Should the United Kingdom be a republic?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeqBoDVaYNA&lc=z22cfznals24tvzg404t1aokgruvzrgqgycroawnomlwrk0h00410 - full video on this subject

With the annoucement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's engagement today in the media, I think it is time to reopen the debate on the Monarchy and if Britain would be better off as a republic and how that would effect the country.

I have always been in favour of the UK abolishing the royal famly and becoming a republic because I want Britain to be a fairer society and how can we become a fairer society when our head of state is not elected and decided by blood line? It is absolute contradiction. The United Kingdom should be moving forward and having a royal family is an outdated concept and it is costing tax payers money that could of been better used on more important issues such as housing, education, free tuition fees, paying of student debt that was caused by this terrible and useless government.

The cost of the royal family is esimated to be 62p per person which is not a far cry from a lot of money but when you think about the long term costs, all the money going to them could be used to fund things we actually need as a country. It is ridiculous for the Tories to say that we cannot afford things such as more NHS funding and more funding for our schools but they support the royal family.

I understand that the royal family does benefit the country in ways such as tourism revenue. In 2011, it was estimated that the cost of maintaining the royal family was £40million a year and the revenue from the Crown load was £200million a year. This is a huge profit and is beneifical to the UK economy and tourism has always been a arugment to keep the monarchy. I would argue that we should abolish the monarchy, not have to pay for the up keep and open all their land for tourism viewing all year round. That would be much greater then the amount of tourism money that they currently generate and then that money could be used for better things.

I think in the 21st century, it is completely outrageous that a modern and open country such as Britain have a royal family which doesn't support democracy. The royal family has NO political power and is obliged to sign all laws from government so in actual reality, we don't have any political need for the royal family and they could be considred redundant.

I would argue that the royal family should be abolished and replaced with an elected head of state.

Sources
http://debatewise.org/debates/1835-should-britain-scrap-the-monarchy/#yes2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYgnhhKFw

National Campaign Day

Today in Crawley, we followed and held a huge two canvassing session and political discussion with Labour's Angela Smith to add to national campaign day. Today on twitter #betteroffwithlabour trended in the United Kingdom and talking to residents today, it is clear that most of our working class residents would be better off with labour.

Labour is committed to raising the standards and making work pay with an increase of the minimum wage and restoring full tax credits that where limited to two children by the Tories, to make sure no one goes without and no one is left behind.

It was a pleasure to welcome Angela Smith to our supporters club and hold a lunch and political discussion earlier with the oppotunity to ask questions.

Below are some pictures we took today on the doorstep and with Angela Smith,

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Budget 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeHTdw513m8&t=23s - my full response

So.........

I take it everyone has had a chance to take in the budget that was announced by Philip Hammond and had a chance to watch my response to the budget.

If there is one video that can sum up this budget is this:

This government is out of touch with the working class, out of touch with what they would consider affordable and out of touch with the people that have nothing in this country.

This is another budget that promises change but will only deliver in delivering for the rich and offer nothing for the struggling.

Scrapping stamp duty on houses worth less then £300,000? Won't that just increase house prices? Making it harder for first time buyers in the long term?

A new rail card for when I turn 26 in 4 years? Yeah thanks..... that will make up for my unpayable student debt just because I went to university and got an education..

More funding for the NHS at £2.8b? Didn't Simon Stevens say that £4b was needed? Chronic underfunding is an issue which the government is doing nothing about it.

£3.7b of tax payers money set aside for brexit? Couldn't that of been avoidable if your government didn't force an EU ref on us? Couldn't THAT money be better spent on the health service? This is just getting ridiculous.

The problem with this government is they have no vision and no sense of long term ramifications when they introduce policies.

#NOTHINGHASCHANGED

See my full response on YouTube.


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Today in Southgate with Crawley CLP

The campaigning never stops in Crawley and ahead of the budget set out by Philip Hammond tomorrow, Crawley Labour where on the doorsteps talking to the residents of Southgate about how the worst of the Tory policies are effecting them and their family.

Austerity is a choice that this government is making and it has devastating consequences for ordinary local people, like the ones on the door step we talked to today/

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My open letter to Philip Hammond

Dear Mr. Hammond,

I don't understand how you can say that you won't let the young people of this country down when you ALREADY have.

Thanks to the failures of your government, students are leaving university with massive amounts of debt just because they wanted an education and a chance a better themselves. Your government took away maintenance grants away from our university students which added to that pile of debt, which is just ridiculous. How you can all of a sudden paint yourself as the party that looks after our young people makes me and the rest of my working class generation laugh.

Your government also took away housing benefit for 18-21, making it harder for young people to move out of their family homes and destroyed any hope for us to ever get on the housing ladder.

You claim you care about the young people of this country by upping the student loan repayment threshold to £25,000 and slashing train fares for 26-30 by introducing this new railcard, which isn't even valid for on peak trains may I add, is just ridiculous and laughable. And if your government didn't up the tuition fees to 9k in the first place, you wouldn't of had to up the threshold  to £25,000.

The young people of this country have been deeply hit by your policies and your austerity programme of cuts to our education services and public services are effecting millions of children across the country and you stand by and give tax cuts to the richest in our society? How dare you.

I seriously don't understand your logic, we cannot afford free tuition fees but we can afford £1b to save your government? We cannot afford to give NHS staff the pay that they deserve but we can give tax cuts to people who earn over 100k a year? We cannot afford to pay tax credits to parents who have more then two children but we can waste millions of pounds on useless nuclear weapons?

Your logic is flawed and your government is wrecking the lives of working class people up and down the country. Poverty levels have risen, zero hours contracts becoming the norm, public services, schools, our beautiful NHS, police force and other areas are going without the funding that they rightly deserve.

