UK Politics

New research suggests two million older voters who did not vote for Labour in 2019 would consider doing so now. A report from the Fabian Society found 28 per cent of over-55s in Britain were open to voting Labour – compared with a 21 per cent share of the vote among that age group at the last election.Around two million of them said they did not vote for the party when Jeremy Corbyn faced Boris Johnson but would consider doing so under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.The Fabian Society, a Labour affiliate, said a YouGov poll found that 32 per cent of people in the older age group thought Labour had moved in the “right direction” under Sir Keir.The same poll found that 28 per cent said the opposite about the party’s direction – a proportion matched among under-55s.The younger age group diverged on support for Sir Keir’s leadership, however, with only 23 per cent of them saying they thought he had taken the party in the “right direction”. The poll was taken from 8-13 December, by which time news had broken of lockdown-breaking parties attended by the prime minister and other Conservatives.Labour has historically struggled with older voters but the gap in support between age groups has grown in recent years. Ipsos Mori’s post-2019 election survey found support for Labour among older voters had plunged to a record low, with just 17 per cent of over-65s and 27 per cent of 55 to 64-year-olds voting for the party.Pundits have argued Labour has no chance of winning the next election – expected late next year or in spring 2024 – without pulling a significantly higher portion of the older vote. This latest research will offer hope. The Fabian Society also held a series of focus groups with over-55 working class voters in England and Wales who had voted for Labour before but backed the Conservatives at the last election – a demographic Labour is desperate to appeal to.The takeaway from the focus groups was “while Labour remains behind in the polls among over-55s, the gap is no longer so large that it is an insurmountable barrier to the party winning the next election”.The results of the Fabian Society’s research will be seen as a strong positive for the party and will likely be taken as vindication of the politically rightwards shift under Sir Keir. More

Disgraced former Tory Imran Ahmad Khan is expected to formally cease being an MP three weeks after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.Despite announcing his intention to resign on 14 April — three days after being convicted at Southwark Crown Court — Khan only triggered the formal process this week, in a letter to the Treasury.The 48-year-old is not expected to officially leave Parliament until Tuesday when the process is complete, meaning he will receive his full pay for the month. As of April 2022, the annual salary for an MP is £84,144.The Wakefield MP told The Guardian he expected the process to conclude on Saturday, but it is understood it would not happen until the next working day, with Monday being a bank holiday.He also suggested there were delays with his resignation due to HR issues with staff and the Easter bank holiday, but officials stressed than MP can resign at any moment.“MPs can resign at a moment’s notice,” a parliamentary source told the newspaper. “Look at Owen Paterson. He was there one minute and gone the next. MPs choose the date.“There’s a winding-up process for an MP’s office, to do with members of staff who suddenly find themselves without a job, and also to do with the transfer of secure material.“But that is separate to when an MP actually stands down. By waiting until the end of the month it means he will have been paid in full for April”.Khan was expelled from the Conservative Party following his conviction and announced he was stand down two weeks ago — paving the way for a crucial by-election the Wakefield constituency.He said it was “intolerable” for his constituents to “go for months or years” without an MP “who can amplify their voice in Parliament”, as he intends to appeal the verdict that was handed down on 11 April.The Wakefield seat turned blue first time since the 1930s at the 2019 general elections, as Boris Johnson emerged with the biggest Conservative majority for decades, but will be hotly contested in the coming months.Once Khan’s resignation is made official, the date for the vote in Wakefield will be unveiled when the Conservative chief whip moves the “writ” — a motion to elect a new MP, and is typically held between 21 and 27 days afterwards.The Independent has contacted Khan for comment. More

