jeremy corbyn Archives

Thursday

17 Sep 2015

Steerpike

At last, Jeremy Corbyn befriends a cameraman

Jeremy Corbyn has not had much luck with cameramen of late. Since he was elected as Labour’s new leader over the weekend, a war with the media has ensued as Corbyn does his best to avoid most cameramen. One particularly eye-watering encounter occurred on Sunday night with Sky News. Things took a turn for the worse on Tuesday when a BBC cameraman was admitted to hospital following an altercation outside Corbyn’s home. While the Department for Transport is currently investigating if a member of their staff was responsible for the man’s injuries, Corbyn can take heart that at least one cameraman is fighting his corner. Dai Baker, a Welsh cameraman who works for Channel 4 — which broadcast a sympathetic

Isabel Hardman

What holds Jeremy Corbyn’s frontbench team together

Jeremy Corbyn surfaced last night to do his first round of broadcast interviews since becoming Labour leader. The two key lines were on Europe and Trident, and though the interviewers were interested in these issues, Corbyn also had an interest in being as clear as he possibly could be on them as they play a large part in holding his Shadow Cabinet together. Labour MPs spent a lot of time chatting with one another and debating whether it was the right thing to join the Corbyn frontbench as he assembled it on Sunday night. They reached different conclusions, with some fearing they would be tainted by a hopeless administration that

Tony Yates

Why Corbyn’s Quantitive Easing for the People would be disastrous for the economy

‘Quantitative Easing for the People’ is one of the cornerstones of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership platform. The basic idea is simple: a hypothetical Corbyn government would instruct the Bank of England to create new electronic money (the modern equivalent of printing it) to fund public investment projects. The vehicle for doing this would be the ‘National Investment Bank’, which would be charged with funding public investment. The NIB would issue bonds that the BoE would be commanded to buy. You can see what the architects inside Corbyn’s camp were thinking. They believe Labour lost the election because it was not seen to have a sound policy on the deficit. So, instead,

Sebastian Payne

Podcast: the death of the left and Jeremy Corbyn’s first few days as leader

What has happened to the left-wing of British politics? On this week’s View from 22 podcast, Nick Cohen discusses his Spectator cover feature with Fraser Nelson on why he is resigning from the left, following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader. Why have some activists become intolerable of views that differ slightly from their hard-left perspective? Should those who have had enough of the Labour party join the Conservatives? And is Labour’s shift to the left a temporary blip or a longer trend? James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman also discuss Corbyn’s first week as Labour leader and whether his new take on PMQs is something that will stick. Has Corbyn’s

Nick Cohen

Why I left

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/thedeathoftheleft/media.mp3″ title=”Nick Cohen and Fraser Nelson discuss the death of the left” startat=32] Listen [/audioplayer]‘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 fall of Marxist Leninism. ‘This pathetic small-minded jealousy of the anti-democratic bourgeois shows them up for

James Forsyth

Corbyn puts the EU referendum on a knife edge

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/thedeathoftheleft/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman discuss Corbyn’s first few days as Labour leader” startat=1015] Listen [/audioplayer]No one watching Jeremy Corbyn walk around the Palace of Westminster would imagine that he had just won the Labour leadership by a landslide. He seems to spend his time practising the blank stare he gives to television cameras, his eyes fixed firmly on the middle distance. He doesn’t seem too keen on his colleagues either. There is none of the back-slapping bonhomie that normally surrounds a new leader. When he first addressed Labour MPs, there was no cheer when he entered the room which is, for a new leader, unprecedented. Corbyn is the

Harry Mount

Bad winners

‘Jeremy Corbyn night’ at the Forum in Kentish Town on Monday should have been a scene of orgiastic pleasure for socialist Labour. Corbyn’s victory was the triumph the grand old reactionaries of north London have been waiting a generation for. But they weren’t happy; they were as angry and full of bile as ever. The scene took me right back to my childhood in Islington in the 1970s. My neighbours in the queue outside the Forum had posher voices than you hear at Annabel’s. The smart greybeards from the £2 million villas of Kentish Town and Islington were joined by a new generation of under-thirties: white, university-educated, also with upmarket voices.

