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Friday News Review

16/07/2010, 07:29:30 AM

Union backing declared

The GMB Union has backed Ed Milliband for the Labour leadership

Several unions moved to give their backing to candidates for the Labour leadership yesterday as the campaign enters a potentially critical phase.The GMB became the first of the three big Labour-affiliated unions to nominate its choice, urging its 700,000 members to back Ed Miliband, the former climate change secretary. It will ballot all members on the candidates. – The Guardian

Mr Miliband also received support from construction union Ucatt yesterday. The Communication Workers Union swung behind Ed Balls and train drivers’ union Aslef backed Diane Abbott.Voting is split three ways: MPs and MEPs, trade unions and other affiliated organisations and thirdly grassroots activists. The two biggest unions – Unite and Unison – have yet to declare. – The Mirror

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Thursday News Review

15/07/2010, 07:40:50 AM

Peter in print

Labour figures from all sides of the party expressed fury that Lord Mandelson had committed private conversations to print, such as his reporting that Mr Blair believed Gordon Brown to be “mad, bad and dangerous”, and that his then chancellor was “flawed”. Neil Kinnock, the former party leader, was said by a friend to be “spitting”, and John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, “furious”. Lord Mandelson, who was lauded at Labour’s annual conference last year, was warned by some to stay away this year. Political friends and foes urged him to donate a slice of the money he was earning from the book to the party. – The Australian

She argued that Mandelson “knew perfectly well how useless Brown was”, so, by sustaining him as Labour leader, he had fatally undermined the party’s general election chances. In return for his loyalty Mandelson, who “adores pomp and ceremony” was rewarded with the bauble of an honorific title that, to most people, means little. He appeared, she wrote, “like a much-favoured Tudor courtier, stooping under the weight of his gold chains and medallions”. Sieghart concluded with a further jibe at Mandelson’s gross hypocrisy: “The man who ensured that Labour would spend five, possibly 10, years out of power now hopes to capitalise on his tales of those torrid years in government. – The Evening Standard

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Wednesday News Review

14/07/2010, 07:35:34 AM

Ed M woos the press

Ed Miliband impressed at press lunch

I have been listening to Labour leadership challenger Ed Miliband wooing a notoriously sceptical audience, members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. And I’m wondering: Is he Labour’s David Cameron? Having observed him giving several impressive party conference speeches in recent years, I’ve noted before that his style is similar: shirt sleeves, no jacket, strolling around the podium, speaking without notes. But now, as Ed Miliband enters the crucial summer period in the Labour leadership contest against his four rivals, he appears to be adopting another Cameron tactic, dumping large parts of party policy. – Sky

Ed Miliband has just emerged from a lunch talk in front of dozens of journalists in the — for a politician — not un-intimidating surroundings of the press gallery restaurant in the House of Commons. Miliband appeared to impress most present with a speech laced with jokes in the first half. One of the most notable of these was when he said that he didn’t need to brief journalists while he was working for Gordon Brown because he “shared an office with the forces of hell”, in a reference to Alistair Darling’s comments about hard-core Brownites who briefed against him in recent years. – The New Statesman

Speaking at a Press Gallery lunch, Mr Miliband said: “I do not begrudge him at all the chance to offer his reflections, because I think he served the party extremely loyally. “What is absolutely clear is that we need to move on as a political party from the culture, methods and ways of that New Labour establishment.” Saying that Lord Mandelson’s book should “close a chapter,” he added: “I believe I am the candidate who can move Labour on.” – The Telegraph

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Tuesday News Review

13/07/2010, 07:50:57 AM

The gift that keeps on giving

"Futile"

The leaders of Labour‘s general election campaign believed their party was “fucked” six months before Gordon Brown fired the starting gun in April, Lord Mandelson has revealed. In the latest instalment of his memoirs, the former business secretary says that three senior members of the cabinet joked last October that Labour should fight a campaign based on three Fs: Futile, Finished, and Fucked. – The Guardian

The peer criticised the “unbridled contempt” of some of Mr Brown’s allies – taken as a reference to Mr Whelan and Ed Balls – for Mr Blair. Mr Balls, now a candidate for the party leadership, said yesterday it was incorrect to say he had briefed against fellow Labour MPs over the past decade. In a BBC interview he said: “Are there times when I was in my late 20s, 15 years ago, where… we were sort of youthful and exuberant and a bit arrogant? Almost certainly the case, but we all grew up.” – The Western Mail

"Finished"

Clearly annoyed by Lord Mandelson’s actions, leadership candidate Ed Miliband, who served in cabinet with him, said: “One of the lessons for Labour is we do need to move on from some of the psychodramas of the past, some of the factionalism that there was.” The most important lesson to be learnt from the memoirs, said Mr Miliband, was that the party would be “profoundly wrong” to believe that it lost the election because of its most senior personalities, rather than its policies. “We began as the party of the windfall tax on privatised utilities and the minimum wage in 1997. We ended up – despite doing great things – as the party defending bankers’ bonuses and pushing forward ID cards,” said Mr Miliband. – The Irish Times

"Fucked"

A senior Labour politician has launched a scathing attack on Lord Mandelson, saying the former Cabinet minister should compensate the party for the damage his memoirs are likely to cause. Ian Davidson, the new chairman of the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee, said Mandelson should donate the proceeds from his explosive tell-all memoirs to the party. The MP also said that the television advertisements for the book, in which the former Business Secretary wears a smoking jacket and a cravat, proved he had always been egotistical and self-serving. – The Herald

