The image was obviously for illustrative purposes. Grimes said it was 'entirely predictable' the BBC was 'hyperventilating' over the image instead of the fact 'southern councils are using the north as a dumping ground for their housing failures and mass migration'. He added: 'Make no mistake, this is happening, people are being pushed to the back of the queue in their own communities.'
Under current rules, once a business exceeds £90,000 in taxable turnover, it must register for VAT and charge 20 per cent on most goods and services. Registration also brings quarterly reporting requirements and compliance costs, often requiring specialist accounting support.
Like [Keir] Starmer, the chancellor is also fighting for her political life whether because the prime minister himself falls, or chooses to move his chancellor in a reset reshuffle. Against that backdrop, Reeves hopes to project calm and competence next week, after a tumultuous 18 months.
Under Monday's changes, adults and accompanied children claiming asylum will receive a 30-month period of protection if it is granted. At a 30-month review refugees with a continuing need of sanctuary will have their protection renewed, while those whose countries are now deemed safe will be expected to return home.
Iran and the regime he's led for so long, it's a source of evil—murdering its own citizens and sponsoring and exporting terror. I think few people will mourn the ayatollah's death, not least the families and friends of the thousands of protesters murdered on the streets of Iranian cities.
The Greens were doing a lot of stuff with the mosques, persuading people there they were best placed to defeat Reform. When progressive voters were looking for a party to coalesce around, persuading the networks in the Muslim community that you were the party best placed to win made a huge difference.
Labour strategists were desperate to say the party was on course to win, but the party's trouncing at the hands of the Greens has made this look laughable in hindsight. Hollie Ridley, Labour's general secretary, sent a note to No 10 at the end of January saying it was clearly a two-horse race with Reform UK, and only 3% of voters saying they would stick with the Greens.
Recent trends indicate that parties like the Green Party of England and Wales and Reform UK have been making significant inroads in areas that have traditionally leaned toward Labour. Political analysts suggest that this shift reflects a fragmentation of the centre-left and right-wing protest voting dynamics in urban constituencies.
Incumbent governments quite often get results like that mid-term, but I do understand that voters are frustrated, they're impatient for change. I came into politics late in life, as it happens, to fight for change for those people need it. The people who need an NHS that works for them, to be able to doctors appointment when they need it, to get the money they need in their pockets to pay their bills, and to have decent and better life.
Labour simply refused to acknowledge it. Until very recently, No 10 strategy, as defined by Morgan McSweeney, was built around neglecting, even insulting, progressive voters, and seeking to win back defections to Reform. Come the next general election, so the argument went, progressives would sheepishly have to back Labour, just as leftwing voters in France got behind Emmanuel Macron when push came to shove.
I think I might have to cancel the work that you had booked in, because I'm heading to Parliament. And when I get there, I will make space for everyone doing jobs like mine, we will finally get a seat at the table.
Above all else, what mattered was the emphatic rejection of Nigel Farage's poison, as a resounding 67% of progressive voters chased off Reform's mere 29% support. The darkness of Reform's apparent poll lead starts to melt away. The Gorton and Denton result avoided a split between anti-Reform parties that would let Farage's party slither into the seat despite overwhelming opposition.
