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Kamis, 20 Januari 2022

Christian Wakeford: Ex-Tory MP 'threatened' over Bury high school funding - BBC News

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An ex-Tory MP who defected to Labour said he was threatened he would not get a high school in his constituency if he did not vote in a certain way.

Bury South MP Christian Wakeford said it made him start to question his place within the Conservative Party.

It comes after MP William Wragg accused the government of trying to "blackmail" its own MPs to stop them plotting against the prime minister.

But Boris Johnson said he had not seen any evidence to support the claim.

Mr Wakeford, who had been a Conservative Party member for nearly 20 years, announced his decision to switch sides moments before Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

He took the Bury South seat from Labour at the 2019 general election by just 402 votes but will now sit as a Labour MP.

Speaking to BBC North West Tonight in Bury earlier, he said: "I was threatened that I would not get the school for Radcliffe if I did not vote in one particular way.

"This is a town that's not had a high school for the best part of 10 years.

"How would you feel when holding back regeneration of a town for a vote, it didn't sit comfortably.

"That was really starting to question my place where I was and ultimately to where I am now."

A Labour source said the vote in question related to free school meals.

Bury county councillor Mike Smith, who represents Radcliffe West on the local authority, said planning permission was due to be sought for the school early this year and the first intake of pupils should be in September 2024.

He said it "would be disappointing" if the school's funding had been used as a threat.

Mr Smith, part of the independent party Radcliffe First, added: "I have emailed both the councillor at Bury who is in charge of regeneration and the person who is in charge of the school asking for their input as to whether there is any truth to this, and whether there is any threat to the funding.

"Reading his comments, it would be very surprising if there was. I'm taking it that this is quite historical."

Mr Wakeford made the comments after introducing Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves for her speech at The Met theatre in the town.

During his speech, Mr Wakeford said Labour was "ready to provide an alternative government that this country can be proud of" and had become "the party of economic competence".

Mr Johnson is facing down an attempt from some Tory MPs to oust him as leader over lockdown parties held in Downing Street.

Earlier, Conservative MP Mr Wragg, who is among those calling on the prime minister to resign, said rebels had faced "pressures and intimidation" from ministers.

He said the conduct of the Government Whips' Office threatening to withdraw public funding from MPs' constituencies may have breached the ministerial code.

But Mr Johnson insisted he had not seen any evidence to support Mr Wragg's claims of intimidatory tactics against Tory critics.

He said he would "of course" look for evidence to support the allegations made by Mr Wragg.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk

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2022-01-20 15:33:19Z
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Downing Street parties: Growing Tory civil war as MPs wait for Sue Gray's partygate report to determine Boris Johnson's future - Sky News

For all of the turbulence and the tempestuous events of the last 48 hours, the key drivers which will determine the prime minister’s future remain broadly the same.

A large number of MPs, possibly a majority, are unhappy with Boris Johnson's premiership.

However they are unsure when to defenestrate him, how to do so, and - most importantly of all - who should replace him.

Sue Gray report: When is inquiry due, what does it mean for Boris Johnson and who decides what happens next?

Many MPs will tell you that the defection of Bury South MP Christian Wakeford has eased pressure on the prime minister - it is certainly true it has provided a new and helpful rallying point for Mr Johnson.

However this does not alter the fact most continue to wait for the report by Mr Johnson's top official, Sue Gray, into the 15 or so parties in Downing Street including the one the PM attended.

At that point, some will put in letters of no confidence whatever it says, some will judge his fate on the report and some will man the barricades to defend him.

A vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson remains a distinct possibility at this point.

But will this resolve the question of Mr Johnson's future?

If he loses, he is out. If he wins, the scale of the revolt against him could still prove ultimately fatal: Theresa May won her vote of no confidence by 200-117 in December 2018, and she was out six months later.

A growing Tory civil war could also hamper Mr Johnson's reset if he wins a vote of no confidence.

Will figures like William Wragg, today accusing the Tory enforcers working for Mr Johnson of bullying and illegal bribery, come back on side?

This triggers further blue-on-blue tensions, with Tory MP and Johnson defender Michael Fabricant saying of Mr Wragg he is simply waging a personal campaign against the PM and abusing his select committee chairmanship.

Can party discipline be restored?

Mr Johnson has lost Steve Baker, the Brexiteer who did most to unseat his predecessor - and with it risks one of parliament's best organisers in an opposing camp.

Will ministers and likely leadership contenders such as Penny Mordaunt still be publicly campaigning to determine government policy on Twitter?

Can sniping - such as ex-minister Nus Ghani accusing ministers in the Commons today of "weasel words" over the Uighurs - be stopped?

Subscribe to the All Out Politics podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

The pillars necessary to ensure a functioning government are starting to strain as the row over Mr Johnson's future continues.

Publishing the Sue Gray report cannot fix it all.

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2022-01-20 18:25:35Z
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Two men arrested in Birmingham and Manchester over Texas synagogue siege - Sky News

Counter-terror police have arrested two men in the UK in connection with the Texas synagogue siege - in which Malik Faisal Akram, from Lancashire, took four people hostage last Saturday.