The Conservatives are being accused of failing to act against an MP who watched porn in the Commons, amid doubts over when an inquiry will start – or if it will take place at all.Labour and some Tories demanded to know why the whip has not been stripped from the unnamed MP, after he was identified by two female colleagues for watching the porn on his phone.The Tories have suggested that an independent complaints scheme investigate the controversy, but admitted only witnesses, not third parties, can trigger an inquiry in parliament.One senior Conservative MP told The Independent that “in any other workplace” someone facing such an accusation would be suspended, while a second said the party should “sack him now”.The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) is respected, but – as well as requiring a witness to come forward – can take many months to complete an investigation.The Conservative Party declined to say whether the two female witnesses are satisfied with the ICGS carrying out the inquiry, after a meeting with the chief whip, Chris Heaton-Harris.Caroline Nokes, a former minister, protested that in asking officials in parliament to investigate, instead of taking tough action itself, her party is “kicking it into the long grass”.One Tory MP said they had expected the party to “grasp this with both hands and withdraw the whip from whoever it is immediately”.A vice-chair of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories revealed it will “work closely with the chief whip to really look into this”, questioning why the MP’s name remains under wraps.“Take a very, very long, hard look at yourself, look into your soul. And ask yourself, should I still be here?” Nickie Aiken said on Times Radio.And Keir Starmer demanded to know why the Conservatives are stalling, when the offending MP’s identity is known to the party’s whips’ office.“This is an unusual case because the Tory party knows who this individual is,” the Labour leader said, on the local elections campaign trail in Cumbria.“I think that they should deal with it and deal with it sooner rather than later and take appropriate action.”The Independent has been told that some male Conservatives have questioned the seriousness of the offence, suggesting the MP might have “opened an email inadvertently and there was porn in it”.However, one of the complainants, a minister, has said it was not a quick incident and the man appeared to be aware he had been seen, yet continued to watch the porn.A second female Tory MP said she had also seen the man watching pornography. She is believed to have attempted to film him as proof of what he was doing.Government sources have suggested the man in question is a backbencher, not a minister, acknowledging his identity is known.The Tuesday night meeting at which the allegation emerged was attended by some of the most senior women in the Conservative Party, including Theresa May and some current ministers.The Independent has been told that the “united view of the meeting is that this MP should be suspended by the party”.Pressure also came from within the government, including from the attorney general Suella Braverman as she warned a minority of men in politics “behave like animals”.“The whip should be removed,” if the case is proven, Ms Braverman said, adding: “I am ashamed that this person is carrying the Conservative rosette.“I think they really do need to be subjected to a recall and be no longer holding that privileged position as a member of parliament.”Speaking in Burnley, Boris Johnson called the alleged behaviour “obviously unacceptable” – but insisted a referral to the ICGS was the correct action to take.“What needs to happen now is that the proper procedures need to be gone through, the independent complaints and grievances procedure needs to be activated and we need to get to understand the facts,” he said.The ICGS will also not confirm or deny if an investigation gets under way, because it “operates on the basis of absolute confidentiality”. More

The Independent has revealed that Sajid Javid used an offshore trust while working as an MP in the heart of the Treasury – and did not declare it in the register of members’ interests.But what exactly are the rules about which financial interests MPs do and don’t have to declare?Elected members of parliament have to submit a register of interests within one month of their election – and the regulations are complicated, covering ten different categories.The most obvious category is employment and earnings. Any payments over £100 they receive from outside parliament must be registered; payments of less than £100 must also be registered if that person pays them regularly.The rules are clear that this includes “salaries, fees and payments in kind; gifts received in recognition of services performed”, as well as “taxable expenses, allowances and benefits such as company cars”, and redundancy payments. A separate category exists for donations and other support for their activities as an MP or their local political parties. This means loans, financial support, and payment in kind like use of events spaces or training. CaGifts, benefits and hospitality from sources both in the UK and abroad are covered, as are visits outside the UK, “where the cost is over £300 if that cost is not wholly borne by the Member or by UK public funds”.MPs also have to declare any land and property they own which “has a value of more than £100,000 or forms part of a total property portfolio whose value exceeds £100,000”. However, homes which are “used wholly for their own personal residential purposes, or those of their spouse, partner or dependent children” are excluded.There are also separate categories for shareholdings: anything over £70,000 or which any holdings which amount to more than 15 per cent of shares.And certain family members are covered too: any family member who gets more than £700 in parliamentary funding must be declared publicly. Family members who are engaged in lobbying the public sector must also be noted in the register.So where might Sajid Javid’s offshore trust sit? In the miscellaneous “category 8”. The rules for this category say members must declare “any relevant financial interest or material benefit which does not clearly fall into one of the other categories, including any shareholding which falls below the relevant threshold, or any other financial asset, including an asset held in trust”.But the rules for this category say a declaration must be made if the member “considers that it meets the test of relevance; in other words, that it might reasonably be thought by others to influence his or her actions or words as a Member”.It seems that Javid ought to have thought that: as James Murray, shadow financial secretary to the Treasury told The Independent: “If Sajid Javid held money in an offshore trust while he was part of the Treasury, it would raise further questions about decision making in this government.” More

A total of 200 local authorities across Britain are holding elections on Thursday 5 May, with every council seat in London up for grabs.Many of the seats being contested were up for election four or five years ago, when Theresa May was the prime minister and Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the Labour party. With a very different political landscape this time around, the elections will be a verdict on Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer, taking in issues such as Covid-19 and the cost of living.The votes will also capture Londoners views on local councils attempts to make the city greener, cleaner and more pleasant with active travel measures such as bike lanes and low traffic neighbourhoods. There are several councils to watch, including Barnet, Labour’s top target in London for the third election in a row. The party failed narrowly to win control in 2014, while 2018 saw the council swing further towards the Conservatives. Labour needs to gain nine seats to form a majority. More

