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The National
4 days ago
- Politics
- The National
FPTP is here to stay because turkeys and MPs don't vote for Christmas
It gets worse. The LibDems found themselves the third largest party (replacing a badly wounded SNP) having won more than 70 seats on just over 12% of the total vote. Even the unlovely Reform UK got a handful of seats. Reform UK (previously UKIP and the Brexit Party) took five seats, all from the Tories, though they've already fallen out with one who committed lese majeste by criticising the sainted Nigel Farage. However, they came second in no fewer than 98 constituencies, 89 of them in Labour-held seats. Cue a very public panic attack from the PM last week. This is the latest legacy of a deeply flawed electoral system. You might wonder why attempts to ditch First Past The Post (FPTP) have always failed. Wonder no more. The sitting MPs in the Commons have figured out that a fairer voting system might well result in many of them getting their jotters. READ MORE: Labour have 'given up' on by-election amid SNP-Reform contest, says John Swinney Turkeys and MPs rarely queue to vote for Christmas. The UK General Election is unique in sticking with FPTP. Scotland wound up with a messy compromise when the Constitutional Commission tried to please all the parties involved in the previous Convention. The result was the Additional Member System (AMS) which has constituency MSPs elected under FPTP then list MSPs given seats in proportion to their vote share. Neither fully proportional flesh nor equitable fowl. For years thereafter, list MSPs laboured under the label of being somehow second-class citizens. Not least the Tories who had fought against devolution and all its works yet, thanks to AMS, found themselves with a healthy clutch of seats in Holyrood. The Single Transferable Vote (STV) has several merits compared with FPTP. Most importantly it reflects what most voters actually want, it tends to stop tactical voting, and, not at all incidentally, it stops parties from deciding themselves how they want to rank their own candidates on a list. Plus it lets voters assert their personal preference even when these cross party lines. So, even if your favoured candidate doesn't win, his or her votes will be redistributed. Waste not, want not. This might help to reduce the widespread scunneration factor about politics and politicians generally, from which Scotland is certainly not immune. The upcoming by-election will be fiercely fought on all sides but is unlikely to produce much in the way of voter enthusiasm. If half the electors sit on their hands it's not much of an advert for democracy. Remember the heady days of the 2014 referendum, when an astonishing 85% of folk trotted off to the polling stations? All parties, including the SNP, have misused the party list system by putting candidates they've taken agin well down the list in the certain knowledge that will ensure electoral death. Not so much power to the people as too much power to the parties. The Welsh Senedd has decided that AMS too is flawed and will move to another system next year while STV is the preference in our Scottish local elections as it is elsewhere in the UK. Only the Commons sticks with a system which most often results in a successful candidate the majority of voters don't want. And certainly didn't vote for. Again, hardly an advert or an argument for democracy. It's likely that a lot of Westminster -centric MPs are not even aware that they are the only chamber left where FPTP manages to survive despite public opinion being only too well aware that their vote, in too many constituencies, is of no consequence. Why bother voting when you know your voice will never be heard or acknowledged? And let's not even think about the House of Lords which has been about to be abolished since God was a girl. It's a salutary fact that only the Chinese assembly has more members than the 800-plus HOL, where a few doughty members do the lion's share of any work going while the rest are – sometimes literally – sleeping partners. It's also instructive to note that almost all new peers say they favour abolition themselves, before undergoing a Damascene conversion shortly after their posteriors make contact with the red benches. The self-proclaimed conceit that they are a house of all the talents has been somewhat diluted by successive Prime Ministers giving out gongs with an enthusiasm at which even David Lloyd George might summon a blush. (In six years from 1916 the Welsh Liberal PM managed to create 120 hereditary peerages, not even to mention more than 1500 knighthoods. He noted that a fully equipped duke cost as much to keep up as a couple of Dreadnoughts and were just as scary and lasted longer!) The modern equivalent, certainly for the Conservatives, is to hand over peerages to major party donors which is little more than a kick in the pants distant from selling them off. Buying peerages is notionally illegal, but tell that to the raft of party appointees who march with unseemly haste to the