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Sunday News Review

15/08/2010, 09:09:58 AM

Bring in the ringers

Alan Milburn has been appointed to give political cover to Clegg

As expected there’s been a furious response from ex-Labour deputy, John Prescott to the overnight news that former arch-Blairite cabinet minister, Alan Milburn is possibly going to return to government to act as “Social Mobility Czar” – whatever that means. Prezza Twittered: “So after Field & Hutton, Milburn becomes the 3rd collaborator. They collaborated to get Brown OUT. Now collaborating to keep Cameron IN” For the three Labour figures named were all opponents of the Gordon Brown premiership which makes it easier for Prescott to condemn them in this manner – though I do wonder whether the term “collaborator” is taking tribal politics a bit too far. – Political Betting

Labour’s Alan Milburn is poised for a shock return to Government as David Cameron’s “social mobility” czar. And it was reported last night that former Cabinet minister David Blunkett could also boost the coalition with advice on poverty, benefit cheats and the pensions crisis. His former Cabinet colleague Mr Milburn will advise the PM on helping people from humble backgrounds into lucrative careers. – The Mirror

The appointment of the former Health Secretary will anger Tory traditionalists who fear there are already too many left leaning policies being drawn up by the coalition. The announcement will be made by Nick Clegg, perhaps as early as Wednesday. A Liberal Democrat insider said the appointment had been agreed between Mr Clegg and Mr Cameron as a way of promoting the former’s “fairness” agenda. Many will see it as a way of shoring up the Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem leader who is facing internal trouble in his own party over the severe spending cuts he has backed. – The Telegraph

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Saturday News Review

14/08/2010, 09:01:47 AM

Whelan v. Mandelson

Whelan

In his first major newspaper interview since new Labour came to power in 1997, Whelan gives an explosive insider’s account of the civil war that helped destroy the Labour government. In a blistering attack on Mandelson, he says the man who Brown had controversially recalled to the Cabinet after the disgrace of being twice sacked by Blair, actually lost the Labour Party votes because of his betrayal of the PM, and was responsible for a culture of defeatism that blighted Labour’s campaign. – The Mail.

Williams at 80

Shirley Williams has just turned 80. Yes, there was a little birthday party, and lunch with her daughter, but nothing more. “That’s enough to be going on with, thank you,” she says. There’s no time to waste for Baroness Williams of Crosby, now that her party’s finally got a share of government. – The Guardian.

Ed: likes seaside

Mili-by the seaside

Ed Miliband is speaking to me from the last days of his holiday in Cornwall, writes Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Like so many politicians in the new age of austerity he has found the English seaside rather delightful. He is a convert, he says, to British holidays. – Channel 4.

The race

Gazing at what passes for the Opposition, are we supposed to laugh, cry, weep with mirth or smile bravely through the tears? This may be a rhetorical question. With the Labour Party uncertain whether to style itself as tear-jerking soap opera or broad-brush satirical sitcom, it is asking too much of the rest of us to decide for it. – Telegraph.

Hardie remembered

He’s been called Labour’s greatest hero and the party’s most inspirational leader but could Keir Hardie also be in danger of being forgotten?
Some admirers of the founder of the Labour Party believe so and will tomorrow, on the anniversary of his birth, launch a society to promote his life and work across the generations. – The Herald.

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Friday News Review

13/08/2010, 08:01:31 AM

Backers revealed

David Miliband‘s leadership donations came from less high-profile names, with £50,000 donated by the PR man Anthony Bailey, £10,000 from the businessman Gulam Noon, £25,000 from the Usdaw union and nearly £23,000 from the businessman Lord Sainsbury. He received the most of any candidates in July – £138,835.12 – and has received the most overall with a total of £277,000, plus £47,100.33 in non-cash donations. – The Guardian

Liverpool and England centre half Jamie Carragher is throwing his cash behind Evertonian, Andy Burnham’s Labour leadership campaign. Carragher, who is known for his action on the grass roots of Anfield, rather than grass roots politics, added a £10,000 cash donation to Burnham’s war chest, figures released by the electoral commission showed today. – Liverpool Click

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Thursday News Review

12/08/2010, 07:49:24 AM

Straw backs Miliband Snr

Jack Straw is backing David Miliband for the Labour leadership

Labour leadership contender David Miliband tonight received the endorsement of another party heavyweight, as the shadow justice secretary, Jack Straw, gave the elder Miliband his vote. In a letter to Blackburn Labour members, Straw pledged his support to Miliband, joining the shadow home secretary, Alan Johnson, and the shadow chancellor, Alistair Darling, in proclaiming him as their pick to take over from Gordon Brown. Explaining his decision, Straw draws drew attention to Miliband’s role running the leadership campaigns of both Brown and Tony Blair. – The Guardian

