‘No Kremlin Plot', Councillor says after ‘human error' changes party affiliation
A LONG-serving councillor has confirmed he has not left the Labour party after his profile was changed to 'Independent' on the council website in a 'human error'.
Cllr Bob Kelly, who represents Millom on Cumberland Council, said the change was made in error due to a council officer mistaking him for an Independent councillor whose first name is also Robert.
Cumberland Council said it was a 'human error' and has apologised to Cllr Kelly for the confusion.
A screenshot of the page was shared on social media at the weekend by the former Workington MP Mark Jenkinson, who wrote that 'another Labour councillor' had resigned the party whip 'as Keir Starmer's Labour government continues its attacks on the elderly, the vulnerable, and working people.'
Councillor Bob Kelly was listed as an Independent on the Cumberland Council website in a 'human error' which led to speculation that he had left the Labour party (Image: Submitted)
Cllr Kelly then responded on his social media page, saying: 'I have been informed that Mark Jenkinson - the former MP for Workington - has posted a photo of me claiming that I have resigned from the Labour Party.
'Given his history of Facebook contributions I shouldn't be surprised at him getting things wrong, but I can assure everyone, both friends and opponents that I have not done this and have no intentions of doing so.
'I do thank him, however, for giving me this opportunity to show how accurate his postings are and for raising my public profile.'
Cllr Kelly told The Whitehaven News: 'I can confirm that I have not resigned from the Labour Party nor have ever considered doing so.
'I can confirm I have been a member of the Labour Party since the early 1980s, have held a number of party offices in different constituencies around the country, was a Copeland Councillor from 2015-19 and at no point have I ever been in doubt that the Labour Party with its history of transforming society for the better should be something I would wish to leave.
'The confusion was due to an officer mistaking me for an Independent councillor whose first name is also Robert – so no Kremlin Plot to destabilise Cumberland Council after all!'
Mr Jenkinson said: 'No one claimed that Cllr Kelly had left the Labour Party, but localcouncils.co.uk reported his 'defection' to sit as an independent councillor, which was backed up by the change of party affiliation on the Cumberland Council website.
'On the software the council uses, that is not a mistake easily made accidentally. A thorough internal investigation will reveal all, no doubt.
'Had Cllr Kelly had the courage of his convictions, he would have been the fifth Cumberland Labour Party councillor to have done the right thing in the face of this Labour government's attacks on the elderly, the vulnerable and the workers of this country, all while those breaking the law are consistently rewarded. That Cllr Kelly continues to defend this government tells us all we need to know.'
A Cumberland Council spokesperson said: 'Human error meant this information was recently changed on our website, and we are, of course, looking into exactly how that happened. The information was corrected as soon as we were aware of the mistake, and we apologise to Councillor Kelly for the confusion.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Conservatives disown Liz Truss's mini-budget
The Conservatives will "never again" put the UK's economic stability at risk by making "promises we cannot afford", the shadow chancellor will say, as his party seeks to distance itself from former Prime Minister Liz Truss's mini-budget. In a speech, Mel Stride will disown Truss's £45bn package of tax cuts, which spooked financial markets and led to the former Tory PM's resignation in 2022. Stride will say "mistakes were recognised" but acknowledge "the damage to our credibility is not so easily undone". Hitting back, Truss said she had a plan to "turbocharge the economy" and accused Stride of bowing to "failed Treasury Orthodoxy". She accused Stride of being "a creature of the system," adding: "When he served alongside me as Treasury minister, he always went along with officials." The mini-budget was delivered by then Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in September 2022, after Truss won a Tory leadership contest to become prime minister. The plan, which included big tax cuts and subsidies to reduce energy bills, shook confidence in the UK's financial credibility, led to a rise in mortgage rates and a fall in the pound's value. Truss, who did not ask the UK's independent forecaster to assess her economic plans, admitted "parts of our mini-budget went further and faster than markets were expecting" and stood down after 49 days in office. The mini-budget was scrapped and Rishi Sunak - who had criticised Truss's promises to fund tax cuts with borrowing - succeeded her as prime minister. Labour accused the Conservatives of crashing the economy in 2023 and has repeatedly used Truss's mini-budget as an attack line. Distancing the Tories from the mini-budget, Stride will say: "For a few weeks, we put at risk the very stability which Conservatives had always said must be carefully protected. "The credibility of the UK's economic framework was undermined by spending billions on subsidising energy bills and tax cuts, with no proper plan for how this would be paid for." And ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves's spending review next week, Stride will accuse her of "abandoning" financial responsibility. The current Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch was trade secretary in Truss's government in 2022. Stride - who was a key ally of Sunak when he was PM - will say it will take time and honesty for the Conservatives to rebuild trust with voters. "So let me be clear: never again will the Conservative Party undermine fiscal credibility by making promises we cannot afford," Stride will say. In a furious response, Truss argued her economic plan "provided the only pathway for the Conservatives to avoid a catastrophic defeat" in last year's general election. Truss added: "As it was, Mel Stride and too many fellow travellers in the Conservative parliamentary party supported an economic policy that backed high immigration, raised taxes to a 70-year high and pursued unaffordable Net Zero policies - and the electorate delivered a devastating verdict on