A second Malaysian man due to be hanged in Singapore this week for drug trafficking won a last-minute reprieve Thursday from the top court.Datchinamurthy Kataiah, 36, was scheduled to be hanged Friday, just two days after the execution of a Malaysian man that sparked an international outcry because he was believed to be mentally disabled.Lawyer M. Ravi, who earlier represented Datchinamurty, said the Court of Appeal allowed a stay of execution pending a legal challenge on May 20.Datchchinamurthy is part of a civil case involving 13 death row prisoners who are challenging the prison department’s forwarding of copies of their prison correspondence to the attorney general’s office without their consent, anti-death penalty activist Kirsten Han said.Ravi and Han said Datchinamurthy represented himself in court Thursday because no lawyer wanted to take the case, fearing reprisals from the government. Lawyers who take on late-stage death row cases are often accused of abusing court processes if they lose and may have to pay hefty costs demanded by the attorney general’s office, they said.Datchinamurthy was arrested in 2011 and convicted of trafficking about 45 grams (1.6 ounces) of heroin into Singapore. Fellow Malaysian Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam was also on death row for over a decade before he was hanged on Wednesday. Singapore’s government says its use of the death penalty for drug crimes is made clear when people enter the country.Nagaenthran’s supporters and lawyers said he had an IQ of 69 and was intellectually disabled, and that the execution of a mentally ill person is prohibited under international human rights law.His case drew pleas from the European Union and global figures including British business magnate Richard Branson to commute his sentence, but Singapore courts ruled he understood his actions at the time of his crime.Singapore had halted executions for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic before resuming them with the execution of a drug trafficker in March, followed by Nagaenthran. “Singapore’s international reputation has already deteriorated significantly with the execution of Nagaenthran,” said the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network. It urged Singapore to impose another moratorium on executions and abolish the death penalty. It said another Malaysian and two Singaporeans also face the threat of imminent execution. The group said all of the men came from vulnerable families and each played relatively minor roles in the drug trade. “There is no evidence that their deaths will have any effect on the illicit drug trade in Singapore or globally. There is no proof that the death penalty has been an effective deterrent to drug-related offenses,” the group said in a statement. More

British lawmakers headed back to their constituencies across the country Thursday at the end of a parliamentary year overshadowed by scandal. They left a Parliament where one lawmaker stands accused of watching porn in the House of Commons, another has been found guilty of bullying, and Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in peril for breaching the lockdown rules he imposed on the nation during the coronavirus pandemic.Parliament was formally suspended, or prorogued, on Thursday in a tradition-steeped ceremony involving ermine-draped members of the House of Lords and an official proclaiming “the queen wills it” in Norman French. A new session will begin May 10 with a pomp-filled State Opening of Parliament and a new slate of legislation from the Conservative government. Johnson hopes the new term will mark a fresh start after months of turmoil in which he became the first prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law in office. He was fined 50 pounds ($62) by police for attending his own surprise birthday party in June 2020 when lockdown rules barred social gatherings.Johnson has apologized, but denies knowingly breaking the rules. He faces the possibility of more fines over other parties — police are investigating a dozen gatherings — and a parliamentary investigation into whether he misled lawmakers about his behavior.He also faces discontent within his own party, which could grow after local elections across the country on May 5. The Conservatives fear a backlash from voters amid soaring food and energy prices driven by the war in Ukraine, Brexit and the disruption from the coronavirus pandemic. A bad result for the governing party could lead Conservatives to try to replace Johnson with a less tarnished leader.The “partygate” scandal has shaken the prime minister’s grip on power, but troubles for Britain’s politicians extend beyond Johnson. Thursday’s headlines were brimming with misconduct allegations, including a Conservative lawmaker accused by female colleagues of watching pornography on his phone in the House of Commons chamber. Parliamentary officials are investigating the claim. The lawmaker has not been named.Home Office Minister Rachel Maclean said the alleged behavior was “deeply sickening and disgusting.”“Action needs to be taken and I very much hope … we will see him out of Parliament, out of the party,” she said.Earlier this week, female lawmakers reacted with outrage after a newspaper quoted an unnamed Conservative legislator who accused Labour Party Deputy Leader Angela Rayner of trying to “distract” the prime minister during debates by crossing and uncrossing her legs.The prime minister condemned the comments as “sexist, misogynist tripe.”Also Thursday, opposition Labour Party lawmaker Liam Byrne was handed a two-day suspension from the House of Commons for bullying a member of his staff.The constant drip of allegations has taken a toll on politicians’ morale, and on their already tarnished public image. Long known for its boozy, macho atmosphere, Parliament is now a more diverse place, but lawmakers and staff still say bullying, harassment and inappropriate behavior are rife under a system that largely allows legislators to regulate themselves.Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said there was a problem with “the overall culture of the House of Commons.”“It is late sitting, long nights with bars, and that very often leads, and it has done for decades, to behavioral challenges,” he told Sky News.Johnson’s critics say problems are worsening under a prime minister who has faced a series of scandals over his finances and judgment. The scandals are an unwelcome distraction for a government that wants to focus on easing the cost-of-living crisis and revamping Britain’s economy in the wake of the country’s departure from the European Union.But some bills announced when the last session of Parliament began in May 2021 have been delayed or abandoned. Others — including new powers for police to curtail noisy protests and a requirement to show photo ID before voting — faced stiff opposition but were pushed through Parliament after bruising debates because of the Conservatives’ large majority.As Parliament shut down on Thursday, House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle sent lawmakers on their way with thanks for the session just ending.“Let’s hope it’s a little calmer in the next one,” he said. More