Labour MP warns party of ‘uncanny’ parallels with Germany’s defeated SPD
Keir Starmer could be heading for the same fate as Olaf Scholz, the recently defeated German chancellor, unless his government is able to deliver on issues such as immigration and welfare, a Labour MP has warned.Jake Richards, the MP for Rother Valley, said he had seen “uncanny” parallels between Labour and Scholz’s party during a recent fact-finding trip to Germany to study the rise of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).Richards is one of a number of Labour MPs from the “red wall” who have been alarmed by the rise in support for Reform UK and in response are urging the party to take tough action on immigration, welfare and crime.Many are worried that the wave of support for far-right candidates across Europe, including in Germany where Scholz’s Social Democratic party (SPD) came third behind the AfD, could be replicated in the UK at the next election.“There are uncanny and sort of haunting similarities between the SPD’s predicament and what might happen unless this government delivers,” Richards said.
“Scholz ran as a chancellor focused on the transition to a green economy, on growth, on housebuilding – and their vote share essentially halved in four years.”He added: “The parallels are uncanny.We’ve seen the rise there of the far right, and we’ve got the rise of the populist right here in the UK.”Richards’ trip to Germany was part of a push by Labour backbenchers in areas where Reform is strong to better understand the threat posed by the rightwing party and to persuade their own colleagues to respond accordingly.The MP spent time watching the SPD campaign in east Germany, where the AfD performed well, and in Berlin talking to politicians and pollsters.
Labour MPs have set up groups to discuss polls and tips on how to tackle Nigel Farage’s party, while the thinktank Labour Together has started researching which political messages work well with Reform voters,The party has recently begun putting out campaign adverts aping the Reform messaging and style, including ads boasting of a “five-year high in migrant removals”,Labour’s landslide election victory relied heavily on slim majorities in areas such as Richards’ seat of Rother Valley, where Reform is polling well,Several national polls have put the populist party ahead of Labour and the Conservatives, and Richards is one of many MPs urging the government to be tough on immigration and welfare as a result,Downing Street is paying attention and the government has already started to outline policies that will resonate with Reform’s core support base.
Last week, Starmer announced that foreign aid would be halved to pay for a big rise in defence spending.The work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, is expected to set out sweeping cuts to benefits payments in a green paper in the coming weeks.Starmer’s decision to cut aid has been met with muted criticism from his own party, with many of its newer MPs such as Richards giving the prime minister their backing.“Five, 10 years ago on the centre-left, you couldn’t offer any critique of aid spending or you’d be sort of sent off to Siberia.But now we need to be clear-eyed about this,” Richards said.
“This is a problem.People think it’s a problem.”He added that one of the biggest challenges to defeating Reform was persuading his own colleagues to take seriously what Reform voters were telling them.“People are right to say you’re not going to out-Reform Reform, but unless you start dealing with these issues head-on, you will lose,” he said.“People aren’t wrong when they say that they’re worried about immigration.
People aren’t wrong when they feel like the welfare state is not fair.”
