WE will shortly find out if Labour is serious about increasing growth and prosperity.
We believe Chancellor Rachel Reeves is. And she can prove it by confirming her support for a renewed go-ahead at the Rosebank oilfield in the North Sea.
She will have to defy a cacophony of protest from the eco mob, from Labour MPs to the usual climate crazies who don’t care how poor Britain gets as long as we alone in the world hit Net Zero.
One MP told the Guardian (where else?) that Government approval for Rosebank would be “a breaking point for a lot of us”. No10 must be terrified.
Then there’s Ed Miliband, nominally our Energy Secretary but in reality a jumped-up Extinction Rebellion fan who branded Rosebank’s original licence “climate vandalism”.
Whether it now gets the nod to produce oil is his call. So Keir Starmer and his Chancellor face a crunch moment.
If, as seems likely, Miliband says No and scuppers Labour’s first big pro-growth decision, his position will be untenable and he’ll have to resign.
If he won’t, the PM must sack him.
SOMEHOW the Government has found a way to make its insane self-harm over the Chagos Islands dramatically worse.
The trick was getting Attorney General Richard Hermer, a human rights lawyer for whom Britain’s interests always come last, to “renegotiate” it.
Labour had already decided, after a non-binding ICJ ruling, to pay Mauritius £9billion to take ownership of this strategic British asset in the Indian Ocean and lease us back the Diego Garcia airbase vital to us and America.
That’s despite Mauritius being a Chinese ally with no valid claim.
Hermer has reportedly now agreed to double our payment and hand Mauritius a veto on extending our lease.
Labour claims a “£22billion Tory black hole” has prevented serious defence spending, made OAPs’ heating handouts unaffordable and forced it to fleece family farms.
That’s a nonsense when it CAN find £18billion for Mauritius to take over British territory we have no legal obligation to give up.
Factor in the likely rage of Donald Trump over his airbase being compromised and you have a jaw-dropping fiasco no rational person can explain.
How will Labour MPs possibly defend it?
FOR all the flak the NHS cops, the incredible life-saving drama on Pages 4 and 5 is a testament to the brilliance of so many staff.
Dozens dashed to help when pregnant Natasha Sokunbi “died” in A&E.
Overcoming huge odds, they restarted her heart and simultaneously delivered her baby daughter . . . and both are well.
Well done, every one of you. You worked a miracle.