Isabel Hardman

Labour’s lost thinker

Shortly before the last election a group of Labour MPs approached Ed Miliband to ask him what he would do if he lost. They suggested he could provide stability by staying on as leader for a while, as Michael Howard had done, and that his last duty should be to oversee an inquiry into what went wrong at the general election. Miliband, still convinced he would win, did not entertain the idea, to the dismay of his policy chief, Jon Cruddas. After the election, Cruddas decided to go ahead and do an inquiry anyway. The results will infuriate the Labour left. The inquiry found that Labour’s anti-austerity message put voters

Hugo Rifkind

The problem with Corbyn’s hatred of the media

The new leader walks across a bridge, in the dark, while the journalist asks him questions. He’s not shouting, this journalist; not like Michael Crick would be, all smug of face while shrieking ‘Isn’t it true you’re a terrible dickhead?’ None of that. Even so, the leader says not a word. He stares ahead, face stony, furious and fixed. Clip-clop go his feet. For two minutes. There’s a video. For two actual minutes. WATCH: This is what happened when I tried to ask #Corbyn about shadow cabinet. He accuses me of “bothering” him. pic.twitter.com/uyqQdwXYu3 — Darren McCaffrey (@DMcCaffreySKY) September 14, 2015 This was Jeremy Corbyn, being trailed across Westminster Bridge

Wednesday

16 Sep 2015

James Forsyth

What Cameron said to Osborne at the end of PMQs

At the end of PMQs today, David Cameron turned to George Osborne and said, ‘Well, that was a lot less stressful.’ I think this conclusively answers the question of whether or not Cameron is worried by Jeremy Corbyn’s PMQs technique of reading out questions that the public have sent in. Although, to be fair, I hear that Cameron was impressed by how calm Corbyn was today, especially considering that it was not only his PMQs debut but his first ever appearance at the despatch box. The Prime Minister remarked afterwards that the Labour leader’s hands weren’t even shaking as he asked his questions.

Lloyd Evans

PMQs sketch: Jeremy Corbyn’s master plan

Jezza! What a genius. The master plan is clear at last. You spend four days plumbing new depths of political incompetence with bungled cabinet appointments, surly refusals to talk to reporters, tedious waffly platform-speeches and grumpy scowls during a service at St Pauls. And then, when your reputation can dwindle no lower, you spring forth and dazzle everyone with a political revolution. Cameron was grinning sheepishly before the Labour leader rose to the despatch box. He smirked sideways at his new opponent, through half-closed eyes, like a shy girl about to enter a forced marriage. Corbs looked relaxed and far sprucer than before. He might have been a civics teacher

James Forsyth

PMQs: Corbyn’s defensive performance gets him through unscathed

After the 72 hours that he has had, I suspect that Jeremy Corbyn is quite relieved to have got through his exchanges with David Cameron unscathed. The evening news tonight will be far better for Corbyn than it was yesterday. Corbyn, who was making his debut at the dispatch box, began by announcing that he wanted to change the style of PMQs and that he had got members of the public to email in questions. He proceeded to ask Cameron half a dozen of them. Cameron, who could hardly attack the question in these circumstances, answered respectfully and with only the odd jab at Corbyn which will have been a

Nick Cohen

When will Labour move against Corbyn?

The Labour party must dig deep into roots if it is to survive. The Blairites cannot do it, they are finished now. The far left is triumphant but they are a tiny force in the Parliamentary Labour Party, and nowhere near as popular in the country as their deluded supporters imagine. In the middle sit the broad mass of social democratic Labour MPs, and they do not know what to do. The leadership campaign showed that they could not inspire, although I thought that Yvette Cooper found her voice in its final weeks. They don’t know whether to sit in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet or to stand by their principles and

Steerpike

Listen: Marie from PMQs comes out fighting for Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn tried to take his ‘new kind of politics’ to PMQs today. To do this, the Labour leader asked David Cameron questions which were sent to him by members of the public. While many praised this new approach with the X Factor’s Nick Grimshaw even tuning in, others were less convinced; Iain Dale, the LBC radio host, likened the format to an LBC phone-in: Loving that Jeremy Corbyn is using an LBC phone in format for PMQS. Next it's Marie in Braintree… — Iain Dale ⚒️🇺🇦.🇮🇱.🇬🇪 (@IainDale) September 16, 2015 Well, it turns out Dale was on the money. The first question Corbyn read out was from a woman called Marie from Putney,

