Jeremy corbyn

. . . and I won’t be Boris Mark II

As soon as votes were counted in the race to be Tory candidate for London mayor, Zac Goldsmith’s problem became clear. He had won comfortably, but just 9,200 party members bothered to vote — compared with the 80,000 who took part in Labour’s contest. Goldsmith praised his party for a ‘civilised and constructive’ debate, unlike the ‘divisive and vicious’ battle won by Sadiq Khan. But if Labour can call on a machine whose activists outnumber the Tories by nine to one, the Conservative candidate faces a real disadvantage. The size of Khan’s vote, Goldsmith thinks, is deceptive and swollen by trade union members. But in May, he concedes, ‘They will

James Forsyth

I won’t be Corbyn’s man in London . . .

Sadiq Khan has long been known as one of Labour’s most pugnacious politicians: someone who likes to fight, and likes to win. The son of a bus driver, he became a human rights lawyer, entered parliament in 2005 and that same year was named newcomer of the year at The Spectator’s parliamentary awards. He ran Ed Miliband’s leadership campaign in 2010 and led Labour’s fierce — and surprisingly effective —campaign in London last year. Now, his sights are set on reclaiming City Hall for Labour and persuading even those on the right that he is the natural heir to Boris Johnson. ‘I want Spectator readers to give me a second

Why I’ve finally given up on the Left

Nick Cohen’s cover piece in the Spectator on the demise of the Labour party – and of his own support for it – is the 4th most-read magazine piece of 2015. ‘Tory, Tory, Tory. You’re a Tory.’ The level of hatred directed by the Corbyn left at Labour people who have fought Tories all their lives is as menacing as it is ridiculous. If you are a woman, you face misogyny. Kate Godfrey, the centrist Labour candidate in Stafford, told the Times she had received death threats and pornographic hate mail after challenging her local left. If you are a man, you are condemned in language not heard since the

Meet Jeremy Corbyn’s German doppelganger

Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn has a socialist doppelganger in Germany. Her name is Sahra Wagenknecht and she serves as co-chairperson of the largest opposition party in the German Bundestag—The Left Party. Her remarks blanketed the German media on Tuesday because she equated Islamic State terrorism in Paris with Britain’s aerial campaign designed to help destroy the terrorist organisation in the Syrian and Iraqi theatres of war. ‘Of course it is no less a crime to murder innocent civilians in Syria with bombs than it is to shoot them in Parisian restaurants and concert halls. One is individual terrorism, the other state-sponsored,’ Sahra Wagenknecht, an admirer of the now-defunct East German communist state

Freddy Gray

In defence of Jeremy Corbyn

At No 6 in our rundown of the Spectator’s most-read pieces of 2015 is a piece that takes a surprising stance. Freddy Gray’s November defence of Jeremy Corbyn as a ‘shockingly steadfast’ politician in contrast to David Cameron who ‘makes up his foreign policy as he goes along’ was hugely popular, and not just with the Corbynistas who support the Labour leader.  What strange people we Brits are. We spend years moaning that our politicians are cynical opportunists who don’t stand for anything. Then along comes an opposition leader who has principles — and appears to stick by them even when it makes him unpopular — and he is dismissed as

Momentum in a pickle over its ‘Huddersfield branch’

In recent months both Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have defended the Momentum group from criticism. Created as a result of Corbyn’s leadership campaign, the grassroots movement aims to organise activists in towns and cities in order to create a mass movement for the Labour leader. Despite this, the far-left group has repeatedly been accused of being linked to deselection threats against centre-left Labour MPs. However, it seems that Momentum’s biggest problem may actually be learning to control its supporters. As the Sunday papers report that Corbyn is to sack Benn from his shadow cabinet as part of a new year reshuffle, it now appears that the shadow Foreign Secretary has also won the attention of Momentum activists. Hilary Benn tweeted his followers on Sunday

Never mind the Tyson Fury uproar. Boxing brings huge benefits to communities

Just as one Muslim doesn’t represent Islam, Tyson Fury doesn’t represent boxing. But that hasn’t stopped liberal commentators and the morally-outraged Twitterati, who have used the BBC Sports Personality furore to attack the sport. Julie Bindel (who claims boxing is ‘not a sport but a sadistic spectacle performed by men’) wrote in the Guardian: ‘If your job is to knock somebody unconscious, it’s unlikely that they have been raised to think that solving an argument with their fists is wrong. The ethos behind this can also breed dangerous attitudes towards women.’ Does this mean a tennis player will try to solve an argument with a racket? Or a golfer with a club? Boxing

