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The Herald Scotland
7 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Who does Labour exist to represent in Starmer's Britain?
Contrary to what many people remember the first Thatcher government, elected in 1979, was comparatively benign compared with what was to come – the miners' strike, mass unemployment, the economic vandalism of the 1980s, the Poll Tax – and Kinnock knew that it was simply a warm-up routine. If Thatcher was re-elected, he told the packed hall and a live TV audience on News at Ten, 'I warn you not to be ordinary. I warn you not to be young. I warn you not to fall ill. I warn you not to get old'. Read More: A politician so cruelly misrepresented in the Conservative media, Kinnock was not only the architect of New Labour, and arguably the best Prime Minister his party never had, he was also the greatest platform orator of his generation. Listening to one of his rousing, charismatic and intelligent speeches, was to be reminded of the power of collective ambition and the glorious possibility of change. Above all, he always stressed the importance of not overpromising and of delivering. Neil Kinnock (Image: PA) What is striking about listening to his words today – more than 40 years later – is that under the current leadership, they might equally apply to the Labour government. Labour leaders have always faced a perilous balancing act in appealing simultaneously to the party faithful and the wider electorate. There are those, like Tony Blair and Harold Wilson, who managed the neat trick of speaking effectively to both. Others, like Jeremy Corbyn and Michael Foot didn't even pretend to be interested in engaging with the latter and succumbed, inevitably to the gravitational effects of their own hubris at the polls. The current leadership appears to be the first in the party's history to speak to neither. Sir Keir Starmer's first year as Prime Minister has been marked by a dramatic collapse in public support, with his net approval rating now worse than all post-Thatcher prime ministers, with the exception of Gordon Brown, at the same stage. Key missteps include his controversial decision – alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves – to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners. This move, justified by a disputed £22billion "black hole", alienated older voters and damaged his reputation, and his inability to deliver on key manifesto pledges accelerated that decline. A recent Public First poll revealed 39% of voters believe he has made no progress on any major promises, including cutting NHS waiting times (24%), restoring order to the asylum system (8%), or improving border security (12%). Tax hikes included in last year's Autumn Statement eroded business confidence, while a prisoner early-release scandal – where a freed inmate thanked Starmer for his "privilege" – deepened the sense of detachment. A disastrous first year was capped with the poor handling of the government's welfare bill, which squeezed through its final Commons stage, only after significant rebellion and concessions. The bill's passage followed weeks of chaos, with ministers forced to scrap PIP cuts for existing claimants and delay changes for new ones. Starmer's low-drama persona, once an asset against Tory turmoil, now appears indecisive, with Reform overtaking Labour in polls and Nigel Farage seen as a stronger leader. The most damaging impact of these failures may well be in the longer term, applied by voters who could be forgiven for wondering who Labour represents and what it stands for. If it is not there to support the 'ordinary, the young, the ill and the old' then what is its purpose? The party is still battling to overcome claims of antisemitism that took root under Corbyn's disastrous, sclerotic leadership. This week Susan Smith, director of the campaign group For Women Scotland claimed the party has an 'ongoing women problem' after Labour MP Tim Roca described gender critical activists as 'swivel-eyed'. While Blair had the benefit of a growing economy when he won a landslide victory in 1997, he also came into office with an identifiable political credo and a sense of purpose. The doctrinal prism through which all policy decisions were refracted, was reform – modernising the party and bringing it more in line with mainstream orthodoxy. While he inevitably alienated parts of Labour's base – not least through his disastrous and, ultimately career-defining, decision to support a US invasion of Iraq – he continued to command popular support. If there's one thing core voters and activists cannot argue against, it's winning elections. The problem for Starmer and his colleagues is that, more than a year into government, voters still have no idea what they stand for. Relying solely on competence for electoral appeal quickly becomes a liability when you make a series of demonstrably incompetent decisions. Before Starmer can begin to address his party's disparity in the opinion polls, he must prioritise reconnecting with its grassroots, to articulate more clearly his values and beliefs, to counter the threat, not only from Farage's snake oil promises, but also from Corbyn's new, and as yet unnamed, party of the far left. He could do worse than start watch another of Kinnock's former speeches, his leader's address to the Labour conference in 1985 when he took on Militant Tendency, the Trotskyist insurgency that threatened to subvert the party from within. His delivery was an object lesson in highlighting the futility of dogmatc obsession and was directed at Militant members who had captured Liverpool City Council, bankrupting it with profligate, illegal spending and then sacking its own employees because it couldn't afford to pay their wages. 'Implausible promises don't win victories,' he told a chastened hall. If Starmer can first convince his party's faithful of that abiding truth, he will be better placed to win over the wider electorate. Carlos Alba is a journalist, author, and PR consultant at Carlos Alba Media. His latest novel, There's a Problem with Dad, explores the issue of undiagnosed autism among older people
