Last week, when Home Office Minister Mike Tapp fired off his crass “deport, deport, deport” tweet , he wasn’t trying to fix a broken system, he was talking directly to voters Labour have lost to Reform .

He thought he was being tough. And yes, I’m sure Labour strategists smirked. But millions of people across this country weren’t amused. They were horrified. Because this is not leadership. It is cruelty. Cheap, dangerous, divisive cruelty aimed at the people with the least power.

And when I called it out, Tapp threw more playground insults around and called me a communist. That’s McCarthyism. That bleak, paranoid era when smearing people replaced making arguments. That’s where Labour is now.

And of course, all of this bile comes as Westminster prepares for next week’s Budget. Anot

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