that record last summer. "Until Mel Stride admits the economic failings of the last Conservative government, the British public will not trust the party with the reins of power again." In his speech, Stride will also take aim at Reform UK and its leader Nigel Farage. Last month, Farage - whose party is leading in national polls - set out plans to restore the winter fuel allowance, scrap the two-child benefit limit and lift the salary level at which people start paying income tax to £20,000. The shadow chancellor will say Reform's "economic prescription is pure populism". "It doubles down on the 'magic money tree' we thought had been banished with Jeremy Corbyn," Stride will say. Responding to Mel Stride, Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice said his party would "take no lectures on economics from a party" that raised "government spending to 70-year highs and shrank economic growth to 70-year lows". "Meanwhile we unearth Tory-run councils wasting £30 million on a bridge to nowhere," Tice said. They can never be trusted again." The Liberal Democrats accused the Conservatives of attacking Farage's party for "the same fantasy economics" they had pursued. Deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: "It's insulting that the Conservatives think a few warm words will fool people into forgiving them for all the damage they did to the economy and people's livelihoods." How much market chaos did the mini-budget cause? We want to make it easier to have children - Farage Reeves admits some will lose out in spending review
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Holiday let owners face tax ‘triple whammy'
Airbnb owners are set to face a triple whammy of taxes as the Government increasingly treats them as 'walking ATMs,' a senior Tory MP has warned. Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow housing minister, criticised ministers for hitting short-term let owners with little-known licensing fees when they are already paying double council tax. From April 1, all English councils were given the powers to charge a 100pc council tax premium on second home owners. More than 230 chose to implement the charge – which The Telegraph is campaigning to be cut or abolished. But the new legislation included scope for the Government to introduce a registration scheme to regulate holiday lets and ensure they are recorded with councils. This is expected to involve a licensing charge, which experts estimated would be around £100 per year. Labour has failed to provide a timeframe for when this will be introduced. The result could be that short-term let owners are saddled with paying double council tax bills, plus an annual licensing fee. Mr Hollinrake has argued that the double council tax bill should cover the cost of an owner registering a short-term let. In a written parliamentary question, he asked the Government whether it 'will ensure that homes subject to a second homes council tax premium by local authorities are not charged additional registration fees'. But Chris Bryant, the culture minister, refused to confirm the exemption in his response. He added that the 'scope of the scheme is still being determined'. A loophole in the business rates system means some households could avoid the double tax altogether. Mr Hollinrake told The Telegraph: 'Labour's thirst for tax cannot be quenched, and people may now be hit by a triple whammy of council charges – two lots of council tax, and a licensing fee on top if they ever want to rent it out. 'Such licensing charges are especially pointless, as councils already know the property is being used as a second home by virtue of the council tax surcharge. 'Local taxpayers deserve better than being treated like walking ATMs by this punishing Labour government.' Andy Fenner, head of the Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA), said: 'This appears to be purely a revenue-generating exercise rather than a genuine policy need. Short-term rental tourism provides vital investment and supports thousands of jobs and businesses throughout our communities. Alistair Handyside, of the Professional Association of Self-Caterers UK, said it was supportive of the scheme but concerned about 'the amount of other interventions such as the council tax premiums, the abolition of the furnished holiday lets tax regime and the new EPC standards, these are closing businesses at a very fast rate'. The second home council tax premium was originally brought in by the Tories. However, Labour has come under criticism for refusing to monitor the impact of the policy on housing, tourism and local economies. Ministers said it was up to individual councils to decide if the double tax is 'effective'. But The Telegraph revealed earlier this month that eight in 10 local authorities who charge the premium failed to carry out impact assessments before introducing it. If a property is let out for 70 nights a year, it qualifies for business rates and is therefore exempt from council tax. Many second home owners will qualify for small business rates relief, which offers up to 100pc relief, if the property is the only one they let. This loophole will cost local authorities £334m this year in missed revenue, a figure which politicians said proved the premium was backfiring. If a property is not let for 70 days, however, it will still be on the hook for all three charges. A government spokesman said: 'A registration scheme will help local authorities across England identify the short-term lets in their area so they can address any community impacts. We will set out more details on how the scheme will work in due course.' AirBnb was also approached for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Ed Miliband is laying a trap for Nigel Farage