Policies like the bedroom tax, two child tax policy and other heartless policies are only designed to hurt the working class and the young people of this country and these policies are unfit and unnecessary for a rich and western nation like ours.

In your budget tomorrow, I am calling on you to fund the services that we rely on, to make sure the richest of our society pay their fair share, to give our university students the help that they need when studying, to fix the debt that your government caused and to finally put and end to the programme that is wrecking the lives of working people across this country.

Yours,
Kiran Khan

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Richard Leonard is elected the new Scottish Labour leader

Today I am very pleased to announce that Richard Leonard was elected the new leader of the Scottish Labour party after the decision from the party was announced today.

I supported him throughout the campaign and was very supportive of a Corbyn ally being elected to the second most powerful position in the Labour party.

I was very upset to see Kezia Dugdale resign because I feel she was true to herself and wanted true change for the people of Scotland but I feel that she had problems getting along with Corbyn and her supporters did not see eye to eye and she had a huge dilemnia.

Another reason why Kezia Dugdale resigned was it was rumoured that she was heading towards supporting Scottish independence because of some hints that has been dropping from her twitter account and her behaviour in parliament.

I wish Mr. Leonard all the luck in the world when it comes to leading this party that I am very pleased that he won the election over Anas Sarwar.

I hope now the party can be united once more. 

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Today in Pound Hill

Today the Crawley CLP was out in Pound Hill ahead of the local elections in May supporting our local candidate Colin Flack.

Pound Hill had historically been a safe Tory area but talking to the residents of Pound Hill today, finding a labour voter in Pound Hill is no longer a needle in a haystack.

Crawley is changing and a labour government is coming and we feel it closer everyday.

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Should we have another general election next year?

Westminster is calling and it is about time we call for another general election because this is just an absolute shambles, just a complete shambles in this government.

I have called for Jeremy Corbyn to put forward a motion of no confidence in this government to try bring it down and I still believe in this view because it makes the most sense. I know that this motion is not guaranteed to pass, even with this minority government, but with the DUP voting with Labour on some issues in parliament, anything is possible.

I know that talking about another election when it hasn't been a year since the last one is risky and under normal circumstances I would believe that but these are not normal circumstances.

First of all, Theresa May has lost her majority in government, which wasn't even hers in the first place, and has lost all credibility with the british public. Second of all, she has lost two senior members of her cabniet in less then a week. Priti Patel resigned from her position after undeclared meetings with high up Israel ministers and the prime minister during a trip where discovered. This was a big scandal in the Tory Cabniet.

Before Priti Patel, Michael Fallon, another minister, was forced out of the cabinet after claims of sexul harassment was brought against him. It seems to me that they are stopping like flies, who's next, Boris Johnson?

And with Brexit now being one of the key issues and with a deal needing to be negotiating with Brussels and Article 50 triggered, how can we have an unstable government leading the way propped up by Northern Ireland extremists? Is this the Britain that we want? The Britain that we fight for every single day?

People have said to me, well if it was Labour in this mess you wouldn't be calling for a vote of no confidence in this government. Actually I would. A government's job is being capable of leading this country and if they have shown they are incapable of leading a country, like TMay has so many times, they deserve to be booted out. I wouldn't want the Tories to replace a labour government, I would want new and reliable people in those positions.

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If only British railways where more like the Japanese ones

Today it was reported that a Japanese train company had to make a national apology when a train left a train station 20 seconds early and it was a national scandal. This is comedy gold to the British public. Have you seen the state of our railways? 

I had to commute to London on a regular basis when I was a university student and if I had a pound for everytime that I was delayed or inconvenienced by strikes, delays and my personal favourite, bloody signal failures, then I would be writing this blog from a mansion in central London, living debt free after paying of my student loans and would still have enough to pay off my Mum's mortgage here in Crawley. 

The state of our railways is a complete disaster and when you have to pay top rate prices for a service that is shocking, it is an absolute disgrace.

It is debatable that our railway is the most expensive and unreliable service in Europe and even in the world and they never take responsibility for their actions so seeing a country like Japan apologise such a minor offence was hilarious.

Japan's railways are in public hands and this is something that I have long argued for in Britain and was pleased that this policy was put on the Labour Manifesto in 2017. A national railway that puts the needs of passengers before the needs of greedy private ccompanies. 

Britian's railways started being privatised by the conservative government between 1994 and 1997 using the railways act 1993 and since then the travel costs for commuters have gone up alarming rates and the service has actually slipped down.

Britain is light years ahead of other countries when it comes to major issues such as LGBT rights, abolishing the death penalty, decromacy and multi-culturalism but when it comes to railways, it seems that we are light years behind countries that actually know how to run a service like this 

Japan clearly have high standards when it comes railways and I feel this is something that the UK should adopt and this starts with a public service in public hands.

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Australia and Same-Sex marriage

Today it was announced that Australia today took steps into legalising Same-Sex marriage which is one step closer to achieving equality in all parts of the world, which I am ecstatic about.

Almost 13 million Australians (79.5%) voted in the country’s non-binding postal ballot which was an opinion poll on the legalising Same-Sex marriage and over 61% voted YES which is fantastic and I welcome this news. However, the decision ultimately has to be approved by parliament but I am confident that this will encourage parliament to up hold the decision and that couples will be able to be wed by the end of this year or by earliest September 2018.

I was proud when same-sex marriage was legalised in my country back in 2014 and Ireland followed suit and I am confident that more and more countries will follow in the footsteps of Australia. The US has legalised same-sex marriage in all 50 states since 2014.

I do struggle with this sometimes because I wish equality wasn't something that needed to be campaigned for. Laws and regulations that deny basic freedoms and rights to citizens on who they love and how they choose to live their life in the privacy of their own home is shameful. Everyone is equal and everyone deserves the same rights and freedoms as everyone else. 

