Labour Uncut

UNCUT: Hung out to dry by Labour: I know how Woolas feels

08/11/2010, 11:30:59 AM

by Peter Watt

I have a very personal experience of what it is like to be brutally cast asunder by the Labour party. The circumstances were different than those which have led to the position Phil Woolas finds himself in – but I suspect that the personal impact was similar.

I was general secretary of the party when, in November 2007, the Abrahams 3rd party donation scandal erupted. It happened on my watch. I took responsibility and in a blaze of negative publicity I resigned.

I knew that once I’d resigned an important part of the “handling strategy” of the donation story would be to rough me up a bit. I wasn’t naive. I accepted it as part of the rough nature of politics. The more I was damaged in the short term, the less the party was going to be damaged in the long-term. That had to be the right thing for the “greater good”.

What I was not prepared for was the massive toll this took on me, my family and friends. I expected that the party would support me personally, behind the scenes. That they would caveat their attacks. Issue some statements of personal support that recognised my contribution to the party over many years. With a few notable exceptions, what I got was a character assassination. It went beyond being “roughed-up” to being a full blown assault. The personal impact was devastating. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Uncut | 60 Comments »

UNCUT: The government is playing fast and loose with Britain’s security

08/11/2010, 09:00:34 AM

by John Woodcock

David Cameron and Nick Clegg look more like a political yin and yang with every day that passes. The unseemly deal we have just witnessed between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats on Trident and tuition fees highlights the way the two leaders have intertwined their fate.

We should be in no doubt about what has happened – the Lib Dems have spectacularly broken their word on higher fees in return for securing a delay on renewing the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent.

On one level, this is simply base horse trading upon which the dynamics of coalition politics have shone a light. But it is initially hard to understand why Nick Clegg should have been prepared to swallow such humiliation for himself while his coalition partners seem relatively unscathed. Until, that is, you consider the less obvious but potentially equally severe damage to Cameron’s reputation from messing around with Trident renewal in the way that he has.

The reaction from key Conservative backbenchers on this has been derisory and unremittingly hostile. They point out that the UK’s ultimate means of defending itself is the last issue on which a prime minister should have been prepared to trade. They worry about the extra cost and risk piled on the project by delaying the build timetable and punting the ‘main gate’ investment decision to the other side of a general election.

As the MP representing the thousands of workers in Barrow shipyard whose economic future depends on continuing orders, and as part of an opposition which wants Britain to remain credible on protecting its citizens, I am not afraid to say that I share those concerns. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Uncut | 1 Comment »

UNBOUND: Monday News Review

08/11/2010, 07:55:46 AM

IDS under fire over “social zoning”

Large swaths of southern England will become off limits to housing benefit recipients in a little more than a decade because of the government’s proposed plans to cut welfare bills – triggering a huge migration of the poor to the north – according to a study by housing experts. The work, by the Chartered Institute of Housing, shows that before 2025 rents on most two-bedroom properties in the south will become unaffordable to those claiming local housing allowance. Within 15 years, much of London’s commuter belt will become too expensive for the state to pay for the poor to live in. Towns such as Chelmsford, Newbury, Bath and Maidstone would be no-go areas for those on benefits and all of Hertfordshire would be out of bounds. The capital would be unaffordable within a decade. – The Guardian

Dr Rowan Williams said plans to make claimants work or lose benefits were unfair and suggested that cuts to housing benefit could lead to “social zoning” with the poor pushed out of affluent areas […] Dr Williams suggested that the Coalition’s approach to welfare reform risked demonising and demoralising “vulnerable” claimants. “People who are struggling to find work and struggling to find a secure future are, I think, driven further into a downwards spiral of uncertainty, even despair, when the pressure is on in that way,” he said in a radio interview. “It can make people who start feeling vulnerable feel more vulnerable. “People are often in this starting place not because they are wicked or stupid or lazy but because circumstances have been against them. To drive that spiral deeper does seem a great problem.” – The Telegraph

Coulson interviewed by police

David Cameron will face fresh questions over the fate of his communications director Andy Coulson this week, after the Labour Party made it clear it expects the Prime Minister to address the issue directly. Downing Street confirmed over the weekend that Mr Coulson had been interviewed by Scotland Yard detectives about allegations of phone-hacking during his tenure at the News of the World. No 10 said Mr Coulson had attended a meeting with Metropolitan Police officers voluntarily on Thursday and was interviewed as a witness. He was not cautioned or arrested. – The Independent

