The cheek of it

Charlie T

Loving the Jack Regan retro barnet. Er who is this bloke again?

James

If the Spectator actually understood the Labour Party at all, they would recognise that Purnell has not a hope in hell of becoming leader. The unions and CLPs are both far to the left of the PLP (remember Cruddas got the most 1st prefs in the DL contest, and Harman was forced to commit to a left programme). Neither group would ever vote for a right-winger like Purnell, who has no union links and no working-class roots or real life experience. The next leader will be a woman - Cooper or Blears most likely, though I'd prefer Margaret Beckett myself.

Wilhelm

James Pussmell

A here today, gone tomorrow poltician.

mitch

meanwhile back in the real world who the hell is this pratt?

Wilhelm

Snivelling James Pussmell hasnt got a hope in hell of becoming liebour leader.

A shelf stacker in Asda, Yes.
Liebour leader, No.

D MCGREGOR

He's young enough to endure the wilderness years that face Labour but has he more staying power than William Haig?

Ivan Dunnow

James, the recession in Speccie hacks' support for Miliband would be funny if it wasn't quite so transparently sad.

Wilhelm

Some people would say that James Pusmell has got one of those faces you would like to punch, but I wouldnt say that because Im a gentleman.

geoff

Suprised you dont mention that the substantive policy issue purnell was making.

What he was arguing for was that we should expect lone mums with your children to develop skills which keep them "work-ready" in return for the benefits they received.

Thats not that they actually have to work, but rather they have to keep their skills up so that they are ready to return to work later.

Grayling immediatley came out in opposition to this form of conditionality saying there shouldnt be any for mums where kids are under 5.

So much for the tories radical welfare agenda?

Faceless Bureaucrat

Oh James, not this 'Purnell for Labour leader' nonsense again...

I am convinced that the only reason that the Speccie indulges in this piffle is that James Purnell takes you, Fraser et al around the corner to the Westminster Arms and plies you with alcohol. At some point following this event you all get a warm glowing feeling towards your genial host and return to the office to write this and similar pro-Purnell tosh. I know Christmas is coming, but really...

Nicholas

Having had almost 12 years to learn what happens when young and inexperienced oiks are allowed to run things, whether in government or the private sector, I'm surprised that the Spectator, numbering as it does in its ranks numerous correspondents in the sunsets of their lives, does not make a stronger case for a bit more maturity, wisdom and experience amongst leaders.

Were that view to be more strongly endorsed we might have had a better government, a better opposition and avoided a banking crisis.

Britain really cannot afford its ridiculous age discrimination you know.

Ken

Seem to remember it was you guys at Speccie who not too many weeks ago were punting the banana-wielding teenaged D Miliband as next national socialist PM. That spotty fruitbowl went mush pretty quick eh.

Athesius the Facilitator

Does Purnell store nuts in his cheeks?

This man is not leadership material. He reminds me of a bloke who was on my leadership course at the RN leadership school at HMS Royal Arthur near Corsham who made a total mess of running the coffee boat. And that's easier than a whelk stall.

DB

What is it with the Spectator and its bigging up of Purnell? Either there are people at the magazine with undisclosed personal ties to this lightweight or he's the subject of an ongoing long cruel joke. I hope it's the latter.

Wilhelm

This is the same James Pussmell who faked a photograph of himself opening a supermarket in his own constituency when in fact he was 100 miles away, isnt that fraud ?

Uncle Joe Stalin would be proud of the little creep.

Marian C

He's just another labour creep with a face that you'd never get tired of smacking

THX1138

Faceless Bureaucrat are you the same Faceless Bureaucrat who writes on the Kings of War blog?

Carer Watch

Carer Watch have been extremely concerned about the proposed changes to the welfare system which will move Carers over to JSA and have been campaigning against the proposals.We support the current campaign by Compass ....www.compassonline.org.uk/campaigns/campaign.asp?n=3451 .
Carers on Carers Allowance and income support cannot be classed as being inactive. Carers are unique within the benefit system in that they have to fulfil the requirement of providing a minimum of 35 hours a week care in order to qualify for Carers Allowance. Over 1 ½ million carers provide more than 50 hours a week of care, some providing care 24 hours a day 7 days a week.Carers Allowance cannot therefore be considered as being a passive benefit.
Carer Watch believes that if Government truly recognised the importance of carers' caring responsibilities the Government would consider how to support carers appropriately BEFORE abolishing Income Support.
We hope many more will support the Compass campaign.