I hope that this gives hope to all people struggling to come to terms with their sexuality in whatever part of the world that they live in that it won't always have to be this way. I hope anyone who is reading this knows that there is nothing wrong with you and you are valued and needed on this planet and your existence is not devalued because of who you are and your sexuality.

Separate church and state and let's stop the hate.

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CLP Activity UPDATE

The campaigning never stops in the seats that we are REALLY targeting in the next local elections in May 2018 and Ifield is the one that we are really hitting at the moment because it a key swing area,

Today me and local candidate Laura Willcock spoke to residents in Lancelot Road and Quinevere Road and local issues came up about maintaining the area, key issues like parking which has always been a struggle and road maintenance across the town with private areas not owned by the council lacking in maintenance.

Crawley Labour is dedicated and determined to solve all the problems that we get given on the door with our brilliant majority in the Crawley Borough Council.

It was special delivery for Broadfield South residents today as I personally was aiding in delivering our Broadfield Newsletter for our local residents.

For latest reactions and opinions on politics and the Crawley CLP, please follow this blog.

Alex Rowley steps aside as interm scottish leader

I'm sorry, what?

I take it that the Conservatives aren't the only party that are suffering from major loses with their senior figures. Today it was reported that Alex Rowley, intern Scottish Labour Leader has stepped down after his former partner accused him of abusive behaviour during their relationship. How many leaders will the Scottish Labour Party have in less then five years?

It cannot be denied that Scottish Labour, after the last general election, recovered from being governed out of Scotland by the rise of nationalism and the Scottish National Party. Since the second leadership election of Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party has looked to re-stable themselves after the disaster that was the result of the 2015 Election and I would argue that they are going about it the right way. Corbyn has finally got the support of his shadow cabinet and reunited the entire party to back him at the last general election and it showed in the result. No, he didn't get shot of the Conservatives but they lost their majority, Theresa May is hanging on by a thread and after loosing two members of her senior cabinet, another election is likely.

I was very surprised when Kezia Dugdale stepped down in the first place as it was unexpected because of the seats they gained and the comeback at was in the rise but it wasn't meant to be. I admire her for doing massive amounts of damage control after the terrible leadership of Jim Murphy. I hope one day she will return to the leadership of the party, that is if she hasn't joined the SNP and supported YES by then.

Alex Rowley has completely denied the claims and a full investigation is likely to be conducted. I find it deeply worrying that sexual harassment stories continue to hit high profile politicians and candidates and the number of stories that we continue to hear about are shocking.

I am calling for Alex Rowley to be fairly investigated and the claims not go unnoticed and if he is found to be guilty or not guilty of these crimes then the appropriate action should be taken to suit the outcome of this investigation. I would hope that these claims are misunderstood or misdirected but you can never know and a woman's claim of sexual harassment should always be taken with the utmost duty of care and treated with respect and dignity, but we shouldn't just assume that everyone is either telling a lie or the truth. Evidence should be examined and a fair investigation should take place.

I feel it is right that Mr. Rowley has resigned at this time in preparation for the investigation and the leadership contest between the two candidates that are running for the position.

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Today in Ifield West with candidate Laura Willcock

From left to right: Laura Willcock, Kiran Khan and Seth Bomdommo

The May local elections in Crawley are only 6 months away and we are campaigning hard before the Christmas break to make sure our candidates are known to residents to make sure they want to go to the polls and vote for the candidate that will make a difference in their ward.

My main focus within the CLP is Ifield West with our candidate Laura Willcock who was selected by the residents Labour members to be their candidate for the next Crawley Borough Council Elections.

Today early in the morning we had a canvassing event in Peverel Road and other areas close to Dobbins Place introducing our local candidate Laura Willcock

For latest reactions and opinions on politics and the Crawley CLP, please follow this blog.

Top 10 things that the UK should consider about Brexit

1) Staying in the EU is still a possibility

Staying in the European Union is still a possibility, we don't actually have to go ahead with it because we can withdraw our trigger of article 50. The author of Article 50, Lord John Kerr, stated in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU57IRIoVPQ

That Brexit is legally reversible and he was dismissed at the UK government for misleading the British public about Brexit.

I personally think this is a good AND bad thing. On one hand, we have to respect that leave one, the majority of the country voted to Leave but on the other hand, the result so split in two and the country was so divided on the issue which the result says for. My personal position on Brexit is that we should stay in the EU but the vote was done the wrong way. The United Kingdom is made up of four nations and the votes should of been taken seperately in each of the nations and only considered Vote leave to win if 3 nations in the UK voted to leave which is not the case. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain while England and Wales voted to Leave.

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/eu_referendum/results)

Two nations dragging the other two nations out of the EU is unjust, unfair and I am pretty sure it is bad for the environment.

2) A hard brexit could break up the United Kingdom

After the result, The first Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, stated that since Scotland voted differently to the rest of the United Kingdom, a second vote on Independence could be considered. The SNP manifesto for the 2016 Scottish elections stated that the SNP should have the right to hold another vote on Scottish independence if Scotland was taken out of the EU against its will and after the result of the EU vote this condition had been met. The EU debate has changed minds and views of Independence for Scotland.

The UK government must be careful in my opinion and listen to the Scottish government and all devolded administrations or the UK as we know it might come to an end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jEB9e89u1U - Nicola sturgeon saying quoting the Manifesto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vcFNeFYeOw - Nicola Sturgeon seeking a second referendum

3) The dropping levels of the british pound

On the night of the result, the pound sterling dropped to a record low 31 year low after the result was announced which would result in higher and more expensive exchange rates when cashing for Euros and dollars. This will have an deep effect on travelling costs when travelling to Europe and other international countries. And in august 2017 it was reported by the independent that the pound dropped again to an 8 year low.

