Beyond The Wall

Suella Braverman says that she has been to see the wall that Italy built on its land border with Turkey. Some of us got over the Nineties, but others of our generation were permanently damaged. Just say no, kids. Just say no.

But there is tragedy amidst the farce, lightened only by the fact that the remarkable Jody McIntyre came so close to unseating Jess Phillips in July that he would be bound to do so after today if discipline were maintained, while the Labour Party's municipal backbone was visibly collapsing over the Winter Fuel Payment, over the two-child benefit cap, over the increase in bus fares, over the betrayal of the WASPI women, and over the genocide in Gaza.

The Broxtowe Independents are no more "Trots" or what have you than are the Conservatives, or the Liberal Democrats (with whom they agree on all five of those issues), or Reform UK, or any of the four types of Unionist MP from Northern Ireland. They did not join the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn. No council has 20 members who did that, or who could be described as "Hard Left", or anything of that nature. They now lead a borough council, with the same Leader as it had before, while having deprived Labour of joint Official Opposition status on a county council. Their candidate will win the Broxtowe parliamentary seat in 2029. Solid back four Labour councillors will be noticing this from one end of the country to the other.