Labour is keeping up the pressure on David Cameron’s director of communications, Andy Coulson, by asking whether he has had civil service help over claims he denies of complicity in illegal phone hacking while editing the News of the World, it is reported today. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett is to write to Sir Gus O’Donnell, head of the civil service, to ask if official time was spent advising Coulson, the Financial Times reports today. A Conservative source told it there was “no intervention” and the question was pointless. Coulson was interviewed by police last week. – The Guardian Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Unbound | No Comments »

HOME: The week Uncut

07/11/2010, 05:17:39 PM

Ed Miliband appears to be faced with his “first big defining moment” every week. At every turn he faces hyperbole. PMQs will define. The CSR response will challenge. Can he slay them on tuition fees? Will he fall in to a trap on child benefit? What will he do with Woolas?

Some of the answers to fleet streets leadership milestones are still to be found. The answer to the question of Woolas was more forthcoming. With the verdict still reverberating around Westminster the party turned, and shot him.

Phil Woolas is no longer an MP. He is no longer a shadow minister. He no longer represents the Labour party. The party has pulled their support for legal costs, brushed their hands, and walked away. Good riddance we hear you cry.

The court ruled that campaign literature, in which Woolas accused his Lib Dem opponent of cosying up to Islamic militants, contravened a statute prohibiting “false statements” against a rival’s “character or conduct”. Put simply, his campaign lied. But this wasn’t just the standard fare of dragging up past jobs in lobbying, or claiming homes were outside the constituency boundary. It went beyond the “usual rough and tumble.” “It crossed the line.”

Harriet showed her killer instinct. She dropped him like a stone; there was no room for manoeuvre. When asked about an appeal Harman said:

Whatever happens in an appeal – what might happen in an appeal, if he does appeal, it could be that they could say on the basis of the facts that the election court found it was not warranted for them to strike down the election result and disqualify him, so he might win on a legal basis. But it won’t change the facts that were found by the election court, which was that he said things that were untrue knowing it, and that is what we are taking action on – because it is not part of Labour’s politics for somebody to be telling lies to get themselves elected.

Ed has made his position equally as clear on Channel 4 News:

The court’s made a very clear judgement in this case. A clear finding of fact about what happened and what Phil Woolas did and that he knowingly made false allegations about his opponent and therefore I think we’ve taken the right decision. The right decision is to suspend him from the party and to say we’re not going to fund his further legal action. I think reasonable people will think we’ve done the right thing.

There is obviously rough and tumble in politics, but sometimes you go beyond rough and tumble. I think this is a salutary reminder to all politicians across the political spectrum about the importance of a clean fight. It’s certainly a reminder that I think all of us will take to heart.

But there is no such thing as a clean fight. Politics is a contact sport. Negative campaigning will always take place, because it works. But there has to be a line. Across the country if you listen very closely, you might be able to hear the low hum of shredders whirring. Better to be safe than sorry, how many have gone “beyond rough and tumble.” Simon Hughes and Sayeeda Warsi should pause from chucking rocks for a moment and remember that they have very big conservatories.

But what happens if Woolas wins the appeal? Legally he remains the MP for Oldham. There is no by-election. And he returns to work, until the good people of Oldham get the chance to vote again. Ed and Harriet have drawn the line; win or lose he is not welcome.

If he does appeal, and he wins, you know what – it might just be Ed Miliband’s first big defining moment.

In case you missed them, here are Uncut’s best-read pieces of the last seven days:

Michael Dugher says the loony libertarians in the government are not confined to the Lib Dems

The Tories swaggering arrogance is storing up trouble

Tom Watson goes to the movies and finds a new leading man

Andy Bagnall says the Tories defence review was a disaster

Dan Hodges says Phil Woolas is our fall guy

Jessica Asato says it’s time for debate and dialogue

Kevin Meagher says the battle for the regions has just begun

Peter Watt thinks Labour are wrong on housing benefit

Posted in Home | 1 Comment »

GRASSROOTS: Concentrating media influence in the hands of the few will lead to a narrowing of political discussion

07/11/2010, 01:49:17 PM

by Andy Dodd

RECENTLY I heard Lord Tim Bell, ex-advisor to Margaret Thatcher, defend Rupert Murdoch’s bid to take full control of Sky on the BBC world at one. While Tim Bell’s views on media ownership are predictable, what caught my attention was how he enthused about the plethora of platforms and channels that enable us to have choice over how we access news and information, and how this diversity would ensure plurality and choice in the media.

