Latest news with #LordKinnock
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Copy Reform and you'll get eaten, Kinnock tells Starmer
Lord Kinnock, the former Labour leader who now sits in the House of Lords, said the Prime Minister had been 'not well advised' on how to tackle the rise of Nigel Farage's party. He suggested that attempts to ape Reform's language were 'mortally stupid', and advised the party that 'achievement' in Government was the best way to counter the Reform threat. Lord Kinnock told Prospect Magazine: 'Appeasers get eaten. It's very important to remember that if people are offered two versions of a particular political brand, they will always choose the genuine one.' He added: 'If a progressive party is trying to use the vocabulary of isolationism or segregation or division, it's the same. It is silly to do that. It isn't evil, but it is very, very silly – maybe mortally stupid.' The former Labour leader's intervention is the latest development in growing tensions within the Labour Party about how to tackle the rising tide of Reform support. His remarks came after the Prime Minister announced measures to tackle immigration and a tightening of the system, warning that without such a move the UK risked becoming an 'island of strangers'. The speech followed Labour 's drubbing in the local elections last month, where Reform won hundreds of council seats and seized the parliamentary seat of Runcorn and Helsby. The comments were supported by some figures in Red Wall seats, which are under greater threat from the surge in Reform support, but denounced by many Left-wing Labour MPs. Lord Kinnock said: 'I think there are elements in and around the Labour party encouraging that as a way of responding to Reform, and they are fundamentally, 100 per cent, 22-carat wrong.' He added: 'I don't fear Reform, but I do think we ought to fight them rather harder and with more purpose.' The peer told the magazine: 'The playbook is familiar to anybody who studied the 1930s in Europe and or indeed in the United States of America. 'I'm not saying we are in any sense slipping towards some kind of fascist system… But those factors and the way in which they generate division and envy and isolationism – they're unhealthy features of any democracy.' On how to beat Reform, he said: 'Nothing replaces achievement in government, [concentrating on] what people regard to be the primary issues on the agenda, which is to say: health, decent jobs, affordable costs and wages that can meet those costs.' Lord Kinnock led the Labour Party before famously losing the 1992 election to Sir John Major despite the polls being in his favour, leading to another five years of Conservative rule. The pro-Europe politician said that decisions to use phrases such as 'island of strangers' and not to scrap the two-child benefit cap were based on post-Brexit preconceptions of the electorate. He said: 'Certainly there were elements among the advisory team who had an overreaction to the reason for, and the consequence of, the Brexit referendum vote. I think that overreaction has lasted through till now. 'I don't think that they are reactionary individuals. I don't think they're frightened individuals. I think they have overreacted to a misinterpretation of what happened in 2016.' The former leader went on to suggest that Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, should consider a wealth tax, citing as an example a two per cent levy on assets above £10 million. 'Property taxation in our country, asset taxation, is outdated,' he added, as he urged the party's senior figures to be bolder. 'There's a degree of steadiness from Keir which, on a good day, is very, very reassuring. However, that can translate into a paralytic caution. That means that this government, much as I love them – and they know I do – has got a kind of audacity deficit.' Lord Kinnock appeared at Sir Keir's victory speech on the morning of July 5, when the Prime Minister led the party to a landslide win.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Ministers told to proscribe Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp as a terrorist group after UK arrests and row over 'hijab and chastity law'
Ministers are under growing pressure to ban Iran 's top religious military organisation amid a growing confrontation with Tehran. More than 550 MPs and peers have signed a letter calling for the 125,000-strong Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp to be outlawed in the UK over the hardline regime's so-called 'hijab and chastity law'. The Islamist government in Iran is facing a major rebellion against its conservative ideology and is clamping down with an attack on women who dared to remove their headscarves. In the letter, whose signatories include Tories Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Suella Braverman, and Labour 's Lord Kinnock, the politicians say the 'mandatory hijab (is) suppressing women who lead the protest and resistance movement to prevent future uprisings'. 'Appeasing this faltering regime betrays democratic values, emboldens its repressive policies, and undermines global security as Tehran continues its nuclear ambitions and terrorism,' it added. 'Given the regime's complete blockade of all avenues for political activity, the international community must recognise the Iranian people's right to regime change. 'The IRGC should be designated as a terrorist organisation.' It came as three alleged Iranian spies arrested by anti-terror police in London were accused of targeting journalists. Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, of St John's Wood, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44 of Kensal Rise and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, of Ealing, were arrested on May 3 under the National Security Act and have been charged with spying for Tehran. The trio are alleged to have been helping the Middle Eastern country's intelligence service between August 14 2024 and February 16 2025, and are accused of targeting individual journalists working for London-based Persian language TV channel, Iran International. All three appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Saturday, and it was revealed that they had been granted temporary leave to remain in the UK after claiming asylum. They are said to have arrived in the UK, including by small boats, between 2016 and 2022.
