Politics Archives

Wednesday

29 Jul 2015

Unison backs Jeremy Corbyn for Labour leader

The momentum just keeps building behind Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign for Labour leader. This afternoon, Unison has announced it is backing the veteran socialist’s candidacy, with General Secretary Dave Prentis saying: ‘Jeremy Corbyn’s message has resonated with public sector workers who have suffered years of pay freezes, redundancies with too many having to work more for less.’ Prentis points out that ‘today’s decision is a recommendation and our members are of course free to cast their vote as to who they think should lead the Labour Party’. And indeed the view of the union does not translate to all of its members who are affiliated supporters of the Labour party putting

Sebastian Payne

John McTernan: if Corbyn wins the Labour leadership, he should be deposed immediately

John McTernan is a Blairite who is not afraid to speak his mind. On this week’s View from 22 podcast, the former Labour special advisor discusses the state of Labour’s leadership contest with Isabel and me. He believes the right of the party is struggling as it failed to put forward a suitably experienced candidate ‘because David Miliband left the Commons in the last Parliament’: ‘If David had stayed and served in Ed’s shadow cabinet, David would have been the candidate wouldn’t he? There wouldn’t have really been a contest and I think the vagaries of people’s personal career choices has a big impact on where we are.’ McTernan describes the nomination of

Steerpike

Coffee Shots: Nigel Farage caught in the ladies’ loos

Although Ukip is said to have a ‘women problem’ thanks to low ratings from females in comparison to other parties, their leader does at least seem keen to reach out to the fairer sex. Nigel Farage reportedly gave a woman cause for concern today after she discovered him in the female toilet of a restaurant: https://twitter.com/tanyamTV/status/626380119540674560 While Farage was criticised by the woman for leaving the tap running, Mr S is just glad that he opted to wash his hands. A Ukip spokesman declines to comment on the incident.

Isabel Hardman

Labour stays oddly quiet on the Calais migrant crisis

The second, less well-attended stop for the outrage bus today after Cecil the lion is the situation in Calais. One young man died last night as he tried to enter the Channel Tunnel, while others have managed to make it through to the UK. Theresa May said this afternoon that migrants who had successfully reached their destination ‘will be dealt with in the normal way of looking at these asylum claims’. Some politicians from other parties have been commenting on the government’s handling of the situation, with Nigel Farage saying that ‘unless something radical is done, it is only a matter of time before a British holiday maker or a British lorry

Steerpike

Lembit Öpik comes to Lord Sewel’s defence: ‘He can help to clean up Parliament’

Yesterday Lord Sewel stepped down from the Lords after the Sun on Sunday published photos of the former deputy speaker snorting cocaine through a five pound note in the company of two prostitutes. While Labour were quick to suspend him from the party, one man has come to the defence of the disgraced peer. Step forward Lembit Öpik. The former Lib Dem MP says that Sewel should be commended for stepping down: ‘He’s got to be respected for this. People need to lay off him now. He’s done exactly what people wanted him to do.’ What’s more, Öpik thinks that there is still hope for Lord Sewel, claiming he is now in

Sebastian Payne

Nick Clegg turns down Lib Dem job as new spokesmen announced

The Lib Dems have announced their 22 strong ‘spokesperson team’ — or what other parties would call its frontbench. During the leadership election, Tim Farron said the party wouldn’t ‘bother shadowing every single department,’ describing it as ‘a waste of time and resources’. Yet the party has managed to cobble together a long list of spokesman, despite its limited presence in the Commons: Leader: Tim Farron MP Economics: Baroness Susan Kramer Foreign Affairs/Chief Whip/Leader of the house: Tom Brake MP Defence: Baroness Judith Jolly Home Affairs: Alistair Carmichael MP Health: Norman Lamb MP Education: John Pugh MP Work and Pensions: Baroness Zahida Manzoor Business: Lorely Burt Energy and Climate Change:

Steerpike

Ivan Massow: Was Section 28 the reason the Tories did not pick me for mayor?

