Temperature rises in the Batley and Spen by-election as polling day approaches

The Batley and Spen by-election battle is in its final moments. In less than 48 hours, voters in the constituency will head to the polls. And the temperature has risen sharply over the past few days. Friday saw Labour candidate Kim Leadbeater shouted at about LGBT-inclusive education. On Sunday, Labour activists were physically assaulted on the doorstep and outgoing MP Tracy Brabin phoned the police. One MP close to the campaign told Sienna, reporting from the constituency, that the contest is “nowhere near as bad as Hartlepool” and predicted a narrow Labour win. But she also reported: “Locals admit that staff are tired, there is a lack of leadership within the campaign as those involved pull in different directions, and the atmosphere is downcast despite Leadbeater’s determination to bring enthusiasm and energy to it.” Read her full write-up here.

Labour’s campaign sparked fresh controversy on Monday. A new leaflet emerged, showing Boris Johnson shaking hands with Indian nationalist leader Narendra Modi alongside the words: “Don’t risk a Tory MP who is not on your side.” Concerns were raised by Labour MP for Stockport Navendu Mishra at the Parliamentary Labour Party meeting. “Racism is alive and well within Labour. A hierarchy of racism exists inside the party and some groups are seen as fair game for attacks based on religion/race/heritage,” he tweeted. “Labour will not win by playing divide and rule politics against our communities.” Labour Friends of India said the party was right to highlight anti-Muslim sentiment in the Conservative Party, but described the use of a picture of the Indian Prime Minister as “unfortunate”. In a statement released yesterday, the group wrote: “We ask the Labour Party to withdraw the leaflet immediately and will also be writing to the leadership about this.”

Sajid Javid made his first appearance as Health Secretary yesterday since replacing Matt Hancock. He told MPs that he is “very confident” about ‘freedom day’, scheduled for July 19th. Jonathan Ashworth said he hoped the confidence did not prove “premature” or “hubristic”. Labour will use an urgent question today to demand the government prevent further delays to the Covid unlocking ‘roadmap’ by introducing an international vaccine passport and scrapping the controversial ‘amber list’. “Securing our borders against new variants is the number one thing ministers can do to protect the reopening,”  Shadow Transport Secretary Jim McMahon said. “Labour wants to see travel reopen and backs an international vaccine passport and a limited and safe green list. But ministers must learn the lessons of the Delta variant.”

Ashworth also called for Lord Bethell to step down from his role as minister of innovation during his first exchange with Javid. He asked the new Health Secretary whether he has confidence in the Tory peer, in light of reports that he did not declare meetings with a firm that won a public contract and that he used his personal email account to conduct government business. Javid duly described Bethell and his team as “fantastic”. Labour has gone heavy on ministers’ use of private accounts since Hancock’s undignified exit from office after it emerged that the former Health Secretary routinely used his Gmail account for government business. Also appearing in parliament yesterday afternoon, Angela Rayner challenged the Cabinet Office’s Julia Lopez to confirm, “categorically and on the record”, that none of her colleagues do the same.

The Shadow Cabinet Office Minister also called on Michael Gove to guarantee that all business carried out using private accounts will be secured and provided to the inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic, set to begin next year. The concern is that ministers will be able to hide behind their personal accounts to avoid scrutiny. According to The Times, Hancock had used his private account for government business regularly since March last year, meaning that the government holds no records on much of his decision making throughout the entirety of the crisis. But don’t hold your breath on ministers taking much notice of the call from Rayner. Gove, who is responsible for establishing enquiries, has himself tried to avoid public scrutiny in the past by claiming that emails from personal accounts cannot be subject to freedom of information requests, which is wrong.