CAPLIN'S POWERFUL FOLLOWERS

Just a few of the prominent faces who follow Caplin's sordid X account

*** UPDATE *** Caplin deleted his X account on Thursday afternoon

Earlier this week we exposed the sickening debauchery of Ivor Caplin's X feed.  It was a small microcosm of something that would take Caplin hours, if not days, to delete now that he has been released from custody.  While it's not yet clear if he has been charged or released on bail, we know that he began using his X account again on Wednesday, because he retweeted several (non-pornographic) posts.  If no charges are brought against Caplin it would be an outrage, as the self-styled 'paedophile hunters' who snared him will have supplied police with all the proof they need.  Furthermore, police officers are known to have raided Caplin's Hove flat while he was in custody and according to neighbours the search 'took several hours'.

However, we also know that Caplin has powerful friends.  As soon as news broke of his arrest, X users began to make notes of who followed his account and the names were huge...

The official Labour party X account was following Caplin's account at the time of his arrest, although it was quickly unfollowed after the news broke.  Many other high profile Labour figures also followed Caplin on X, some of whom have since unfollowed him - including the likes of Yvette Cooper and Wes Streeting - but not before eagle-eyed X users screenshot their names.

At the time of his arrest, serving Labour MPs who followed Caplin's X account included Luke Akehurst (North Durham), Phil Brickell (Bolton West), Liam Byrne (Birmingham Hodge Hill), Jim Dickson (Dartford), Clive Efford (Eltham & Chislehurst), Fabian Hamilton (Leeds East), Sharon Hodgson (Washington & Gateshead South), Dan Jarvis (Barnsley North), Gerald Jones (Merthyr & Aberdare), Alison McGovern (Birkenhead), Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North), Fred Thomas (Plymouth Moor View), Gareth Thomas (Harrow West), Matt Turmaine (Watford), Paul Waugh (Rochdale) and Catherine West (Hornsey & Friern Barnet).

Serving Labour ministers who follow or followed his account include Janet Daby (Lewisham East), Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South & Penarth), Nia Griffith (Llanelli), Andrew Gwynne (Gorton & Denton), Peter Kyle (Hove & Portslade), Luke Pollard (Plymouth Sutton & Devonport), Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge & Hyde) and last, but not least - Yvette Cooper, Dave Lammy, Angela Rayner, Rachel Reeves and Wes Streeting.

A fairly recent photo of Caplin with his local MP and current frontbencher Peter Kyle

At the time of writing, Caplin's account is also followed by Lord (Michael) Cashman, Baroness (Janet) Royall, Baroness (Jacqui) Smith, former MPs Wayne David and Julie Elliot, former PM Gordon Brown and the despicable Alastair Campbell.  However, the name of most interest is that of the deceased former MP Jack Dromey, who - along with Patricia Hewitt and his wife Harriet Harman - were involved in the PIE scandal of the 1970s.  P.I.E stands for the Paedophile Information Exchange, which campaigned for the abolition of the age of consent and was linked to a libertarian group of which the trio were prominent members.

For those who suspect that the total lack of media coverage over the weekend from the major news channels is perhaps indicative of some kind of conspiracy, it will surely be of interest to note that many journalists follow Caplin too - including the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, the senior editor of Newsnight, the i newspaper's Benjamin Butterworth, Dan Hodges of The Daily Mail and many more.  If they were able and/or willing to report freely, why did none of them expose the disgusting content of Caplin's X feed?

Finally, to cap it all off, Caplin's account is followed by the official X account of the Crown Prosecution Service.  It will be of no great surprise to anyone if no charges are brought...

STARMER BACKS TWO JOBS MP (AGAIN)

Keir Starmer has once again brazenly disregarded his second jobs policy.  The Labour leader has repeatedly committed his party to a ban on MPs having second jobs, most recently in January this year.  However, that didn't stop him from attending another book launch for one of his frontbenchers, Nick Thomas-Symonds.  The latter was promoting a revised edition of his Clement Attlee biography and his party leader was happy to help with the promotion.

Nick tweeted his obvious delight in the relaunch of his 2010 work.

This is the second time the Labour leader has endorsed a book for Thomas-Symonds.  Last year he not only attended the launch of his Harold Wilson biography, he provided a quote for the front cover of promotional copies.  It appears that Starmer's second jobs policy will either be kicked into the long grass when he enters Downing Street, or it will contain so many exemptions as to render it pointless.  If he had any principle on the matter, he would have already implemented a ban on his own MPs taking second jobs.

In January of this year, when Starmer was challenged about Dave Lammy's array of secondary incomes - primarily from LBC - the Labour leader replied: "I think David does a lot of media work, and I think media work and writing books is all part of the political process".  Lammy is Labour's highest earner from secondary income, collecting more than £200,000 since 2019 - in addition to his MPs' salary.  He has pocketed thousands as a guest speaker for various organisations, including Facebook and Google.  

The Rhondda MP Chris Bryant has also made thousands from speaking engagements, including £2,000 from investment bank Goldman Sachs - a statement of how far modern Labour has diverged from the Labour of Attlee.

Loudmouth gobshite Jess Phillips is also making a mint from second jobs, having picked up £162,000 since 2019.  Her appearance as guest host on Have I Got News For You stretches Starmer's media exemption a bit thin.  And what of other Labour MPs raking it in?  There are plenty of them, with 38 per cent of all Labour MPs having declared additional incomes in the current parliament.