The suspects were held on Thursday morning in Manchester and Birmingham, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

The men, whose ages have not been released, are "in custody for questioning" and were held as part of an "ongoing investigation", GMP added.

Earlier this week, two teenagers were arrested in Manchester by officers from Counter Terror Policing North West, and released without charge on Tuesday.

Those officers are continuing to "liaise" with colleagues from other forces, GMP said.

Akram, 44, from Blackburn, was shot dead by an FBI SWAT team 10 hours into the stand-off at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville. All four hostages were released unharmed.

Sky News understands he had been investigated by MI5.

The Security Service began looking into him in the second half of 2020 to assess whether he posed a security threat, a Whitehall source said.

The suspicion raised about him was related to Islamist terrorism.

He had also been in prison three times, between 1996 and 2012, for a range of offences including violent disorder, harassment and theft.

Akram is said to have arrived at JFK Airport in New York two weeks ago, reportedly staying at a homeless shelter and buying a gun on the street.

His final audio call to his brother reveals he said: "I'm coming home in a body bag."

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2022-01-20 09:11:15Z
1256652022

Boris Johnson lockdown parties: David Davis telling PM to resign is 'damaging', Sajid Javid admits - Sky News

David Davis telling Boris Johnson to resign over the Downing Street lockdown parties is "damaging" for the government, Sajid Javid has said.

Mr Davis, a Tory grandee and former minister, stood up in the House of Commons on Wednesday and told the prime minister: "In the name of God, go."

He is the most senior Conservative to call for Mr Johnson to resign, saying the PM had failed to take responsibility for his actions over lockdown parties in Downing Street.

Live updates as Boris Johnson faces letters of no co nfidence

Health Secretary Mr Javid told Kay Burley on Sky News: "I've known David Davis for many years, got huge respect for him, we don't always agree on everything and that is one thing I don't agree with him on.

"It is damaging, of course it is. If you said to me would I rather he didn't get him and say something like that then, of course, I wouldn't want to see that but that's the decision he made.

"The prime minister has come to the House of Commons last week, he has set out and apologised, set out what has happened but most importantly I think he has asked for this investigation to be done, for the time and space to be given for it to be completed and the facts to be established.

"And once they are, the PM will come very quickly back to parliament and submit himself so David Davis, or anyone else, can ask them whatever question they want."

Just moments before Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, where Mr Davis called for the PM's resignation, Bury South MP Christian Wakeford defected from the Conservatives to Labour.

Mr Javid said he "was sad to see Christian go" and admitted it is "never good for any political party to see one of your own leave and defect".

He added: "I feel sorry for the people of bury South, they voted Tory.

"I think a by-election would be welcome, I think Christian would be happy with a by-election.

"Given the people of Bury South rightly voted Conservative in 2019, they wanted to get Brexit done, they wanted to see a strong economy and now they've got an MP that has changed his affiliation without their permission, why not give them a say?"

The Labour Party has said it does not want a by-election, with Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves telling Sky News we should wait until the next general election.

Mr Wakeford's defection came soon after about 12 Conservative MPs, also from the 2019 intake, handed in letters of no confidence in the prime minister.

The PM's premiership looked very rocky on Wednesday morning but many Conservative MPs used PMQs to stand up and express their support for Mr Johnson.

However, this has not halted talk of him being ousted and a leadership race taking place soon.

Mr Javid is high on the list of potentials to replace Mr Johnson and would not rule out running.

"There's a good lineup of talent I would say in the party there and so there is no leadership election, we have got a PM he is getting on with the job and that is what matters," he told Sky News.

"There is no leadership election."

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2022-01-20 08:26:15Z
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Texas synagogue siege: British gunman told brother 'I'm coming home in a body bag' in chilling final phone call - Sky News

The chilling final audio call of the British gunman who took four people hostage in a Texas synagogue has revealed the terrorist told his brother: "I'm coming home in a body bag."

Malik Faisal Akram, 44, was shot dead by an FBI SWAT team 10 hours into the stand-off, and all four hostages were released unharmed.

In the expletive-laden phone call, released by the Jewish Chronicle, he made a number of threats and antisemitic remarks and claimed to have "promised" his younger brother "on his deathbed" he would "go down a martyr".

One of his younger brothers reportedly died three months ago from COVID.

Movements of British hostage-taker in days leading up to death revealed

His other brother, Gulbar Akram spoke to him from a police station in Blackburn and attempted to persuade him to surrender, but Malik Akram told him: "Don't cry at my funeral. Because guess what, I've come to die G, ok?"

Gulbar later told Sky News Akram was on the phone with his two teenage children when he was killed.

Akram ranted about American conflicts overseas and said: "I'm setting a precedent."

His actions, he said, would "[open] the doors for every youngster in England to enter America and f*** with them".

When Gulbar urged himself to end the siege and hand himself in to the police, Akram said he had been "praying to Allah for two years for this".

"I'd rather live one day as a lion than 100 years as a jackal," he added.

"I'm going to go toe-to-toe with [police] and they can shoot me dead... I'm coming home in a body bag."