Podcast special: 2015 in review

Christmas is almost here, so it’s time for our annual year in review podcast. In this View from 22 hour-long special, I’m delighted to be joined by a stellar line-up of Spectator contributors to look back on the events of the past twelve months, as well as asking each of our guests for their person of 2015. Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth discuss the surprise Tory victory in May’s general election and how David Cameron has finally proven himself a winner. Does he now have the whole Conservative party behind him? And who should take credit for this victory? Fraser Nelson and Alex Massie look at the rise and rise of the SNP and how Nicola Sturgeon managed to

Jeremy Corbyn flirts with a return to Labour for George Galloway

The loudest cheers to emerge from a PLP meeting since Jeremy Corbyn rose to power came after the Labour MP Jess Phillips called for George Galloway to never be allowed to re-join Labour. The sentiment was later reinforced in an editorial by Dawn Butler — who helped Corbyn get on the ballot slip — where she wrote that Corbyn had told her he was not in favour of letting his old comrade Galloway back in. So Mr S can’t help but wonder whether both Butler and Phillips will be disappointed to read comments made by Corbyn in an interview with the Huffington Post. When asked whether he would like to have Galloway

Jeremy Corbyn’s poll ratings are bad, but not disastrous. Why pretend otherwise?

Like most political journalists, I regard Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party as an unalloyed disaster. But it is, perhaps, time to admit that this view is not so widely shared amongst the public. “Almost a third of Labour supporters do not think that Jeremy Corbyn will lead Labour into the next election,” says today’s Observer. The more striking finding is that most Labour supporters (56pc) do think that Corbyn will stay until 2020. He may be hated by Labour MPs, but his approval rating is high amongst Labour members – even amongst those who voted for Andy Burnham. It’s a thing. Even if Labour MPs were to break the habit of a lifetime

10 reasons why Corbyn’s critics are the worst people in British politics right now

This has been a difficult year for me. For I have been compelled to break a pact I made with myself when I was 18 years old and do something I promised I would never do, something which goes against every cell and fibre of my being. I’ve defended a leader of the Labour Party. I can’t tell you how alien this feels. Imagine if Princess Diana had become press officer for a landmines factory, or if the Pope started moonlighting for Marie Stopes. Now you know how it feels for me to say vaguely nice things about Labour, a party whose paternalism, illiberalism, killjoyism and cretinism have been rubbing

Merry Christmas: a sponsored message from your MP

MPs have done their best this year to make their Christmas cards stand out. To do this, Nigel Evans opted to make himself the centre of attention, while Jeremy Corbyn managed to catch the Daily Mail‘s attention with a picture of some snow-covered bicycles. However, one such card has caught Mr S’s attention for a rather different reason than any of the above. Suella Fernandes — the MP for Fareham — has sent out a card which contains an extra message. Only it’s not from the Tory politician — or her staff — instead it’s from the official sponsor of her 2015 Christmas cards! While Mr S is glad to see Fernandes is

Steerpike

Peace in our time? Jeremy Corbyn befriends hacks at Labour Christmas bash

It’s safe to say that Jeremy Corbyn’s relationship with the mainstream media (MSM) can hardly be described as a harmonious meeting of minds. In fact, ever since Corbyn was elected as Labour leader he has regularly hit out at the MSM, even finding time in his conference speech to name and shame certain publications for their coverage of his campaign. So hacks gathered at Labour’s HQ for his Christmas press drinks with a degree of trepidation. While David Cameron’s press drinks the day before had included a range of hot restaurant-style canapés for guests, Labour staffers took a more relaxed approach offering popcorn and clementines. Despite concerns that Corbyn would be a no-show at his own bash, the Labour

Another day, another fake MP death threat

Although Owen Jones was once Jeremy Corbyn’s main cheerleader, in recent months his relationship with the Labour leader has cooled as his former Guardian colleague Seumas Milne has usurped him in Corbyn’s trusted circle. Still, Jones is now at least on good terms with other members of the party. Today the Guardian columnist has interviewed the outspoken Corbyn rebel Jess Phillips for his YouTube channel. During the friendly exchange, Phillips — who previously told Diane Abbott to ‘f— off’ after they clashed over Corbyn’s shadow cabinet appointments — discusses Corbyn’s pros and cons. Phillips also promises to ‘knife Jeremy Corbyn in the front’ rather than the back, should it become clear to her that he is not up to

Why did Jeremy Corbyn’s critics bother trying to stop his Stop the War partying?