I was momentarily beguiled by this warm, PR-spun vision of the always connected, always informed society, but then sanity prevailed and I began to realise that this vague, utopian sound bite really doesn’t stand up to any kind of scrutiny.

It’s faintly ridiculous to see someone like Tim Bell using the very philosophy of free and open content provision that Rupert Murdoch hates so much, as a means to justify News Corp being allowed to further eradicate pluralism in the media.

The reality is that large media groups are doing everything they can to roll back openness and return us to the walled garden of the early days of the internet. For example; restricting access to content unless people are prepared to pay for it. Just because there are dozens of different ways to access information, it doesn’t follow that the content is accessible. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Grassroots | 3 Comments »

UNCUT: Labour can help with Chinese democracy

07/11/2010, 10:30:41 AM

by James Watkins

THE FEAR of China continues to dominate debate in Britain – from its portrayal as a fire-breathing dragon on the cover of this week’s Spectator to David Cameron’s bizarre claim during the election campaign that Britain may need nuclear weapons because of China. This is not the ideal backdrop for the prime minister’s forthcoming visit to Beijing.

The list of worries laid at China’s door is manifold: from human rights abuses to currency manipulation and from poor working conditions to obstructing climate change talks. At the heart of them all is the fear that a lack of political reform in China will make things even worse.

But if the British government were to take a new approach to China, the prime minister’s visit could be the start of a new direction for Chinese democracy.
At first glance, such a view may seem overly rosy. Since the dissident, Lin Xioabo, won the Nobel peace prize in October, a crackdown on dissidents has been reported. But there are also signs that the Chinese political elite now recognise that political reform is needed. In early October, prime minister Wen Jiabao told CNN that “the people’s will for, and need for, democracy and freedom is irresistible”. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Uncut | No Comments »

UNBOUND: Sunday News Review

07/11/2010, 08:03:33 AM

Norman Tebbit mark two

Iain Duncan Smith will tomorrow unveil ‘compulsory community placements’ in an attempt to stop people living on benefits for years without bothering to look for work. The ‘Workfare UK’ project will be targeted at tens of thousands of people suspected of sabotaging attempts to make them work. But Labour MPs condemned the scheme. One said: ‘This sounds like slave labour.’ The scheme is also likely to run into fierce opposition from some Liberal Democrat MPs.

Under Mr Duncan Smith’s anti-scroungers blueprint, employment office chiefs will be given the power to order the long-term jobless to take part in four-week mandatory work schemes. The Government has not decided how much people on ‘community placements’ will be paid but it is understood the figure will be between £30 and £40 a week – the equivalent to £1 an hour, one sixth of the minimum wage. – Mail on Sunday

Last night the shadow work and pensions secretary, Douglas Alexander, suggested government policy on job creation was reducing people’s chances of finding work: “The Tories have just abolished the future jobs fund, which offered real work and real hope to young people. If you examine the spending review then changes such as cuts to working tax credit are actually removing incentives to get people into work. What they don’t seem to get about their welfare agenda is that without work it won’t work.” – Observer

Coulson on the brink

David Cameron faced renewed pressure over his decision to retain Andy Coulson as his communications chief last night after the former tabloid editor was questioned by police over allegations of phone-hacking at the News of the World. Labour raised the stakes when the party’s deputy leader, Harriet Harman, said it was now time for the prime minister to take a detailed interest in the controversy, rather than brushing aside claims about one of his closest aides. Downing Street confirmed that Coulson attended a meeting with Metropolitan police officers voluntarily on Thursday and was interviewed as a witness. He was not cautioned or arrested. – Observer

The Met’s attempt to help David Cameron’s chief spinner, Andy Coulson, in his brave battle to overcome amnesia (mercifully limited to the phone hacking that went on when he was editor of the News of the World) has not impressed Tom Watson. The stalwart Brownite MP smells a rat. “People will think it curious that the story [of his interview by the police at his solicitor’s office] was put out by Downing Street late on a Friday night when the BBC was on strike,” he observes. – Independent

Farrelly to face charges

A man involved in a brawl with Labour MP Paul Farrelly is to make an official complaint to police. Newspaper seller Bjorn Hurrell was left ‘bloodied and bruised’ after the incident in which he was allegedly hit by Mr Farrelly in a late-night tussle near a packed Commons bar.