Over the weekend, CCHQ selected the four Tory candidates for London mayor who will proceed to an open primary in September. Playing it safe they opted for experience over celebrity, with Andrew Boff, Zac Goldsmith, Syed Kamall and Stephen Greenhalgh all chosen. This means both Sol Campbell and Ivan Massow have not been selected. While the footballer has been notably quiet since the news, Massow appears to be taking it less well. The businessman — who is openly gay — has issued a statement on his Facebook page in which he speaks of his disappointment. In this, Massow — who once accompanied Margaret Thatcher to Tory conference — asks if his history

Sebastian Payne

George Osborne: Britain must work with France to build a trade relationship with the EU

George Osborne has revealed the aim of Britain’s EU renegotiation: to move our relationship back towards a trading partnership. The Chancellor has told the Daily Telegraph he would like to see a paired down relationship focusing on economic matters: ‘I prefer to talk about it as a single market of free trade. It’s free trade with the rules that enable the free trade to be a real success. That’s the way I think we should think about it. ‘Britain has other interests at a European level. For example, the climate change talks that are happening in Paris at the end of this year. The security work that we do with the French. ‘But

Tuesday

28 Jul 2015

Sebastian Payne

Jeremy Corbyn 20pts ahead in leaked poll — while Cooper heads into second place

Jeremy Corbyn is still on track to be the next Labour leader, according to leaked private polling. Tomorrow’s Daily Mirror reports that this poll puts Corbyn on 42 per cent of the first preference votes, with Yvette Cooper comes in second place on 22.6 per cent, Andy Burnham on 20 and Liz Kendall on 14. Until now, Burnham’s campaign has maintained their man is the only one who could beat Corbyn after the votes have been redistributed. But the Mirror reports that once Kendall has been knocked out and her second preferences sent to other candidates, it is a dead heat with Corbyn on 51 per cent and Cooper on 49 per cent —

Rod Liddle

Jeremy Corbyn won’t destroy Labour. But he might yet destroy the country

Imagine, for a moment, the following scenario. In 2017 Britain votes narrowly to remain within the European Union, despite the Prime Minister having achieved little in attempting to renegotiate the terms of our membership. The ‘out’ campaign — which after 2016 was no longer led by a marginal party, Ukip, but by the majority of the parliamentary Labour party, under its new leader Jeremy Corbyn — came mightily close to securing our withdrawal, and thus, as it is put by proponents, our independence. Subsequently, Labour receives the same sort of bounce in the opinion polls as the SNP enjoyed following the equally close independence referendum in Scotland — helped by

Sebastian Payne

What if Jeremy Corbyn wins?

A Jeremy Corbyn victory was once a hilarious joke but now it seems possible, even likely according to some. If the Labour party wakes up on September 13 and the bearded leftie is its new leader, what happens next? There are three likely scenarios. Following Corbyn’s victory, the assumption is that he would attempt to put together a shadow cabinet and Labour would carry on as Her Majesty’s opposition. This will not be an easy task, as many in the Labour MPs have already said they would refuse to serve under him. The first scenario is one where Corbyn manages to put together a team and makes it through the first few turbulent

Steerpike

Labour: Derek Hatton’s membership application has been rejected

Last night Derek Hatton claimed that he has successfully rejoined the Labour Party 29 years after they expelled him. Hatton — who joined Labour with the Trotskyist group Militant — boasted about his membership on Newsnight while defending Jeremy Corbyn. ‘In my pocket I’ve got a Labour Party card,’ he said, after tweeting a picture of his card earlier this year: https://twitter.com/DegsyHatton/status/603809448004562944 While he may have the card, Mr S is sorry to report that he doesn’t have a vote. The Labour Party are adamant that he is not a member. Bizarrely they say cards are sent out automatically before the membership is approved: .@BBCNewsnight No – he applied to join earlier in the

Douglas Murray

What is it with the far-left and violence?

Thanks to Guido Fawkes, I learn that the left-wing author Owen Jones has just appeared at the Sinn Fein summer school in Ireland. According to Sinn Fein’s own newspaper, Owen used the opportunity to praise Sinn Fein’s ‘progressive’ politics, suggest that people take inspiration from the 1916 Easter Rising and announce what a ‘passionate believer’ he apparently is in a united Ireland. There are a number of interesting things about this. The first is that it exposes what a sham the far-left’s attitude towards political violence really is. Owen isn’t the first person of his ilk to have supported Sinn Fein. For decades there has been a dirty line-up of far-left figures

Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn takes part in Mumsnet chat: ‘I do not have a rare skin condition’

