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RED ‘RANT’
Labour by-election candidate once called for ban on nuclear weapons and open borders
Tory chair Richard Holden said Ms Kitchen's letter showed the party had the same old ‘bonkers lefty ideas’
A LABOUR by-election candidate once called for a ban on nuclear weapons and open borders as she pushed for a raft of left-wing policies.
Genevieve Kitchen is standing for the party in the Wellingborough contest next Thursday.
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But a letter she signed in 2019, when she was a London councillor, had controversial policy ideas.
They included wanting a second referendum to be held on Brexit.
Other proposals included a “massive expansion of public ownership, including of the banks and finance”.
Tory chair Richard Holden said: “Sir Keir wants everyone to think that the Labour Party has changed under his watch — but it’s clear that’s not the case.”
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“It’s the same old Labour — the party of protest with no plan of how to put for any of their bonkers lefty ideas that would damage Britain’s security and leave hardworking taxpayers picking up the tab.”
A Labour spokesperson said the letter was from five years ago and “Gen believes the people have spoken” on Brexit.
Labour added: “Her focus is on improving the lives of Wellingborough locals after 14 years of Tory neglect.
“She wants to regenerate our town centres, work to reduce knife crime and improve access to GP and dentist appointments – the issues that come up day in and day out on the doors.”
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Why is a by-election being held?
A petition was triggered after Tory MP Peter Bone was found to have exposed himself to a male staffer in a Madrid hotel.
More than 13 per cent of his constituents demanded a by-election - well past the 10 per cent threshold.
In October the Commons sleaze commissioner ruled the MP "committed many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct" against the staffer in 2012 and 2013.
He "verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated" the employee and "repeatedly physically struck and threw things" at him.
The Wellingborough by-election is set to be the seventh in the space of 12 months.
Anneliese Dodds, chair of the Labour Party, said voters in the constituency had the "opportunity to vote for a fresh start".
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