Margaret Hodge collects a £20,000 salary from her role at Royal Holloway University, where she is the chair of its governing council.  Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham Perry Barr) takes home £25,000 a year advising the conservative think tank Policy Exchange (yes, you read that correctly).  Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) tweeted in support of Starmer's proposed second jobs ban earlier this year, but in the same tweet contradicted herself by declaring: "I'm proud to do occasional shifts on the NHS front line".  Admirable, maybe, but still a second job.

Perhaps the worst offender of all Labour's additional earners is Dan Jarvis.  Despite being elected mayor of the Sheffield City region in 2018, picking up a £79,000 salary in the process, he went on to seek re-election as the MP for Barnsley a year later.  He served a four year term as mayor, while still an MP, eventually deciding to stand down and pursue a career on the Westminster gravy train.

Money talks, no matter which side of the floor an MP sits.  That is unlikely to change when Keir Starmer enters Downing Street.

MOONLIGHTING MOCKERY

Recent comments by the Father of the House regarding MPs' salaries were quite rightly scorned.  Out of touch Tory Peter Bottomley said he couldn't understand how younger MPs managed to survive on their salaries.  Just to be clear - all MPs receive a basic £82,000 plus perks and expenses, more than double the £31,000 average salary in the UK.  They also get free housing near their place of work, in addition to their existing home.  Must be really tough for them, eh?

Now imagine you're paid that handsome sum.  If you've got a conscience you'd make sure you did your level best to make sure you earned it, and yet so many of our MPs manage to somehow moonlight in plain sight.  There's Dehenna Davidson, the young Tory MP for Bishop Auckland - on Sunday mornings she can be found on GB News hosting The Political Correction alongside Nigel Farage.  There's Labour's David Lammy who, despite also being a member of Starmer's Shadow Cabinet, has managed to write two books and host a weekly phone-in show on LBC Radio.  And worst of all is Dan 'Two Jobs' Jarvis - who despite being elected as the Mayor of South Yorkshire in 2018 with a salary of £79,000 - sought successful re-election in the general election as MP for Barnsley Central.  That's a combined salary of more than £160,000, plus expenses!

Among the more quirky second jobs that our 'struggling' MPs engage in is that of Cardiff West's Kevin Brennan.  The Labour MP has found time to embark on a music career and will shortly release his debut album...

It's no great surprise that both Brennan and Lammy have also been implicated in expense scandals.  Despite being a London MP, Lammy claimed expenses for a second home and in 2011 he was Britain's most expensive MP, claiming just shy of £174,000 in expenses alone.  Brennan used his second home allowances to claim for a £450 widescreen TV, but it was actually delivered to his Cardiff home.  When confronted about this, the MP flat out lied.

These people aren't broke, they aren't struggling.  They're milking the system and that means they're milking you, the taxpayer.  With comfy majorities they're neglecting their primary duties in search of yet more wealth.  They are nothing short of parasites.

THE LABOUR 26

26 Labour MPs wrote to Corbyn today imploring him not to back a second referendum.  The letter (see below, click to enlarge) warns of the potential threat to Labour in Leave-voting seats, primarily from the Brexit Party.  The MPs explicitly state that "Brexit must happen.  The UK must leave..."

There are only two Brexiteers among the signatures (Mann, Skinner), the overwhelming majority being Remainers who are trying desperately to save their own Parliamentary skins.  How else to explain the presence of Stephen Kinnock, a man whose family made millions from being at the heart of the EU beast?  Having just seen the Brexit Party come from nowhere to almost snatch Peterborough, Stevie is clearly worried that the Brexit heartlands in south Wales are under threat from this new phenomenon.  Furthermore, he hasn't got thousands of Muslim postal votes to back him up either.

The only MP representing a Remain seat on the list is Jim Fitzpatrick, an MP who backed May's deal at the third time of asking.  Dan 'Two Jobs' Jarvis is also on the list, surely the gravy train robber is not looking to stand again at the next election?  Nothing would surprise in the shameless world of Westminster.

This is the full list of signatories, complete with their constituency referendum votes.

Kevin Barron (Rother Valley - 67% Leave)
Sarah Champion (Rotherham - 68% Leave)
Julie Cooper (Burnley - 67% Leave)
Rosie Cooper (West Lancs - 55% Leave)
Jon Cruddas (Dagenham & Rainham - 70% Leave)
Gloria De Piero (Ashfield - 70% Leave)
Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar & Limehouse - 66% Remain)
Caroline Flint (Don Valley - 68% Leave)
Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield - 65% Leave)
Mary Glindon (North Tyneside - 60% Leave)
Mike Hill (Hartlepool - 70% Leave)
Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central - 68% Leave)
Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon - 60% Leave)
Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields - 62% Leave)
Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port & Neston - 58% Leave)
John Mann (Bassetlaw - 68% Leave)
Jim McMahon (Oldham West & Royton - 61% Leave)
Grahame Morris (Easington - 66% Leave)
Lisa Nandy (Wigan - 63% Leave)
Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby - 71% Leave)
Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East - 71% Leave)
Jo Platt (Leigh - 63% Leave)
Dennis Skinner (Bolsover - 70% Leave)
Laura Smith (Crewe & Nantwich - 60% Leave)
Ruth Smeeth (Stoke-on-Trent North - 72% Leave)
Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central - 65% Leave)