This will have an effect on the British economy and trade and export with the value of our pound not at a stable and consistent level.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/23/british-pound-given-boost-by-projected-remain-win-in-eu-referendum

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/pound-sterling-latest-exchange-rate-us-dollar-euro-uk-inflation-ons-bank-england-a7894716.html

4) Theresa May favoured remain

Theresa May campaigned for remain, voted remain and now is doing everything she can to make sure she delivers a hard-right Brexit? This does not add up. I believe that Theresa May should stick to her remain principles and keep this in mind when entering the negotiations with Brussels. I don't even believe that she should of even became Prime Minister as it would of made sense for someone on the leave side to come in and deal with the mess that they helped cause because of their campaign.

I do not believe that a politician who favoured remain should be leading the Brexit negotiation because it is not in the best interest of the UK. Theresa May isn't fully up to date and does not even believe in Brexit so how could she possibly be in charge of securing our exit?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/25/theresa-may-wants-you-to-stay-in-the-eu-has-she-blown-her-chance/

5) Freedom of movement might not end

Depending on deal that is struck with the UK and EU and if we opt for a soft Brexit, freedom of movement might be one of the aspects of membership that we get to keep which then would be very undemocratic. Immigration was one of the biggest issues with voters and was arguably one of the biggest reasons why leave won the vote.

I believe that freedom of movement should be ended immediately after we cease to be a member of the EU because of this very reason. It would be a betrayal to the citizens to voted for controls on immigration.  

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/news-opinion/can-keep-freedom-movement-once-13254026

https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/immigration-one-biggest-issues-wavering-eu-referendum-voters

6) The EU referendum wouldn't of happened if Labour won the 2015 UK General Election

Had Labour won the 2015 UK General Election then there wouldn't of been a vote and Brexit would not have happened and Britain wouldn't be in the uncertain situation that Brexit as caused.

After the Brexit vote, the country's future and place in the world has completely changed with our position in the custom union and single market completely under threat if a hard brexit is reached in March 2019 which will change the country and set it on path to a different future which could of been avoided if we voted Remain in 2016, or Labour in 2015

https://labourlist.org/2014/03/miliband-rules-out-eu-referendum-full-speech-text/

7) Staying in the single market is good for the UK economy

One aspect of our EU membership is free access to the single market which allows us to trade freely and openly with other member states of the EU and is very benifical to our economy. 54% of our imports into the UK came from other countries in the EU in 2016. Trade in services will be particularly important, because about 80% of the UK economy comes from providing services.

https://www.ft.com/content/1688d0e4-15ef-11e6-b197-a4af20d5575e

https://fullfact.org/europe/uk-eu-trade/

8) Only 93% of UKIP supporters voted leave

UKIP's main goal and main policy is to get Britain out of the European Union so it was surpising when the figure in the final poll was not 100%. So this really begs the question that does Britain have a future inside the EU?

My personal opinion is that we do and I believe that the EU vote should of been never called in the first place and we should of had negotiations with the UK government and Brussels about our EU and changing it so it works better for our country. I would believe that another Europe is possible and turning our backs is harmful for the country and there are better and more safer options.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-ukip-7-per-cent-remain-vote-yougov-poll-a7100186.html

9) There is no £350m a week for the NHS

One of the main propaganda and main arguments of the leave campaign is that the NHS would get an extra £350m if the UK left the EU because that is how much we pay in membership fees and then Nigel Farage said it was a mistake after £17m people voted to leave the EU.

I believe this is an absolute scandal and a disgrace. The leave campaign was based on this promise and then the leader of UKIP, the party who's main existence was to get Britain out of the European Union said that this was a lie?

I do feel sorry for the people who was mislead but I never believed this. I voted remain and I never believed this lie but the £17m who voted leave did and that is a promise who

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0ktojE6WQA - Nigel Farage admits £350 million a week for the NHS was a 'mistake' on Good Morning Britain

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/11/still-think-nhs-will-get-350-million-week-brexit-dont-know-talking/

10) The younger generation voted remain

75% of young voters in the UK voted to remain. Brexit is something that we did not want and it is an absolute scandal that our views and our ideas are not listened to. This is a result that was forced on us by the older and conservative generation.

I believe that 16 year olds should of been given the right to vote in this referendum because it is their future and they would have to live with the result for the longest but they where denied the right.

Labour have plans to drop the voting age to 16 which would make for a fairer Britain.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/24/meet-the-75-young-people-who-voted-to-remain-in-eu

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jan/23/labour-voting-age-16-mayoral-elections

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Unite activity in Crawley - supporting our trade union and our local labour party

Today me and my fellow friends and Unite the Union members in Crawley held a voter drive registration demo in order to encourage people to register to vote and also we held a community ballet vote to see what issues are facing the issues in Crawley so we can fight for them to be in Labour's next manifesto and connect with our local Labour ran council to address some of the issues that the public voted for in our community ballet box. The major concerns that people voted for in today's community ballet are health, housing, parking and trade union rights. We met and had discussions with the public and was greeted with a fantastic response and even bumped into fellow trade unionists along the way. We hope to continue these activities across Crawley to campaign and make it a fairer and better town.

We also held a Crawley Unite Branch meeting in our local Unite office which was kindly set up by our branch to discuss today's activity and also how to take the branch forward and encourage more people to sign up and campaign with us.

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Brexit - What the hell is happening right now?

