Coalition « Labour Uncut

Posts Tagged ‘Coalition’

Amanda Ramsay sees unspeakable contempt for the unwritten constitution

20/06/2010, 10:27:53 AM

There is no overarching mandate for any one party’s electoral pledges. Which raises difficult constitutional questions for the coalition. Realising that it is on a sticky wicket, the government fears being bowled out, on any given parliamentary vote, if their fragile coalition starts to fragment. Hence their plans to bolster their precarious position by abolishing the simple majority vote of no confidence and fixing Parliamentary terms, with nothing less than legislative super-glue.

The old lie: “lies, damn lies and statistics” has never seemed more appropriate than while the sticky mathematics of this hung Parliament betray our new political masters’ contempt for the constitutional rule book.

Erskine May must be turning in his grave. To deny Parliament the safeguard of a vote of no confidence with a simple majority, half of the votes plus one being traditionally enough to drag a government back to the polls at any time not of its choosing, is both a con and a travesty. Constitutional safeguards exist for good reasons. If a government is too extreme, ineffective or totally irresponsible, what greater protection than the ability to oblige the government of the day to face the electorate and seek a new mandate? (more…)

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Tommy Watson takes the fight to the Tories

16/06/2010, 04:19:15 PM

When the coalition caved in to pressure and published details of – some of – its special advisers’ salaries last week – there were a few details missing.

So Tom Watson has produced this briefing paper, which contains a detailed account of the coalition’s spin doctors’ new pay rates and pensions.

It includes what last week’s document didn’t show: the additional civil service pensions that these coalition spinners can expect.

Under the civil service pension scheme, the PM’s spin man Andy Coulson gets £160K to add to his retirement pot.

These are the same “gold-plated and unfair” pension schemes that deputy pm Nick Clegg denounced this week.

Clegg said it was unreasonable to expect the taxpayer to continue to keep paying into “unreformed gold-plated public sector pension pots” – just like those awarded to the new government.

So, Watson asks in his letter to Nick Clegg, if low paid public sector workers are to forgo their “gold plated pots”, will all the coalition spin doctors be opting out of the civil service pension scheme?

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Efficiency Briefing: Number 1

16/06/2010, 04:16:51 PM

David Cameron and Nick Clegg: The cost of their recently appointed special advisers’ pensions

“So can we really ask them to keep paying their taxes into unreformed gold-plated public-sector pension pots? It’s not just unfair, it’s not affordable.” Nick Clegg, 14 June 2010

Tom Watson MP

Efficiency Briefing: Number 1

Introduction

Last Thursday, after a dismal performance in the chamber by Danny Alexander earlier in the week, the government caved into pressure and published the salary list of their newly appointed special advisers.

As well as showing a startling increase in the number of spin doctors working out of number 10, the publication showed that chief spin doctor Andy Coulson had been awarded a salary greater than that of the deputy prime minister.

What the publication didn’t show you was that on top of a £140K pay packet, Coulson is automatically entitled to a civil service pension – the same pension arrangements that Nick Clegg described yesterday as “gold plated…unfair…[and]…not affordable”. So on top of his £140K, the taxpayer could fund another £27,160 per year towards Mr Coulson’s retirement.

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Friday News Review

11/06/2010, 08:09:38 AM

Ed Miliband leans left

“Ed Miliband has delivered the most personal speech of the Labour leadership election, coming clean about his early life and political inspirations. The speech also marks out clear territory on the left of the party where he will base his campaign, with demands for a limit on the gap between rich and poor and rules on pay differentials in the private sector.” – Politics.co.uk

“FAT cat bosses in the private sector should have their salaries pegged back to tackle inequalities in British society, Labour leadership contender Ed Miliband has argued.

A Government plan to ban public sector bosses from getting paid more than 20 times the salary of their lowest paid employee should be extended to the private sector, he said in an interview with the Yorkshire Post.” – The Yorkshire Post

“The government must do more to reduce the pay gap between rich and poor, Labour leadership contender Ed Miliband has said. He called for the coalition’s public sector High Pay Commission to widen its scope to look at the private sector, saying wage differences were “high”.” – The BBC

“I came away from my meeting with Ed feeling inspired and excited. He has the personality, passion and drive that is needed to make an excellent Labour leader and Prime Minister. It is common for politicians to talk about “listening to the voters”, but I’m not sure we always hear what they are trying to tell us. I am confident that Ed is someone who doesn’t just listen, but really hears voters concerns. And acts on those concerns.” – Rachel Reeves MP, Yorkshire Post

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Don’t cut growth: Andy Westwood says that Labour got it right

08/06/2010, 04:43:31 PM

‘We’ve got to get the economy moving’ urged David Cameron ad nauseam during the election campaign. But beyond his condemnation of the ‘jobs tax’ and his desire to shrink the size and the role of the state, the detail was nowhere to be seen. He claimed then that what government spent or did was not the same thing as the economy – visibly incredulous as Gordon Brown warned about endangering the recovery by cutting expenditure too quickly.

