The week Uncut
08/01/2011, 02:30:23 PMIn case you missed them, these were the best read pieces on Uncut in the last seven days:
David Cameron forgets his candidates name in Oldham East & Saddleworth
Tom Watson reveals details of the secret Lib Dem “Operation Detach”
Sally Bercow says Dave’s bottle-out on fox hunting is a broken pledge to cheer
New evidence brings new questions for the director of public prosecutions
David Seymour asks: where is the left when the country needs it?
Lib Dem candidate would have unsuccessfully lobbied himself on tuition fees
Dan Hodges brings us a personal tale of unrequited love
Kevin Meagher reckons Cameron’s a class act & it’s high time we took him out
Atul Hatwal thinks BAME Labour is a waste of everyone’s time
The Uncuts: 2010 political awards
31/12/2010, 07:30:03 AMIt’s been a busy old year. Gordon departed. Cameron and Clegg moved the brokeback wagons into Downing Street. Gideon slashed and burned. Vince tried to waltz his way into some young “constituent’s'” knickers and Ed beat David.
After the arguments over the electoral college in Manchester, and the luke warm tussling over AV we thought it best to pick our winners rather than have a readers vote. The old fashioned way. Feel free to add yours in the comments.
Politician of the year
There really could only be one winner:
George Osborne
Filled with his own self importance, and a belief that he was born to do this. He had the audacity to call his budget “progressive” while slashing and burning with that trademark smirk. But in all serious political circles he has earned (grudging) respect. As Cameron twists and turns, Nick jumps through hoops and Vince dances around a resignation, Gideon has become the rock at the heart of the Cameron government. Well advised, well rehearsed and well… impressive. Let’s hope 2011 isn’t as good a year for the man who could keep Labour out of power for the next decade.
Runners up:
Ed Miliband won against the odds. Has finally beefed up his team and started landing punches. A win in Oldham East & Saddleworth followed by a good showing in the locals could give him the momentum to really take on the government in 2011.
David Cameron. He won. Just. He made it into Number 10. Just. He ends the year with decent poll numbers all things considered, a “radical” programme and a sturdy majority (courtesy of his Lib Dem pals). Fair dos. Not a bad position for a PM to be in.
Best supporting politician
Winner:
Nick Clegg. Like The Man from Del Monte in the old ads who liked to say “yes”, Clegg’s willingness to hop into bed with Cameron and accept his “big, comprehensive offer” now gives him more clout than any of his predecessors since Lloyd George. But at what price?
Runners up:
David Miliband for his magnanimous speech at conference.
Gordon Brown for not backseat driving.
Harriet Harman for super-subbing during the summer, although lost marks for her fingerprints – or at least dinner plates – being all over the Hewitt/Hoon plot.
Geraldine Smith (late of Morecombe & Lunesdale) whose gutsy defences of Gordon and denunciation of all wannabe coup-ists was a sight to behold.
Brass neck of the year
What a 'Jeremy Hunt'
Winner:
Nick Clegg for his volte face on tuition fees.
Runners up:
Hewitt and Hoon for their risible, back-of-a-fag-packet plot to oust Gordon Brown.
George Osborne for calling the budget “progressive”.
Tony Blair for saying Bank of England independence was his idea in A Journey.
Liam Fox for his “fury” over his leaked letter to Cameron about defence cuts.
The man behind the man award
Winner:
Stewart Wood From Peter Parker to Spiderman. The bespeckled Oxford don and foreign policy adviser to Brown became the war time consigliere to Miliband Jnr. Masterminding the tortoise vs the hare victory over Miliband Snr. Now a peer with his sights set on taking down Sayeeda Warsi.
Runners up:
Sue Nye Respected for her long-suffering loyalty to successive Labour leaders and unfairly fingered for Gordon Brown’s Mrs. Duffy encounter (“It was Sue” squealed the nark). Bows out both well-liked and well-respected.
Ray Collins for helping keep the Labour show on the road and ensuring that Labour did not do as badly as some predicted. Or end up as broke.
Off to a flying start award
Winner:
Rory Stewart for his less than generous remarks about the sartorial standards of his constituents.
Runners up:
Mark Reckless Crazy name, crazy guy. Too pissed to vote. His “I don’t intend to drink in Westminster again” pledge is one that Westminster’s watering-hole watchers will be keeping their bleary eyes on.
Chris Kelly the publicity hungry backbencher is rumoured to be taking his chicken whisperer act on “Britain’s got talent” next year.
Survivor of the year
Winner:
Andy Coulson. Like all spin doctors, a wannabe Rasputin. And like the mad monk, seemingly unkillable. He ends the year in situ. But the phone hacking scandal is not going away.