Lords should their seat be required for a more 'deserving' candidate. I admire the way in which the SNP have set their face against nominating anyone to the so-called upper house, even though there have been a number of SNP 'grandees' who might have fancied a daud of ermine as a kind of long service medal. The latest was former Westminster SNP leader Ian Blackford who suggested SNP peers would help give Scotland greater influence. Wonder who he could have had in mind! IT may be too much to hope that there will be any significant change to how Scotland votes in an election which is now less than a year distant. Yet we did manage to effect change in the teeth of opposition when we extended the franchise to teenagers who could get married while being deemed 'too young' to have a vote. How frustrated these young voters must be to find that they are still banned from other electoral processes. Yet the one constituency to which every elected politician lends an ear is the voting public. If enough of us say 'up with this nonsense we will not put' it just might light a fire under the party top brass. And a nonsense it truly is when voters, who are not daft, realise that their own vote in too many areas is totally wasted. In truth, there are only a few constituencies where voting actually matters any more. One of them is Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, previous fiefdom of the late and much lamented Christina McKelvie. If the opinion polls are to be believed it's now largely a two-horse race between the SNP in which she was a popular minister, and Reform UK which have the distinction of having no track record in Scotland, no costed policies, and is predicating its pitch on 'Change'. Seem to remember that was also the war cry of the incoming Starmer government. That's gone well. So anyone prepared to be seduced by a one-word slogan from a party now in its third incarnation and led by Donald Trump superfan Nigel Farage will soon find out just how hollow his promises always are. Apparently, he's about to grace us with his presence. Let's hope he requires rescuing by Police Scotland again. The party leader Nigel unceremoniously dumped, Richard Tice, says a Scottish breakthrough is very much on the cards. Seemingly he has his own pack.
Daily Record
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Record
Keir Starmer to make major immigration update in Downing Street press conference
Keir Starmer will address the nation at around 8.30am ahead of the Government's long-awaited immigration white paper, which will be published on Monday. Sir Keir Starmer will unveil a major UK Government immigration crackdown during a Downing Street press conference shortly. The Prime Minister is expected to set out sweeping reforms to reduce net migration and will promise a "clean break with the past", reports the Mirror. He will promise that "enforcement will be tougher than ever and migration numbers will fall", as he addresses the nation. He is due to speak at around 8.30am ahead of the Government publishing its long-awaited immigration white paper. The white paper, which will be published today, Monday, May 12, is expected to contain a string of measures to make it harder for people to permanently settle in the UK. Instead of the current five-year period, migrants will need to live in Britain for a decade before they can apply for citizenship. However, high-skilled workers such as nurses, doctors, engineers and AI leaders could be fast-tracked under the plans. English language requirements will be tightened across all visa routes - and all adult dependents will be required to demonstrate a basic understanding of English. A university degree will be required for skilled worker visas and a care visa route for overseas workers will be closed under the plans, sparking a fierce backlash from industry bosses. The UK Government is battling to slash net migration - the difference between people arriving in the UK and leaving it - which ballooned to 728,000 in 2024 despite a string of Tory PMs promising to get numbers down. This comes as Labour seeks to neutralise the threat from Nigel Farage after Reform UK swept to power in 10 councils in England and snatched a by-election win in Labour-held Runcorn and Helsby by six votes. But the crackdown is likely to be controversial - with care providers branding a ban on overseas recruitment "cruel". The PM is expected to say: 'This is a clean break from the past and will ensure settlement in this country is a privilege that must be earned, not a right. "And when people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language. Lower net migration, higher skills and backing British workers – that is what this White Paper will deliver.' The measures will be extremely controversial as they are laid out in a document published on Monday. Prof Nicola Ranger, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing will tell its annual congress that the Government's plans are about "pandering and scapegoating". She will say: "The UK is so reliant on overseas colleagues, especially in social care. The Government has no plan to grow a domestic workforce. This is about politics - pandering and scapegoating. It should be about people." Meanwhile Care England's chief executive Martin Green earlier labelled the Government's plans as " cruel". Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Sunday that previous governments left behind "broken promises", adding: "We're not going to take that really failed approach, because I think what we need to do is rebuild credibility and trust in the whole system." Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