Mr Straw, who announced last week that he is to retire from the Shadow Cabinet in October, said in a letter to party members in his Blackburn constituency: “In my view there is one outstanding candidate with the qualities necessary both to be Leader of the Opposition, and then Prime Minister.”In my judgment it is David Miliband who without doubt should be our next Leader. He will get my vote.” – The Independent

All the candidates have strengths. In my view, however, there is one outstanding candidate with the qualities necessary both to be Leader of the Opposition, and then Prime Minister. And don’t forget, the post of Opposition Leader is probably the most difficult and exposed of any in British politics. The Conservatives got through three Opposition Leaders before they elected one who could achieve even half a victory. Only three Labour leaders (Attlee, Wilson, Blair) in our post-war period have won elections. – Jack Straw, Blackburn Labour

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Wednesday News Review

11/08/2010, 08:58:56 AM

Blackburn: cuts

Grim up North

Labour Party councillors in Blackburn have failed to overturn plans to cut £4m from the council budget.Blackburn-with-Darwen Council is trying to save about £40m in the next four years as it prepares for a reduction in grants given to local government. – BBC NEWS.

Jimmy Reid

Tributes were paid this morning to Scots journalist and ex-trade union activist Jimmy Reid, who died on Tuesday night. The 78-year-old, who led the campaign against the closure of Glasgow’s shipyards in the 1970s, passed away in hospital at 9pm. He is believed to have suffered a number of heart attacks and had been in poor health for a number of years.On Wednesday, his former colleagues said they were in mourning for a “great Scot and a true internationalist”. – STV.

Charlie

Charles Kennedy, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, has separated from his wife Sarah, the couple’s lawyers have confirmed.
The couple said their “amicable” separation would be “an entirely private family matter… Our ongoing and overriding priority will obviously remain our son.” – Sky News.

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Tuesday News Review

10/08/2010, 07:57:14 AM

Lib Dem slump

Liberal Democrat support has slumped to its lowest level since the start of the general election campaign as voters protest that the party has lost its voice in the coalition government.A ComRes poll for The Independent finds that backing for Nick Clegg’s party has fallen to just 16 per cent, its worst showing since early April. It also found that almost three-quarters of the public says it does not know what the Liberal Democrats stand for any longer. The survey puts the Conservatives on 39 per cent, down one point since the last ComRes survey for The Independent on 28 June. – The Independent

What does stand out is the 12 point share for others – SNP/PC/GRN/UKIP/BNP – which is in marked contrast to what YouGov has been reporting. In one recent survey it had the total for the five parties at just five points. It’s having fewer points for others and a much lower LD figure which is behind YouGov’s highish shares for the Tories and Labour. Even though it has the lowest ComRes share for the LDs since early April tonight’s poll will be viewed with a sense of relief by the yellows after watching their YouGov total drop to 12 points at the start of last week. – Political Betting

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Monday News Review

09/08/2010, 09:05:38 AM

"Aw ma, but WE wanted to do it"

Milimum backs Abbott

Ed Miliband said his mother Marion would be supporting rank outsider Diane Abbott in the leadership battle, which concludes next month. Currently David is favourite to win the leadership, although some suggest his younger brother Ed could pip him at the finish with the support of Labour voters’ second preferences. – Telegraph.

Abbott talks cash

Leadership candidate Diane Abbott has claimed the New Labour brand is contaminated and voiced fears over the influence of money on the contest. She said New Labour was “pretty much contaminated” as she claimed David Miliband was the Blairite candidate, backed by money from big donors sympathetic to that wing of the party. Talking about the relative election campaigns, she said: “It is odd that David Miliband has £400,000 and I have £5,000. He’s got the big Blairite money and the big Blairite backers – Scotsman.

New leader powers

Labour’s new leader will be able to hire and fire his or her shadow cabinet under radical reforms drawn up by the former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett. After the summer recess the Parliamentary Labour Party will be balloted on a series of measures handing far greater power to whoever is elected leader three weeks later. – Independent.

Mail on memoirs

Tony Blair will cash in on his experience as Prime Minister by flogging a special edition of his memoirs at a wallet-busting £150.
The red cloth-bound, slip-cased publication of A Journey resembles a Bible or hymn book and bears the signature of the former PM, who was often compared to a vicar for his preachy tone. – Mail.

