Lucy powell

Labour’s ‘quick and dirty’ briefing

More fallout from the Labour Ukip leak reaches me. Some sources in the party remain amazed that it apparently never crossed the desk of Yvette Cooper, given her role in the Ukip strategy group. But there is also considerable amusement about an email, passed to Coffee House, that Lucy Powell sent out describing the briefing pack as ‘quick and dirty’. Some might be wishing material produced by HQ wouldn’t fit such a racy description. The row over the report is fading, but it seems to have increased some tensions between party frontbenchers. And those who produced the report itself aren’t in the best of moods either… Dear colleagues Further to discussions in

Miliband promotes allies in post-Murphy Shadow Cabinet reshuffle

The post-Jim Murphy Labour reshuffle has arrived, and while it’s not particularly seismic, it still tells us some interesting things about Ed Miliband’s thinking. The Labour leader has replaced the former Shadow International Development Secretary with Mary Creagh, which means it can’t be described as a consolation prize (something development campaigners were wary of as they’d rather someone who wanted the job, thank you). Creagh has a reputation in her party for being formidably well-briefed (although she managed to disappoint regional newspapers recently), and was particularly impressive in her last role but one as Shadow Environment Secretary when the horse meat scandal broke. Anas Sarwar, who some had tipped as