Daily Mirror
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Keir Starmer to give urgent press conference on major plans
Keir Starmer will give a Downing Street press conference shortly as the Government unveils a major immigration crackdown. The Prime Minister will promise a "clean break with the past" as he sets out sweeping reforms to reduce net migration. Addressing the nation, he will promise that "enforcement will be tougher than ever and migration numbers will fall". He is expected to speak at around 8.30am ahead of the Government publishing its long-awaited immigration white paper. This will contain a string of measures to make it harder for people to permanently settle in the UK. Migrants will need to live in Britain for a decade before they can apply for citizenship - instead of the current five year period. However, high-skilled workers such as nurses, doctors, engineers and AI leaders could be fast-tracked under the plans. English language requirements will be tightened across all visa routes - and all adult dependents will be required to demonstrate a basic understanding of English. Skilled worker visas will require a university degree and a care visa route for overseas workers will be closed under the plans. The Government is battling to slash net migration - the difference between people arriving in the UK and leaving it - which ballooned to 728,000 in 2024 despite a string of Tory PMs promising to get numbers down. It comes as Labour seeks to neutralise the threat from Nigel Farage after Reform UK swept to power in 10 councils in England and snatched a by-election win in Labour-held Runcorn and Helsby by six votes. But the crackdown is likely to be controversial - with care providers branding a ban on overseas recruitment "cruel". The PM is expected to say: 'This is a clean break from the past and will ensure settlement in this country is a privilege that must be earned, not a right. "And when people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language. Lower net migration, higher skills and backing British workers – that is what this White Paper will deliver.' * This is a breaking news story. Follow us on Google News, Flipboard, Apple News, Twitter, Facebook or visit The Mirror homepage. We'll be bringing you the latest updates on this Breaking Politics News story. Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you by following The Mirror every time you see our name. You can sign up for Twitter alerts for breaking news here @MirrorBreaking_ and follow us for all the latest updates. Keep up-to-date with your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day by following us on Facebook at See all our social accounts you can follow here:
Daily Mirror
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Major immigration crackdown unveiled with huge change to citizenship rules
Prime Minister Keir Starmer will declare a 'clean break from the past' as the Government publishes a long-awaited immigration blueprint on Monday Keir Starmer will announce plans to make it harder for people to permanently settle in the UK as part of a major immigration crackdown. People will need to live in Britain for a decade before they can apply for citizenship rather than the current five year threshold. However, high-skilled workers such as nurses, doctors, engineers and AI leaders could be fast-tracked under the plans, No10 said. English language requirements will be tightened across all visa routes - and all adult dependents will be required to demonstrate a basic understanding of English. The Prime Minister will declare a "clean break from the past" as the long-awaited immigration white paper is published on Monday. The Government is battling to slash net migration - the difference between people arriving in the UK and leaving it - which ballooned to 728,000 in 2024 despite a string of Tory PMs promising to get numbers down. It comes as Labour seeks to neutralise the threat from Nigel Farage after Reform UK swept to power in 10 councils in England and snatched a by-election win in Labour-held Runcorn and Helsby by six votes. But the strict crackdown is likely to be controversial - with care providers branding a ban on overseas recruitment "cruel". Under the plans, skilled foreign workers will need a degree to get a job in the UK unless they work in critical sectors like IT and construction. Care homes will be ordered to recruit from the UK as a dedicated visa route will be closed. Deportation rules will be reformed so the Home Office is notified of all foreign nationals convicted of offences, which officials say will make it easier to remove people who commit offences. Mr Starmer will say: 'Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control. "Enforcement will be tougher than ever and migration numbers will fall." He will promise to create a system that is controlled but fair, recognising those who contribute to Britain while "restoring common sense and control to our borders". The PM will add: 'This is a clean break from the past and will ensure settlement in this country is a privilege that must be earned, not a right. "And when people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language. 