4.5m to be denied vote as more polls axed
“Labour announced plans on Thursday to deny 4.5 million people a vote, with two of Britain’s biggest councils allowed to delay elections. Tory-controlled Suffolk and Norfolk were among 29 authorities given permission to cancel May’s ballot. The Conservative-led Essex council is also said to have privately discussed the possibility of a cancellation with ministers, which would deny a further 1.1 million people a vote. The delays mean that millions of people will have been left with no say over who controls their local services and council tax for up to seven years. The Telegraph has launched a Campaign for Democracy, calling for ministers to be stripped of their legal powers to cancel local elections. MPs across the political divide reacted angrily to the announcement by Steve Reed, the Communities Secretary, that elections would be postponed in 29 areas, including 15 Labour-run councils.” – Daily Telegraph
- How Tory councils stripped 1.4m people of their right to vote – Daily Telegraph
- Labour scraps more local elections … after pleas from Tories – The Times
- Minsters pushed to cancel local elections in dozens of mostly Labour areas despite warning the move is ‘almost certainly illegal’ – Daily Mail
- Twenty-nine English councils to delay elections, minister confirms – BBC News
Comment:
- Farage’s excuses are unfitting for a man who would be PM – Jawad Iqbal, The Times
- Cancelling elections is hardly anti-fascist – Telegraph View
- Nigel Farage was right on his old by-election principles – Sebastian Payne, The Times
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Starmer’s allies to bar the return of Burnham
“Keir Starmer’s allies have launched a “Stop Andy Burnham” campaign to prevent the Labour mayor from returning to parliament after the resignation of a Manchester MP triggered a byelection. Multiple members of the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) predicted it would be impossible for Burnham to make it through the selection process given the number of Starmer loyalists on the body desperate to avoid a leadership challenge. The Labour party machine sprang into action after the Guardian revealed on Thursday that Andrew Gwynne was planning to quit due to ill health, with officials and MPs warning about the financial cost and political risk of a subsequent mayoral race. However, allies of the Greater Manchester mayor suggested there would be significant disquiet among MPs, the unions and party members should the leadership try to block him from returning to parliament, where he served as the MP for Leigh from 2001 to 2017. Burnham has made no secret of his ambitions. He prompted outrage within No 10 and among cabinet ministers when he said in the run up to the party’s conference last year that many MPs had urged him to run for Labour leader. He has long been believed to be seeking a return to parliament to stand for the Labour leadership if there was a challenge to Starmer, but was thought to have limited options for a byelection in the north-west of England.” – The Guardian
- Starmer’s allies plotting to stop Burnham returning as MP – Daily Telegraph
- Starmer allies to block Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster – The Times
- Self-aggrandising ‘King of the North’ Andy Burnham has his chance to take on Starmer… if he has the bottle – Daily Mail
- Starmer Allies Say Burnham Will Not Be Allowed To Stand For Manchester Seat – PoliticsHome
Comment:
- Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster will not solve Labour’s problems – The Times View
- Starmer is out of options as Burnham edges closer to a seat – Tom Harris, Daily Telegraph
- Andy Burnham will show who really runs Labour – Patrick Maguire, The Times
Assisted dying may not be put to vote
“MPs and peers who backed the assisted dying bill now believe it is “near impossible” for it to pass the House of Lords in time because of procedural obstacles used by opponents. Supporters of the bill, including its sponsor, Kim Leadbeater, have been in intense discussions with the government to find ways to move it to a vote in the Lords. With progress so slow, experts and MPs believe it is unlikely the legislation will even be put to a vote before the end of the session in May, after which it will automatically fall. MPs told the Guardian they were in “blind fury” about the apparent inevitability of the billing falling in the Lords despite passing the Commons. “It is our system at its absolute most dysfunctional,” one MP said. Several MPs named the former Conservative ministers Michael Gove, Thérèse Coffey, David Frost and Mark Harper as peers who were determined to stop the bill. Peers deny they are deliberately filibustering and say the bill is so flawed it merits all the scrutiny it is receiving. One source said MPs should have expected the bill to fall in the House of Lords, which was “routine” for private members’ bills. The bill would legalise assisted dying in England and Wales for those with a terminal diagnosis and with less than six months to live.” – The Guardian
- Canadian woman was euthanized ‘against her will’ after husband was fed-up with caring for her – Daily Mail
Comment:
- If the assisted dying bill is killed off by the Lords, let that be the end for this unelected chamber – Polly Toynbee, The Guardian
News in brief:
- Why the Lords can vote against assisted dying – James Price, The Critic
- The House of Lords’ Valkyries fighting for assisted suicide – Madeline Grant, The Spectator
- Andy Burnham’s Manchesterism is no cure for Labour – Jonny Ball, UnHerd
- Does our inflation target still make sense? – Damian Pudner, CapX