UPDATE ON BREXIT 

So it is about time we get an update on Brexit and how the negotiations are going, right? Well I would report something about it but I seriously have no bloody idea what is going on and I bet neither does this current government. The Tories will go down as the worst negotiators in the history of politics and the worst judge of the polls. One Prime Minister called an EU referendum because he took one look at the polls and thought he could shut his own party up and steal votes from UKIP in the process and another one took one look one polls and thought she could crush the opposition and gain more power in the Brexit negotiations and ended up loosing her majority in parliament ten days before they even began so alas, they where BOTH wrong. This is a lesson to any future politician, don't believe the polls, people!  

If I was the EU president or any Head Of States in any of the other countries in the EU, especially German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who is basically the Queen of Europe, I would be laughing, flat out laughing at the current UK government and how much of a disgrace they are at handling such a terrible crisis in UK politics right now. 

I understand that the British people as a whole voted to leave the EU and I recognise that our EU membership had a right to be voted on because they voted for a party that called for the referendum in their manifesto and that brings us to today. My current advice to the British people is relax because NOTHING is under control. 

I wouldn't want to be Theresa May right now, just imagine what it is like to be her at this moment in time. She is stuck delivering a Brexit that she didn't even campaign for or believe in, lost two senior members of her ministry cabinet in a week because of scandals, has faced calls to sack Boris Johnson because of how he handled the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and put her life at risk AND if that wasn't enough, 40 of her own MPs have allegedly supported a vote of no confidence letter which could trigger a leadership contest or even another general election in 2018. It is an absolute disgrace. In my opinion, Theresa May should of resigned after this year's snap election but instead wasted £1b to stay in power. Imagine the good they could of done with that money and imagine the public services they could of funded with that money, the money they said they didn't have because apparently there was no magic money tree to fund the things we want. 

According to BBC news, Theresa May currently has plans to meet EU business traders which I would say is a good thing because talks need to progress and Brexit needs to progress as smoothly and as less damaging to our country as possible. I hope that this meeting will be successful and I hope that more meetings with EU leaders in future months leading to March 2019 when we officially leave the EU.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41962813#

So, all joking aside and all comedy about this government out of the way, how are the talks really progressing and are we any closer to leaving the EU? And what kind of deal will we get? Will the UK suffer a hard Brexit or a soft Brexit?

Well according to my research, Theresa May has said that the UK will commit to all the promises we made to our membership in 2019/19 and 2020 and will roughly contribute €20bn (£17.9bn) to the EU budget in the up coming years before we leave but talks are not progressing on the way we leave the EU which is frustrating to both sides. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41657248

In my personal view, we cannot leave the EU without a deal and without all the talks being finalised and we should not pursue no deal or a far-right harmful Brexit and instead work with EU leaders and presidents to secure what would be the best for both sides. I would favour a soft Brexit with high priorities such as access to the single market which would help our trading and economy, protect the rights of EU citizens living in our country and British citizens who live and work in the EU as they are NOT bargaining chips and look to end free movement as we leave the EU because one of the biggest reasons that people voted leave was because of concerns over that aspect of our membership. 

I do not think a far-right hard brexit is the right thing to pursue for our country.

For latest reactions and opinions on politics and the Crawley CLP, please follow this blog.

Delivery update in Broadfield South - Crawley Labour

For the last few days I have been Ifield West campaigning and leafleting for our local candidate, Laura Willcock, but this morning it was back home in Broadfield South delivering leaflets in my neck of the words.

Crawley Labour works hard and our activists have been getting out our literature ahead of the next local elections in May 2018.


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Are we nearing to a vote of no confidence in Theresa May?

Is her time nearly up?

I have called for Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to bring forward a motion of no confidence on this current government but it turns out that 40 Tory MPs may be ready to sign a letter of no confidence which would force a leadership election within the Tory party. How many Prime Ministers can we have in the span of five years?

According to sources such as the independent, Metro and Sky News:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-no-confidence-letter-conservatives-tories-boris-johnson-michael-gove-a8050516.html

http://metro.co.uk/2017/11/12/40-mps-ready-to-sign-letter-of-no-confidence-in-theresa-may-7072972/

https://news.sky.com/story/forty-conservative-mps-prepared-to-call-for-theresa-may-to-go-11123282

Theresa May could be facing a challenge to her leadership if enough of her MPs sign the letter of no confiedence and it gathers support and I think this is fantastic news. First of all, I don't believe that Theresa May should of put herself up for the leadership after David Cameron resigned in the first place because I believe that someone from the Leave campaign should of been elected because it made the most logical sense in my mind. They caused this damage and it is now theirs to deal with so it was surprising to me to see Theresa May put herself forward and elected after she supported Remain.

What was also surprising to me was to not see Boris Johnson put himself in the firing line after basically being in charge of the Leave campaign and causing this crisis in the first place so he, quite shamefully, withdrew all responsibility when he refused to put himself forward for the leadership. Someone owes the NHS A LOT of money, what about that £350m, Boris? Shame on on.

I would rather see the vote of no confidence brought forward from an Anti-Tory MP on the entire government which would in turn would most likely force another general election in the new year or in 2018 to hopefully get an anti-Tory majority and government in place to deal with Brexit and the UK's future. I saw the 2017 Snap election as a second chance to right the wrongs of the 2015 election and get a new government in place right before the Brexit negotiations began, that didn't quite happen but the Tories did loose their majority so that was one step closer to finally getting shot of them. It was shameful for them to give £1b of tax payers money to Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party to have a support and supply deal, therefore risking the Good Friday agreement and peace in Northern Ireland, when just a few weeks ago, Theresa May said on question time that there was not all the money in the world to fund all the things we want, well apparently that doesn't extend to keeping the Tories in power does it? Hypocrites.

Politics in the UK is such an unstable place right now when the our government has risked the future of our country, Scotland's place in our union and our future in Europe in the world at every opportunity that they have been given. It is such a disgrace.

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Saqid Khan on Andrew Marr 12/11/2017 - my response

Labour Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Conservative Michael Goves where guests on the Andrew Mar show today and this is my response to the show.

