumours about their “personal connection” when she went to work for Mr Corbyn, he admits to “a game of cat of mouse” with the press. “We wanted our relationship to be kept private, away from the public gaze,” he reveals.

But in the very last sentence in the book, he writes: “Finally, thank you to Karie for persuading me to write this book and giving me the love and support to see it through.”

In a highly unusual move, several pages of what the publishers call “sensitive material”, including a showdown with Sir Keir about Mr Corbyn’s suspension from Labour, have been redacted until publication next month.

An uncompromising and highly critical chapter about the Labour leader, in which Mr McCluskey questions whether he is a “babe in the woods” or “altogether more calculating”, includes no fewer than 25 blacked out paragraphs.

The first redaction is about a phone conversation when Sir Keir told the Unite leader he had suspended Mr Corbyn over antisemitism, followed by more than two pages about a meeting with the leader and his deputy Angela Rayner.

Mr McCluskey writes: “Angela began by requesting our discussion be confidential. Given what happened subsequently, I no longer feel bound by that.”

Then comes the two-page redaction. And he adds defiantly: “I am so confident of the account I have given here that I have submitted it for use in legal proceedings and will stand by it in court.”

In a withering verdict on Sir Keir after Mr Corbyn’s suspension, Mr McCluskey writes: “I still hoped and believed that Keir Starmer could be Prime Minister.

“But I was fearful that if he continued on the course set in his first year of leadership he would not win back the red wall seats.

“If a general election was called early, which seemed possible, Starmer would have little time to rectify his mistakes.

“He still had the opportunity to change course, unite his party around a radical platform and make the promised ‘moral case for socialism’.

“But he needed to realise that if the ship he was captaining listed too far to the right, it would go under.”

On his feud with Mr Watson, Mr McCluskey talks about “the death of a friendship” when the then Labour deputy leader pulled out of peace talks with the unions during a coup against Mr Corbyn in 2018.

He adds: “I haven’t spoken to Tom since, save for a few barbed texts two years later when his attempt to unseat me as Unite’s general secretary failed.”

Accusing Mr Watson of “a view to doing Corbyn in” and being “duplicitous”, Mr McCluskey speculates that his motives may have been to become interim leader and maybe stay on without a contest.

“Whatever the truth, it was a squalid, ignoble way to end a valued friendship.”

On Mr Coyne, Mr McCluskey says; “There is no doubt that the 2017 Unite general secretary election was a proxy war. If they could take me down, they could take Jeremy down.

“Were it not for the group of right-wing MPs and officials sometimes dubbed the ‘West Midlands mafia’ – the likes of John Spellar, Jess Phillips and Tom Watson – I’m sure Coyne would have remained a man of no consequence.”

Accusing Mr Coyne of “pumping out lies” and a negative campaign, he writes: “It was vicious. It was horrible. It consisted almost entirely of personal attacks and smears against me.”

He also accuses his rival of being “not a good loser” and a “Trump-like crusade to overturn the election result”. But he also accuses Mr Watson of being involved in “this grubby attempt to dislodge me using underhand means”.

Mr Coyne is currently standing in the election to succeed Mr McCluskey against Steve Turner and Sharon Graham, with the result due in late August.

Politics

Lords delay Rwanda bill to next week in blow to Rishi Sunak’s agenda

Published

14 hours ago

April 18, 2024

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Lords delay Rwanda bill to next week in blow to Rishi Sunak's agenda

The House of Lords has delayed the passing of the government’s Rwanda bill until next week – in a blow to Rishi Sunak’s attempts to get planes off the ground deporting illegal migrants to the country.

MPs overturned Tuesday’s attempts by the House of Lords to dilute the plan – but peers have now put forward even more changes to the proposed new law.

It is now expected that the Commons will consider the changes on Monday next week, dashing No 10’s hopes to get it through today.

Downing Street has been unwilling to concede any ground on the areas that peers are trying to amend, including on the treatment of people who served with or for the British armed forces abroad.

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No 10 had set its sights on passing the legislation this week as part of its plans to get planes in the air in the spring.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill was tabled last year after the Supreme Court ruled the previous scheme to deport asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the UK was unlawful.

The current bill aims to declare Rwanda safe and not allow courts to consider the safety of the nation during appeals.

This is being done based on a new treaty agreed between the UK government and the government in Rwanda.

Speaking earlier on Wednesday, the prime minister’s spokesperson ruled out doing a deal on any of these changes. “We are not considering concessions,” they said.

“We believe the bill as it stands is the right bill and the quickest way to get flights off the ground.”

What are the latest amendments suggested by the Lords?

