Left Foot Forward
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Left Foot Forward is a political blog for progressives. We provide evidence-based analysis on British politics, news and policy developments. Founded in 2009, we've published thousands of pieces of analysis, exclusive stories, and op eds from activists, public figures and civil society. We're here to shine a light on the right, to be a space for open debate among progressives, and to..
Left Foot Forward
1h ago
Prem Sikka is an Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, a Labour member of the House of Lords, and Contributing Editor at Left Foot Forward.
The UK government is taking statutory powers for unlimited snooping on bank and building society accounts connected with receipt of social security benefits and the state pension, even when there is no suspicion of fraud. This is the latest chapter in the right-wing coup that began in the 1980s.
Millions of individuals, landlords, charities, clubs, voluntary organisations and companies will become subj ..read more
Left Foot Forward
1h ago
Policing Minister Chris Philp has faced widespread ridicule after making a colossal misstep on BBC’s Question Time when he asked if the Congo is a different country to Rwanda.
Answering a question from an audience member on BBC Question Time on Thursday evening, the Crime and Policing Minister appeared to get confused as he questioned whether the two were different countries.
During the show, the Tory minister was probed about the government’s Rwanda bill which puts asylum seekers at risk of being deported to the east African country. One audience member asked whether refugees flee ..read more
Left Foot Forward
3h ago
Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) Chief Constable Steve Watson, who reopened an investigation into Labour’s Angela Rayner over her living arrangements after Tory pressure, previously spoke at the Tory Party conference last year, it has been revealed.
Watson, the Private Eye has revealed, addressed a meeting of the right-wing Freedom Association. The meeting was chaired by Freedom Association Chairman David Campbell Bannerman, a former UKIP deputy leader, who has since rejoined the Tories.
Private eye stated that the appearance of Watson at the meeting had ‘raised questions about his political ..read more
Left Foot Forward
3h ago
It appears GB News may be out of step with its own audience, after polling carried out for the broadcast channel found that support for Labour among its viewers had soared.
Under the new polling, GB News viewers voting intentions put Labour 11 points ahead of the Conservative Party, with viewers of the right-wing broadcaster trusting Labour more with the cost-of-living, NHS and housing.
In a further blow to Rishi Sunak the poll highlights just how out-of-touch his government is in connecting with the public, as 39% of GB News viewers plan to vote Labour at the next General Election compa ..read more
Left Foot Forward
20h ago
The Prime Minister has been ordered by the Information Commissioner to reveal details of his dealings with the hedge fund he co-founded after speculation about whether he profited from the firm’s lucrative Moderna investment.
Rishi Sunak was a founding partner of the investment firm Theleme Partners, before he left in 2013 to enter politics. The company saw its profits more than double in the year up to 2022, having heavily invested in Covid vaccine manufacturer Moderna.
The Good Law Project is among critics asking whether the UK PM benefited from this investment, as Sunak has so f ..read more
Left Foot Forward
23h ago
Polling expert Sir John Curtice has suggested that Britain could have another referendum on joining the EU before 2040, given the scale of dissatisfaction with the decision to leave the EU.
Curtice, who is currently Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde, made the comments when speaking to a UK in a Changing Europe event on Wednesday evening and said: “I think the 2016 referendum is going to be as unsuccessful as the 1975 one.”
He went on to add that the timescale “depends very much on uncertain politics”.
He said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens before 2040.”
“If ..read more
Left Foot Forward
23h ago
Eight years ago, the UK was found to be the first ever country to breach the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People. But rather than addressing this colossal failure, the Tories went on to make it ever worse.
Only a month ago a United Nations committee said UK Government policies had contributed to the deaths of disabled people and warned that its policies were “demonising” disabled people through a “traumatising” benefits system.
The UN rapporteurs said current UK policy “tells disabled people that they’re undeserving citizens” and “makes (disabled) people feel like criminals ..read more
Left Foot Forward
1d ago
The head of the RMT, Mick Lynch, has this morning taken apart the arguments of those who advocate for the privatisation of railways, after the Labour Party announced that it would renationalise the railways within five years if it wins the election.
Under Labour’s proposals, in what would amount to the ‘biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation’, train companies would be brought back into public ownership and run by a new body, Great British Railways, as their privatised contracts expire. Crucially, the plan will nationalise the network “without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensati ..read more
Left Foot Forward
1d ago
The former Home Secretary’s decision to drop measures intended to repair some of the “monumental harm” done to the Windrush generation was unlawful and discriminatory, the high court has been told.
Suellla Braverman decided not to implement three recommendations made by an independent review into the Windrush scandal, a decision which has been challenged this week in the High Court by Windrush victim Trevor Donald.
The Windrush Learned Lessons Review into the government’s treatment of the Windrush generation was first published in 2020 with the promise from the government that all ..read more
Left Foot Forward
1d ago
The Labour Party has said that it will renationalise the railways if elected, in what it calls the “biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation.”
Under Labour’s proposals, train companies would be brought back into public ownership and run by a new body, Great British Railways, as their privatised contracts expire. Crucially, the plan will nationalise the network “without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs”, the party is expected to say.
Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: “Labour will deliver the biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation. Whilst the Conser ..read more