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Morning Star Editorial: Political fragmentation deepens as Britain goes to the polls

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/political-fragmentation-deepens-britain-goes-polls

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage being interviewed by the media after an eve of poll photocall at College Green, Westminster, on the last day of campaigning ahead of the local elections on Thursday, May 6, 2026

MILLIONS of votes will be cast on Thursday in Scotland and Wales in the election of these two nations’ devolved governments and in England a cross-section of communities will vote — in six places for regional mayors — and in 5,000 seats where the composition of 136 different councils are up for grabs.

This is the biggest test of electoral opinion since Keir Starmer took office on millions of votes fewer than won by Jeremy Corbyn.

The calamitous fall in Labour’s popularity is the main feature of these elections but we should not discount the scale of the Tory collapse.

You might think that the defection of much of Boris Johnson’s Cabinet to Reform UK would have given Kemi Badenoch the opportunity to recover something of the traditional Tory vote, such as it exists. This, at least would be an innovation but, like Labour, the Tories are no longer a credible party of a future government.

Reform UK is faltering with a certain sense that the Establishment is setting limits on its ambitions. The monopoly media is not so tolerant; opinion polls are less encouraging and the more Nigel Farage’s privately owned electoral vehicle resembles the Tory Party the fewer workers are prepared to swallow its fetishisation of the market and its hostility to public services.

Today the Trump connection plays badly even on the deluded right.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/political-fragmentation-deepens-britain-goes-polls

Continue ReadingMorning Star Editorial: Political fragmentation deepens as Britain goes to the polls

Morning Star Editorial: Attention turns to Wales: Labour’s long-term control under threat

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/attention-turns-wales-labours-long-term-control-under-threat

Wales Green Party Leader Anthony Slaughter, Reform UK’s Dan Thomas, Welsh Labour Leader and First Minister Eluned Morgan, Plaid Cymru of leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar and Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds

RARELY has Wales featured so prominently in all-Britain election coverage as today in the run-up to polling day on May 7. Certainly, it is difficult recall such media interest in any of the six general elections to the National Assembly of Wales and its successor, the Senedd, over the past quarter of a century.

The London-based mass media usually show little interest in Wales unless a gruesome murder, a royal visit or a sporting spectacle has attracted journalistic attention beyond the M25 bubble.

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What’s so different this time around? The big story is that the Labour Party is set to be replaced as the biggest electoral force in Wales for the first time in 100 years. The old certainty of a Labour victory (and most often a Labour landslide) is dying.

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Welsh Labour is suffering from over-familiarity and its all-too-supine relationship with Keir Starmer’s government at Westminster. Many thousands of habitual Labour voters in the south Wales valleys are likely to switch to Plaid Cymru, despite not yet sharing that party’s aspiration for Welsh independence from the UK. A smaller number may go Green, and many more probably won’t vote at all.

They don’t feel the change promised by Starmer’s party. They dislike his lack of honesty and integrity. Many are repelled by his refusal to condemn US-Israeli massacres of the innocent in Palestine, Iran and Lebanon.

Neither do they remember — unless forcefully reminded — of the achievements of Welsh Labour and Labour-Plaid coalition governments despite the lack of powers and resources at the disposal of the Welsh parliament: free NHS prescriptions, free hospital parking, free bus travel for the elderly, the reintroduction of student maintenance grants, free museum entry, primary school breakfast clubs, financial penalties for holiday home ownership, aid for the Welsh steel industry, nationalisations to invest in Cardiff-Wales Airport and Transport for Wales rolling stock, etc.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/attention-turns-wales-labours-long-term-control-under-threat

Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership is intensely relaxed about assaulting those least able to defend themselves - the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership is intensely relaxed about assaulting those least able to defend themselves – the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Nigel Farage reminds you that he's the man that brought you Brexit and asks what could possibly go wrong.
Nigel Farage reminds you that he’s the man that brought you Brexit and asks what could possibly go wrong.
Continue ReadingMorning Star Editorial: Attention turns to Wales: Labour’s long-term control under threat

Labour facing its ‘worst local election ever’

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-facing-its-worst-local-election-ever

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street, London, to attend Prime Minister’s Questions at the Houses of Parliament, April 15, 2026

Polls show Labour facing meltdown in May elections for devolved parliaments and local authorities

LABOUR is facing a May meltdown in elections for devolved parliaments and local authorities, latest polling confirms.