Few really expected Jeremy Corbyn to pull out of the Stop the War fundraising dinner, which he attended last night. He used to chair the coalition, and hasn’t made any comment since becoming leader to suggest that he now disagrees with its aims and objectives. This, as Freddy wrote recently, simply shows that the new leader is sticking to what he believes, however wrong, rather than wobbling all over the place at the first sniff of power. Fewer people, perhaps, predicted that the Labour leader would release a defiant statement praising the organisation: ‘The Stop the War Coalition has been one of the most important democratic campaigns of modern times. It

Meet Jeremy’s Stop the War comrades: anti-Zionism, abortion comedy and the Stalin Society

Although Jeremy Corbyn is facing growing criticism over his role as a speaker at Friday’s Stop The War Christmas fundraiser, so far the Labour leader is showing no signs of backing down. Despite pleas from the likes of Michael Dugher, Tristram Hunt, Caroline Flint and Emma Reynolds for Corbyn to cancel, he looks set to attend, and will give the main speech. So, who will he be dining with as he feasts on Turkish food and rallies the troops? Mr S has compiled a list of some of the Stop the War comrades that may be in attendance tonight: Francesca Martinez: As well as Corbyn’s speech, entertainment will be provided by the

Portrait of the year | 10 December 2015

January David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said that only electing the Conservatives could ‘save Britain’s economic recovery’. Labour unveiled a poster saying: ‘The Tories want to cut spending on public services back to the levels of the 1930s,’ and Ed Miliband, the party leader, said he would ‘weaponise the NHS’. Two male ‘hedge witches’ were wed under the equal marriage law in a pagan ceremony in Edinburgh. Alexis Tsipras became prime minister of Greece, heading a Syriza coalition. In Paris, gunmen murdered 17 people, 11 at Charlie Hebdo, the magazine that had published cartoons of Mohammed. The price of Brent crude oil dipped below $50 a barrel, down from $107

Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn’s speech falls flat at Labour’s Christmas party

Jeremy Corbyn is currently facing calls to cancel his attendance at Friday’s Stop the War Christmas fundraiser dinner. However, should he stay on course and attend, the Labour leader can at least bank on getting a far friendlier reception from his comrades there than he did at his own party’s Christmas bash. Labour staff gathered in the Conrad St James hotel on Tuesday night for their annual Christmas party. Faced with free drinks and free food, the event had the ingredients for a promising night. That was until Jeremy Corbyn stepped up to the mic to give a speech to his party. Taking inspiration from John McDonnell, who quoted Chairman Mao

Rod Liddle

Hug, hold hands . . . then stampede to the right

What a pleasure it was to see two socialist parties triumph in the most recent elections. First, Labour increased its share of the vote in Oldham — and then, last weekend, the Front National became France’s most popular party, securing almost 30 per cent in the first round of the country’s regional elections. Labour’s win was, I suspect, a bit of a false dawn. For a start, the party did an un-usual thing and fielded a sentient and likeable candidate, something which most of the time it successfully avoids doing. But even then, it was at least partly dependent upon Asian men hauling large sacks of votes from illiterate and

The Young Fabians have an impressive guest of honour this evening – and they’re lucky to have him

Some days the world is so stupid that getting out of bed seems to carry too many risks.  Today, thanks to the Independent, the bottom of the stupid-pool has been reached. The ‘paper’ has just run a piece by one George Greenwood headlined: ‘Labour-IRA attitude under scrutiny as Young Fabians invite former terror commander to be guest of honour at Christmas party.’ Which sounds very scary indeed until you read down, or look at the photo and discover that the former IRA commander in question is in fact Sean O’Callaghan – otherwise known as probably the most famous double-agent at the top of the IRA. A man who helped destroy the IRA’s