ITV News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
Minister called for MoD resignations over Afghan data leak
I said on News at Ten, it was extraordinary that after the government learned of the egregious Afghan data leak, no official or minister resigned. I have now learned that on August 23 2023, at the first meeting of the government's emergency Cobra meeting to discuss the security disaster, the then foreign office minister responsible for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said to the MoD's representative on the committee, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, that obviously he would be resigning. He was, in her view, the responsible official, I am told, because at the time he was Director of Special Forces. The UK's special forces were in charge of the evacuation of Afghans who had helped British forces and were therefore at risk of being tortured and killed by the Taliban regime. Also, the massive data leak, which involved the names of 19,000 at-risk Afghans and around 100 British spies and special forces personnel, was the result of an email sent by a special forces told her that it was not going to happen; he would not be quitting. He didn't resign, and in fact he was chosen subsequently by the then prime minister Rishi Sunak to be National Security Adviser - though he never took up the post because Sir Keir Starmer preferred to appoint Jonathan Powell, who had worked in Tony Blair's Downing Street. Today, Jenkins is First Sea Lord and chief of the naval also said at that first Cobra meeting that there was a case for the chief of defence staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, to resign. He, too, remained in place. At that first meeting, ministers and officials were told of the catastrophic security breach, which risked the lives of Afghan aides to Western forces and British referees for their asylum applications. Around 100 of these referees were members of MI5, MI6, the Special Air Service (SAS), and the Special Boat Service (SBS). Despite the horror of what was revealed, a member of the committee told me that the prevailing view at the Ministry of Defence was that this was just an unfortunate accident that needed clearing up, and that no one was to blame. So, Cobra at that meeting, and subsequent ones, never included the most senior members of the government, such as Sunak, or the then-foreign secretary, James Cleverly. It was largely composed of officials, who regarded the challenge as an administrative one. Initially, officials on the committee argued that there was no obligation for the UK to evacuate many of the Afghans on the leaked list, because they had already been rejected for inclusion on the existing ARAP relocation scheme. 'It was extraordinary,' said a Cobra member. 'There was no recognition that simply by dint of being on the leaked list, these people were now in harm's way, and we had a responsibility to get them out.' Eventually, a decision was taken to set up a new evacuation scheme for those Afghans affected by the leak. Re-settling them to the UK was painfully slow because Sunak did not want them in hotels, and the MoD had difficulty finding other relevant properties. In the event, 6,900 Afghans, who were not eligible for other evacuation schemes, are being resettled in Britain as a direct result of the leak, under a plan called the Afghan Response Route. It was kept totally secret thanks to a controversial court super-injunction requested by then-defence secretary Grant defence secretary John Healey has said that just this scheme will cost £850m, though the total cost of resettling 18,500 Afghans is up to £7bn.
ITV News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
Peston: Unnerving questions about the Afghan data breach debacle
As I said on News at Ten last night, among the disturbing issues and questions raised by the life-endangering data leak are:First, how a special forces reservist would have had access to such a huge file of sensitive data and the ability to email it - albeit unintentionally and by accident - without anyone in authority knowing of the security breach for a staggering 18 months?Second, why Ben Wallace as Defence Secretary thought an injunction preventing publication of the detail of the debacle would be adequate to protect the safety of the Afghans named in the file? But then his successor Grant Shapps asked the court for a super injunction, preventing any mention even of the existence of the injunction. And third, why it took the current Labour government more than a year to complete a review allowing the super injunction to be lifted? Which is longer than the super injunction was in existence under the Tories. The most upsetting question relates both to the panicked decision to impose the secrecy order in August 2023 and yesterday's lifting of it. If ministers and officials were so confident then that lives would be endangered, how - with all the publicity of the past 24 hours - can they really be confident that the Taliban won't exact revenge and retribution today, since by no means all those at risk have been clandestinely relocated to the UK?In the history of failure by the machinery of the British state, this enters the hall of shame as a prime exhibit.