If Reform UK wins the next election, scrapping net zero is first on their list of policies. Party leader Nigel Farage believes the move could save tens of billions over the next parliament, freeing up funds for tax breaks and benefits boosts. Labour's Ed Miliband, on the other hand, appears to be building his platform on preventing this coming to pass. If Labour can block Reform by triumphing at the ballot box, that's all well and good. If it can't, then there are other tools. As the New Statesman has noted, Miliband's newfound enthusiasm for community wind projects may partly be an attempt to 'future-proof' net zero, pushing things through today that will be tricky to unwind tomorrow. Underhand, possibly, but potentially effective. And it's an approach we could well see expand to other elements of the policy in the near future. Reform's targeted savings from the transition to net zero are already under fire. While the party believes it's possible to save £225bn over the next parliament, the Institute for Government (whose report the figures are partly based on) has argued that some of this sum constitutes private sector spending. Just as important, however, is the question of how much of it will be easily cut. Depending on which analysis you follow, spending over the rest of this parliament could average somewhere between £13bn and £19bn per year, with the latest Climate Change Committee Carbon Budget suggesting that anywhere between £6bn and £23bn of public funding could be needed in 2035. Over the period to 2050, one Office for Budget Responsibility report (now a little old) estimated the net cost at £344bn to the public sector, with the downside risk at £553bn. These are large sums. The upper end – £22bn or so each year – would be enough to fund the reversal of the winter fuel payments cuts (£1.65bn per year), raise the personal allowance by £1,250 (£11.1bn), scrap the two-child benefit cap (£3.4bn) and add another 0.2pc of GDP onto the defence budget – covering almost half the gap between Labour's distant 3pc ambition and the mooted Nato 3.5pc target. It's also the case that these sums could be underestimated. The Climate Change Committee's analysis shows net zero coming in at a net annual cost of 0.2pc of GDP per year over the next quarter century, or roughly £4bn per year, with the costs front-loaded and net savings towards 2050. But underlying these figures are some very optimistic assumed cost curves for the future price of electricity capacity, including a forecast for offshore wind unit costs to fall by 39pc over the next 25 years. Now, this might happen. But it's worth noting that the UK's 2023 auction round for renewable energy projects resulted in no bids at all for offshore wind. These auctions award 'contracts for difference', which pay producers a set rate per unit of electricity produced. If the market rate is below that price, the producer receives a subsidy. If it's above it, then they pay the difference back. Barring a period between 2021 and 2023 when gas prices spiked over tensions and then outright war in Ukraine, these payments have tended to be large and positive: producers receive above-market-rate prices. Despite this, offshore wind was a no-go. In the subsequent auction round, the Government raised the maximum price on offer by 66pc, with the eventual contracts awarded coming in at 58pc above the previous record low. Even this wasn't quite enough. Ørsted's Hornsea 4 project won its funding in that round in September 2024. By March this year, it had been discontinued on the grounds of 'adverse developments relating to continued increase of supply chain costs, higher interest rates and an increase in the risk to construct and operate Hornsea 4 on the planned timeline'. Poof! 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of planned capacity vanished into the ether, just as the plan is to boost it from 15GW to 88GW by 2040. It's a neat illustration of one of net zero's risks. If other technologies also stall out on cost reductions, if delays to projects push the mooted benefits further back into the future, if higher interest rates raise the cost of capital, or if the costs of projects slip in typical fashion, then the costs of the transition could rise further still. And that uncertainty makes scrapping net zero even more appealing for Reform. A policy which they believe will cut energy bills – contracts for difference, the renewables obligation feed-in tariffs and the guarantee of origin system have added £280 to annual household costs between them, before we get to balancing payments and transmission costs – is also a way to work towards balancing the books and reducing fiscal risks. It's a win-win. If, that is, they can pull it off. The concern will be that Labour is trying to tie their hands, setting up contracts and legal commitments well in advance of the next election that will make it extremely hard for a future government to change course. There are early signs the party is moving in this direction, with the next auction round for renewable subsidies taking the approach of inviting bids first towards a targeted capacity, then setting a cash budget after reviewing them. Combined with Miliband's rush to complete decarbonisation of the grid by 2030, and increasing pressure on the private sector to follow along with schemes incentivising electrification of home heating and transport, and the intention could well be to tie Reform's hands. However, Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK and the party's energy spokesman, isn't worried. 'Miliband is absolutely trying to lock us into his net zero plans,' he told me on Wednesday. 'And they're trying to tie up as many contracts as possible now to bind our hands when we win office – you can see that with the switch in renewable energy policy from cash budgets to capacity targets'. But just as Labour can play games with contracts and commitments, so too can Reform. 'We'll claw the public's money back by charging a windfall tax equal to the subsidy awarded, and bar producers from charging that tax back to the consumer,' Tice said. 'Wind farms that need promises of huge public subsidies to finish construction won't be economically viable. And battery storage systems will be outright banned on health and safety grounds; they are dangerous and toxic.' The result is a battle of pre-commitments. Miliband appears to be urging the private sector to pile in on net zero plans, waving the prospect of taxpayer funds at potential partners, and finding ways to make legally binding agreements that will be hard to unpick. Reform, however, isn't planning to unpick them, but to instead follow Miliband's example in the North Sea: restrict operating conditions, tax profits, and drive the value of projects to zero. The effect is to introduce considerable political risk into net zero projects, but potentially also to tempt Labour into finding ways to hand out funds upfront. All eyes on this space: whether Reform's pledges can succeed in scaring off the renewables sector could determine its ability to win the next election. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