'Lower net migration, higher skills and backing British workers – that is what this White Paper will deliver.' On Sunday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she was aiming for a "substantial" reduction in net migration figures but refused to set a Tory-style target. She said: "We're not going to take that really failed approach, because I think what we need to do is rebuild credibility and trust in the whole system." Ms Cooper said around 50,000 fewer lower skilled visas would be approved next year due to changes to the skilled worker visa and the care visa. She said the care sector needed to end the reliance on overseas staff and companies would still be able to recruit from a pool of people who came to the UK on care visas for jobs that did not exist. Over 470 rogue care providers have had their licence to sponsor international staff suspended since 2022. The Home Office estimates around 40,000 workers have been displaced, who will be able to rejoin the workforce. Ms Cooper added: "We're doing it alongside saying we need to bring in a new fair pay agreement for care workers." But the move was branded a "crushing blow to an already fragile sector", as care operators warned the move could deepen staffing shortages, risking harm to older and disabled people. The Homecare Association said the sector was struggling to fill over 130,000 vacancies - despite more than 185,000 overseas recruits who joined the workforce between 2021/22 and 2023/24. Chief Executive Dr Jane Townson said: "We urge the government to consult with the sector and agree interim measures allowing care providers to recruit sufficient staff. "Otherwise, we risk repeating the chaos of 2021, when care shortages increased hospital admissions, delayed hospital discharges and left thousands without the help they needed.' Martin Green, Care England's chief executive, accused the Government of "kicking us while we're already down". "For years, the sector has been propping itself up with dwindling resources, rising costs, and mounting vacancies," he said. "International recruitment wasn't a silver bullet, but it was a lifeline. "Taking it away now, with no warning, no funding, and no alternative, is not just short-sighted - it's cruel." Unison General Secretary Christina McAnea said: "The NHS and the care sector would have collapsed long ago without the thousands of workers who've come to the UK from overseas." She urged ministers to get on with fixing social care funding and implementing a promised fair pay agreement. She added: "Politicians must stop describing care jobs as low-skilled. They are anything but that."
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Islamist sectarianism is the most frightening force in British politics and will only grow stronger
The growing tensions between India and Pakistan have prompted repeated warnings that 'sectarianism threatens to spill onto the streets of Britain'. But it's a bit too late for that. Sectarianism isn't just rife at the protests in London or even the rhetoric being spouted in the mosques and madrassas of the UK. It is fast infecting our local councils, Parliament itself and many of our great institutions. So much so, in fact, that a senior Labour source told me recently that its MPs were unlikely to get re-elected in some parts of the country. 'Leicester is lost, as are parts of Birmingham and Bradford,' he conceded. 'We won't get elected in some of these areas again.' As the focus understandably turned to the rise of Reform, few noticed that the local elections once again witnessed the elevation of a number of Islamist candidates. In years gone by, they would have stood for Labour, but the growth of Britain's nearly four million strong Muslim population means they are now able to be elected in their own right – without being tied to a national party. In Burnley Central East, Maheen Kamran was elected as an independent in the formerly Labour-held ward after campaigning in favour of segregation between the sexes. The pro-Gaza candidate, 18, won 38 per cent of the vote, surpassing Reform UK's 30 per cent and leaving Labour trailing in third place on 14 per cent. The victory came after Ms Kamran said she had been motivated to enter politics by the 'genocide' taking place in Gaza, and called for the end of 'free mixing' between Muslim men and women. Progressive stuff. In nearby Brierfield and