Equality Party leader to run against Davies
THE CONSERVATIVES yesterday claimed the Communist Party’s decision to endorse Jeremy Corbyn was evidence of the damage a Labour government would do to the economy.
This General Election will mark the first time the Communist Party has not fielded candidates in its 97-year history as it throws its support behind Labour.
On another difficult day for Mr Corbyn, a new ITV/Cardiff University poll suggested the Conservatives could win the majority of seats in Wales for the first time since the 19th century.
The poll put the Conservatives on 40 per cent of votes in Wales, a 10-point lead over Labour.
Communist Party general secretary Robert Griffiths said members would be “campaigning for a Labour victory as the essential first step towards the formation of a left-led government at Westminster”.
Conservative MP Amanda Milling said: “Let this sink in: Jeremy Corbyn has been endorsed today by a party who want to close down businesses, leave the protection of NATO and hike up taxes to a level never seen before in this country.
“At this election every vote is going to count. Unless people get out there and vote for Theresa May and their local Conservative candidate, this man will be our Prime Minister in a little over six weeks – propped up by the Lib Dems and SNP in a coalition of chaos.”
Mr Corbyn yesterday appealed to the Scottish electorate not to back the Conservatives as Labour tries to avoid a repeat of last year’s Holyrood elections, in which the party was beaten into third place.
Labour was left with just a single MP in Scotland after the 2015 General Election and current polls suggest the Conservatives are likely to be the main beneficiaries of any slip in support for the SNP. Speaking to the Scottish Trades Union Congress, Mr Corbyn said: “While the timing of the election is unexpected, the choice is very, very clear and the stakes are very, very high.
“Let no-one be in any doubt: we are in this election to win it and we will fight for every seat in every corner of these islands.
“The dividing lines in this election could not be clearer from the outset – it is the Conservative Party, the party of privilege and the richest, versus the Labour Party, the party that is standing up for working people to improve the lives of all.
“That is the real choice. Only us or the Tories can form a government and I implore people in Scotland to fight for the party NICOLA STURGEON has suggested Theresa May called a snap general election before alleged Tory expenses fraud in 2015 “catches up with her”.
Scotland’s First Minister said the Conservatives should not be allowed to escape accountability for any “misdemeanours” in a speech to the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) in Aviemore in the Highlands.
Ms Sturgeon said: “We are, of of progress and not the vicious Tory party, who alongside their previous coalition partners the Lib Dems unleashed an unprecedented attack on the working people in this country.”
Mr Corbyn used his speech to repeat his pledge that a Labour government would order an inquiry into the events known as the Battle of Orgreave in the 1983/4 miners’ strike.
He also underlined Labour would not enter into a so-called “progressive coalition” with the SNP in an attempt to keep the Conservatives out of office.
Mr Corbyn said: “The only real progressive alliance is the Labour and trade union movement working together as it’s always been and, so far as I’m concerned, always will be.
“That’s why Labour is campaigning to win in every seat across the whole country. The deal we will do with the electorate is to be the government for the many, not the few.”
Mr Corbyn last month said another Scottish independence referendum would be “absolutely fine” but later said he did not think there should be a fresh vote.
In his speech, the Labour leader claimed the Conservatives and SNP were distracted by Brexit and independence respectively.
He said: “Labour will negotiate a Brexit that will build on the gains won for workers, consumers and the environment in the European Union. We will put jobs, living standards and human rights first.
“Friends, this is a general election, it’s not a referendum, and only Labour can form a government and offer an alternative that will transform the lives of people in Scotland.
“The truth is that the Tories and the SNP are obsessed with their power struggles against Brussels and Westminster when the energy should be used to change and transform our economy to ensure that no-one and no community is left behind.” course, at the start of a general election campaign.
“A campaign called by the Prime Minister last week for one purpose and one purpose only: to strengthen the grip of the Tory party and crush dissent and opposition, and to do so before possible criminal prosecutions for alleged expenses fraud at the last general election catches up with her.
“Whatever else happens in this election, we should not allow the Tory party to escape the accountability for any misdemeanours that may have led to them buying the last general election.”
Ms Sturgeon said the Tory vision for the future of the country “should be ringing alarm bells loudly and clearly across Scotland right now”.
She said: “Because, make no mistake, and I think it’s obvious to see, the hardliners have taken over the Tory party and now those Tory hardliners want to take over the country as well.
“It’s no surprise that Ukip right now is losing support to the Tories because the Tories are now threatening to take the UK in a direction that a few years ago Ukip could only have dreamed about, but it should alarm all of us.
“Whatever our politics, we should all stand up against that rightward drift of the country that the Tories are determined to effect.”
Ms Sturgeon continued: “Scotland knows, we know from long experience, that there has always been a cost to voting Tory but the price at this election has never been higher, and it will be those that are least able to pay that price who will bear the biggest burden.”
The SNP leader said the Tories would impose a “double hit” on Scottish families and communities by making the country “poorer” and society “more unfair and unequal”. “The truth is the Tories are starting to think that they can do whatever they want to Scotland and get away with it,” Ms Sturgeon said. THE LEADER of the Women’s Equality Party accused Philip Davies of wasting time on “a selfindulgent, anti-women” campaign in Westminster as she confirmed she will stand against the Tory MP in his West Yorkshire seat of Shipley.
The women’s rights campaigner and former journalist Sophie Walker claimed Mr Davies has a “track record of misogyny”, and is failing to represent “the needs and interests of all its constituents”.
Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, she stated she would be a “voice for all women” in Parliament, and fight against Tory austerity policies that “hit women harder than men”.
Confirming her candidacy, she added: “Shipley deserves an MP that will represent the needs and interests of all its constituents.”
But Mr Davies has defended his record on equality, while accusing Ms Walker of “parachuting herself” into an area that he has represented for almost 12 years.