[Tubby Isaacs]

Top Education story is belatedly about the SEND, or at least one aspect of it (inclusion areas for neurodiverse). It does refer to the money the Government is spending, but still strikes me as fairly muted coverage of a massive policy that seems to be broadly what the paper has wanted to happen.

I guess sorting out SEND will soon be added to all the other things I routinely list when I make this point, things that mattered massively till Keir Starmer actually did something about them.

[RedSparrows]

Top Education story is belatedly about the SEND, or at least one aspect of it (inclusion areas for neurodiverse). It does refer to the money the Government is spending, but still strikes me as fairly muted coverage of a massive policy that seems to be broadly what the paper has wanted to happen.

I guess sorting out SEND will soon be added to all the other things I routinely list when I make this point, things that mattered massively till Keir Starmer actually did something about them.

Do you have that list to hand?

I'm not a big Starmer fan, frankly, but equally I'm deeply sceptical about the vibes-and-betrayal frenzy that is a lot of anti-Starmer sentiment. It speaks of something really ugly, even as I am fundamentally sympathetic with a negative reaction to our malaise - I just don't think this is the right one.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Recognizing Palestine, abolishing the two child limit, workers rights, renters rights, renewable energy, insulating houses where poorer people live, basically everything the government does that these people have supported becomes unimportant the moment it happens.

In other news, I see the Guardian haven't given up on forcing Starmer out. This is now the top story.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... cto-deputy

Furious female Labour MPs urge Starmer to make a woman his de facto deputy
Harriet Harman leads calls for an appointment that would ‘turbocharge’ a ‘complete culture change’ at No 10

Or, when you read the story, Harriet Harman says a woman should be Deputy PM, on the absurd grounds that this is necessary to "turbocharge" the work on violence against women and girls. The Home Secretary with overall responsibility for this issue is a woman (Shabana Mahmood). So is the Minister directly responsible (Jess Phillips). So is the Education Secretary, who has already said she wants it embedded in the curriculum (Bridget Philipson). As is the Chancellor, who'd oversee funding it (Rachel Reeves). This isn't the girlies being put in charge of photocopying for window dressing. This is women ministers with decision making the decisions that affect it.


There's already a Deputy PM- David Lammy. If Harriet Harman wants to accuse him of being a block on tackling the issue, she should say so. Harman's last significant contribution to Labour was in 2015, where she decided to position Labour as very austere, with dreadful appointments like Chris Leslie as Shadow Chancellor. Corbyn duly romped home as leader in opposition to this stuff. She's now a podcaster. And I'm not sure she's particularly furious.

Others mentioned are Alison McGovern who has said something much more general. and Natalie Fleet who wants an inquiry into Fayed's abuse.

And this is written up as a massive backlash calling for a female deputy PM, rather than the words of Harriet Harman?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Here's the blog headline.

No 10 ducks questions about whether Doyle controversy could result in his peerage being removed

Slippery so and sos!

Or perhaps governments having the right to eject people from the legislature might be something they'd be a bit careful about? It's a thought, isn't it?

Like Mandelson, I think there's a chance that Doyle will walk anyway for the sake of the team.

FWIW, straight talking Kemi's spokesperson also "ducked" the question. Seems there are people in the Tory Party who can at least see there might be an issue here. Quite amusing that Kemi couldn't follow her habitual bluster up, mind.