News about Michael Shanks

With tomorrow being Labour 's 100th day in office, the guild of sketch-writers is planning a celebratory wassail. We will shoot the apple tree, have a Morris dance and sing hey-nonny-no to the fertile gods of farce. Much of the country may be fed up, but from our viewpoint things are going deliciously. Yesterday brought further ­succulents. Louise Haigh was taking departmental questions, her dyed hair a blinding pink, her face vaguely tanned and her dress bright green. Ms Haigh, Secretary of State for Transport, had come as a traffic light. In manner, however, she was all go-go-go, with indubitable swagger and a magnificently-curled lip. She sounded so furious, it was as if she was trying to match her Cabinet colleague Bridget Phillipson for sulphurous loathing of the Tories.

Britain's last coal-fired power station has closed to a mixed reaction from locals with some saying the the imposing plant is a 'blot of the landscape' and 'best to get rid of' while others are very sorry to see it go. At midnight on Monday the station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar switched off its generators for the very last time after more than 50 years of powering Nottinghamshire. The symbolic moment makes the UK the first G7 country to close down all of its coal power stations and marks the end of 142 years of the nation's reliance on the fossil fuel to generate electricity. Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station has been generating electricity since 1968 via its four coal-fired boilers, eight vast cooling towers and 199m-tall chimney, which occupies a prominent spot in the East Midlands skyline.

Britain's nearly 150-year reliance on coal power ended last night. The last remaining coal-fired power station, at Ratcliffe-on-Soar near Nottingham , switched off its generators for the last time at midnight. The symbolic moment makes the United Kingdom the first G7 country to close down all of its coal power stations. It draws to a close 142 years of British reliance on the fossil fuel to generate electricity. France is due to phase out coal by 2027, Canada by 2030, the US by 2035 and Germany only plans to stop burning brown coal - the most polluting fossil fuel - in 2038. The UK is not the first in Europe however - Sweden and Belgium have both already closed their coal power stations.

Since being elected to Parliament, one of Labour's new MPs has joined the party's frontbench team just 54 days. As part of a reshuffle of Labour ranks, Michael Shanks has been named a shadow Scotland minister in Sir Keir Starmer's top team. It's a fast political promotion for the former teacher who was only elected as MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West on October 5th. He made his first appearance in the House of Commons less than a week ago. Mr Shanks seems to have been given his new position as a result of the fact that the number of Scottish MPs on the Labour benches doubled last month. With Ian Murray, the shadow Scotland secretary and Labour MP for Edinburgh South, he'll team up in Sir Keir's shadow Scottish team. The reshuffle of Labour shadow ministers came after Sir Keir was greeted by a slew of resignations this month as part of a movement against his stance on the Gaza crisis.

As support for the Nationalists sank, the humiliated SNP leader failed his first electoral test since taking over from Nicola Sturgeon. Labour gained a landslide in Rutherglen and Hamilton West to reclaim the former SNP seat, with candidate Michael Shanks winning 17,845 votes compared to the SNP's 8,399, a difference of more than 20%. Mr Shanks summed it up by saying that the message from tonight is a resoundingly positive one.' We've seen more than enough decline, more than enough division, more than enough chaos, and distracted governments,' the author says.

Both Humza Yousaf (pictured) and the SNP's candidate Katy Loudon are seen laughing as they follow the dance leader's instructions alongside the children at Tempo Community Space in Rutherglen. Mr Yousaf, the man seen sporting his best pose, acknowledged that the by-election setting had been 'challenging,' but that the SNP has a lot of support. In a critical by-election next week, the First Minister has said he is 'hopeful' of a SNP win. On October 5, Ms Loudon will face Sir Keir Starmer's "man in Scotland," Michael Shanks, for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West seat.

Sir Keir Starmer's faction was well placed to win in Thursday's by-election, according to Professor John Curtice, the president of the British Polling Council. Sir John argued in The Mail on Sunday that Labour only needed a small swing from the SNP to win the election. Sir Keir will almost certainly get a 10% swing, which would be double what the SNP achieved when they resigned the Westminster seat from Labour in 2019.

Labour's splits over benefit reform were revealed today as the party's by-election candidate put himself in conflict with Sir Keir Starmer. Michael Shanks, who is running for Labour in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West election, has promised to protest the 'heinous' two-child welfare cap. Despite Sir Keir's recent announcement that if he becomes Prime Minister after the next general election, he will keep the system in force. Even though shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has refused to rule out a Labour government keeping it in place, Mr Shanks later declared that he opposed the so-called "bedroom tax." Ex-SNP MP Margaret Ferrier was kicked out of the House of Commons by local voters, triggering the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election. After being barred from Parliament for violating Covid laws, she was subjected to a recall petition.

Margaret Ferrier, a disgraced MP, will find her destiny tomorrow after a petition offering her constituents the opportunity to kick her out closes today. When traveling hundreds of miles around the country while infected with Covid, the former Nationalist MP pleaded guilty in court to "exposing the public "to the danger of infection, disease, and death." She boarded a Glasgow to London train while suffering from the virus's symptoms in order to speak in a House of Commons debate in September 2020, despite the laws requiring her to self-isolate. Despite getting a promising result soon after, she and other commuters returned by train and only came clean several days later. Ms Ferrier, who was kicked out of the SNP for her irresponsible conduct, was barred from the Commons for 30 days.