Tag: Corbyn

Three Reasons to Vote…

A financier, a photographer and a doctor explain why they’ll respectively choose the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and Labour today

Financier Zachary Latif on why he’ll vote for the Conservative Party

Brexit is the primary question

Firstly, this election was called on the issue of Brexit and when voters go to the polls, the primary question is whom do they want as their chief negotiator to deal with Europe: Will it be Theresa May or will it be Jeremy Corbyn? It is incontrovertible that Theresa May, a lady with a sensible and steady pair of hands, is the one to captain the ship. When I compare her approach to the untried and untested Jeremy Corbyn, I know without a shadow of doubt that I want Theresa May and her team to be leading Brexit.

Making Britain prosperous

The economy will go through a very shaky time over the next five years and we need a party that has the economic expertise that can guide us through these rocky waters. We all remember the last terrible time under Labour when the treasury was literally left with no money. Britain, now, under the Tories, has low unemployment, a balanced budget and ambitious plans for economic growth. If you want a prosperous Britain then it can only be for the blues.

Multiculturalism and being proud to be British

The cult of multiculturalism, as Angela Merkel touched on a few years ago, has failed. We need a Britain that revolves around the Union, a bicameral Parliament, the Crown and an understanding of the strong role that the Church (Anglicanism South of the Wall and Presbyterianism North of the Wall) plays. We need a government that is able to both manage the world outside but also be able to stand up for Britain and this precious Union of Nation, as Theresa May puts it. Jeremy Corbyn is a revolutionary but has no instinct for British patriotism – as his extensive links with the IRA testify. The Conservative Party is the only major party that makes one feel proud to be British and also able to retain a global outlook.

Cambridge based Zachary Latif is a founder of Raef LLC, a high yield investment firm. He has appeared as a guest host on CNBC several times and is also an actor and playwright.

Photographer James Smith on why he’ll vote for the Liberal Democrats

Corbyn is the tail shaking the Labour dog

I’m a centrist and believe government should work for all rather than guarding the wealth or indulging the politics of envy. By pulling his party to the hard left, Corbyn and his army in the wings have allowed May to become more right wing. How dare he and how dare she abandon the middle. Corbyn has alienated so many of his more reasonable party members that only the dregs will serve with him on the front benches. Corbyn may be a great campaigner but he’s been a lazy politician in opposition and seems bored when he’s not absorbing the energy of an adoring crowd. Remind you of anyone?

The Liberal Democrats punched above their weight in the coalition

I thought the coalition government was a grown-up union born of necessity. Neither party could fall back to their comfort zones, they had to work together to deal with a dire situation. For the most part, both sides did well but the Lib Dems suffered because of lazy accusations of betrayal by their core voters. To me they’ve proven they’re grown-ups. They’re honest that there’s no magic money tree and we’ll all need to pay for the NHS and social care through higher income tax. The idea of a Labour-SNP pact would be the worst of all worlds: Bye bye UK.

The Liberal Democrats could help facilitate a more sensible Brexit

While I won’t be celebrating a Labour or a Conservative victory, Jeremy Corbyn would be significantly worse for the health of the country. His ideological policies may ultimately harm the people he is trying to help. Emily Thornberry is my incumbent MP and she has been totally unaccountable to her staunchly Remain constituents. She refuses to campaign for a second ‘Are you sure?’ EU referendum, something the local Lib Dem candidate, Alain Desmier, has promised to do. If you must take the UK into radical territory, don’t do it when we’re uncoupling from our like minded neighbours and facing a less stable wider world. Lashing out with a vote for Corbyn is a bit like a hand break turn along a cliff edge.

James Smith is an Islington based photographer. He was educated at a public school and an arts institute.

Sally Jackson on why she’ll vote for the Labour Party

For the many, not the few

Labour has pledged to rebalance an economy that just works for the likes of billionaires like Sir Philip Green right now. We need a fairer tax system and the guarantee of no income tax rises for those earning below £80,000 a year is proof that Labour will not “tax the country until the pips squeak” – an accusation so commonly thrown by the right that Jeremy Corbyn has again and again disproven.

Doing right by the NHS

Jeremy Hunt is a symbol of the callous Tories and their assault on humanity. As a healthcare professional I want him and Theresa’s team gone and I believe only Labour will deliver a fairer deal for patients and healthcare workers. We’re under extreme threat right now and cuts to pharmacy funding are one of the worst false economies I’ve come across. As someone wrote on a wall recently: “I’m no gynaecologist but I know a Hunt when I see one”.

