Faith of a candidate ‘should not be seen as weakness’
JEREMY CORBYN risked ridicule last night after he branded Labour’s local elections results as “mixed” after the party lost almost 400 council seats.
The Labour leader admitted the party faces a “historic” challenge to win next month’s general election.
The party lost control of seven councils, including Glasgow for the first time in around 40 years, and saw damaging results in Welsh strongholds.
Mr Corbyn said: “The results were mixed. We lost seats but we are closing the gap on the Conservatives. I am disappointed at every Labour defeat in the local elections. Too many fantastic councillors, who work tirelessly for their communities, lost their seats.
“We have five weeks to win the General Election so we can fundamentally transform Britain for the many, not the few.
“We know this is no small task – it is a challenge on an historic scale. But we, the whole Labour movement and the British people, can’t afford not to seize our moment.”
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said Conservatives were winning support from former Labour voters because of Mr Corbyn’s “feeble” leadership.
“Voters who previously voted for all three – Lib Dem, Labour and Ukip – are now seeing that what this country needs is a government with a full, working majority to negotiate a good, successful exit from the European Union and to build a stronger, fairer Britain after that,” he said.
“To do that you need a proper working majority and that’s what Theresa May is asking for from people who previously wouldn’t have voted for us and may well have voted either Ukip or Labour.”
With all the results in, the Tories had control of 28 authorities among those contested, including 11 gains.
Mrs May’s party had 1,896 councillors, a net gain of 562, while Labour had 1,151, a net loss of 382.
Labour had control of nine councils and had lost control of seven.
The Lib Dems had 439 councillors, a net loss of 41; the Scottish National Party had 431, down seven; Plaid Cymru was on 202, up 33, and the Greens were on 40, a net gain of six.
The results appeared to cast doubt on the strength of the Lib Dem resurgence but leader Tim Farron insisted the party was still on track to make gains at the General Election.
The Lib Dems suggest seats such as Bath, Cambridge, Cardiff Central, Cheltenham, Eastleigh, Eastbourne, Edinburgh West, St Albans and Watford could be won by the party, more than doubling its current nine MPs.
Mr Farron said: “These results tell a clear and stark message. Labour has collapsed. They cannot win the General Election.”
The results were particularly dire for the UK Independence Party as it emerged with just one seat on the councils where elections were held, a fall of 145.
Leader Paul Nuttall said: “If the price of Britain leaving the EU is a Tory advance after taking up this patriotic cause, then it is a price Ukip is prepared to pay.
“We are the victims of our own success and now we pick ourselves up and go on to further success in the future.”
But Arron Banks, a former major donor to Ukip, said the party was “finished as an electoral force” under its current leadership.
He said a “new movement” would be launched after the General Election. BRITAIN NEEDS a new “religious literacy” in which public servants can talk openly about their beliefs without being mocked or ridiculed by secularists.
The call comes from the Archbishops of York and Canterbury in a pre-election pastoral letter to Church of England parishes around the country.
Though Dr John Sentamu and Justin Welby, the CoE’s most senior bishops, do not endorse a party, or candidate, they express a desire for a more debate about the UK’s Christian heritage.
Their comments will be viewed with interested by Prime Minister Theresa May – the vicar’s daughter is a practising Christian who has continued to attend church every Sunday since she succeeded David Cameron last July.
“The new Parliament, if it is to take religious freedom seriously, must treat as an essential task the improvement of religious literacy,” the Archbishops write in their letter, which has been seen by
“More immediately, if we aspire to a politics of maturity and generosity, then the religious faith of any election candidate should not be treated by opponents as a vulnerability to be exploited. We look forward to a media and political climate where all candidates can feel confident that they can be open about the impact of their faith on their vocation to public service.
“Religious belief is the wellspring for the virtues and practices that make for good individuals, strong relationships and flourishing communities. In Britain, these embedded virtues are not unique to Christians, but they have their roots in the Christian history of our four nations.
“If treated as partners in the project of serving the country, the churches – and other faiths – have much to contribute to a deep understanding and outworking of the common good.”
The Archbishops highlight major concerns over poverty, housing and the dangers of “crushing” debt among other issues.
They call for a generous and hospitable welcome to refugees and migrants but also warn against being “deaf to the legitimate concerns” about the scale of migration into some communities. They also single out the importance of standing up for those suffering persecution on grounds of faith around the world.