Tag: Keir Starmer

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Labour’s new push for support from British Indian voters

Nearly two-thirds of British Indians supported Labour for years

From organising trips to India to hiring community volunteers, the UK’s main opposition Labour Party has announced a series of measures to win back the support of the British Indian community, which has been on the wane in recent years.

Nearly two-thirds of British Indians, who form the second-largest immigrant group in the UK, and the largest minority-ethnic group, supported Labour for years, The Guardian reported.

But the numbers fell sharply with a UK-based think-tank showing that in 2019 only 30 per cent voted for the Keir Starmer-led party, in stark contrast to 61 per cent in 2010.

“We’ve taken Indian voters for granted for years, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious they are going elsewhere and we need to do something about that,” a party official told the paper.

To re-engage with the community, the party has rolled out new initiatives, which include hiring community outreach volunteers, revamping the Labour Friends of India group, and organising a trip to India for two of its senior shadow ministers.

“As a canvassing umbrella initiative focused on event organisation and social media dissemination, we’re looking to serve the widest group of stakeholders to ensure a Labour victory,” Krish Raval, the group’s chair, told The Guardian.

Labour Friends of India celebrates Diwali

The group has hired two volunteers to brief Labour parliamentary candidates on issues of importance to India, and on Sunday, shadow ministers David Lammy and Jonathan Reynolds will travel to Delhi and Mumbai on a five-day trip.

In November last year, Sir Keir Starmer joined top members of the British Indian community, including Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami, to celebrate Diwali where he expressed his gratitude to the Hindu, Sikh, and Jain communities in the UK.

In June 2023, he emphasised the importance of “modern India” and said that “a strategic partnership with India will be key” to a future Labour government.

Citing experts, The Guardian said that a shift in the British Indian stance has come about partly for socioeconomic reasons and partly for religious ones.

As they have become richer in recent years, survey data shows their attitudes have become more conservative.

In addition, the party had an uncomfortable relationship with India after the party, under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, unanimously passed a motion on Kashmir at the 2019 Labour conference.

In 2019, BJP activists actively campaigned for the Conservatives in more than 40 seats across the UK, and now with Rishi Sunak as Britain’s first Hindu Prime Minister, the sailing is likely to be rough for the opposition.

ALSO READ: ‘Labour Is Now The Party Of Business’

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Keir Starmer paid £118,580 in tax since 2020

He paid £43,103 in income tax, plus £23,930 in capital gains tax, making a total of £67,033…reports Asian Lite News

Keir Starmer earned £360,000 in the last two years and paid £118,000 in tax, it has been revealed. he Labour leader published his returns for 2020/21 and 2021/22 a day after Rishi Sunak became the first prime minister since David Cameron to do so.

They show that in 202/21, Starmer earned £125,695 as an MP and leader of the opposition. He also received £21,925 in book royalties and £13 in bank interest, making a total of £147,633.

In that year, he paid £51,547 in income tax. In 2021/22, he earned £126,154 as an MP and Labour leader, £453 in royalties, £14 in bank interest and £85,466 in capital gains after his sister sold a house they had bought together for her and her children to live in.

He paid £43,103 in income tax, plus £23,930 in capital gains tax, making a total of £67,033.

It means that over the two years he earned a total of £359,720 and paid £118,580 to the tax man. That means his tax rate was 33%. Sunak’s returns showed that he paid HMRC just over £1 million between 2019 and 2022.

Tax returns dating back to Sunak’s time as chancellor show that between 2019/20 and 2021/22, he received £1,006,374 in income, plus £3,760,588 in capital gains – a total of £4,766,962.

On that, he paid income tax and capital gains tax totalling £1,053,060. A Labour source said: “While Sunak was jacking up everyone else’s tax, he was paying a tax rate of about 22% on millions of pounds of income.”

ALSO READ-Indian envoy, Keir Starmer hold talks on strategic ties

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Labour party wants to scrap House of Lords

Sir Keir Starmer says that the House of Lords is “indefensible” and it must be replaced with an elected upper chamber…reports Asian Lite News

Sir Keir Starmer will promise the “biggest ever transfer of power from Westminster to the British people”, as the Labour leader launches a report recommending handing new economic, taxation and law-making powers to mayors and devolved governments.

The report on the UK’s future, carried out by former prime minister Gordon Brown, also recommends sweeping constitutional reform in an attempt to “clean up politics”.

It includes replacing the House of Lords with a democratic chamber, banning almost all second jobs for MPs, and moving 50,000 civil servants – 10% of the workforce – out of London.