It’s not just about Brexit

I’ve heard enough about “Brexit means Brexit” but I’m glad Jeremy Corbyn voted for Article 50 and opposed a second referendum. The country has spoken and it’s time to get on with it. I supported leave myself and I did so because Europe wasn’t giving us a fair, inclusive society. I believe Labour will give us that and now the focus back on to what’s “Best for Britain” – a phrase that the remoaners Gina Miller and Sir Bob Geldoff should never have been allowed to hijack.

Sally Jackson works as a doctor in Manchester. She was born in Devon and is a graduate of Queen Mary, University of London.

June 8, 2017
Flop or Fly?

London estate agents launch three properties priced over £25 million each on General Election day

Pundits may be referencing worrying times ahead in Britain’s post-Brexit economy, but London’s top tier estate agents have come out all guns blazing on General Election day and launched a series of jaw droppingly priced properties.

In Knightsbridge’s Lennox Gardens, SW1X – where a similar, though situated on the much more sought after first-floor, apartment was promoted for what then seemed an ambitious £27.5 million ($35.6 million, €31.7 million or درهم130.9 million) in 2015 – Savills showcased a 6,392 square foot second floor flat with a basement annex priced at an even more punchy price of £35 million ($45.4 million, €40.3 million or درهم166.6 million). Aside from 2 vast reception rooms, 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, it comes with not only a fingerprint recognition security system but also 2 gymnasiums, a sauna, a steam room, a treatment room, a wine cellar and even a juice bar.

Elsewhere, this morning, on the UK’s top property portal, OnTheMarket.com, agents Knight Frank listed an apartment in Eaton Square, SW1W for £25 million ($32.4 million, €28.8 million or درهم119 million) whilst Aylesford announced the sale of a house in The Boltons, SW10 for £57.5 million ($74.5 million, €66.2 million or درهم273.8 million). Whether we get Corbyn or May, one is left with just one question: Will these super-prime properities flop or will they fly?

The main reception room of the £25 million Lennox Gardens apartment on the first floor of ‘The Lennox’, 31-33 Lennox Gardens, Knightsbridge, SW1x

The garden of the 2,188 square foot ground and basement apartment at 20 Eaton Square, Belgravia, SW1W

The drawing room of the 9,989 square foot 22 The Boltons, Chelsea, SW10

June 8, 2017
Betting on the Blues

Jon Vine on betting on Britain’s 2017 General Election

The General Election is just days away and bookmakers are experiencing a surprisingly stronger than usual uplift in interest from political betting punters. After Theresa May called an election back in April, the United Kingdom is going to the polls three years earlier than expected and bookmakers have unsurprisingly made her party, the Conservatives, huge odds-on favourites to win the most seats and an overall majority.

Political betting has become big business over the past few years and bookies expect millions to be wagered on this year’s election. One firm alone, William Hill, took £3 million on the last General Election in 2015 and £5 million on last year’s US presidential election.

With six days to go until the election takes place, the Tories are just 2/9 with bookmakers to win the most seats, and 1/4 to win with a majority. It’s a general 6/1 at time of writing that Labour win the most seats, with a Labour majority 10/1 with some firms.

However, although the Conservatives are the bookmakers’ favourites, momentum appears to be with Labour, and their election odds continue to be trimmed ahead of polling day.

Mrs May’s lead over Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on YouGov’s ‘Best PM’ tracker has dropped massively in recent weeks, and punters can expect more twists and turns over the next few days.

In-play betting on the 2017 General Election is expected to be more popular than any previous election, and betting on a range of election markets will be available on 8^th June itself, with ‘in-play’ General Election betting expected to be live with a number of major bookmakers even after voting ends and right through the night until a result is announced.

Polling booths will open at 7am on Thursday 8^th June and voting will take place until 10pm. Counting of votes will only begin when the polls closed, and by the early hours of Friday, June 9th, the result of the 2017 General Election will likely be known.

Betting is available on candidates in 650 individual constituencies, and live election odds are available on such sites as BetOnPolitics.co.uk website.

For BetOnPolitics.co.uk, editor Phil Lowe commented:

“The decision to call an election caught everyone by surprise, although, looking back, there were a few signals that the PM was up to something – a big one being the omission of a date in the political calendar for the Queen’s Speech”.

“Despite the polls coming out in recent days, Mrs May and the Conservatives will still be confident of victory on June 8th and the betting still suggests this will be the case. The initial talk of a ‘landslide’ victory for the Blues may have died down, but although the markets got the result of the EU referendum wrong, and were also wrong with the US election, all signs still point to a defeat for Labour”.