Sean Kemp

If Corbyn won’t employ a spin doctor, he at least needs to hire a competent press officer

You cannot work for a party’s press operation and not have your fair share of disasters. During my time working for the Liberal Democrats, our party leader pontificated about his colleagues on a plane, made the odd unfortunate sartorial decision (the ‘double-fleece look’ being the example that aroused the most incredulity in the office) and there were gaffes, snubs, rows and all the other unfortunate moments that cause former press officers to shake their heads and write smug blogs saying it was all much smoother in their day. These things happen in politics, and when the media has tasted blood, there is often nothing you can do. But I have never

Isabel Hardman

Corbyn’s new kind of politics is going to lead to confusion

Jeremy Corbyn wants to forge a new kind of politics, answering public discontent with the way things are done in Westminster. One of the things that voters often say they don’t like about politicians is the way they appear to abandon their principles in exchange for power. The idea that power acts as a sort of fire extinguisher on principles has been debated rather exhaustively through the leadership election. But Corbyn won that contest in part because people admired his ability to stick to his principles even when that appeared inconvenient. As an obscure backbencher being principled to the point of unpopularity was easy. Corbyn is discovering this week that,

Steerpike

BBC cameraman in hospital after altercation outside Jeremy Corbyn’s home

It appears that relations between Jeremy Corbyn’s team and the press have reached a new low. Channel 4’s Michael Crick has claimed that James Webb, BBC cameraman, was admitted to hospital last night following an incident outside Corbyn’s home in North London. He says the cameraman has suffered ‘neck and face injuries’ after a ‘Corbyn aide allegedly assaulted him as Corbyn left his home yesterday’. BBC cameraman in hospital last night with neck and face injuries after Corbyn aide allegedly assaulted him as Corbyn left his home yesterday — Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) September 16, 2015 WATCH: #Corbyn not having great luck with cameras at the moment. pic.twitter.com/fK5iysQVJM — Darren McCaffrey

Sebastian Payne

How will Cameron and the Tories deal with Corbyn at PMQs?

Today is the first real test of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. At midday, it’s assumed he will take his place on the front bench for his first session of Prime Minister’s Questions with David Cameron. PMQs is the central event of the political week and today’s session is even more anticipated than usual. For the first time, the Tories have the opportunity to put their ‘security’ concerns directly at the new opposition leader — will they stick? Will Corbyn brush them off or fail to effectively respond? There is also a challenge for the Prime Minister because he is dealing with such an unknown quantity. Will Cameron be serious and respectful, or punchy

Theo Hobson

Will Jeremy Corbyn boost his left-wing idealism with a religious message?

One major defect of Jeremy Corbyn has not yet been discussed. He’s not a religious believer. Why is this a defect? Because these days left-wing idealism is hugely boosted by an alliance with religion. Only so can it widen its appeal beyond a chippy clique. Maybe he’s half-aware of this. In a recent interview with the Christian magazine Third Way, he said that his upbringing was quite religious, and that he retains some sympathy with faith: ‘I’m not anti-religious at all. Not at all… I find religion very interesting. I find the power of faith very interesting. I have friends who are very strongly atheist and wouldn’t have anything to do

Tuesday

15 Sep 2015

Lloyd Evans

Sketch: Welcome to Snorin’ Corbyn

Great gag from the TUC. They played ‘Hey Big Spender’ as Jeremy Corbyn arrived to address their conference in Brighton. This was Stormin’ Corbyn’s first chance to reach beyond the Labour party and to address the nation. But he mentioned Britain only in the loosest terms. ‘The whole vision of those who founded the unions and founded our political parties was about doing things differently: that brilliant generation, those brilliant people who brought us the right to vote and brought women the right to vote.’ He meant the late Victorian campaigners who initiated trade unionism and gave birth to the Labour party. But he created the impression that he sees