The decentralisation of power and money away from Westminster will be pitched as a continuation of Tony Blair’s reforms and Labour’s answer to the Tories’ levelling up agenda – as Sir Keir looks to pitch himself as a prime minister-in-waiting with a serious plan for Britain.

But the Labour leader will not accept any of the recommendations on Monday when he launches the report, arguing instead that they will now be consulted on, raising obvious questions as to whether policy proposals will match the rhetoric should Labour win the next election.

However, a source close to the Labour leader insisted that Sir Keir wouldn’t have let recommendations reach the final report if he wasn’t minded on implementing them.

He described the report as a “blueprint” to address these issues and “work out where to go in the next two years”.

“We’re serious about implementation,” said a Labour figure. “This is methodical, Keir Starmer working through how you pull the levers.”

Labour’s view is that George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse or Boris Johnson’s levelling up agenda were the right ambition but failed to grasp that it only works if power is devolved away from Westminster, rather than handing out pots of money from London.

As such, one key recommendation of the commission will be to end the system of distributing funds from Whitehall, with money instead being devolved to local areas to make those decisions.

Within the 40 recommendations in the report are plans to give devolved governments, mayors and local authorities new powers over transport and housing, economic development and job creation.

Sir Keir also wants to develop 300 “economic clusters” around the country – from precision medicine in Glasgow to creative media in Bristol and Bath – with the aim of doubling growth in the UK.

The report, commissioned by Sir Keir two years ago, will also recommend transferring 50,000 civil servants – just over 10% of the current workforce – out of Whitehall in order to devolve decision-making and jobs out of London.

Sir Keir also wants to “clean up” politics and bring in reform.

As such, he’s likely to back proposals to end MPs from having second jobs and introduce new rules to “end the undue influence of wealth and foreign money” in politics.

The Labour leader also wants to “get rid of the indefensible House of Lords” with the report recommending a new, democratically elected second chamber to represent the regions and nations of the UK.

However, the Labour leader has suggested he might not be able to do this until Labour wins a second term, raising questions as to whether such a commitment would appear in the next Labour manifesto.

Speaking at the launch of this report in Leeds on Monday, Sir Keir is expected to say that the “centre hasn’t delivered” as he pledges to “rebalance the economy and bring about higher standards in public life”.

The Labour leader will also frame this report as a response to both the Brexit and Scottish independence referendums.

“I argued for remain. But I couldn’t disagree with the basic case that many leave voters made to me. They wanted democratic control over their lives,” Sir Keir will say, arguing these frustrations of “a Westminster system that seems remote” was also a drive for the 2014 independence referendum.

“People know Britain needs change. But they are never going to get it from the Tories.

“I am determined that, with Labour, people will get the change they deserve.”

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Sunak Overtakes Starmer in Popularity Poll

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visits Croydon University Hospital where he met staff and patients. South London. Picture by Simon Walker / No 10 Downing Street

In a poll conducted on the UK’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s first two days in office, 39 per cent of respondents picked the Indian-origin leader over Keir Starmer, chief of the opposition Labour Party.

The poll, conducted by Redfield and Wilton, asked 1,500 people who they thought would be a better Prime Minister.

Some 39 per cent of respondents picked Sunak, up 6 per cent from the start of September, and 38 per cent said they would prefer Starmer, down 4 per cent, the Daily Express reported.

Another weekly tracker poll by Techne UK showed Labour’s lead over the Conservatives was down from 31 to 24 points.

Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer speaks after Rishi Sunak’s Budget speech. (UK Parliament_Jessica Taylor)

The poll of 1,624 voters showed support for Labour at 50 per cent, a drop of three points from last week.

The Conservatives, meanwhile, were up four points with their new Prime Minister at the helm from 22 per cent a week ago to 26 per cent on October 27, the Daily Express reported.

Sunak faced Starmer in his first Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons on October 26 — a day after being appointed as Britain’s first Asian and first Hindu Prime Minister.

Despite the popularity polls, calls for a general election have escalated with more than 891,000 people signing a petition to Parliament

According to a modelling sample of 12,000 people by YouGov last week, Sunak would suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of Starmer if a general election were to take place immediately.

It said Starmer would win 389 constituencies, and Sunak just 127.

The next general election in the UK is scheduled for May 2024, under the Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011, which holds that an poll must be held at least once every five years.

According to experts, the Conservatives are likely to resist early election calls unless absolutely necessary because any new election is expected to flip around the sizable 71-seat majority in the House of Commons, which the party enjoys at the moment.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak holds his first Cabinet meeting in 10 Downing Street the morning after assuming office

After being elected as the Conservative leader, Sunak told supporters that the party must “unite or die” after the recent wave of controversy and infighting.