This morning Jeremy Corbyn told Radio 4’s Women’s Hour that a thread on Mumsnet in which he was described by one user as being ‘attractive in a world weary old sea dog sort of way’ was ‘the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever heard’. So it must have been with some trepidation that Corbyn agreed to take part in a Mumsnet Q&A this lunchtime alongside his Labour leadership rival Liz Kendall. Would the lusty online mothers be able to put their amorous feelings to one side and ask a sensible question? The chat began with Corbyn answering a question regarding whether he has what it takes to handle the media scrutiny a party leader often

Steerpike

Friends reunited: how George Galloway hopes to ‘work closely’ with Jeremy Corbyn

Things could start to get very strange indeed if Jeremy Corbyn is successful in his bid to be the next Labour leader. Corbyn’s old chum George Galloway has today voiced his hopes that he will be able to ‘work closely’ with Corbyn in his bid to be the Mayor of London: I'm running for Mayor of London. I hope to work closely with the new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Please help….galloway4london@gmail.com — George Galloway MP (@georgegalloway) July 28, 2015 While Labour will have their own mayoral candidate, Corbyn may decide to reach out to Galloway — who is entering on behalf of his Respect Party — given their mutual appreciation for

Steerpike

Revealed: the Andy Coulson joke that Nick Clegg cut from his conference speech

Although Nick Clegg is under increasing pressure in some quarters to write a tell-all book about his time in coalition, the closest he has got to this so far is by signing up to an agency that has advertised his services for up to $55,000 per speech. Happily, Clegg’s former speechwriter comes at no such cost. Phil Reilly has started a blog detailing his time working for the former deputy Prime Minister. In this, Reilly recalls a phone hacking joke he wrote for Clegg back in 2010: ‘For days, Nick Clegg had been toing and froing over whether he could tell a joke about Andy Coulson. It was September 2010 and

Alex Massie

Is another referendum on Scottish independence actually inevitable?

So here we go again. Alex Salmond, popping up on the Andrew Marr show while Nicola Sturgeon is in China, makes news without saying anything new about the circumstances in which the SNP might – or might not! – press for a second referendum on Scottish independence. David Cameron, also overseas, responds saying there’s no need for any such plebiscite at any point in this parliament. Calm down, Jock. This will, I am sure, be well-received. All of which should surprise precisely no-one. Seventy percent of SNP supporters want another referendum before the end of this parliament; 90 percent want one within ten years. In such circumstances, you can understand why Salmond thinks another

Sebastian Payne

Lord Sewel resigns from House of Lords — here comes the inevitable calls to scrap it

Lord Sewel has announced he has resigned from the House of Lords this morning. 48 hours after the first stories and videos about his alleged use of drugs and prostitutes appeared in the Sun, the former deputy speaker has released this statement: ‘I have today written to the Clerk of the Parliaments terminating my membership of the House of Lords. The question of whether my behaviour breached the Code of Conduct is important, but essentially technical. The bigger questions are whether my behaviour is compatible with membership of the House of Lords and whether my continued membership would damage and undermine public confidence in the House of Lords. ‘I believe the

Monday

27 Jul 2015

Sebastian Payne

Lord Sewel takes leave of absence from Lords

Lord Sewel has announced he is taking a ‘leave of absence’ from the House of Lords. In a statement sent to the Parliamentary authorities this evening, Sewel says he will be stepping out of the limelight until the investigation into his alleged behaviour is complete: ‘I wish to take leave of absence from the House as soon as it can be arranged. I also wish to make clear that in doing so I have no intention of returning to the House in any way until the current investigations have been completed, when in the light of their outcome I will review my long term position. I believe this is compatible

Brendan O’Neill

Lord Sewel, you’ve made me proud to be British

The Lord Sewel scandal makes me feel proud to be British. For here, thanks to some glorious John Wilkes-style dirt-digging by the Sun — in your face, Leveson! — we have a proper political scandal. This ain’t no yawn-fest about MPs claiming the cost of a Kit-Kat or accidentally favouriting a gay-porn tweet: sad little pseudo-scandals which in recent years have tainted the good name of ignominy. No, the fall of Sewel is a full-on, drugged-up, peer-and-prostitutes scandal, of the kind Britain used to be pretty good at before the square Blairites and cautious Cameroons took over. The disgracing of Sewel is a reminder of British politics at its saucy