Posts Tagged ‘Alistair Darling’

Wednesday News Review

18/08/2010, 07:30:03 AM
 

Polling: not great

Polling

The Conservatives have mislaid their lead but it is Labour, and more especially the Liberal Democrats, that ought to worry. That is the paradoxical message of today’s Guardian/ICM poll, which shows a leaderless Labour party drawing level with the Tories for the first time since Gordon Brown’s disastrous dalliance with a snap poll in the autumn of 2007. – The Guardian.

Voters believe the Lib Dems sold out by going into government with the Tories – but are glad they did.
And they don’t want either party to rule alone, a survey reveals. The public’s contradictory verdict was given on the first 100 days of the Coalition Government. – The Sun.

100 weeks, not days

David Cameron’s political marriage of convenience reaches its 100th day today and, so far, the relationship has held firm. But there are testing times to come. “The next 100 weeks – not days – will define this government,” said John McTernan, a former political secretary to Tony Blair. – The National.

Blair

Why did he wait so long to announce it? The question continues to hover over Tony Blair’s decision to present his memoirs money to charity. His decision to write the book was taken long ago. The bargaining over the financial terms finished months ago. Only after long thought has he decided to donate the earnings  –  surely not too difficult for a man whose current income has been estimated at anything up to £9 million a year. – The Mail.

 

Darling: deficit deniers

Darling

“I think we did the right thing by preventing the banking system from collapsing, by supporting the economy with the result that we got through the recession and back into growth far more quickly than would otherwise be the case. But I think we should’ve been far clearer, firstly as to why the deficit had risen in the first place, because our revenues had collapsed during the downturn, but secondly, yes you had to get your deficit down, you had to do it over a sensible period and in a balanced and measured way, but also that the at the same time government had a role to play in order to ensure we got recovery and to secure growth in the future.” Alastair Darling tells Channel 4.

Reid remembered

Today Jimmy Reid is best remembered as the spokesman of a struggle that asserted people should come before profit and that unemployment can be resisted. Jimmy Reid’s funeral: Thursday 19 August, 1.30pm, Govan Old Parish Church, Govan Road, Glasgow. – Socialist Worker.

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Tuesday News Review

17/08/2010, 07:56:53 AM

Goodbye Alan, it’s been emotional

I, for one, am fed up with the media myth which suggests that the Blairites were the cool dudes in the dull Labour gang, that they were popular and/or adored, and that they singlehandedly won general elections for the party. Did anyone ever say to themselves, “I’m voting Labour because of Alan Milburn”? Did people take to the street in protests when Blunkett was sacked from the cabinet? Did the likes of Patricia Hewitt, Geoff Hoon and Stephen Byers help or hinder the Labour re-election effort earlier this year, when they were outed by Channel 4’s Dispatches grubbing for cash? And did anyone really doubt that the ultra-Blairites like Milburn and Hutton were closer to the Tories, in their pro-market, pro-privatization, pro-rich ideology, than to the Labour Party, new or old? – The New Statesman

On Wednesday, he will deliver a speech on social mobility and confirm the disclosure in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph that Alan Milburn has been appointed an independent adviser to the Government. John Prescott‘s furious denunciation of Milburn as a “collaborator” tells you all you need to know about the political symbolism of this coup: the former Health Secretary and one-time Labour leadership contender joins his fellow Blairite, John Hutton, and Labour’s star thinker on welfare, Frank Field, in the coalition’s Big Tent. David Blunkett is reported to be next on the list of invitees. Just as Blair wooed senior Lib-Dems and One Nation Tories to New Labour — what Alastair Campbell called “Operation Hoover” — so Cameron and Clegg are recruiting disenfranchised Blairites. – The Evening Standard

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The week Uncut

25/07/2010, 12:57:50 PM

It’s all about momentum. And team Ed M think they’ve got it. Miliband Jnr has hit his stride and has Miliband Snr in his sights. He picked up the backing of Unison this week and now looks certain to be backed by Unite on Monday. But will it be enough? 

Miliband Snr has got lots of pieces of paper with the Queen’s head on and fancies his chances. And the bookies seem to agree. Abbott, Balls and Burnham have been written off, long shot outsiders; the real money is falling on the Milibands, with David the odds on favourite.

The race is on the home straight. The Coalition is getting shaky, the sooner the Opposition is in place the better. Rumours of Ed Balls dropping out have been denied by his team. Diane has managed a whole week without picking on the boys and Andy Burnham is looking like the closest runner to the Milibrothers.

It’s been a busy week on Uncut. In case you missed them, here are half a dozen of Uncut’s best read pieces of the last seven days:

Ed Miliband on girls, gigs, baseball, cuts and co-operatives

Alistair Darling on the growth figures that vindicate Labour’s actions

A brutal assessment of the leadership candidates and contest from Dan Hodges

Hopi Sen gives his advice to the man (or woman) behind the man (or woman)

Peter Mandelson on the book, the candidates and the future

Young dynamism and old pragmatism, Shelly Asquith makes the case for Ken

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Alistair Darling’s letter in support of David Miliband

01/06/2010, 10:13:56 PM

Alistair Darling released the following letter to his constituency party at 10pm on 1 June 2010.

Andrew Burns
Labour Party offices
78 Buccleuch Street
Edinburgh

Dear Andrew,

I am writing to let you know I will be nominating David Miliband as the next Leader of the Labour Party, and to explain my reasons for doing so. This is a crucial moment for our party so I wanted to write to you myself to set out my thinking.

We are fortunate to have a field of very strong candidates, each with different qualities. However, I believe strongly that David Miliband is the right person to lead our party, first in Opposition and then back to power. He has the right Labour values, with a deep commitment to equality. He has the ability to inspire the party with a compelling vision for the future, returning to our roots as a social movement for change. He has the maturity and humility to bring together different talents irrespective of whether they supported him in the leadership contest. He will re-engage Labour with the public, particularly those with whom we have lost touch. David has always campaigned and argued positively for the Labour Party and that is the kind of leadership we need. (more…)

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Darling likely to endorse David Miliband this evening.

01/06/2010, 05:30:45 PM

Uncut hears convincing reports that the Shadow Chancellor, Alistair Darling, is likely to endorse David Miliband’s bid for the Labour leadership later this evening.

An increasingly pivotal figure in the previous regime, Darling’s support will be seen as significant.

Other members of the defeated Labour cabinet backing David Miliband include Alan Johnson, Douglas Alexander, Ben Bradshaw, Bob Ainsworth and Jim Murphy.

Ed Miliband is backed by Hilary Benn, John Denham and Peter Hain; while Ed Balls is supported by his wife, Yvette Cooper.

Still to declare are Gordon Brown, Nick Brown, Liam Byrne, Jack Straw and Shaun Woodward.

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