Last night it was claimed the MP told Mr Hurrell ‘if we weren’t on the parliamentary estate, I’d punch you in the face’ moments before the fight. Speaking publicly for the first time about the incident, Mr Hurrell last night told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I am intending to make a complaint to the police and to instruct lawyers to pursue civil damages. I wish to make no further statement until I have obtained legal advice.’ – Mail on Sunday

The incident took place on Thursday evening as Mr Farrelly was entertaining guests from the Parliamentary Rugby Club at the Sports and Social bar, in the Palace of Westminster. The MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme claimed he was confronted by a man in a corridor near the club at around 10pm on Thursday, after reprimanding him about his behaviour. Mr Hurrell, who delivers newspapers in the Palace of Westminster and has had a full parliamentary pass for more than 20 years, told friends he had been enjoying a karaoke night he helped his mother organise in the Sports and Social bar when Mr Farrelly assaulted him. – Telegraph

Miliband to the rescue

Ed Miliband has leaped to the defence of a DJ sacked from a Scottish radio station for taking part in a naked prank Robin Galloway and his producer Barrie Hodge parted company with Real Radio after the presenter filmed Hodge streaking naked behind Miliband while the politician was being interviewed in the Glasgow studios.

Miliband, who had his back to the incident, was not aware of what was going on at the time, and said the pair should not have lost their jobs. A spokesman for Scottish Labour said: “Senior staff from Ed’s office yesterday spoke to the station manager to say he thought they should not lose their jobs. – The Scotsman

Brown to battle on

Gordon Brown has quashed speculation that he will quit as an MP. The former PM has told allies he will stay in Parliament at least until the next election in 2015. He has already turned down new Labour leader Ed Miliband’s offer of a peerage and several lucrative jobs to concentrate on constituency and charity work. He told the Sunday Mirror: “Since the election I have been spending a lot of time with my constituents so it felt quite natural that I’d be talking about a Fife issue. But it was a surprise to me so many MPs were there.” – Mirror

Another selection goes wrong

A police probe has been launched into a complaint about fraud in the run-up to the selection in a Middlesbrough ward of Labour candidates for local government elections next year. The Labour Party has also launched an investigation into allegations of irregularities. The party has suspended the selection process for candidates in the ward as a result of the investigations. The police and Labour Party investigations are both focused on the town’s University Ward. – Middlesbrough Gazette

Posted in Unbound | No Comments »

GRASSROOTS: In Florida, as in the rest of the country, Democrats “took a shellacking”

06/11/2010, 02:00:57 PM

by Dave Roberts

Now that I’m back home in cold, damp Wiltshire, the heat and humidity of Florida seem along way off, as do the frenetic last days of the US midterm elections. My endeavour to help rescue the Democratic congressional seat of Ron Klein failed spectacularly, and the Republicans have taken firm control of Floridian politics.

Republican candidates won all the marginal congressional districts, took the governor’s mansion, the Senate seat and the top three positions in the state legislature – attorney general, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner. The Democrats, as President Obama said “took a shellacking”.

Last Tuesday was a horrible night to be a Democrat. I was in the Ron Klein campaign “boiler room” as results began to come in from across the country. There were a few bright moments when extreme Tea party candidates Sharron Angle in Nevada and Christine O’Donnell in Delaware failed to win, but on the whole the mood was down beat. Our own campaign in Florida district 22 had failed and the Tea party and Fox News favourite Republican Allen West won the seat. The race for the Florida Senate seat was always going to be a shoe-in for the Republican favourite Marco Rubio, and Rick Scott narrowly beat Democrat Alex Sink to take the keys to the governor’s mansion. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Grassroots | 1 Comment »

UNCUT: The government’s silence on legal loan sharking is putting families at risk

06/11/2010, 10:00:59 AM

by Stella Creasy

LAST WEEK I wrote that loan sharks are circling Britain’s poorest families, excited by the likely effects of the Government’s spending review and lying in wait to prey on people’s increased financial vulnerability. This week, thanks to the hard work of campaigners and opposition MPs, the sharks are now starting to come under threat themselves.