British man who took four hostage in Colleyville 'had been investigated by MI5'

He repeatedly asked for the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist imprisoned for having ties to Al Qaeda.

But when Gulbar told him they would not release Siddiqui, he replied: "Who gives a f***, listen to me. Allah is with me.

"I'm not worried in the slightest, I don't even flinch, man."

Aafia Siddiqui - who is the Pakistani prisoner at the centre of the incident?

Akram's family has said he was "suffering from mental health issues".

"There was nothing we could have said to him or done that would have convinced him to surrender," his brother Gulbar said in a statement.

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2022-01-20 06:56:15Z
1256652022

Rabu, 19 Januari 2022

PMQs as it happened: Tory MP defects as ex-minister tells Johnson to go - BBC News

British politics, particularly Prime Minister’s Questions, is often compared to a theatre.

But like many great dramas, it’s often a surprising character who provides the plot twist.

Today’s defection to Labour from the, formerly Tory, MP Christian Wakeford has managed to unite Boris Johnson’s critics and supporters on his backbenches.

One former minister, who has strongly criticised the handling of parties in Downing Street, said Wakeford had provided an “alternative target for rage” and calmed the mood in the Tory party.

Peers of Christian Wakeford, elected alongside him in 2019, have described feeling burned - “betrayed”, “let down” and upset by his actions.

In a party where loyalties were all over the place last night - Tory MPs have united in feeling his behaviour was perhaps ‘disloyalty gone one step too far’.

But this distraction doesn’t mean Boris Johnson is out of the woods. More than a dozen Tory MPs are believed to have submitted letters of no confidence in him. The exact number is still unknown. More Tory MPs are waiting until Sue Gray’s report is published before expressing their anger publicly.

Wakeford’s defection may have stuck a plaster over some of the Tory party fractures — but last night’s briefing war between different groups of the party shows just how fragile the situation still is for Boris Johnson.

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2022-01-19 18:30:00Z
1254649531

Christian Wakeford: Bury residents react to Tory MP's defection to Labour - BBC News

Christian Wakeford was elected as the Tory MP for Bury South at the 2019 general election but has now defected to the Labour Party. He was cheered by Labour MPs as he crossed the floor of the Commons chamber to join his new colleagues. But what do the people of Bury make of his decision?

At Rosylee coffee house opposite the MP's office in Radcliffe, where the shutters are up, there was a feisty conversation about his defection.

Debbie Clark, 52, who lives in the Radcliffe area of Bury, voted Conservative for the first time at the last election.

"I am disgusted," she told BBC North West Tonight.

"I voted for the party. He should resign and we should have a by-election."

Her husband Fred, also 52, agrees.

"He should not have the right to go to Labour," he says.

Maxine Ballington, 51, also voted Conservative because the previous MP stood as an independent.

She says she is shocked by Mr Wakeford's defection but agrees with his calls for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign.

"I've lost two people to Covid. People were fined for having house parties. How can he go to a party at Downing Street?"

Nick Hubble, from Prestwich, says he has "respect" for the MP's decision after reading his letter resigning from the Conservative party.

"I thought fair play to him, he had obviously been plagued by his conscience," he adds.

"I understand people have voted for a Tory MP and they now have a Labour MP but it is more complex than that."

Mr Hubble, 49, believes some people "vote for personalities" rather than political parties so his defection "may not be [so] drastic".

The translator says Mr Wakeford has been a "good constituency MP" and "puts his back into it... which should stand him in good stead".

Mr Hubble is part of Walk Ride Prestwich and Whitefield, which is campaigning for better cycling lanes, and hopes the defection will not have an impact on its work.

"He was due to go on a ride with us this week. We hope he can still commit to support [our campaign]," he says.

David Collins runs Marie's Coffee Shop close to Mr Wakeford's constituency office, which is painted Tory-blue.

"I probably wouldn't vote for either of them anyway, Labour or Conservative. They're all as bad as each other," he says.

"They all promise they're going to do things and none of it ever materialises.

"You wouldn't think you were able to jump ship halfway through, would you?"

Meanwhile, Bury North's Conservative MP James Daly said in a statement on his defecting neighbour he was "extremely disappointed having only heard in the press a minute before he walked across the Commons".

"I'm astounded he's abandoned the party that's brought millions to Bury," he added.

"Bury Labour Party has done nothing for local people and I will ensure the town still has a Conservative representative."

He said the new Labour MP "should resign so a by-election can take place".

Labour-controlled Bury Council said it welcomed Mr Wakeford into "the family".

"This defection is a damning indictment of a Tory government and a hapless prime minister that are out of touch with the people of places like Bury," councillor Eamonn O'Brien, leader of Bury Council, added.

The Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham also thanked the MP for "having the courage to call out a government failing to deliver on its promises to level up the north of England".

"People in Bury South deserve better and together we will make sure their voice is heard," he said.

"It is also a clear warning to the government that they walk away from their promises to the north at their own peril."

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk

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2022-01-19 16:53:37Z
1261578957

Kamis, 20 Januari 2022

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Rabu, 19 Januari 2022