Strategy Briefing

I have seen some political hypocrisy in my time. Indeed, I am quite the connoisseur of it. But nothing else comes close to the affected concern of the Labour Right that a public sector pay freeze may be detrimental to the interests of Teaching Assistants. In that interest, I have worked closely and proudly with, among other people, the Liberal Democrats.

But I do not know how I had never thought of this before. The Lib Dems will argue that "the only alternative was No Deal", and then vote for Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, or at the very least not vote against it. Their backs thus covered, they will begin in earnest, along the Red Wall and throughout the newly competitive Labour seats that surrounded it, to give effect to the Redcar Strategy.

They will seek to repeat, across a much wider area, their success in capturing the parliamentary seat of Redcar in 2010 after Labour had failed to save its steelworks while the Conservatives had also insisted that there was nothing that they could have done. The Lib Dems were fully signed up to the same ideology; in fact, they were the only party with no wing opposed to it. But that was beside the point. It was the Big Two that had actually betrayed the people of Redcar.

Today, the Lib Dems are fully signed up to the same ideology as Keir Starmer and Princess Nut Nuts; in fact, they are the only party with no wing opposed to it. But that could be beside the point. It would be the Big Two that had actually betrayed the voters of the Red Wall and of the newly competitive Labour seats that surrounded it.

Starmer seems to be resolved to head off the Lib Dems at the pass by also having voted for Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, or at the very least by not having voting against it. And we are back to political hypocrisy. But I am an Independent candidate for the parliamentary seat of North West Durham at the next General Election. What are you doing?