My consumer credit (regulation and advice) bill, which seeks to combat exploitation in the payday and doorstep credit market, passed through its first reading this week. The bill pushes for a range of measures including a cap on the total cost of borrowing money, an expansion of credit union access points through the postal network and a levy to provide funding for debt counselling services to help those in financial difficulty.

It was supported through its first reading by a large number of Labour MPs who believe if the government is intent on pushing their budget on Britain, it will raise the number of families living with the daily misery of debt. We want them to take responsibility for the consequences of their policies– and judging by the growing public concern we are not the only ones.

According to the association of business recovery professionals, four in ten people are worried about their current level of debt, with three million fearing redundancy and two million having taken on more debt in recent months. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Uncut | 1 Comment »

UNBOUND: Saturday News Review

06/11/2010, 09:22:46 AM

Woolas woes

The former immigration minister Phil Woolas was ejected from parliament today after two high court judges ruled that he lied about his Liberal Democrat opponent during the general election, in a judgment that is likely to have profound implications for all future campaigns.

Woolas claimed the ruling – which also triggered a byelection and barred him from standing again for three years – would “chill political speech”, but the Lib Dem who challenged his 103 majority welcomed the decision, saying lying should play no part in democratic elections. – Guardian

Two High Court judges made the historic decision to overturn the result of May’s ballot in Mr Woolas’s constituency, the first such ruling for 99 years, and order a by-election. The ruling means Mr Woolas will be barred from standing for public office for three years, and he could face criminal charges after a file on the case was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. – Telegraph

Prescott… no, Farrelly

Paul Farrelly, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, said he became embroiled in the brawl in a House of Commons corridor after chastising Bjorn Hurrell, a newspaper vendor, for being “lary” at the Sport and Social Club bar. The 48-year-old said he acted in self defence after Mr Hurrell, 46, followed him outside the pub and attempted to “land a haymaker” on him. “Like John Prescott a few years ago, I was under attack and I took steps to ensure he couldn’t punch me again,” Mr Farrelly said. – Telegraph

Nice one Nigel

Nigel Farage has launched an attack on Prime Minister David Cameron as he returned as leader of the UK Independence Party. The MEP and former leader beat David Campbell Bannerman, Tim Congdon and Winston McKenzie in the members’ ballot. Mr Farage, who received more than 60% of the vote, used his acceptance speech to criticise the Government and call on disillusioned voters to switch to UKIP. He said the Conservatives’ policy in Europe could be summed up as: “Surrender, surrender, surrender.” – Sky News

Mr Farage, who led UKIP from 2006 to 2009, took just over 60% of votes in a ballot of party members. He beat fellow MEP David Campbell-Bannerman, economist Tim Congdon and former boxer Winston McKenzie. He will take over from Lord Pearson of Rannoch, who stood down after only nine months in the job. The leader of the party in the European Parliament, Mr Farage was injured in a light aircraft crash on 6 May – the day of the general election. – BBC News

Calamity Clegg

Students have called on Nick Clegg to attend a rally next week against tuition fees and funding cuts, to explain his U-turn on lifting the cap. The Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats signed a pledge before the general election promising to vote against any fee hike. But the coalition government confirmed on Wednesday that from 2012, students would be charged up to £9,000 per year for a university education. Next Wednesday, students and lecturers will take part in a march through Westminster, followed by a demonstration, in protest against higher education funding cuts and plans to triple fees. – Press Association

C’mon Labour

Labour gained two marginal seats from Conservatives in the latest council by-elections. Its candidate Jenny Millin won at Moredon in Swindon Borough giving a morale boost to the party in a town where it lost both its parliamentary seats in the General Election. Analysis of five comparable results, with all three major parties standing both times, suggests a projected nationwide line-up of C 38.4%, Lab 38.2%, Lib Dem 13.5%. – Independent

Posted in Unbound | No Comments »