The Leadership

“The Labour Party can only win power again if we win the battle locally. We need an army of activists, trained and ready to take on the coalition. The Con-Dem cuts don’t just threaten the recovery, they threaten the livelihood of every community”. – David Miliband,  The Mirror.

“It would be all too easy for Labour leadership candidates to please their natural supporters by accusing the Lib Dems of being collaborators – a word John Prescott used to describe his former colleague John Hutton, advising the Government on pensions – as if we were now living under Nazi occupation. But that risks driving the Lib Dems further into the arms of the Tories.” – The Independent.

“[David] Miliband’s ideas can only become reality if he is elected leader and if Labour wins the next Election. Clegg, in his statement on political and constitutional reform last week, was addressing the Commons as Deputy Prime Minister. One only has to recall the difference between the aura of power of Tony Blair in 1997, and the lack of authority of successive Tory leaders of the Opposition to see how authority has passed from Labour to the Coalition.” – The Daily Mail.

“David Miliband has surpassed himself with the sorriest excuse for a “nothing to do with me, guv” speech we have heard since Gordon Brown’s departure. The shadow foreign secretary, who always strained every sinew to make it look like he supported Brown when he was in office, is now trying to oil out of his support for the doomed Labour government to help his leadership bid.”  – The Telegraph.

“Abbott’s liberal immigration policy and civil liberties agenda set her apart from the other four candidates but she remains the underdog.” – The Southern Daily Echo.

Political Apology

“There’s a part of me that finds something quite refreshing about the sight of the politician penitent. They are usually ready to offer regrets only for things that happened centuries ago which were never their responsibility in the first place. Tony Blair once said sorry for the Irish potato famine; Gordon Brown did the same about sending children up chimneys. When it came to their own mistakes, it required the services of a team of crack surgeons working around the clock to extract an apology. In the case of Mr Brown, the operation was even then nearly always a failure.” – Andrew Rawnsley, The Guardian.

Labour Support

“Last night Ben Bradshaw, the Exeter MP and former Cabinet minister, said his local party membership was up by around a fifth, to more than 500. He blamed “anger and deep disappointment at the Lib Dems propping up a Tory government”.  He said some Lib Dem supporters had been willing to give the coalition a chance, but had been dismayed to find the Lib Dems were “having absolutely no influence” on a Tory programme which was “out and out Thatcherite”.” – The Cornishman.

Glasgow

“The disgraced former leader of Glasgow City Council helped arrange access to a top official for two Labour-supporting developers who later gave him a job. Ex-Labour boss Steven Purcell helped tee up meetings between the pair’s lawyer and the council’s chief executive, and asked a second senior official to examine their business proposals.” – The Herald.

Wales

“To big-hearted Rhondda MP Chris Bryant next, who has e-mailed all Labour’s new intake of parliamentarians offering guided tours of the Houses of Parliament.“MPs may be asked at short notice to give tours of Parliament for constituents, often when the official tours are fully booked,” writes the former Foreign Office Minister in his e-mail. He offers to give the newbies a bluffer’s guide to hosting tour parties. Unrelated fact: Chris Bryant is standing for election to the Shadow Cabinet later this year.” – Wales on Sunday.

…and a bit more Mandy

“I don’t hate Ed. I’ve got to know him well over the last two years. ‘He has strong views, a tough analysis and forceful personality and that’s what you want in a leader.” – The Mail

Tags: Balls, Dianne Abbott, Labour, Labour leadership, Mandelson, Miliband

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