Runners up:
Vince Cable One time Lib Dem treasure, ended the year on a low after trying to impress two young undercover journos with his “nuclear option.” Neutered but still walking. Just.
Jonathan Ashworth. It is said that in the event of a nuclear holocaust Jonathan Ashworth will still be working in the Labour leader’s office. 3 masters in 12 months.
Gisela Stewart. One of the bright points of a grey evening was seeing Birmingham Edgbaston – the first seat to indicate the Labour landslide back in 1997 – stay Labour.
Nigel Farage. A plane crash at the general election, a train crash of a successor. Britain’s favourite little Englander still stands.
Political battle of the year
Winners:
Miliband vs Miliband. Part A river runs through it, part The Godfather II. It was what it was always going to be: two brothers divided by their determination to get the top job. It leaves a legacy. It must. But is there more drama to come?
Runners up:
Osborne vs Mandelson. You might think you know which one is the better politician, but only one of them masterminded their way into government this year
Balls vs Gove. Michael Gove’s early billing as a star of this Tory generation took a near fatal hammering from a brutal master of political pugilism, Ed Balls. Gove’s calamitous decision to axe the building schools for the future programme was made to hurt more than he ever imagined it could.
Adam Boulton vs Alistair Campbell. Did Sky want the Tories to win the election? At a corporate level we can be fairly sure that it did. At a journalistic level? Hard to say. But Boulton’s reaction shows that the accusation strikes close to the bone.
(Ex) minister of the year award
Winner:
Alistair Darling To emerge, as chancellor, from a beaten government and a tanking economy with your reputation enhanced is truly a remarkable achievement and the mark of a quietly brilliant man.
Runners up:
Kenneth Clarke The Tory right may be screaming for his head, yet his enlightened approach to prison reform may set penal policy in a direction that actually works. But will Cameron’s nerve hold and keep Ken where he is?
Bob Ainsworth An unlikely hippy, it’s safe to say, but his recent call for drugs reform was a significant intervention from a former minister who knows that the “war on drugs” was lost long ago. The number of people who secretly agree with him but would never dream of saying so is a small part of everything that is wrong with politics.
The Jo Moore award for PR disaster of the year
Winner:
Bigot-gate Gordon Brown’s description of Rochdale pensioner, Gillian Duffy, as “that bigoted woman” was the undoubted numero uno gaffe of the general election campaign. Few recall, however, that Labour took Rochdale from the Lib Dems on election night.
Runners up:
Fire up the Quatro poster. A spectacularly ill-judged Labour campaign which turned Cameron into one of the country’s most loved TV characters.
Airbrushed Cameron Equally backfiring idea, which showed Cameron to be even more plastic and artificial than he is.
Liam Byrne – His “there’s no money left” note to his successor, David Laws, was quickly used as a stick to beat him with. A colossal mistake by an otherwise smart man.
The fourth (rate) estate award
#Hackinggate Non-reporting of the biggest media scandal in decades. Guilty consciences all around Fleet Street as no-one seriously doubts that the culture of phone hacking goes well beyond one rogue reporter at the News of the World. We know this because people keep owning up to it in the Guardian. Yet, apparently, this despicable practice, the gross and illegal abuse of privilege, doesn’t warrant a mention in the vast majority of the press.
Runners up:
Nick Clegg’s Nazi Slur on Britain One of the most pathetic days in recent British journalistic history. Andy Coulson got exactly the headlines he wanted. Those responsible – editors and scribblers – damaged their own reputations to suck up to their future bosses, and Lib Dem central office wasted a day fighting fires started by lickspittle. Tawdry, tawdry stuff.
Kay Burley Sky News’s afternoon anchor. Just type her name in to YouTube. Enough said.
Prediction of the year
Winner:
Dan Hodges for his “David Miliband has won” prediction on Uncut, five days before the coronation ceremony. At which Ed was crowned.
Runners up:
Benedict Brogan “Cameron will be PM by tea time on Friday”.
Nick Robinson “David Miliband will win”‘ prediction, about 90 seconds before he lost.
The week Uncut
18/12/2010, 10:30:18 AMIn case you missed them, these were the best read pieces on Uncut in the last seven days:
Tom Watson offers a Christmas toast to the leader
Michael Dugher says replacing nanny with nudge is no joke
Dan Hodges interviews the shadow defence secretary, Jim Murphy
Stella Creasy says together we can make the government act on legal loan sharking
Peter Watt says that we don’t have the time to be rational
Kevin Meagher thinks Coronation Street is a Tory conspiracy
Tory local government leader lets slip contempt for the north
The week Uncut
11/12/2010, 10:39:37 AMIn case you missed them, these were the best read pieces on Uncut in the last seven days:
Dan Hodges says let’s not defend our record – it’s been trashed by the voters.