The Independent
17-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Hundreds of MPs and peers call for Starmer to ban Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls from hundreds of MPs and peers to ban Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) amid a deteriorating human rights picture in the UK and after three Iranian men were charged with spying in London. Former Labour leader Lord Kinnock is among those urging the prime minister to outlaw the IRGC, warning 'the human rights crisis in Iran continues to worsen'. It came as three Iranian men living in London were charged under the National Security Act, accused of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service. More than 550 MPs and peers, also including former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and ex-home secretary Suella Braverman, signed a letter criticising Iran's 'hijab and chastity law'. They said it 'mandatory hijab, suppressing women who lead the protest and resistance movement to prevent future uprisings'. 'Appeasing this faltering regime betrays democratic values, emboldens its repressive policies, and undermines global security as Tehran continues its nuclear ambitions and terrorism,' the letter said. It added: 'Given the regime's complete blockade of all avenues for political activity, the international community must recognise the Iranian people's right to regime change. 'The IRGC should be designated as a terrorist organisation,' the letter said. The UK has previously resisted calls to ban the IRGC over fears it could sever the country's diplomatic link with Tehran. But Tory MP Bob Blackman, chairman of the influential backbench 1922 Committee, said 'it's time to change course on our Iran policy'. Mr Blackman, who coordinated the letter, said: 'Our ally, the US, rightly designated the IRGC as a terrorist entity several years ago. While the regime has never been weaker, we must set aside all wrong-headed political and diplomatic calculations and proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist entity — an action long overdue.' Following the recent arrests and charging of the Iranian men, Mr Blackman said: ''Iranian terrorism has reached our soil. A serious terror plot, involving several Iranians, was recently thwarted in the UK.' The letter came as Mostafa Sepahvand, Farhad Javadi Manesh and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori were charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist the Iranian foreign intelligence service between last August and February. Sepahvand was also charged with engaging in surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research, intending to commit serious violence against a person in the UK. Manesh and Noori have also been charged with engaging in surveillance and reconnaissance, with the intention that serious violence against a person in the UK would be committed by others. Former Tory MP and minister David Jones said there is a 'growing consensus among UK politicians that the time for a new policy on Iran has arrived'. The MPs backed Iranian opposition group the National Council of Resistance of Iran's 10-point plan to 'end the religious dictatorship and transfer sovereignty to the people's representatives'. The group calls for an end to compulsory hijab and religion, an end to dictatorship and executions and a democratic Iranian state. The Foreign Office was asked to comment. Following the charges brought against the three Iranian men, Yvette Cooper promised to strengthen national security powers. The home secretary said: "I want to thank the police and security services for their continuing work on this very serious investigation, and for their immense dedication to protecting our national security and the safety of our communities. "The charges that have been laid against these three individuals must now take their course through the criminal justice system and nothing must be done to prejudice the outcome of those proceedings. "But we will also take separate action to address the very serious wider issues raised by this case. "The police have confirmed that the foreign state to which these charges relate is Iran, and Iran must be held to account for its actions. "We must also strengthen our powers to protect our national security as we will not tolerate growing state threats on our soil.'