In a speech at Conservative Party headquarters, he said: “We now need stability and unity and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together.”

ALSO READ: Britons slam Noah’s ‘racist backlash’ claims against Sunak

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Indian envoy, Keir Starmer hold talks on strategic ties

Taking to Twitter, High Commissioner Doraiswami appreciated the Labour leader’s interest in sustaining the historic friendship between the two countries…reports Asian Lite News

Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami met Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on Monday and held a “productive talk” on all aspects of the strategic partnership between India and the UK.

The discussion focused on the need to sustain people-to-people ties, including through regular dialogue.

“HC @VDoraiswami met @UKLabour party leader @Keir_Starmer for a productive talk on all aspects of the India-UK strategic partnership, focusing on the need to sustain people-to-people ties, including through regular dialogue,” the Indian High Commission in the UK tweeted.

Taking to Twitter, High Commissioner Doraiswami appreciated the Labour leader’s interest in sustaining the historic friendship between the two countries.

“An excellent meeting with Sir @Keir_Starmer. Appreciate his interest in sustaining the historic friendship between India and the UK. @MEAIndia,” he said.

This meeting comes days after the Labour Convention of Indian Organisations (LCIO) was held last month to close the gap between British Indians and the Labour Party.

The party has announced its wish to bridge the gap between the Labour Party, British Indians and India by fostering inclusive sustainable growth for both countries. The party plans to deepen cultural and educational ties and engage with India as a “partner and critical friend” on issues of concern for British Indians.

During the India-focussed event, the recently revived LCIO was formally launched, iGlobal news reported.

On the sidelines of the party conference, Keir Starmer, said, “I welcome the re-establishment of the Labour Convention of Indian Organisations. The timing is poignant as people worldwide celebrate 75 years of Indian independence.”

He said, “I’m proud of Labour’s work with the Indian diaspora in the UK, particularly in strengthening ties between the UK and India. British Indians make an enormous contribution to our economy, culture, and politics. I’ll welcome working with the LCIO on our mission to form the next Labour government.”

This outreach comes after some years of perceived Indian diaspora disconnect under the previous Labour leadership.

“Deputy High Commissioner @HCI_London attended the relaunch event of Labour Convention of Indian Organisations at the Annual Labour Conference in Liverpool. We welcome the initiative and look forward to working closely with @LabourIndians to further the India-UK ties. @VDoraiswami,” the Indian High Commission had said in an earlier tweet.

Replying to the High Commission, LCIO thanked the Indian High Commissioner Doraiswami and said, “We are looking forward to a fruitful relationship.” (ANI)

ALSO READ-Daily Digital: Sir Keir Urges Labour to ‘Get Serious About Winning’

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Labour leader vows to stem ‘Hinduphobia’

Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer told a gathering of hundreds of British Indians that he was determined to put an end to “divisive politics” and extremist elements exploiting social media to spread hatred within communities … reports Asian Lite Newsdesk

SIR KEIR STARMER: “Hinduphobia has absolutely no place in our society anywhere and we must all fight this together. I know that many people are targeted based on their religion and there’s been a rise in hate crimes in recent years. I’m so tired of our divisive politics. I’m saddened by the division we have seen on the streets of Leicester and Birmingham in recent weeks; violence and hatred spread by extremists exploiting social media. We must all together stand firm against all attempts to spread hate.”

Britain’s opposition Labour Party, which is under fire for ignoring the anti-Semitic activiites in the party fold, heed the call the stem growing Hinduphobia at major immigrant hubs in the country.

Addressing a Navaratri festival at Northolt in Middlesex, Labour leader Keir Starmer said the party is committed to fight against hate crimes of all kinds communal clashes. He was addressing the Navaratri fest organised by Shree Kutch Leva Patel Community at SKLP Sports and Community Centre in Northolt. Mavji Dhanji Jadva Vekaria, President; Premji Harji Varsani, Vice President; Ravi Dhanji Varsani, General Secretary; Meera Varsani, Secretary, among others welcomes the chief guest Sir Keir and other guests which includes Seema Malhotra MP, Nav Mishra MP, Cllr Navin Shah, Onkar Sahota, Cllr Mohammad Butt, Mayor of Ealing Cllr Midha, Krupesh Hirani etc.

 “Hinduphobia has absolutely no place in our society anywhere and we must all fight this together,” said Sir Keir.  “I know that many people are targeted based on their religion and there’s been a rise in hate crimes in recent years. I’m so tired of our divisive politics. I’m saddened by the division we have seen on the streets of Leicester and Birmingham in recent weeks; violence and hatred spread by extremists exploiting social media. We must all together stand firm against all attempts to spread hate.”

