Singer caught virus despite having vaccine
having more police officers, neighbourhood police out there with our communities.”
Mr Starmer’s visit to West Yorkshire coincides with the release of polling that does not bode well for his party going into the local elections on May 6.
A poll by YouGov on March 22 put the Tories ahead of Labour by 43% of the vote to 34, while on Tuesday evening a poll by JL Partners found that the gains Labour had made in Red Wall target seats since the autumn had been reversed by Boris Johnson.
Mr Starmer defended his record and said the results would not deter him from his “mission” to rebuild the party after Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
“The polls move around on a monthly and weekly basis over time,” he said.
“I think it’s important to know where the polling is, but also not to be driven week in and week out by the latest polling.
“I know what I need to do in relation to the Labour party, I know the size of the task I’ve got after the defeat in 2019, and the basic hard work, the sweat and blood of rebuilding trust in the Labour party, reconnecting and resetting the Labour party.
“That is the mission I’m on and I’m not going to be deflected from that.”
Over the past week Batley has been rocked by the suspension of a teacher at its grammar school who showed a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in class. Protestors gathered outside the school, while there have been reports that the teacher is fearing for his life.
The Labour leader said: “No teacher or member of staff should be intimidated – it’s very important I think that we all say that.
“In the long run, what we want is to make sure that staff, parents and teachers and community leaders can get around the table and find a positive and constructive way forward on this.”
MICHELLE Heaton has urged people to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as she revealed she caught the virus after being given the jab.
The singer said she was told by nurses her situation would have “been a lot worse” if she had not had the first dose of the vaccine a month ago because she has underlying health issues.
She said her family all found out they had coronavirus after being randomly tested as part of a medical trial they have been taking part in.
Heaton, 41, wrote on Instagram: “I had the (Pfizer) jab a month ago, proving (not that it doesn’t work) but that we must all still be careful!
“Without my first jab, the NHS nurses I spoke to yesterday said thank God I accepted it, as a person with many underlying health issues I could have been a lot worse, or may be hospitalised - I’m doing OK, enough strength to tell the kids off anyway and they are taking this news so well so proud of them both considering this week we were going to start with friends and bbqs!”