The party is on course for wipeout in Wales, a setback in Scotland and evisceration across England, particularly in “red wall” districts in the Midlands and north.

The Greens and hard-right Reform are set to be the beneficiaries in England, with nationalist parties winning in Scotland and Wales.

If the results on May 7 bear out these predictions it will revive pressure on Labour MPs to act to end Sir Keir Starmer’s disastrous leadership of their party and the government.

James Johnson, of JL Partners, which conducted the detailed survey for the Telegraph, said the research pointed to “a major political earthquake” across Britain.

“It could be the worst local election ever for Labour in England, a collapse for the Conservatives in their historic Blue Wall heartlands, and a brutal third place for Starmer’s party in Wales,” he said.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-facing-its-worst-local-election-ever

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Continue ReadingLabour facing its ‘worst local election ever’

More than a fifth of UK’s ‘austerity children’ scarred by poverty, study says

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/apr/13/uk-austerity-children-scarred-poverty-study-conservatives

Austerity policies effectively pitched hundreds of thousands more children into sustained poverty. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

Researchers say hardship is a direct legacy of welfare benefit cuts imposed by Tory governments in recent years

More than a fifth of all “austerity generation” British children have been scarred by poverty for at least half their childhood, a direct legacy of the welfare benefit cuts imposed by Conservative governments in recent years, research reveals.

The proportion of children born after 2013 who spent at least six of their first 11 years of life in hardship surged after ministers froze working age benefits levels and imposed policies such as the two-child limit, it found.

Austerity policies, which drastically shrank annual welfare spending by tens of billions a year and took thousands of pounds a year out of low-income family budgets, effectively pitched hundreds of thousands more children into sustained poverty.

The University of Oxford study said the austerity-era growth in children exposed to poverty for most of their formative years was a “significant social problem” that would cause long-term harms to their health, education and life chances.

The study’s co-author, Selçuk Bedük, said the post-2013 austerity cuts to welfare increased both the numbers of children experiencing poverty and the time they spent in it. As a consequence, long-term poverty was now a defining factor in the childhood of about 23% of British youngsters.

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Austerity cuts masterminded by the former Tory chancellor George Osborne and the ex-welfare secretary Iain Duncan Smith included the benefit cap, the bedroom tax, the two-child benefit limit, cuts to the generosity of universal credit, and years of benefit rate freezes. By 2021, they had stripped about £37bn a year from welfare spending.

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Original article at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/apr/13/uk-austerity-children-scarred-poverty-study-conservatives

Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership is intensely relaxed about assaulting those least able to defend themselves - the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership is intensely relaxed about assaulting those least able to defend themselves – the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Continue ReadingMore than a fifth of UK’s ‘austerity children’ scarred by poverty, study says

Private firms providing services to NHS made £1.6bn profit in two years, research finds

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/apr/13/private-companies-nhs-services-profit-chpi-research

The profits would be enough to pay for 9,178 doctors or 19,428 nurses during the period. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

[Guardian] Exclusive: MPs say profit-making levels in England are ‘scandalous’ and call for cap on amount private companies can make from NHS

Private firms providing services to the NHS including healthcare and consultancy have made £1.6bn in profits over the last two years, research reveals.

The findings – on the basis of contracts worth £12bn – have prompted claims of “scandalous” profiteering, concern that the health service is being “taken for a ride” and calls for ministers to impose a cap on maximum profit levels.

The £1.6bn in profits made in 2023-24 and 2024-25 would have been enough to pay for 9,178 doctors or 19,428 nurses during that time, according to the Centre for Health and the Public Interest.

Its findings are based on analysis of NHS contracts in England, with 760 private firms providing services including diagnostic tests such as CT scans to patients, and treatments including hip and knee replacements, and for skin problems and mental health conditions.

The thinktank found:

  • £2bn of the £12bn of contracts went to firms with owners based outside the UK.
  • £533m of that £2bn went to companies owned by people living in tax havens such as Jersey and the Cayman Islands.
  • Firms, especially those owned by private equity outfits, used £353m of their £12bn NHS income to pay interest on debts.

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Original article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/apr/13/private-companies-nhs-services-profit-chpi-research

Continue ReadingPrivate firms providing services to NHS made £1.6bn profit in two years, research finds