The first interview I am going to focus on is Saqid Khan. He has called for the sacking or of Boris Johnson because of his failure to protect British citizens such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who has been detained in Iran and jailed for five years because she allegedly plotted against the Iranian regime and government during a visit to family and friends. Her daughter's British passport was confiscated and is now under care of her maternal grandparents in Iran.

I would personally say this is a scandal, it is not Iran's job to jail and punish our citizens and Mr. Johnson should be doing everything in his power to get her back into this country where her actions can be looked at and investigated by the British government. If Iran had worries about her plotting against the country, of course they cannot just ignore that but the reasonable thing to do is send her back to her own country so our government can investigate, not take matters into their own hands. From the understanding of the British government, she was just on a family holiday visiting relatives and was on her way back to the UK when she was detained.

If the Iranian government had reason to believe that she was plotting against the government, which I wouldn't understand how they would come to that conclusion when she was just taking her child to visit family members, then they should of worked with our government to return her to our country so we could investigate this further. The current reason for her arrest is unclear at this point to justify her imprisonment for five years. Boris Johnson should resign over this failure. A child is now away from its parents and in care in a foreign country because of his actions, disgraceful.

Saqid Khan was then asked on his record as London Mayor, partially on fare freezes and affordable housing. Saqid Khan announced in 2017 that TFL fares across London's transport network would be frozen until 2020 and has called on the government to freeze private operating train company fares too. I agree with the fare freeze, I would favour fares being a lot cheaper then they are, rail fares under private companies are priced ridiculously high, you shouldn't have to fork over a lot of your paycheck just to get to work each day. I also do agree with his Hooper policy to take two buses for the same price in an hour and I am sure that is benefiting low income familes across London but again, I would like to see transport in the UK back in public hands and fares A LOT cheaper then they are. I think we could do a lot better with #publictransportinpublichands. Sill a lot to do to make London more affordable.

The second half of his interview was on London housing and his policies on housing. I recognise that housing is a big problem in the UK and there is lack of affordable housing across London and the United Kingdom, mainly down to Thatcher's right to buy policy and not enough houses being built to accommodate for the council housing that was sold off under her government. I have called on the government to scrap right to buy for my entire political career because it is damaging. Lack of affordable council housing in London available for young people and families is driving people into homelessness and the cost of living in London, I believe, is unreasonable and I would favour rent freezes. Saqid Khan pledged that 50% of housing would be affordable and mentioned and this is changed from a target to a long-term ambition and was challenged on the number of housing being built on London was failing and he called for the government to invest more in housing and argued that Brexit and has concerns on investments with the governments.

We do need to build more homes in this country and housing needs more investment to tackle the crisis in this country at this moment but the first thing to do in my mind is scrap right to buy to make sure affordable homes always stay affordable and cannot be sold off.

Housing crisis will get worse under right to buy - https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/oct/11/housing-crisis-england-scrap-right-to-buy-help-to-buy

Saqid Khan's first affordable plot to be developed - https://www.standard.co.uk/news/mayor/sadiq-khans-first-100-affordable-housing-plot-to-be-developed-a3619051.html

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Today in Southgate, Crawley with Crawley CLP

Today me and Crawley CLP where out in Southgate, Crawley talking to residents and constituents about their issues and problems about the area for our local councillor Raj Sharma ahead of the May 2018 local council elections. Crawley Labour are frequent in talking to residents and sorting out problems that are brought up to us on the door step as is required of us.

Canvassing is an important part of the political experience and face to face interaction with residents and constituents is what works best for swaying voters and tackling the ward that we canvass head on,

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Tony Blair BBC4 Radio interview - my reaction

Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair was on BBC 4 radio today and I want to get out my response to his interview.

Tony Blair was the first Prime Minister I ever knew, I grew up under Mr. Blair's New Labour government and I have agreed and disagreed with many of the decisions that he took as Prime Minister. I probably wouldn't be here if New Labour was still the party's standpoint because I could never serve under New Labour, having said that, what he did was better then what the Tories would of done in those years in power so it is almost like the lesser of two evils when you take those points into account.

On to the interview, his main point was that Labour should be 20 points ahead in the popularity polls and suggested that Jeremy Corbyn isn't capitalising on the problems that are facing the current government, and in theory he could be right. The Tory government is in shambles at this time, loosing two shadow cabinet members and loosing their majority two years after getting it and having a Prime Minister resigning after he lost the EU vote. I would love to see a vote of no confidence in this government brought forward by Jeremy Corbyn to force another election. I am not sure how much support and how successful it would be but I would champion that bill if brought forward to parliament.

Mr. Blair was asked about social media, how that can be used in politics and discussed if it was a threat to democracy or not.

"The interplay between social media and conventional media is often creating a situation in which it is very hard to have a democratic discourse if there is a whole lot of manipulation with fake news stories that are surrounding the public debate. The agenda needs to be explored and dealt with." - Tony Blair

His response there suggests that there is a place for social media in democratic and more labour MPs should be encouraging more active social campaigning. He seems to advocate the use of technology in politics and other key areas in healthcare will is a good response to have. I have always thought that the increase in technology and how the world is developing is a good thing. The world needs to advance, healthcare needs to upgrade with the times otherwise that would be a scary outcome if we didn't have a healthcare system that doesn't cater to its nation without funding. Technology has been a huge part of political campaigns in the 21st century and not having a social media account on all major social networks if you are a politician is not well received if you want to seem open and accessible. It is important to use all the tools at your disposal.