Nelson West, Mohammed Iqbal beat Labour to win his seat as an independent with a 2,396 majority. Formerly the Labour leader of Pendle Council, the 63-year-old was suspended by the party after the Jewish Chronicle revealed that during a debate on flying the Palestinian flag above Nelson Town Hall, he said: 'The fact is that what's going on in Ukraine, Palestine, and other areas I've mentioned, reminds me, I barely passed my GCSE history at school, but many people in this room will remember what justification Hitler had for what he did to the Jews in the Second World War.' Mr Iqbal later insisted: 'I wish to publicly state I am not anti-Semitic and have campaigned all my life against all forms of racism and sexism and will continue to do so.' Another suspended Labour candidate, Azhar Ali, won the neighbouring seat of Nelson East despite being dumped by the party as its parliamentary contender for the Rochdale by-election. He was dropped after apologising 'unreservedly' following reports he had told a meeting that Israel 'allowed' Hamas's attack on October 7 in order to get a 'green light to do whatever they bloody want'. Other pro-Palestine politicians to win council seats last week include pro-Gaza Sohail Asghar for the Greens in Accrington West and Oswaldtwistle Central. Just days after the October 7 attacks, Asghar reposted a message on X which read: 'Israel = Isis'. He has promoted the posts of people associated with Holocaust denial. None of this should come as any surprise, not least when Labour's vote share in highly Muslim-populated areas dropped by 29 percentage points at the last general election, from 65 per cent in 2019 to 36 per cent in 2024. And still Labour panders to the Islamists. As the Conservative MP Nick Timothy has raised in the House of Commons, Labour pretends not to engage with groups like the European Islamic Centre (EIC) which is associated with the Islamist ideologues Jamaat-e-Islami and Abul A'la al-Maududi. And yet, Jim McMahon, the minister for Local Government and English Devolution, attended an iftar hosted by the EIC during Ramadan. The Government also insists it has a 'non-engagement policy' with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), and yet Stephen Timms, the minister for Social Security and Disability, attended the MCB's annual dinner in January. Some are less subtle. Last November, the Labour MP Tahir Ali called on Sir Keir Starmer to introduce measures to prohibit 'desecration of all religious texts and the prophets of Abrahamic religions'. The Prime Minister did not rule it out, instead insisting that we must tackle 'Islamophobia in all its forms'. In February, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner appointed Dominic Grieve, the former Conservative attorney general, to lead a review into creating a new definition of Islamophobia, despite repeated warnings it could curb free speech. Ever the wetty, Grieve appeared to pre-empt the outcome by saying he hoped the review would 'help support positive change in our country'. And we have Lucy Powell, Leader of the House of Commons, suggesting that anyone who mentions the grooming rape gangs scandal is blowing a 'dog whistle'. Last month, a group of 20 Labour MPs petitioned the prime minister of Pakistan to build a new airport in Mirpur, the ancestral homeland of a majority of Britain's Pakistani population. Factor in the regular contributions of the four 'pro-Gaza' independent MPs in Parliament and you can't easily escape sectarianism. Iqbal Mohamed, the MP for Dewsbury and Batley, has spoken out against a ban on first cousin marriage in the Commons, suggesting that 'ordinary people see family inter-marriage overall as something that is very positive'. And this week, Adnan Hussain, the independent MP for Blackburn, criticised free speech because 'it means protecting the right to offend Muslims'. It came after Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, highlighted the case of Hamit Coskun, 50, who was charged with intent to cause distress 'against the religious institution of Islam' after allegedly burning a Quran. As Jenrick rightly pointed out, blasphemy was abolished as a common law offence in England and Wales in 2008. Even some Tories have been indulging the Islamists in their midst by this week signing a letter demanding that the UK 'recognises Palestine' in a move that would only embolden the murderous death cult that is Hamas. Meanwhile, Indhu Rubasingham, who refused to host the UK Jewish Film Festival when she was head of the Kiln Theatre in Kilburn (then known as the Tricycle) in 2014, has just been appointed to lead the National Theatre, while Minouche Shafik has been picked as the new head of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Baroness Shafik, you may remember, was president of Columbia University in the US during the outbreak of the worst anti-Semitism the campus has seen in recent times, before she resigned last year. After years of turning a blind eye to sectarianism, it is now everywhere you look. 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.