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Monday News Review

12/07/2010, 07:54:02 AM

Gove faces grilling

Michael Gove faces the Commons for education questions today

Ed Balls piled fresh pressure on Michael Gove, the beleaguered education secretary, by calling on him on Sunday night to answer questions over the withdrawal of funding from the schools construction programme. Mr Balls, shadow education secretary, wrote to Mr Gove demanding to know what advice he had from officials over the need to consult on last week’s decision and whether it had left the government open to legal claims. – The FT

The Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Simon Hughes, today distanced his party from education secretary Michael Gove over the contentious decision to cancel 700 school rebuilding projects. Hughes said he was not entirely comfortable with the handling of the announcement, adding it would be “a nonsense” to build the new free schools proposed by Gove using cash that could have improved existing buildings. Gove has agreed to meet Lib Dem councillors concerned by his announcement, and the issue is likely to be raised at a Liberal Democrat meeting of its MPs organised by Nick Clegg, the party’s leader and the coalition deputy prime minister. – The Guardian

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Sunday News Review

11/07/2010, 08:39:01 AM

Miliband: amassing an army of supporters

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.

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Saturday News Review

10/07/2010, 08:32:06 AM

And so it begins

The Peter Mandelson memoirs are released this week

At times, Lord Mandelson said, Mr Brown feared that he had “killed” all three men, but, wound up by his lieutenants, was unable to stop the feud, meaning that Mr Blair was forced to devote too much energy dealing with him. The former business secretary said some of the blame for the hostilities lay with the people around Mr Brown who, he said, treated Mr Blair with “unbridled contempt”. – The Telegraph

In an interview published by Saturday’s Times newspaper, the peer said that relations between Mr Blair and Mr Brown were “awful” and “exceptionally bad” between 1994 and 2007, not least because the latter “couldn’t get over” the fact that he was not prime minister. Lord Mandelson also said he wished the pair had “behaved to me and treated me differently” – a reference to his two resignations during the Blair government. – The FT

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Friday News Review

09/07/2010, 08:27:14 AM

Show me the money

David Miliband has raised more in donations than any of the other candidates

Since launching his bid to replace Gordon Brown in May, accounts issued by the Electoral Commission show that the shadow foreign secretary has raised nearly £200,000 from major donors alone. He has also drawn in 94 smaller gifts of less than £1,500, which do not have to be declared. In contrast, Ed Balls, the shadow education secretary and his nearest rival, has raked in less than £30,000, and Mr Miliband’s younger brother Ed, the shadow energy secretary, has only £15,000. – The Telegraph

Black Country MP John Spellar has offered a donation of £13,000 to Labour leadership candidate Ed Balls’s campaign – but he doesn’t expect ever to pay it. Mr Spellar is listed as a donor in a new register published by the Electoral Commission which shows how much the candidates have received. Shadow Foreign Secretary David Miliband is in the lead in the cash stakes, with £185,265 in financial support from major backers. – The Birmingham Post

David Miliband brandished his political fundraising abilities today as it emerged he had attracted far more in donations to his Labour leadership bid than any of his rivals. The shadow foreign secretary has so far racked up £185,265 in financial support from major backers, according to the Electoral Commission. That is apart from 94 other donations of less than £1,500 which do not need to be declared and two cash gifts from the Usdaw and Community unions which will be listed in future months. – The Guardian

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Thursday News Review

08/07/2010, 09:38:49 AM

The candidates

Andy Burnham, a contender for the leadership of the Labour Party, has accused supporters of a rival camp of conducting “malicious briefing” in the hope of getting him to throw in the towel. His remarks are the first public sign of mutual antagonism in a leadership contest that has been marked by restrained language up to now. – The Independent

ALLIES of Ed Balls fear his Labour leadership campaign is about to be wrecked by damaging revelations in an explosive book by his political foe Lord Mandelson, it emerged last night. The Labour peer’s memoirs are set to be published next week amid growing speculation that he will lift the lid on the feuding and spite that infected the party under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. – The Express

We interviewed him this afternoon to find out why he believes the gay community should back his leadership bid, if he agrees with full marriage equality and why he enthusiastically supports the Pope’s UK visit. His answer to the first question is short and direct: “I’ve got the beliefs and capabilities to lead us back into government and build a more equal country.” Pink News

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Wednesday News Review

07/07/2010, 08:25:01 AM

Join the club

Harriet Harman, the interim Labour leader, says a new breed of young political activist, committed to opposing the coalition government and the Liberal Democrats in particular, is joining Labour at a rate of 1,000 a week. She said the unprecedented growth in membership, albeit from a historic low base, represents a huge challenge to the party as it tries to make sure the activism has an effective outlet in opposing the government. She said the party’s research shows that half the 30,000 new recruits are previous Labour supporters but regard voting as not enough to change things. A third are former Liberal Democrat supporters angry with the way in which Nick Clegg formed a coalition government. – The Guardian

The Campaign

After a opening few weeks that were, frankly, as dull as watching people watching paint dry, the campaign for leadership seems to have sprung to something resembling lively as the candidates appear to have realised that just as ‘I agree with Nick’ didn’t work for Gordon, ‘I didn’t agree with Gordon’ wasn’t a particularly great line for them to each spew out. Suddenly policy has become the subject of the leadership race, each contender sharing their core ideas across a variety of subject areas. – Political Promise

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