This Tory-Lib Dem government is particularly clobbering women says Sally Bercow
Tom Watson is sick of the Tory-Lib Dem lies
Voting for tuition fees to teach protesters a lesson is appalling, and will be remembered says Dora Meredith
John Woodcock sticks up for big Gordy and his ideas
Open data: by itself, the big society amounts to little more than “behave decently” says Jon Bounds
Andy Dodd thinks Students are paying the price of this arranged marriage
Vote based on the election manifesto* says George (*but only if you’re a Tory)
09/12/2010, 03:39:45 PMGeorge Osborne has just said:
I would say to my Conservative colleagues that we had a clear statement in the manifesto that we were going to look at the Browne report. I would expect a Conservative MP who stood on this manifesto to stand by what they said they were going to do six or seven months ago.
Uncut wonders if he thinks his Lib Dem colleagues should do the same?
The week Uncut
04/12/2010, 10:30:00 AMIn case you missed them, these were the best read pieces on Uncut in the last seven days:
We don’t see it, but our arrogance stops us from listening says Peter Watt
Dan Hodges interviews the “bionic Blairite” Hazel Blears
There’s no crisis and no division, just a duty to oppose says Michael Dugher
John McTernan makes the case for greybeards in the new generation
You don’t build the future by trashing the past argues Will Straw
Atul Hatwal says the Labour bandwagon needs to confront its lost estates
Blears and Cruddas join forces to fight IDS & Cameron & Uncut gets excited
Tom Watson is chasing down the enemy within: metal thieves
The week Uncut
27/11/2010, 11:00:25 AMIn case you missed them, these were the best read pieces on Uncut last week:
Dan Hodges identifies a new demographic, the “vajazzled middle”
Sally Bercow says that Osborne’s VAT bombshell is both mad & bad
Nick Pearce sets even tests for Ed Miliband
Tom Watson says Andy Coulson is off, but there is more to come
Uncut leads the charge for Mandelson to appear on strictly
John Woodcock says it’s time to listen and think
Jonathan Todd on who the new Lib Dem President really is, and why
Anthony Painter says Lord Sugar is right and Nick Clegg is wrong
The week Uncut
21/11/2010, 09:59:36 PMIn case you missed them, these were the best read pieces on Uncut last week:
India Knight says politicians can’t hide on twitter
Len McCluskey says it’s time to stand up and be counted
Michael Dugher says it’s poor communities which will be cut more than rich
Dan Hodges confesses his love for all things spin
Tom Watson kept an eye out for news buried by the royal wedding
Gavin Hayes thinks the nasty party are back – big time
Eric Joyce says it’s not all that easy for politicians to lie
Jessica Asato says together we are stronger
Uncut editorial: Eric Joyce
21/11/2010, 10:00:41 AMEric Joyce’s resignation from the front bench, the first of Ed Miliband’s leadership, will not have been met with universal sorrow. Over the past couple of years, Mr Joyce and controversy had become soul mates. He resigned from the government over the conduct of the war in Afghanistan. He was very adversely critical of some in the party leadership, particularly in the area of defence. His article on Uncut this week, condemning the perceived hypocrisy of sections of the electorate, handed further ammunition to his enemies.
But we are told that we live in a time where our politicians know nothing but politics. Eric Joyce joined the Black Watch as an 18 year old private. Through the army he earned himself an education, went to Sandhurst, and worked his way up to a commission and the rank of major. He served in Northern Ireland, Germany and Central America.
We are told that our politicians are loyal only to their own ambition. Eric Joyce resigned from the army, adversely criticising the institution as “racist, sexist and discriminatory”. When he stood down from his position as PPS to defence secretary, Bob Ainsworth, he said, “Above all, Labour must remember that service folk and their families are our people. We say that we honour them for their risk, bravery and sacrifice and we must, at literally all costs, continue to show that we mean it”.
We are told that our politicians lack honesty. On Monday, Eric Joyce wrote, “Here’s the truth. It’s hard to lie as a politician because everything we say is subject to enormous scrutiny – we’ll get found out even if we wanted to lie in the first place. But politicians know the lies a lot of people live and they pitch to you accordingly. There’s a lot of lying going on, for sure. The letters-page paragons are right in that respect. But they might want to reflect on who is really doing the lying”.
A hinterland. Principles. Honesty. These are our political prerequisites.
But there are things we do not want. We do not want to be challenged. We do not want to be questioned. We do not want our imperfections scrutinised by those who may themselves be imperfect.
The mistakes that are the price of our humanity will not be tolerated from those who govern us. They are servants of the public. And the public is a hard taskmaster.
There is no room in our politics for vulnerability, or for weakness. And so there is no room for Eric Joyce.