Of the four amendments added on Tuesday, three were tabled by Labour peers and one by a crossbencher.

The proposed changes sought to:
• ensure the bill complies with domestic and international law;
• that Rwanda would not be declared safe until a report was completed;
• that appeals based on safety would be allowed;
• and that exemptions would be allowed for people who served with or for the British armed forces.

Peers want to insist on the amendments about people who assisted the UK’s armed forces, and a report advising on the safety of Rwanda, in particular.

The government was defeated on the first by 245 votes to 208 – a majority of 37, and the second by 247 votes to 195 – a majority of 52.

Labour and crossbench peers – those who do not associate with a political party – worked together to outvote the Conservatives.

A government source told Sky News: “We wanted to get it done today, but it shows Labour for their true colours.”

Responding to the latest defeats, Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker told Sky News that he was “extremely disappointed” with the delays.

He denied the government had “slammed the door” on people like interpreters in Afghanistan who worked with UK armed forces.

But Mr Baker said people wanting to come to the UK who had served with British armed forces had to go through the Ministry of Defence.

“They shouldn’t be travelling with people smugglers illegally across the channel – and that’s what we’ve got to break,” he said.

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Approach to military interpreters ‘shameful’ – Labour

The amendment on people who helped the armed forces has been at the centre of a heated debate – with the government saying it is waiting for a report on the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) before setting out its steps.

But Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Tory MPs just voted to insist that Afghan interpreters who served British armed forces can be sent to Rwanda.

“A scheme which costs £2m per asylum seeker. A £500m plus scheme for less than 1% of asylum seekers. Which now includes those who worked with our troops

“Shameful and shambolic.”

Johnny Mercer, a former soldier and the government’s veterans minister, replied: “My team have worked night and day to find permanent accommodation for circa 25,000 Afghans who the UK have provided sanctuary to, without you lifting a finger to help.

“We want them to use safe routes, not undertake lethal channel crossings. Your concern is fake.”

Politics

Rwanda plan blame game begins over latest delays – with plenty more showdowns to come for Rishi Sunak

Published

14 hours ago

April 18, 2024

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Rwanda plan blame game begins over latest delays - with plenty more showdowns to come for Rishi Sunak

This was the week it was meant to be done.

Having forced the House of Commons to vote down the Lords’ amendments to the prime minister’s flagship illegal immigration bill three times, peers would typically have bowed out of the battle this time around and passed the Rwanda bill.

Instead, they sought to amend the legislation again.

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Rwanda bill delayed after government suffers surprise defeats

There is obvious frustration in government, with one senior figure saying: “We wanted to get it done today, but it shows Labour for their true colours.”

The Rwanda bill now comes back to the Commons next week, and could finally be passed on Monday.

All the while, the clock is ticking down on the prime minister‘s promise to get flights away by the end of spring.

With that timetable already in doubt, at least this ping pong can help ministers pin this on peers should that deadline be missed.

But there is also huge frustration amongst some MPs with Number 10.

‘We need to get it through’

Many are asking why the government didn’t just table late night sittings and force Lords to sit into the night to ram through the legislation.

Tory MP Rehman Chishti spoke for many colleagues when he told me he didn’t understand why the whips hadn’t chosen this course.

“I think the programme motion could easily have ensured that we had a vote tomorrow because at the end of day the public want us to get on and get it done. Labour have delayed, dithered, delayed. We’ve got a plan, but we need to get it through,” he said.

“If you would have asked me, I would have put it in tomorrow and I would have a vote on it. And therefore we get those planes off and make sure that this policy delivers what it needs to be delivering, which is deterrence.”

Another senior minister told me it was “clear” to them that these were “delaying tactics because they know the version of the policy doesn’t work and they want more time and to put off the day of reckoning”.

Labour ‘terrified it will work’

As Labour blames the government for refusing to compromise on amendments, and “going home” instead of looking again at the bill this evening, the government blames Labour for delaying the bill because – to quote minister Steve Baker – “they are terrified it will work”.

There is talk that had the government accepted the amendment to exempt Afghans who served alongside UK forces from deportation to Rwanda, the Lords might have passed the bill.

Labour had received an assurance from the Home Office that this amendment, tabled by former Labour defence secretary Des Browne, was going to be accepted – only for it then to be blocked.

For all the drama and irritation, it is likely that the prime minister will still have his moment.

At some point, the House of Lords will have to cave. Unelected peers cannot keep ignoring the will of the Commons.

But the question then is whether he can assuage the frustration of voters who are watching the small boats still coming, with the most crossings in a single day this year – 534 people – happening this week.