Sunday with Nigel Havers: ‘We’ll take the dog for a walk, she’s a rare poodle-poodle’
The actor talks about breakfast, dinner, dogs and horses, and shares his tips on racing and learning linesUp early? I like to listen to Paddy O’Connell at 9am on Radio 4. It’s a semi-political, opinionated show, with guests talking about the news. It’s amusing, witty… and I’ve been a guest, so obviously highly intelligent.What’s next? We’ll take the dog for a walk. She’s called Charlie and she’s a very rare breed – a black poodle-poodle
On my radar: Bobby Baker’s cultural highlights
The artist Bobby Baker was born in Kent in 1950 and studied painting at St Martins School of Art. In her work, which combines performance with drawing and installation, she highlights the undervalued aspects of women’s lives, often with reference to food and cooking. In 1995, she founded Daily Life Ltd to make art that “explores and celebrates everyday life and human behaviour”. Her artwork An Edible Family in a Mobile Home, originally created in 1976 and featuring a family composed of cakes, biscuits and meringues, is at the Whitworth, Manchester, until 20 April. Baker lives and works in London
Bill Dare obituary
Bill Dare, who has died aged 64 as a passenger in a road accident, was an influential force in TV and radio satire for almost 40 years. He was the puppet master – literally – producing eight series of Spitting Image for ITV in the 1990s, then figuratively in creating Dead Ringers for BBC radio.“We know how far we can go – as long as we are only upsetting some of the people some of the time,” Dare said during his time on Spitting Image (1990-94). He held back on featuring Woody Allen when the Hollywood star was accused of sexually abusing his adopted daughter Dylan (“It is a very difficult, very sensitive subject,” he said). But he had no qualms about introducing Jesus Christ as a drug-smoking hippy, only to discover that it provoked protest from both Christians and Muslims (who revere Christ as a holy prophet)
The Guide #181: TV has given up on live music – but social media won’t let it die
Whenever, in a weak moment, I find myself mindlessly scrolling on Instagram, it usually isn’t long before I encounter a compellingly fuzzy video of a band performing on a long-since-cancelled TV show: Shaun Ryder with a bowl cut swaying awkwardly to Happy Mondays’ Step On on a 1990 edition of Top of the Pops; or Cedric and Omar from At the Drive-In thrashing away to One-Armed Scissor on Later with Jools Holland; or riot grrrlers Huggy Bear mounting an impromptu feminist protest against the lads and ladettes of The Word after their performance of Her Jazz.On Instagram, X and TikTok there are tons of these accounts, dedicated to clipping and uploading live studio performances from the 80s, 90s and 00s, and saddos like me ready to lap them up (I won’t link to them here because I suspect lots of them might be violating copyright). The appetite for these old performances clearly hasn’t gone unnoticed by the TV networks that used to host them. Last week there was much excitement online as Paramount Plus added 50 episodes of MTV Unplugged to its platform, featuring everyone from Nirvana to Mariah Carey (though only, it seem, in the US – curse you, Paramount Plus!). In the UK the iPlayer continues to share vintage episodes of Top of the Pops at a steady clip, shortly after their BBC Four rebroadcast
Noel Clarke has made ‘wild allegations’ against his abuse accusers, court told
Noel Clarke has made “wild allegations” against women who have accused him of sexual misconduct but has not explained why they would lie about him, the high court heard on the first day of his libel claim against the Guardian.The 49-year-old actor is suing Guardian News and Media (GNM) over seven articles and a podcast published between April 2021 and March 2022 in which more than 20 women accused him of sexual misconduct.In written submissions, Gavin Millar KC, for GNM, said: “[The defendant] will adduce evidence from 16 women who experienced C’s [the claimant’s] misconduct first-hand, some of them on multiple occasions. There is no motive for them to lie and [the claimant] has not suggested any, beyond making wild allegations as to an alleged conspiracy.“These witnesses have remained willing to give their evidence voluntarily despite the fact that, over the course of litigation, [the claimant] has published a number of statements on social media and elsewhere expressly or impliedly denigrating those who have made allegations against him, no doubt in the hope of deterring women from cooperating with [the defendant]
Jimmy Kimmel on Trump’s tariffs: ‘Can you believe we’re shaking down Canada?’
Late-night hosts recapped another week of mixed messages on Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs, government cuts and chaos from the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge).Donald Trump moved ahead with his plan to dismantle the Department of Education this week, as its secretary, Linda McMahon, confirmed her “final mission” to dissolve the agency in a staff email. “WWE co-founder Linda McMahon will supervise the important work of dismantling the Department of Education,” Jimmy Kimmel marveled on Thursday evening. “Another genius tactical move, I’ll tell you why: he keeps getting attacked by all these smart people. What does he do? He outlaws smart
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