Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson wasted more than £500,000 of taxpayers' money attempting to block free speech protections for university academics. She started this legal battle after trying to dilute the Conservative law that put a duty on universities to actively promote as well as protect free speech. The good news is that Phillipson finally twigged the High Court wasn't likely to see it her way, so at the last minute she U-turned on her bid to scrap the Higher Education Freedom of Speech Act, forcing the government to pay £353,748 to the Free Speech Union who brought the legal challenge against her.
Why does Labour hate freedom so much?
Esther McVey, writing in her column, questions Labour's commitment to freedom. She points to the wasted taxpayer money and the attempt to undermine free speech on campuses. The legal defeat is a costly lesson for the government.
Andy Burnham's casual dress plans
Andy Burnham plans not to wear a shirt and tie as Prime Minister, aside from in the House of Commons chamber. If he thinks people will consider him cool and trendy by doing this, he is very badly mistaken. The public expect the British Prime Minister to look the part and be smart, even if they don't share the same politics. McVey believes Burnham is going to lose the respect of the voters in record time if he goes ahead with this dumbing down.
Last laugh on Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer is clearly in training for a new career as a comedian. On his resignation he wrote: “The test of any Prime Minster is: do you leave your country in a better place than you found it? I’m proud that the answer is yes”. McVey retorts that if he left the country in a better place and all was going so well, he presumably wouldn't have been removed and replaced so soon by his own MPs, and have the lowest approval ratings of any Prime Minister in history.
Mel C gets what she really, really wants
Congratulations to Mel C – who's just gone from Sporty Spice to Mrs Spice. After swearing for years she'd never get married she said ‘I do’ at the weekend and tied the knot to Australian model, actor, screenwriter, Chris Dingwall, having finally found the man to spice up her life. McVey says she is delighted she has finally got what she really, really wants.
Snap election? Not a chance
There has been much speculation about Andy Burnham calling a snap General Election, so he has his own mandate to fleece the public. It won't happen. First of all McVey suspects the ‘Burnham bounce’ will be flimsy and short-lived. But this is a man who has been trying to become Prime Minister all his adult life – even though he doesn't seem to know what he wants to do now he has made it. With three years to go to a General Election and a huge majority in the House of Commons, Burnham is not going to put that at risk by calling an election. You can be certain of that.