‘Another failed thing they promised’

In our Sky News election target town of Cleethorpes, part of a key bellwether seat in the next general election, voters we spoke to are sceptical the government will deliver the flights at all.

One resident told us: “They tell you what they think you want to hear but when it comes down to it, they don’t deliver that.”

Another said: “No one’s gone to Rwanda. They get on the plane, and they take them off. So that’s another failed thing they’ve promised.”

And really that’s the rub of it – the prime minister will get this legislation passed.

Then the challenge is to get those planes off the ground. Anything less won’t be acceptable.

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But with even some of his own backbenchers believing the policy won’t work, a parliamentary win is only the end of the beginning.

The next question is will he, if he has to, not just take on the Lords, but take on the European courts – and those in his own cabinet – and if necessary ignore court rulings to get flights away.

There are plenty more showdowns to come.

Politics

Review ordered into another Post Office IT system amid claims of more wrongful convictions

Published

14 hours ago

April 18, 2024

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Review ordered into another Post Office IT system amid claims of more wrongful convictions

The government has agreed to have an independent IT expert review of a Post Office software system predating Horizon, amid claims dozens more sub-postmasters may have been wrongly convicted.

The Capture software was rolled out across branches in the 1990s, years before the notorious Horizon system was introduced.

Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake has met with a former sub-postmaster and a lawyer representing 35 people who believe they were wrongly accused of stealing.

It was agreed between MPs and the Post Office minister that an independent IT expert would assess evidence claiming to “prove” Capture software was prone to glitches.

Steve Marston, 68, believes he was wrongly convicted of theft and false accounting after errors caused by Capture accounting software.

Auditors found shortfalls of £79,000 at his branch in Greater Manchester in 1998. He subsequently pleaded guilty to theft and false accounting.

A predecessor to Horizon, the Capture software was developed by the Post Office and rolled out from 1992.

‘Extremely happy’

Mr Marston, representing numerous others claiming to be victims, met with Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake in Central London.

He tearfully told Sky News after the meeting that he was “overwhelmed” and “extremely happy” with the way the meeting went.

He presented a copy of the original Capture software, also shown to Sky News, which Mr Marston describes as “definitive proof” of wrongful convictions.

Campaigners discovered floppy disks with the software on them, dating back to the 90s.

Mr Marston says they show that errors in the system could generate false shortfalls in accounts, and believes Capture evidence was used in his prosecution.

A ‘significant meeting’

Neil Hudgell, who is representing 35 former sub-postmasters who used Capture, said it was a “significant meeting” with the Post Office minister.

“What we are going to do now, with the consent of the government and agreement of the Department for Business and Trade,” he said, “is run that past an independent person to stand up what we say is the case.

“It is a very similar pattern of IT glitches that predate the Horizon system by a number of years.”

Former sub-postmasters say that it appears errors occurred when upgrades were made to the software in the 90s.

Other factors such as power cuts are also thought to be another possible reason for faults.

‘I was forced to sell my family home’

Steve Lewis lost his job in 2000, after raising concerns about shortfalls and Capture software glitches.

“I’ve always been looked on as being the man who robbed the post office,” he said. “I lost my post office, the commercial buildings that I had moved my office to, and was forced to sell my family home.”

Mr Lewis claims he was warned “not to be a troublemaker” and told the issues were only happening to him.

It wasn’t until he watched the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office that he “realised” similarities between Horizon victims and himself such as “unexplained losses”.

‘Mirror image of what Post Office did with Horizon’

Documents seen by Sky News also show that the Post Office knew Capture was prone to glitches which could cause accounting issues.

In January the government ordered the Post Office to investigate the claims related to Capture.

Labour MP Kevan Jones has taken up the cause and describes one case as being “a mirror image” of what “the Post Office did with Horizon victims”.

He continued: “Added to that, we’ve now got the original computer floppy disks where I think it proves that it does throw up shortfalls.

“I think that’s quite a compelling case for these cases to be looked at again and compensation awarded.”

‘We continue to investigate’

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We are in contact with Steve Marston and other past users of Capture and are grateful to them for all the information they have so far shared with us.

“We continue to actively investigate a number of lines of inquiry relating to Capture and throughout this we have regularly kept the Department for Business and Trade and Kevan Jones MP up to date with our findings.

“We have now shared a recommendation with the Department about what should happen next and hope to provide further information with past users of Capture as soon as we’re able to.”

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “As soon as these accusations came to light, we asked the Post Office to investigate the Capture system.

“We are now reviewing all the materials provided to us, including those from postmasters and Post Office, and we will set out next steps shortly.”