Age factor still facing Ken

Ken

His rival for the nomination, Oona King, is of the same generation as Ed Balls and the Miliband brothers, whereas Livingstone is at least 20 years older than the next Labour leader, whoever he may be. If he wins the Labour nomination, he will be running for Mayor at the age of 66, and if he wins that, he will be nearly 71 when his term of office ends. – Independent.

Cable

There has been much speculation that frugality is the only feature of this government Cable will find to his taste. Perceived as the Lib Dem furthest to the left – a former Labour party councillor and parliamentary candidate, the man Gordon Brown phoned in the frantic post-election days – Cable is widely tipped as the minister most likely to resign from the coalition. He made no secret of his preference for forming a government with Labour – but was forced by the arithmetic of the election result to abandon that dream, “and follow my head, not my heart”. – Guardian

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Sunday News Review

08/08/2010, 07:30:37 AM

Second preferences

But while he won’t win, Ed Balls will be the kingmaker. The closeness of the race means that second preferences will be critical. – Will Straw, Channel 4.

Gloria on Sunday

Gloria does People thought Labour was bonkers back in the 1980s when the Party said it would raise their taxes and ban the bomb – and, of course, they were right. – Gloria De Piero, NOTW.

The AV Rollercoaster

Rob Hayward, the respected psephologist who advised the Tories during the election campaign (on boundary reform) tells me that the polls are likely to worsen for the yes campaign. He points out that half of Tory voters polled by YouGov were in favour of AV at the last poll – early last week. That is unlikely to be sustained given the number of Tories who will soon be making a strident case against changing the way we vote. Tighten your seatbelts; this is going to get rather exciting. – Financial Times.

Vince’s tough gig

Vince In open-neck pink shirt and slippers Vince Cable, in many ways the unlikeliest member of the coalition cabinet, is sitting in his living room talking candidly about his experiences in government three months on from its formation.
“People sometimes ask me ‘are you having fun?’ ” he says. ” No! It’s hard work and it’s tough, but it’s important.” –Telegraph.

Coalition coordinates

After a breakfast of Danish pastries and sausage rolls came a presentation from Cameron and Clegg. The Prime Minister went through his half and then, to everyone’s surprise, threw the pointer he had been using across the room to his deputy. Clegg, playing it cool, caught it one-handed. The two partners grinned at each other like Torvill and Dean at the end of Bolero. – Daily Mail.

Bercow’s wendy house

The Speaker of the House of Commons is sitting in his two-year-old daughter’s Wendy house. Can you fit in it, I had just joked to the diminutive John Bercow, all 5ft 6 inches of him, and to my surprise he bends down ever-so-slightly and climbs in through the plastic yellow door. He sits inside and waves. – Telegraph.

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Saturday News Review

07/08/2010, 08:27:48 AM

Straw to step down

Straw to step down

“I was first appointed to the Labour frontbench in 1980, and then elected to the Shadow Cabinet in 1987,” he told the Press Association. “But now I want the freedom to range more widely over foreign and economic policy.” – Jack Straw, Belfast Teregraph.

The immigration debate

Deborah Mattinson has run focus groups – snapshots of the voting public – for the past 20 years. In that time she has been made plainly aware of the needs, wants and fears of the British people. She claims that the immigration debate – dismissed to quickly by politicians as bigotry – is in fact a clear cry from voters that they are afraid for their families and their communities. – Daily Mail.

Nick Clegg Jnr

Somewhat sooner than any of us could have predicted, the time has come to ask what exactly is the point of Nick Clegg. Just cast your minds back to those heady days of the first-ever British television election debates as the nation enjoyed Mr Clegg’s warm sincerity; those arched hands, those dewy eyes that looked straight into the camera as he promised a ‘new politics’. – Daily Mail.

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Friday News Review

06/08/2010, 07:32:30 AM

Ed: Narnian resident

Co-op support

The Co-operative Party has reported a record increase in new members following Labour’s general election defeat in May. A Party spokesman told the News that almost 500 new members had signed up in the three months since then — mainly online — and that the figure included a substantial number of returning members. – Co-op News.

It’s grim up north London

The workers’ party has its own aristocracy, and it lives in London’s northern hills. Not far from Hugh Gaitskell’s grave in Hampstead, a Narnian village that in every sense looks down on the capital, other Labour leaders have made their homes. Across the Heath—where one of them, Michael Foot, walked his dog—Karl Marx is buried in Highgate cemetery. Bankers and Arsenal footballers may have infiltrated, but this is still a land of liberal writers, celebrities and assorted cognoscenti. During the general election, houses worth millions of pounds had Labour posters in their windows. – The Economist.

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