“Nor will we tolerate the far right attempting to exploit grievances. We have more that unites us than divides us. Our religion, places and symbols of worship must and will be respected. A Labour government will bring people back together and end this divisive politics,” he added.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank the Hindu community for your contribution to Britain, for everything you do for us, whether its culture, business, the financial sector, the NHS, supporting your community through the cost of living. Your contribution to Britain is huge. You are an integral part of Britain, the past, the present and very much the future,” said Starmer.

The Opposition leader, who is the front runner to replace Liz Truss as prime minister in the next general election in 2024, is changing the course set up former leader Jeremy Corbyn.  Just after taking charge as Labour leader, he started to build bridges with the Indian community, country’s largest ethnic minority. He took a diplomatic stance on contentious Kashmir issue.

 “Any constitutional issues in India are a matter for the Indian Parliament, and Kashmir is a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve peacefully. Labour is an internationalist party and stands for the defence of human rights everywhere,” said Starmer after a meeting with the members of Labour Friends of India group.

 “I am committed to working closely with Labour Friends of India to rebuild trust with the community. We must not allow issues of the subcontinent to divide communities here.

“Labour government under my leadership will be determined to build even stronger business links with India and to cooperate on the global stage on issues such as climate change,” Starmer added.

People of Indian origin are the UK’s largest ethnic minority community, making up more than 2.3 percent of the population, some 1.5 million people. A large share of both people of Indian and Pakistani origin vote for the Labour.

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Labour unveils national wealth fund plan

Keir Starmer with King Charles III (Twitter)

“Because conference, when I say I want to buy, make and sell more in Britain I mean it,” she will say, according to excerpts of her speech…reports Asian Lite News

Britain’s Labour Party will unveil on Monday its plans to set up a national wealth fund to invest in green projects which will benefit the public, part of the opposition party’s answer to the Conservative government’s tax-cutting approach.

At their annual conference, Labour lawmakers are sensing a change in their fortunes after a punishing loss at a 2019 election, feeling they can now offer a real choice to voters after the government announced a “growth plan” that handed tax cuts mostly to big business and the wealthiest.

The so-called mini-budget has opened up a divide between Prime Minister Liz Truss’s Conservatives and the Labour Party of Keir Starmer, who wants to use the years before an expected election in 2024 to prove his team is ready for power.

Rachel Reeves, Labour’s finance policy chief, will tell the conference in the northern English city of Liverpool the party wants to “build British industry” by using a national wealth fund similar to funds in Norway and Singapore, with an initial 8 billion pounds ($8.7 billion) earmarked for green projects.

“Because conference, when I say I want to buy, make and sell more in Britain I mean it,” she will say, according to excerpts of her speech.

“That is a real plan for growth,” she will say, taking aim at the “Growth Plan” presented by finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday, when Labour accused him of prioritising the wealthy over working people struggling with rising prices by turning to the discredited theory of “trickle-down economics”.

That plan has shifted the government to the right, handing Labour a chance to prove that it could run the economy efficiently but also help those on lower incomes and protect public services, a source close to the leadership said.

Kwarteng scrapped the country’s top rate of income tax and cancelled a planned rise in corporate taxes, all on top of a hugely expensive plan to subsidise energy bills for households and businesses, with little detail of how it would be paid for in the short term beyond increasing government debt.

In response, sterling fell by more than 3% to its lowest since 1985 against the U.S. dollar on Friday, and weakened against the euro and Japanese yen as well, while government bonds recorded their sharpest daily sell-off in decades.

On Sunday, Starmer pledged to reverse the abolition of the top rate of income tax and restore it to 45%, saying tax cuts for the wealthy would not spur growth.

Ed Miliband, Labour’s climate policy chief, said Labour’s plans would return jobs to Britain.

“This is about good jobs that pay well, with strong trade unions, and with money that flows back into the pockets of the British people.”

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Political foes revel in Boris’ woes in Parliament

Prime Minister Boris Johnson attends Trooping the Colour. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson steps out of No10 Downing Street on the day of Trooping the Colour during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said any Conservatives inclined to give Johnson another chance would be disappointed…reports Asian Lite News

A defiant British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted Wednesday that he is getting on with his job, as he faced Parliament for the first time since 41 percent of his own party’s lawmakers called for him to quit.

Johnson has been left teetering after surviving a no-confidence vote by Conservative Party legislators by a narrower-than-expected margin. A total of 148 of the 359 Tory lawmakers voted against him in Monday’s ballot.