Another major point on his interview was about religion and war with countries like Israel and Saudi Arabia and his view was that Britain should be on the side of the westerners. He also attacked how damaging fake news could be but I would have make the point about how he used fake news on WMD to justify an illegal war with Iraq because he did mislead the country on that,

The next major part of his interview was about Euro, the UK joining the Euro and Gordon Brown's position. He said that he was in favour politically but not economically because he had concerns about a single currency and stated that Gordon Brown wanted to join the Euro. I think this is a mistake and the UK joining the EU would of been a BIG mistake for this country. I don't believe that this would of been the right thing for our country and the UK is incompatible with the Euro currency and it would be a disaster and I was happy that the UK opted out of that treaty in the EU. I believe that the euro currency is a dangerous thing for the country and what is best for our trade, business and relationships with other countries is to keep our strong (well, weaker after brexit) currency. Leaving the EU has had an impact on our currency and relationships with other countries which could put in question our future as a country which is why I backed remain in the first place.


for the full interview - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09dp4sj#play

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Universal Credit is WRONG - #StopUniversalCredit

Plain and simple, Universal credit is ruining innocent lives and it is an absolute scandal.

Universal credit, the new benefit system, which has already been tested and rolled out in areas of the country, including my own area, is replacing six mean tested benefits and tax credits and it is simply unjust, unfair and I'm pretty sure it's bad for the environment! In theory, rolling all your benefit payments into one easy online payment, sounds convenient right? But this is why this system isn't working for Britain's benefit claimants.

The problem with this system is that claimants being switched are waiting a minimum 42 days (SIX WEEKS) and even longer for their first payment which throws the family finances out of the window and leaves nothing for people in need to live on for such a long period of time.

According to the guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/02/universal-credit-why-problem-can-benefits-system-be-fixed) over 600,000 are already on this system and the system is FIVE YEARS behind schedule, this is an outrage and how can the Tories get away with treating innocent and decent people who need help like this?

The Tories have claimed that this new system is to encourage people into work and not be dependant on benefits and this is an outrage because there are lots of legit reasons why a human is not suitable to hold down and maintain a job. Don't these people deserve a living? Isn't it the government's duty to look after our unfit to work citizens, regardless of why they are unfit to work?

This is also causing a housing crisis for tenants because of the uncertainty and delayed in setting out this new system, landlords have confessed that they will not rent to UC claimants (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/landlords-tenants-universal-credit_uk_59e75bb3e4b08f9f9edbfbb5)

Is there no end to the Tories desire to make sure that people with the bare essentials have even less while millionaires and people earning over £100,000 get away with tax cuts, and don't forget while that is happening, child benefit is being restricted to only the first two children and people with spare bedrooms in council housing are getting taxed which then begs the question, who is this government working for because it uncertainly isn't for the many.

Our NHS is in crisis without the funding it is needed (http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/849609/nhs-crisis-winter-high-demand-insufficient-capacity) but it is okay to not ask the richest to pay their fare share, while punishing people who have nothing in our country? Disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful.

One story that has come to my attention while researching for this blog is Les Ross (https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4885638/benefits-universal-credit-broke-dwp-roll-out-six-week-wait/) who only had 24p to live on and has to declare bankruptcy because of this situation.

THIS is the reality of this new system, pushing more people into poverty, just because this government doesn't want to stick up for the most poorest in our society.

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Article 50 is reversible - Lord Kerr

It has been revealed today by Lord Kerr, the author of the article 50 legislation, that Article 50 is legally reversible and he has expressed his frustration in the government for misleading the UK public on how Article 50 actually works for the British Government. 

May I remind everyone that the vote was not legal in binding and it was more of an opinion poll, having said that, not going through with the result would be highly undemocratic but here is my opinion on the whole situation. 

I would be more inclined to respect the outcome of Brexit if the entire vote leave campaign wasn't based on lies, propoganda, racism, xenophobia, fear of immigrants, refugees and £350m a week for the NHS which was a lie. The way that the brexit vote was done was extremely unfair. Sometimes I feel the UK forgets that they are made up of four nations, all with different opinions and cultures. The votes should of been taken separately in each nation and only left the EU if 3 or more nations agreed.

I would actually be in favour of a second EU ref if that option was on the table but I am aware that would cost the tax payer and this country in funds and if the outcome if leave again, am I just going to call for a third one because I didn't like the answer? I don't think that is right and I am in favour of democracy. I have called out the SNP for calling for a second vote on Scottish Independence because they didn't like the outcome of the first vote but I am aware that the UK that they voted to stay in doesn't exist at the moment.

I disagree with people when they say that Better Together lied to them, that voting NO was the way to protect their EU membership because it is clearly not true. In 2014, the UK was firmly in the EU and this was before David Cameron even announced that he planned to hold a vote on EU membership so it wasn't a lie, it was the truth at the time. A truth doesn't become a lie just because situations change when there was no way to see that would happen back in 2014, and had Labour won the 2015 General Election, it wouldn't have. If we have a second vote on EU Membership then it is only fair to give the SNP and the Scottish People a choice in their own future too and this is coming from someone who is apposed to Scottish Independence, because I am a democrat.

I agree with Lord Kerr and I am greatful for his speech and informing the British people on this situation.

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#EqualPayDay

Today in the UK is Equal Pay day where because of the pay gap between genders, women are effectively working for free for the rest of the year because of the gap that exists in gender pay.

The Equal Pay Act was passed 47 years ago in Parliament and it is a total scandal that this situation still hasn't been resolved almost half a century later.

Sometimes I don't understand this backwards thinking, women's equality should just be a given right? Women getting paid the same as men for the same job that they do should just be a given right? Who along the line decided that men where the dominate gender? I don't understand this world that in 2017, women's rights and equality is still something that actually has to be bloody campaigned for. Sometimes this world disappoints me regarding to policies like this.