Example odds:

Chelsea and Fulham

Alan De’Ath, Labour Party – 25/1

Bill Cashmore, Green Party – 400/1

Greg Hands, Conservative Party – 1/500

Louise Rowntree, Liberal Democrats – 250/1

Kensington

Lady Borwick, Conservative Party – 1/50

Emma Dent Coad, Labour – 50/1

Annabel Mullin, Liberal Democrats – 14/1

James Torrance, Independent – 100/1

Islington North

Keith Angus, Liberal Democrats – 20/1

James Clark, Conservative Party – 40/1

Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party – 1/200

Knigel Knapp, Official Monster Raving Loony Party – 250/1

Maidenhead

Lord Buckethead, Official Monster Raving Loony Party – 250/1

Tony Hill, Liberal Democrats – 33/1

Pat McDonald, Labour Party – 33/1

Theresa May, Conservative Party – 1/500

Westmorland and Lonsdale

James Airey, Conservative Party – 13/5

Eli Aldridge, Labour Party – 200/1

Mr Fishfinger, Independent – 200/1

Tim Farron, Liberal Democrats – 1/7

June 2, 2017
Sharon Hodgson MP

Despite being Shadow Minister for Public Health and claiming to be a campaigner to improve children’s diets, Labour’s ‘jolly giant’ Sharon Hodgson is a big fan of kebabs. This Geordie ex-payroll clerk once claimed she’d rescue her handbag if her house were on fire, remarked: “Labour is teetering on the edge of political irrelevance” in 2016 and in 2017 usefully concluded: “Brexit has given us the capacity to look at things differently”. She’s up there with Diane Abbott in terms of her brainbox qualities.

May 31, 2017
A Milder May

As Theresa May’s lead in the poll halves and Jamie Oliver criticizes her policy on universal free school lunches for infants, we call on voters to act with their feet and remind the Tory leader that moderates still deserve to be heard

There’s no point denying Theresa May will win on the 8^th June and there’s no doubt she’ll win big. The ‘alternative’ – not that Jeremy Corbyn’s pathetic excuse for a party can even be called that – is beyond bad but, with news that the Conservative Party’s lead has halved to 9 points in a week, comes good news for those that do not subscribe to a desire for a one party state.

With the prospect that Mrs May – whose attempt to make her ‘Strong and Stable’ campaign about ‘Theresa’s Team’ rather than using the name of her own party is starting to backfire – will not have as big a majority as she expected, there is a chance there will be at least some form of opposition to the vicar’s daughter’s hectoring ways.

In constituencies like Kensington, for example, ‘Remain’ supporters should vote against a shown-to-be lazy MP, Lady Borwick, and back Annabel Mullin of the Liberal Democrats – a lady who issued several video messages yesterday pledging to ‘#HoldToriesToAccount’. A protest vote in this Tory stronghold would send the most powerful signal of all to Mrs May that her “red, white and blue hard Brexit” needs to be tempered and it would act as a reminder that the 48% must still be heard.

Elsewhere, food campaigner and restaurateur Jamie Oliver spoke for the majority when he put his head in his hands and told Channel 4: “Oh, it’s awful. It’s awful. She will regret that” of the Conservatives’ plan to scrap universal free school lunches for infants in their first three years at primary school. He continued:

“Well, first of all, I’m apolitical. So don’t go thinking I’m ranting about one thing or the other… As far as I see it, and I believe I’m someone that’s had my hands dirty for twelve years now and I know what I’m talking about, right? It’s completely short-sighted. It’s completely short-sighted”.

“And I want her [Theresa May] to be a brilliant Prime Minister. I want a brilliant female Prime Minister. Fundamentally, what she’s doing is taking from teachers and taking from the kids”.

“If you speak to Mark Carney and the people at the highest level of economics, if you speak to Oxford Cambridge University on the modelling, the economic modelling of public health and the cost of ill health and the investment. Like, it’s the best bang for your buck you’re going to get. Don’t take from the kids. Don’t take from the teachers”.

May 21, 2017
Double Bollocks

Politicians Lady Nugee and Sir Michael Fallon BOTH make total and utter fools of themselves over links to murderous dictator Bashar al-Assad

Yesterday Labour’s Lady Nugee – a ridiculous woman who prefers to go by the name ‘The Rt. Hon. Emily Thornberry MP’ – succeeded in making a fool out of The Rt. Hon Sir Michael Fallon KCB, MP on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

A previous ‘Moron of the Moment’ on these pages, Lady “I actually have quite a lot more experience than people think I do” Nugee asked the Secretary of State for Defence to reveal where he was on 27^th May 2007. When Sir Michael said he did not know and “scrambled to defend himself”, Lady Nugee told him he was “talking bollocks” and curtly added: “You were in Syria and you were celebrating at a reception for the re-election of President Assad with 99% of the vote. Now, I’m not going to judge you for going to a reception with Assad”.

