The Perspective #07: September24

Labour Cuts Support for Large Voting Demographic

Krish Chaddha

The Labour Government has decided that winter fuel payments would only be given to those who receive pension credit, which will reduce the number of recipients of the payments from 11 million to 1.5 million. Though omitted from their manifesto, and widely unpopular among the active electorate, this decision is in line with Labour’s narrative that they have to make tough decisions to plug a ‘£22bn black hole’ in public finances.

The payments would be £200- £300, automatically paid in November and December. Severely limiting those who will receive this is estimated to save the government £1.5bn.

However, many suggest that the decision comes from MPs who are from constituencies where this would not make a massive difference, and thus do not fully comprehend the ramifications of this cut. Representatives of less well-off constituencies suggest that ‘people will die due to loss of winter fuel payment’.

Money Talks: Labour's Donation Dilemma Exposes Internal Tensions

Shay Patel

MPs as a group are required to declare any gifts or donations made within 28 days of receiving them. It has emerged that our new (ish) PM, Sir Keir Starmer, failed to declare gifts offered to his wife by Lord Alli, a generous Labour donor. Downing Street has suggested that Starmer believed he had complied with the rules, and since then, has declared other donations made. Lord Alli has also provided clothes, glasses and even accommodation for the Prime Minister; the PM received at one point an installation of £16,000 for clothes. Several other members of the current Cabinet also have received donations from Lord Alli, such as Rayner, Reeves and Bridget Phillipson. Keir Starmer has now said that he and his team will not accept any more donations made for clothing due to this row, since he has faced growing amounts of criticism — some of which from his own party.

Rosie Duffield, elected as a Labour MP in the July General Election, has now resigned her whip, citing Starmer as a hypocrite, poor leader and someone with unpopular policies.

This row has benefitted the opposition parties greatly, with mounting levels of drama within the government.

Four of these further accounts against Hijazi were perpetrated in his film ‘Silenced’ which came out in June of last year. Notably, the film was funded by Alex Jones, an American radio show host and conspiracy theorist who claimed the tragic Sandy Hook shooting of 2012 was staged as well as being shared across social media by extreme figures such as Andrew Tate.