Verity

Marian C - smacking sounds a little wimpy.

Wilhelm

Shouldnt James Puresmell be in primary 1 ?

dilys

Has he tweaked Gordon's tale, or has he tweaked Gordon's tail?

John Moss

Why does the Carer's Allowance stop when the Carer, if female, reaches 60, even if they continue to care for an elderly relative?

Oscar

Is the Speccie trying to throw smoke in our eyes? We are now confronted with the relentless drive of Gordon Stalin Brown to suppress any form of democracy in his party, in parliamentary procedure, and in the conduct of national politics - and the Speccie is wittering on about some cabinet nonentity who the public could not care (or know)less about. Anyone who heard Mandelson's frankly chilling broadcast on the Today programme should know what we are up against. This is propaganda on a scale Goebbels would be proud of. And what is the Speccie doing? Fiddling while democracy in this country burns.

Burt

Are we not a little bit fed up with over-promoted schoolboys trying to run our lives?

We need statesmen now not clever little mummies boys.

Fraser Nelson

Can any of you lot name any bolder welfare programme proposed by any other minister of any government?

Ivan Dunnow

Can you, Fraser, admit to some shame at the background to *all* of you together, as one, 'cooling' on Miliband? And that perhaps your earlier, marked, writing-up of Miliband was almost as risible as why it is you've all stopped writing him up?

C Powell

Fraser: the answer to your question is that Frank Field proposed a much bolder and more intelligent programme in 1997/98 and was booted out for his pains.

Anyway, it's all very well proposing but what will happen in practice? I'm willing to bet with you that whatever speeches Purnell makes in a few years we will see no appreciable difference to the situation we have now. People will still live on benefits and will - at best - have to make token efforts to look as if they might do something useful and, in the middle of a recession/depression, it will be all too easy - and probably true - for them to claim that they can't find work. The time for such reform was when Labour came into office 11 years ago, when they could have pushed this through and economic conditions were benign. Now they aren't and Labour and its supporters will do all it can to stop - as they see it - poor people being punished. Plus Labour will need to hold onto whatever votes it can.

JR

Fraser if that is you - it's amusing to see you stirred quite so much.

I happen to agree - although Blunkett, Hutton, his SPAD John Williams, and Jim Murphy should all get props for getting to this stage.

I don't think he'll ever be Labout party leader in a million years. For a start I'm aware of a threat/promise from the TUC to "do him over" after the last green paper because of the welfare reform proposals.

He's going nowhere because despite doing a good job on a hard issue, and roughly being where the public want to be in policy terms, he's got no personal traction among the public or labour party and as you can see from the above is actually quite hated for someone going further than the Tory proposals.

liz Brown

Another baby faced policy wonk - he couldn't run a piss up in the proverbial brewery........... what is needed is someone who has actually lived and worked outside of the Westminster bubble, protected from the realities of the world that the rest of us inhabit
In addition, when he becomes the opposition after the next election, is he going to hang around in the vain expectation that he will lead a future opposition into power? I think not

JR

C Powell - You'll be please to hear the co-author, Paul Gregg, of a 1996 Field book on welfare issues wrote the report on getting people back to work published yesterday by the Government - a white paper next week will accept its recomendation I would predict.

Faceless Bureaucrat

THX1138
December 3rd, 2008 12:07am

"Faceless Bureaucrat are you the same Faceless Bureaucrat who writes on the Kings of War blog?"

No, I am not.

FB

Marian C

Verity @ 3.02:- 'Marian C - smacking sounds a little wimpy'.

Depends what your using to smack with....brick bat springs to mind as a possible option.

Maybe you have some less 'wimpy' suggestions Verity?