STV News
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- STV News
Legendary ITV News presenter Sandy Gall dies aged 97
ITV News Europe Editor James Mates looks back at Sandy Gall's legendary career The veteran broadcaster and journalist Sandy Gall has died aged 97, his family has confirmed. Gall became one of the most familiar faces in the country, firstly as a foreign correspondent for ITN, before becoming co-presenter of News at Ten. His family revealed he died at his home in Kent on Sunday, and paid tribute to him saying: 'His was a great life, generously and courageously lived.' Gall's career in journalism spanned more than 50 years, starting in 1952 when he joined the Aberdeen Press and Journal. Gall became a household name as co-presenter of News at Ten / Credit: ITV News He then worked at Reuters news agency for ten years as a foreign correspondent, before joining ITN in 1963. It was at ITN where he was to become a household name in the UK, until his retirement from the broadcaster in 1992. One of his first assignments with ITN was in Dallas, Texas just hours after the assassination of President Kennedy. Sandy Gall reporting on the Soviet-Afghan War in 1989. / Credit: ITV News His time at ITN saw him cover some of the 20th century's biggest stories, such as the Vietnam War, the Soviet-Afghan War and America's civil rights movement, where he interviewed Martin Luther King in 1965. He was also one of the few journalists to remain in Vietnam after the victory of the North Vietnamese to cover the fall of Saigon in 1975. Paying tribute, his former colleague at ITN John Suchet said: 'One of the loveliest things about Sandy was that he was really happy to pass on his knowledge to us juniors, who were desperate to do well. 'A gentleman, a true gentleman, that's what the obits will say about him. 'His name will always be associated with those big stories the fall of Saigon, the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. 'Things move on but when the history books are written, his name will be there.' Sandy Gall interviewing Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965. / Credit: ITV News Gall went on to co-present News At Ten in 1970, which was then the UK's most watched news programme. He made his final presenting appearance on News at Ten in 1991, before returning to work with the company as a special reporter until his final retirement in 1992. He later became the founder and chairman of Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal, a charity for disabled Afghans that ran for nearly 40 years. It began with a focus on treating Afghans with war-related casualties and land mine victims, as well as children in refugee camps. This focus widened, as the rehabilitation needs of many other people with disabilities became apparent. Sandy was awarded a CBE in 1987 and Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 2011. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Metro
01-07-2025
- Sport
- Metro
Women's Euro 2025 TV schedule: How to watch every game on TV in the UK
The UEFA Women's Euro 2025 kicks-off tomorrow with England's Lionesses looking to defend their crown. Three years after they brought football home at Wembley, Sarina Wiegman's side are back as they take on Europe's best teams in Switzerland. Their mission will not be easy after losing key players Mary Earps and Millie Bright, while they'll encounter fierce opposition like Spain who defeated them in the World Cup final two years ago. Moreover, the Lionesses have been drawn into the 'Group of Death' alongside France, the Netherlands and fellow home nation Wales who are competing at their first major tournament. Here's how you can watch all the action from Women's Euro 2025 live on a TV channel in the UK: BBC and ITV will be broadcasting every match from Euro 2025 live on either BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1 or ITV4. You can also stream all the action live on BBCiPlayer or ITVX. The group stage schedule is set, with the knockout games to be selected in due course. More Trending BBC will show three of the four quarter-finals, with each broadcaster getting one semi-final. Both BBC and ITV will broadcast the final on July 27. Every game at Euro 2025 is scheduled to kick-off in Switzerland at 6pm or 9pm – that's 5pm and 8pm UK time. England's campaign begins against France on ITV at 8pm on Saturday, July 5, with the BBC broadcasting their next match vs the Netherlands at 5pm on Wednesday, July 9. The much-anticipated final group game between the Lionesses and Wales is on ITV, kicking-off at 8pm on Sunday, July 13. July 2 – Iceland v Finland (5pm) – ITV1 July 2 – Switzerland v Norway (8pm) – BBC One July 3 – Belgium v Italy (5pm) – BBC Two July 3 – Spain v Portugal (8pm) – ITV1 July 4 – Denmark v Sweden (5pm) – ITV1 July 4 – Germany v Poland (8pm) – ITV1 July 5 – Wales v Netherlands (5pm) – BBC One July 5 – France v England (8pm) – ITV1 July 6 – Norway v Finland (5pm) – BBC Two July 6 – Switzerland v Iceland (8pm) – ITV1 July 7- Spain v Belgium (5pm) – ITV1 July 7 – Portugal v Italy (8pm) – ITV1 July 8 – Germany v Denmark (5pm) – BBC Two July 8 – Poland v Sweden (8pm) – BBC One July 9 – England v Netherlands (5pm) – BBC One July 9 – France v Wales (8pm) – ITV1 July 10 – Finland v Switzerland (8pm) – BBC One July 10 – Norway v Iceland (8pm) – BBC iPlayer July 11 – Italy v Spain (8pm) – BBC One July 11 – Portugal v Belgium (8pm) – BBC iPlayer July 12 – Poland v Denmark (8pm) – ITV July 12 – Sweden v Germany (8pm) – ITV July 13 – England v Wales (8pm) – ITV1 July 13 – Netherlands v France (8pm) – ITV4 For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MORE: ITV forced to halt filming of Stephen Mulhern show after fire on set MORE: Legendary News at Ten presenter Sandy Gall dies aged 97 MORE: Why is The One Show not on BBC One this week?