A few weeks into the coalition government and the headlines are still about cuts, because in Cameron’s words ‘growth won’t be enough’. That may be because he has yet to give it any serious thought, or it may be because they just prefer to talk about the deficit. But there’s a third possibility: it may be because the Tories and Lib Dems don’t want to admit that they have retained Labour’s new industrial policy.

Key to this was the formation of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and ‘NINJA’ – the ‘New Industries, New Jobs’ white paper jointly written and conceived by Lord Mandelson and John Denham. Which document was published in Budget week exactly two years ago, providing a narrative for a more optimistic economic future amidst the fast developing recession in 2008.

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Monday News Review

07/06/2010, 07:35:47 AM

Balls blames Brown

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Schools Secretary Ed Balls arrive at the Acland Burghley School to attend a meeting of the National Council for Education Excellence on July 16, 2009 in London, England. Mr Brown and Mr Balls will discuss progress in the NCEE's recommendations on schools and college links with businesses and higher education institutions.

Ed Balls says he warned Gordon Brown over immigration

“The Labour leadership contest came to life today when Ed Balls launched his strongest attack yet on Gordon Brown, his mentor and patron, and demanded a rethink of the founding principles of the EU to curb immigration.” – The Guardian

“It is Mr Balls’s claim that he warned Mr Brown, his friend and boss for almost 20 years, that will attract much attention. Not least because he claimed that the incident in which Mr Brown called Gillian Duffy, a lifelong Labour supporter, “bigoted” was symptomatic of his refusal to engage with the issue.” – The Telegraph

“Ed Balls, the Labour leadership contender, criticised his political mentor yesterday when he accused Gordon Brown of blundering by ignoring the immigration issue before the general election.” – The Independent

“Meet Ed Balls, the candidate for Mrs Duffy. As the race for nominations closes, the Labour leadership candidates are beginning to focus on party members. With varying degrees of conviction, the contenders have identified immigration as the issue the party must address if it is to reconnect with those voters who spurned it.” – The Spectator

“Balls must have known all along that his party was getting this country into a dreadful mess. His pathetic half-admission of guilt would be more convincing if he weren’t trying to persuade the unions he is a fit person to be Labour leader.” – The Daily Express

The Candidates

“If I thought either Ed Miliband or Ed Balls or Andy Burnham or Diane Abbott or John McDonnell would be a better Leader of the Opposition or a better Prime Minister than I, then I would be running their campaigns. But I don’t, and that’s why I’m running my own campaign.” – David Miliband, The New Stateman Blog

“TONY’S Blair’s former press chief Alastair Campbell has said that Labour leadership hopeful Ed Miliband is not up to the job. He said Ed would only make Labour “feel okay about losing” unlike his older brother, the outgoing foreign secretary, who could get the party “into shape again”.” – The Scotsman

“The Labour leadership hopefuls are to go head-to-head in the first of the contest’s hustings. The six declared candidates will have the opportunity to appeal to delegates at the GMB’s annual conference on Monday afternoon before appearing before fellow MPs in Westminster in the evening.” – Press Association

Final push for nominations

Andy Burnham is confident he will reach 33 nominations

“Andy Burnham yesterday also brandished leftist credentials. He said that he would promote “more job security for workers in private and public sectors” as well as “promoting fairness in pay and aspiration.”” – The Times

“Candidates need 33 nominations to get on the ballot paper, but the former Health Secretary insisted he would be able to garner enough support. Mr Burnham told political editor Adam Boulton he would lay out his case for the leadership this week, promising “policy drawn from my life experiences”.” – Sky News

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Monday News Review

31/05/2010, 07:45:59 AM

The candidates

Diane Abbott makes pitch to Sun readers

“”They all look, sound and think the same. I want to ask the difficult questions. The sort of questions Sun readers want asked.” But she faces a battle to win enough nominations to get her name on the leadership ballot.” – Diane Abbott, The Sun

“All that the contenders have to offer are their political skills, they are all creatures of New Labour. That makes them likable, good communicators and very clever; but the drawbacks are equally evident. They are all youngish men who have grown up inside the distortions of the adrenaline-fuelled life of government.” – The Guardian

“Ed Miliband said that he and David never fought during childhood because “we are both too weedy for that”. He said that he chose to stand for election so party members had a diverse choice. “The one thing about opposition is that it gives you the chance to renew,” he said. “It was an incredibly hard decision for me to decide to run against my brother. It’s unusual, to put it mildly.”” – The Telegraph

Scotland & Wales make play for NEC seat

Iain Gray calls for NEC seats for Scotland & Wales

“Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray has said he wants greater influence in the UK party, after calling for a place on its ruling body. Mr Gray told BBC Scotland the time had come to give Labour’s Holyrood leader a seat on the national executive committee to “bind” the party together.” – The BBC

“LABOUR’S Scottish and Welsh leaders should have a say on how the party is governed by gaining a seat on its National Executive Committee, according to Iain Gray. The Scottish Labour leader said he had urged the party leadership challengers to allow him and Welsh leader Carwyn Jones to join the body that formulates policy” – The Scotsman

“Labour’s Scottish and Welsh leaders should have a say on how the party is governed, Iain Gray said. The Scottish Labour leader revealed that he has urged the leadership contenders to give him a seat on the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).” – Press Association