Theresa May has revealed her plans to bridge the gap by making firms and companies publish their rate of pay for both genders which admittedly in theory is a good idea but we are still waiting on her efforts. You would think as a woman and as the Prime Minister, women's rights and equality would be at the top of her agenda but we have had two Female Prime Ministers and we are still at the situation that we have today and it is a scandal.

Labour has previously pledged to bridge the gap with high profile figures taking the opportunity to tweet about it on this day, which again, when women's rights and women's pay relating to men is something that has to be pledged by a government, it really shows us what kind of world we really live in.

I really hope that for the good of my gender, this situation is resolved sooner rather then later and that with our female minister, she would actually take the time to care about women's rights but giving £1b to Northern Ireland's DUP to save her government, a party that has previously voted against women's rights and is against the right to an healthy and safe abortion, I really doubt it.

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Penny Mordaunt replaces Priti Patel as the Secretary of State for International Development

It has been confirmed that Penny Mordaunt will replace fallen Cabinet Minister Priti Patel, N.10 announced today. 

Penny Mordaunt who is the current MP for Portsmouth North was elected to parliament in 2010 and has had some senior positions in the government since her election. She was appointed the Parliament Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in 2014 under David Cameron and then was promoted to Minister of State for the Armed Forces and then under Theresa May was appointed the Minister of state for Disabled people and resigned from this position after being appointed to replace Priti Patel as the Secretary of State for International Development.

Penny Mordaunt's appointment will be looking to restore order in Theresa May's cabinet of scandals as she has been known to have a clean record in parliament. She is also a Leaver in the EU debate so this appointment will please the leavers looking for a hard Brexit and I believe that this appointment may of been the right thing for May. Priti Patel was a passionate leaver so it is only right that her position is filled by another one. 

The Tory party is hanging on by a life line and I am now calling, more then ever, for a vote of no confidence in this failed government

I honestly believe that the clock is ticking and time is VERY limited on this failed and quite frankly, embarrassing pathetic excuse of an government that Theresa May has right now. Now more then ever, we need a government who will get us through Brexit and if you honestly believe that this week government, propped up by Northern Ireland extremists will deliver a brexit that will work for the country then you are mistaking yourself. There is nothing strong and stable about this government, I am telling you now.

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Coverage of Theresa May's speech at the CBI Conference 2017

Theresa May delivered a speech to the CBI conference on the 6th November and I would like to respond to some of her key points. The opening of her speech was listing some of the achievements of her government.

From Tmay's speech - "The deficit has been cut by over two thirds."

Well last time I checked, the UK debt has risen since 2010 when this government came into power

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_national_debt

From Tmay's speech - "Since 2010, over three million more people now have the security of a job."

Now, what is the truth of this Tory employment figure that they like to boast about?

Since March 2017, the figure of people on Zero hours contracts are over 900,000
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/mar/03/zero-hours-contracts-uk-record-high

The public sector pay gap at 1% will not be lifted under this government with the rate of inflation which is currently at 2.9% (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41238822)  and this means that dedicated nurses and people working in our health service will not be able to afford to support themselves and their families which is a scandal. This is in work poverty, forced on by a government that has no interest in protecting public services.

From Tmay's speech - "Income equality is at it's lowest level since 1986."

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/10/uk-inequality-working-people-pensions-ons


From TMay's speech - "The number of people living in poverty is at an record low."

It is estimated that roughly 4 million children are living in poverty since March 2017
http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/4-million-children-now-living-in-poverty-in-the-uk/


19million brits are now on the verge of poverty
http://uk.businessinsider.com/theresa-mays-jams-joseph-rowntree-foundation-finds-4-million-people-just-above-poverty-line-2017-2 


Please guys, do the research yourself and don't reply to the propaganda and rhetic that is fed to you.

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Ian Duncan Smith - "We are all brexiteers now."

So Ian Duncan Smith is in news a lot today...apparently we are all brexiteers now? 

Today on BBC 4, Mr Duncan Smith was interviewed and stated that we are all brexiteers now. Well although I agree that we must respect the outcome of the result of the referendum last year, I would still prefer that we stay in the EU or if we must leave, which we have to, we must get a deal that works for our country. The harmful and far-right Brexit that Theresa May is looking is not the option that we have and is not the only option. And I would be in favour of having a second vote on the final deal that is is reached and be able to have the final say. 

Honestly, when it comes to Brexit, I still feel a little hard done by with all that has gone down since the 2015 election and the 2016 EU referendum because it didn't have to be this way, and especially even more after the 2017 Snap election, I kind of felt that it was our second chance to sort our country out and start clearing the mess that Tories have done over the last 7 years but it wasn't meant to be. And the entire campaign was based on lies, fear and propaganda anyway.

Main lies the leave campaign told us

1) The NHS would get an extra £350M a week for the NHS

2) We actually send £350M to the EU, some of that money never leaves the country and is used to fund research in British universities and farming sectors, not to mention the money the EU sends the UK. 

Now, I understand that people have problems with our EU membership, especially when it comes to immigration and free movement and I understand that people have worrying concerns, especially with the threat of terrorism, new members joining the EU and some argue that we need more control over our British boarders. I, myself have had worrying concerns about free movement too and not every part of our membership is something that I am happy with. Before the British people where given the vote, David Cameron, who favoured remain, was in the middle of negotiating our membership to change it so it worked in the interest of the British people, those talks where dropped as soon as the date was set. We have always enjoyed a special relationship within the EU and another Europe was possible, it was such a shame that half of the public didn't want to entertain those ideas.

I voted remain, I campaigned passionately for remain and even the Prime Minister himself favoured staying in the EU. He put the interests of his party first and was afraid of loosing votes to UKIP which is the only reason this ref was called. It is shameful and how the future of our country is at risk because of his actions, I don't understand how this is strong stability.

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