Johnson says he plans to move on and focus on bread-and-butter issues such as clearing national health care backlogs, tackling crime, easing a cost-of-living crisis and creating high-skilled jobs in a country that has left the European Union.

“As for jobs, I’m going to get on with mine,” he told lawmakers during the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons.

But Johnson’s party opponents say they have not given up on pushing him out. They fear that Johnson, his reputation tarnished by revelations of boozy government parties that breached COVID-19 regulations, will doom the party to defeat in the next national election, which is due to be held by 2024.

Still, Conservative lawmakers dutifully cheered Johnson during a noisy Prime Minister’s Questions, while opponents relished the prime minister’s problems.

Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said any Conservatives inclined to give Johnson another chance would be disappointed.

“They want him to change — but he can’t,” Starmer said.

Scottish National Party leader Ian Blackford called Johnson “a lame duck prime minister presiding over a divided party in a disunited kingdom.”

Blackford compared Johnson to comedy troupe Monty Python’s character the Black Knight, who has his limbs lopped off in battle, all the while proclaiming “It’s only a flesh wound!”

And Labour lawmaker Angela Eagle asked: “If 148 of his own backbenchers don’t trust him, why on Earth should the country?”

Johnson replied that “in a long political career so far, I have of course picked up political opponents all over the place.”

But he said “absolutely nothing and no one … is going to stop us getting on and delivering for the British people.”

While Conservative Party rules bar another no-confidence vote for 12 months, those rules can be changed by a handful of lawmakers who run a key Conservative committee. Johnson also faces a parliamentary ethics probe that could conclude he deliberately misled Parliament over “partygate” — which is traditionally a resigning offense.

With opinion polls giving Labour a lead nationally, Johnson will face more pressure if the Conservatives lose special elections later this month for two parliamentary districts where incumbent Tory lawmakers were forced out by sex scandals.

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Gallery: Labour Leader Joins Interfaith Iftar

Labour Leader Keir Starmer joins an Interfaith-Iftar in Manchester. Manchester Gorton MP and former Lord Mayor Afzal Kham welcomed the leader.  Sir Keir meets community leaders, local councillors and members from the new gen Mancunians. The Very Revd Rogers Govender, Dean of Manchester , Mr Nazir Afzal were among the invitees. 

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Amid anger, PM apologises for Christmas party blunder

“I apologise unreservedly for the offence that it has caused up and down the country and I apologise for the impression that it gives,” Johnson told parliament…reports Asian Lite News.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologised and his adviser resigned on Wednesday after a video surfaced showing his staff laughing and joking about a party in Downing Street during a Christmas Covid-19 lockdown last year when such festivities were banned.

For more than a week, Johnson and his team have repeated that no rules were broken in late 2020 after the Mirror newspaper reported there had been several parties – including a wine-fuelled gathering of 40 to 50 people – to mark Christmas.

On Wednesday, he said he was furious about the video, which was shown by ITV late on Tuesday, but that he had been repeatedly assured there had not been a party.

Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer accused Johnson of “taking the public for fools”, while Ian Blackford of the Scottish National Party called for Johnson to resign.

It is the latest misstep by an administration that has been criticised for its handling of a sleaze scandal, the awarding of Covid contracts, the refurbishment of Johnson’s Downing Street flat and the chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan.

With reports that the government could implement tougher Covid-19 measures as early as Thursday to try to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant of the coronavirus, it could also persuade many people to ignore any new rules.

“I apologise unreservedly for the offence that it has caused up and down the country and I apologise for the impression that it gives,” Johnson told parliament.

Disciplinary action would be taken if it was found that rules were broken, he said.

“But I repeat … that I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged, that there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken.”

He also pledged to “get on with the job”, accusing the opposition of trying to “muddy the waters about events or non-events of a year ago”.

In leaked footage aired by ITV on Tuesday, Allegra Stratton – who was then Johnson’s press secretary – was shown at a 2020 Downing Street rehearsal for a daily briefing laughing and joking about a reported gathering.

In the video, a Johnson adviser asked Stratton, “I’ve just seen reports on Twitter that there was a Downing Street Christmas party on Friday night – do you recognise those reports?”

Stratton, standing before British flags at an official Downing Street lectern, said, “I went home.” She then laughed and smiled. “Hold on. Hold on. Um. Er. Arh.” She appears lost for words and looks up.

Stratton, who was most recently the government’s COP26 climate summit spokesperson, tendered her resignation on Wednesday.

In a tearful statement, Stratton acknowledged that her comments “seemed to make light of the rules” and said she would “regret those remarks for the rest of my days”.

“I understand the anger and frustration that people feel,” she said, while not specifying whether a party took place.

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