Uniting the Union

“Mr Simpson and Mr Woodley are due to retire, and will be replaced by one general secretary, who will have a major influence on the Labour Party, of which Unite is the biggest financial backer. The odds are not in Ms Cartmail’s favour, because within each of the two unions that made up Unite there was an efficient vote-garnering machine.” – The Independent

“A moment of truth is approaching for Thigmoo – “this great movement of ours”, aka the UK’s once mighty trade unions, now facing their biggest test for 30 years as the Con-Lib coalition prepares public spending cuts that could threaten at least 500,000 jobs.” – The FT

Brown down

“Gordon Brown has “good days and bad days” but is coming to terms with losing power, ex-Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell said yesterday. Mr Campbell told the BBC the former Prime Minister was “reconciled to the fact that he didn’t win the election”.” – The Mirror

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Sunday News Review

30/05/2010, 08:59:44 AM

Next Labour

Ben Bradshaw backs David Miliband

“David’s breadth of leadership skills and experience, combined with his clear vision of where he wants to take the party and Britain also, offers our best chance of winning again in Norwich, Swindon and Milton Keynes, without which there won’t be another Labour government.” – Ben Bradshaw MP, The Observer

“The issue has been forced because of the doomed coalition talks in the last days of the Labour government which revealed a deep chasm between the “progressive” and the traditional wings of the party. That division wasn’t just about whether to do a deal with the Lib Dems, it was about a divergent approach to politics.” – The Scotsman

“It is more eyebrow-raising that the denigration of New Labour has also been joined by the Miliband brothers, Ed Balls and Andy Burnham, a quartet who served their political apprenticeships in the courts of Blair and Brown and then ascended to the cabinet. They are jostling to criticise the government of which they were very recently prominent members.” – The Observer

“Perhaps the Labour front bench believes that having been mercifully released from the death grip of G Brown, it is now under no obligation to accept responsibility for his errors: that expunging the chief perpetrator was itself an absolution.” – The Sunday Telegraph

Talent show

“David Miliband threw caution to the wind last night by calling for a full television debate between all candidates for the Labour leadership, in a move that could help boost his rivals.” – The Observer

“Labour leadership contender David Miliband is challenging his rivals to a TV debate. The former Foreign Secretary made the suggestion in a letter this weekend to the five other candidates.” – The Sunday Mirror

Old, New Labour

Campbell tells of power struggle at heart of New Labour

“The full extent of the explosive feuds at the heart of New Labour are revealed today in a new book by Alastair Campbell.Tony Blair’s former spin doctor discloses furious shouting matches between the ex-PM and Gordon Brown that left both men “with purple faces”.” – The Sunday Mirror

“Whilst many of us want to concentrate on the future and the rescue of our economy, the next few months will also see some reappraisal of the Labour years. For the first time we will be able to debate them without the choking blanket of spin coming from Downing Street.” – John Redwoods Diary

Baby boom

“Both the Prime Minister and Opposition leader could be on nappy-changing duty within months if Ed Miliband wins the race to succeed Gordon Brown” – The Mail on Sunday

“The family theme to Labour’s leadership contest took a fresh twist last night as it emerged that Ed Miliband is to become a father for the second time later this year.” – The Independent

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Amanda Ramsay is not impressed by elected police chiefs

26/05/2010, 08:10:03 AM

No one knew what mutated policy offspring the Cameron and Clegg marriage of inconvenience might produce. Their coalition agreement, published last week, revealed a one word amendment to a little publicised Tory manifesto pledge – to introduce elected police chiefs to England and Wales. The Queen’s speech yesterday confirmed it.

Apparently, both Liberal and Conservative coalition negotiating teams chose to ignore the concerns of senior police officers, by pressing ahead with plans for what ended up being termed: “elected individuals” to oversee police forces.

Labour is rightly against tampering with the independence of the police. Shadow Home Secretary Alan Johnson summed it up while still in the Home Office: “The last thing police forces want is politicians telling them how to do their job, which will inevitably happen with elected commissioners.” (more…)

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As the coalition coalesces, Labour must not cede the centre ground, argues Benjamin Wegg-Prosser

18/05/2010, 05:55:27 AM

Labour types will have found last weekend rather curious: an interview with the PM of which we felt no sense of ownership; front page stories on splits at the heart of government which did not raise our blood pressure; and talk of leadership contests which we could not dismiss as an irrelevant side-show.

The idea that being out of office is something which we should welcome and embrace is clearly bonkers. But it is an enforced opportunity to reflect on what we achieved and where we came up short over the past 13 years. The fact that the Tories are making the weather – and the audacity of the new coalition is nothing if not a remarkable piece of political manoeuvring – should renew our appetite for a swift return to government.

In short, Cameron’s move presents both an opportunity and a problem for us. The former is clear: he has not reformed his party; he was unable to push through the changes which he wanted in opposition, so he has rather skilfully turned his own failure to secure a majority to his distinct advantage, marginalising the policies and people whom he wanted to junk but could not do so prior to the election. (more…)