WATCH: “We will sort this out” – Thornberry on antisemitism

Today Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry said she was “fed up” of antisemitism in Labour and vowed the party “will sort this out”. Nick Robinson asked: “When you listen to your colleagues describe the antisemitic abuse that they’ve faced from people in the Labour Party, are you ashamed?” Thornberry replied: “Of course I am, I’m sickened by it. I’m fed up with it. I’m fed up with hearing about it, I’m fed up with hearing this dreadful stuff.” She added: “It’s […]

WATCH: Thornberry calls on Rudd to quit

Today Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry called on Home Secretary Amber Rudd to resign following the Windrush scandal. Speaking to Nick Robinson on The Andrew Marr Show, Thornberry said: “If you’re a politician in charge of a department and a department does its job as badly, as the Home Office has clearly been doing, then you should resign. “How much worse can it get? People have died, people have lost their jobs, they have lost their futures… It could not be worse. […]

Carwyn Jones steps down as Welsh Labour leader – full speech

By Carwyn Jones

This is the full text of Welsh Labour leader and First Minister Carwyn Jones’ speech to Welsh Labour Conference today. He announced he will stand down in the autumn. Good afternoon, Conference. I can only assume by the full hall that the age of austerity has hit the fringe meeting buffet provision. It is great to be here with you today, on what is after all, an historic occasion. Today, for the first time ever we have a Deputy Leader […]

Carolyn Harris elected Welsh Labour deputy leader

By Sienna Rodgers

Carolyn Harris has won the Welsh Labour deputy leader election. The MP for Swansea East gained 51.5 per cent of the vote, narrowly beating Julie Morgan, Cardiff AM and former MP, to become the Welsh party’s first deputy leader. Although Morgan won a majority of party members’ votes, Harris won amongst affiliated groups and elected representatives. LabourList understands that the vote breakdown was as follows: Overall: Harris – 51.5 per cent Morgan – 48.5 per cent Affiliated groups including trade unions: Harris – […]

How has council tax survived for 25 years?

By Chris Warren

Over 25 years after John Major introduced council tax as a quick fix to replace the poll tax, Margaret Thatcher’s greatest political miscalculation, it has become a permanent fixture in England. Despite its clear problems, Labour’s 2017 manifesto did not pledge to replace council tax with an alternative but only committed to reviewing it. The drawbacks of council tax are numerous. First, it is regressive. Based on the value of people’s homes rather than their incomes, it often his poorer […]