Though Sir Michael responded: “I don’t recall any party in Syria. I remember a fact-finding visit to Syria”, Lady Nugee continued like a mad attack dog and did not give up. She continued: “You really can’t just go around making this stuff up. There’s an election and people need to make decisions on the basis of the truth”.

Rather inconveniently for the Shadow Foreign Secretary, later in the day, a pictured emerged of her hapless leader, Jeremy Corbyn, at a reception with President Bashar al-Assad in 2009.

#DoubleBollocks

Lady Nugee with Sir Michael Fallon and Andrew Marr on Sunday

May 15, 2017
Picture of the Week – Chippy May

Images of Theresa May eating chips prove to be her ‘Ed Milliband moment’

Theresa May likes to refer to her “red, white and blue Brexit” and “Corbyn’s coalition of chaos”, but yesterday, the hectoring vicar’s daughter had a moment of madness when she decided to allow herself be photographed eating chips in Cornwall.

The Prime Minister – now the winner of the “most awkward photo of a politician eating ever” – was subsequently lampooned on Twitter and of the image, one user named @iBreezeblock brilliantly remarked: “Theresa May eats chips like a disturbed seabird eats her own young”.

#Awkward #MakeJuneEndOfMay

May 3, 2017
Another Corbyn Calamity

Matthew Steeples reports that Jeremy Corbyn’s attempt to enthuse a child in Harlow didn’t go down well; children and politicians should never mix

Yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn headed to Harlow, Essex. He gave a speech to an assembled audience – including a woman with an upside down Labour poster – and then picked up a child and tried to charm it.

After I noted on Twitter that “the poor kid’ll be scarred for life #Awkward”, the child’s mother, Chloe Pullara, responded: “That’ll be my baby. It was an honour to meet @jeremycorbyn”.

In a video also shared by Ms Pullara, Corbyn is seen asking the child: “Are ya’ alright then?” It hid behind its coat and did not look in the slightest amused.

Chloe Pullara, a lady whose Twitter handle features the caption “proud to be the 48%”, plainly ignores the fact that Jeremy Corbyn’s party is backing Brexit as, in another tweet, she then added:

“So I just got to meet our future PM @jeremycorbyn. The most wonderful man who made time for each and every one of us”.

The incident, which comes in the wake of Theresa May being caught grimacing at children in a classroom, is yet another reminder of only one thing: Children and politicians should simply not mix.

April 28, 2017
Beating Borwick

‘The Steeple Times’ urges readers in Kensington to vote tactically to unseat Victoria Borwick

Victoria Borwick, in spite of representing a constituency that was home to a greater proportion of EU nationals than any other London borough in 2016, was a firm advocate of Brexit. In the months since the disastrous vote, she has continued to ignore the fact that 69% of residents of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea voted ‘Remain’ and on that basis we urge readers based in the locality to vote against her in the forthcoming general election.

Though Theresa May supporting Lady Borwick has a majority of 7,361 (21.1%), the best way to unseat her would be a high turnout and for voters to unite behind one candidate. Whilst Labour have previously come second, most will be unable to engage with the thought of backing Jeremy Corbyn and on that basis, the only option is the Liberal Democrat candidate Annabel Mullin.

Annabel Mullin is the only candidate who can realistically unseat the Tories in Kensington

Victoria Borwick does not represent the views of her constituents on membership of the European Union

April 25, 2017
Mugged by May

Theresa May’s gamble to go to the country will likely pay off, but is it good for Britain?

Theresa May supposedly decided to go call a snap election after a trip to church and a walking holiday with her garden gnome-like husband, Philip, in Wales over Easter. She has taken a gamble but given that Sky News are projecting the Tories are likely to win 44% of the vote against Labour on 23%, it is one that will likely pay off.

Unsurprisingly and in a coward-like fashion, Mrs May has declined to partake in television debates but given her opponent Jeremy Corbyn is so hopeless, it would take only a calamity to unsettle any chances of her winning. Only the left-leaning Mirror is backing Corbyn and in spite of the Liberal Democrats likely to make a number of gains in the south-west, May will certainly hit Labour hardest.

Mrs May, however, is not good for Britain. Since taking office last year, she has performed eight U-turns on policy and as Home Secretary she was a total disgrace. One only has to remember that this is the woman who closed the police stations and this is the woman who closed the fire stations. This, also, is the politician who wastefully funded her friends Gerry and Kate McCann’s search for their missing child to the tune of £11 million and this is the woman whose inquiry into historic abuse has cost £100 million and delivered nothing.

Lady Macbeth-like May is a self-serving woman and she is not a good premier. This power grabbing vicar’s daughter’s about turn on Brexit is bad for Britain and her harshness towards immigrants is bad for business. She must be stopped and we urge our readers to vote for anyone but her on 8^th June.

April 19, 2017