Labour Uncut

INSIDE: Down the pub with the Labour leadership contenders

02/09/2010, 03:16:46 PM

On Monday the Mirror’s James Lyons had a brilliant interview with the leadership candidates. If you haven’t read it, you should. It’s here. If you are a Labour member, please, please read it before you vote.

We inferred from the attempts at ridiculous clever answers to almost every question that this was a set of questions emailed to the candidates rather than done on the spot. We asked, and it was a mix. See the David Miliband tattoo callback, which only works if you know what the next question is going to be. Very clever. Not very funny.

The answers are absolute gold. And one set of them really stood out. The candidates were asked:

“Which four people, real or fictional, would you most like to go down the pub with?”

This is the Mirror’s more socialist version of the ultimate dinner party question: “which 6 people dead or alive would you have at your dinner party?”

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HOME: New Labour: Cheap at half the price, says Steve Dyson

02/09/2010, 12:00:12 PM

Blimey, New Labour don’t half come cheap.

The Guardian yesterday made a great offer for its readers at the end of a multi-page plug for Tony Blair’s memoir.

A colour picture graphic on page six screamed: “To order Tony Blair: A Journey for £18.75 (RRP £25) with free UK p&p from the Guardian Bookshop call 03303 336846″.

Not bad, a £6.25 saving on day one of sales.

But hold on a minute, in the same paper, four pages earlier on page two, there was a half page advert from Waterstones that read: “His story. His words. Half price.”

This equalled a whopping £12.50 off the recommended retail price.

Quite apart from how annoyed Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger might have been at Blair’s duplicitous pricing, the discounts triggered another thought. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: Dan Hodges backs a Blairite for the leadership

02/09/2010, 10:00:10 AM

And so it ends. By this week-end, three quarters of the votes in the 2010 Labour leadership election will have been cast. The contest will effectively be over.

We’ve learnt a lot. That a lengthy campaign, far from creating a platform for intensive debate, only deadens it. That a large field of candidates, rather than introducing diversity, allows only a superficial assessment of their merits, (The ‘Newsnight’ hustings would have shamed a secondary school debating class). Most crucially, we know that the last thing a political party should do after being dumped out of office is launch straight into electing itself a new leader.

Over the past months we have been assailed by a conformity of originality. Diane Abbott promised the “turn the page election from the turn the page candidate”. Ed Balls was building a “consensus for change”. Andy Burnham pledged to move the party beyond a “London-centric elite”.

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UNBOUND: Thursday News Review

02/09/2010, 09:35:31 AM

The Blair effect

One of the candidates, Andy Burnham, said that he was saddened that Mr Blair had chosen the day voting in the contest opens to reignite his battle with Mr Brown, through his memoirs. Mr Burnham said that he had ?huge respect? for Mr Blair and everything that he had achieved for the Labour Party. ?But I am saddened that he has chosen this day of all days to publish his book,? he said. ?Labour should be looking to the future. Labour needs to leave all this behind. Members are fed up with it. Most are not Blairites or Brownites, Old or New Labour. They are just Labour. – The Herald

The contenders for the Labour leadership have gone head to head on Channel 4 News with all five attempting to distance themselves from Tony Blair’s legacy on the day the former prime minister’s memoirs went on sale. The five hopefuls were united at least by their squabble over Tony Blair’s book, with David Miliband – widely dubbed the “heir to Blair” – calling for unity as the debate became heated. – Channel Four

The condemnation came as voting began to elect a new leader, months after Labour was ousted following 13 years in power, with former foreign secretary David Miliband tipped to succeed Gordon Brown over his brother Ed Miliband. One by one the five leadership candidates used the publication of former prime minister Mr Blair’s explosive memoirs to argue that it was time to leave the past, and particularly Mr Blair and Mr Brown, behind. In what the Brownites called ?Blair’s final revenge? he attacked his successor’s record, accused him of blackmail, asserted he had ?zero emotional intelligence? and was not ?psychologically wired? for the rigours of office. – The Australian

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UNCUT: It’s time to offer real alternatives, says John Healey

01/09/2010, 04:10:43 PM

In its first few months the Tory-Lib Dem coalition has all but conquered the media with the message that tackling the deficit trumps everything. We have a government of deficit disciples who have narrowed the terms of political debate to create sufficient cover for an ideological drive to slash public spending and reduce the role of the state.

Labour is right to fight the government hard on this, pressing for impact from the savage spending cuts and regressive tax changes. But opposing the government is only one side to the task of leadership in opposition.

The least people will expect is for us to argue for alternatives and propose new Labour policies. There are economic alternatives to defying the deficit.

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HOME: Cat wheelie-bin Cleggy

01/09/2010, 10:57:48 AM

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UNBOUND: Wednesday News Review

01/09/2010, 07:31:58 AM

The Mirror backs David

It is a difficult decision. David Miliband went into this contest the frontrunner. The big surprise of the race has been his brother Ed who has been at times truly inspirational. Both are passionate in their beliefs and show anger at the wrong-headedness of political foes. Both are rare men who wear their deep-seated principles on their heart. The choice between them is tough and we hope whoever wins finds room in the Cabinet for his brother. But we believe David Miliband ticks more boxes and is without doubt the best candidate to be the next leader of the Labour Party. And, more crucially, the next Prime Minister of our country. – The Mirror

Labour’s big guns last night lined up behind David Miliband to be the new Party leader – calling him the “special one”. The 11 shadow Cabinet heavyweights insisted he was the right man to galvanise members after the election letdown and kick David Cameron out of No10. Their support comes as the Mirror today also backs Mr Miliband, 45, as the best candidate to take Labour forward […]In their letter, the shadow ministers say Mr Miliband is the only person who can succeed Gordon Brown and return Labour to power. It is signed by Bob Ainsworth, Douglas Alexander, Liam Byrne, Ben Bradshaw, Alistair Darling, Tessa Jowell, Pat McFadden, Jim Murphy, Shaun Woodward and Jack Straw. – The Mirror

Ed Ahead?

Ed Miliband has “pulled ahead” in the race to become Labour leader, his camp claims, as voting begins today to choose a successor to Gordon Brown. The Shadow Energy Secretary’s campaign says that, among the 271 MPs and MEPs, he is picking up more second preference votes than his main challenger, his brother David, who is still the bookies’ favourite. Second preferences could be crucial as few expect any one candidate to secure a winning majority on first preferences in an electoral college split into three between MPs/MEPs, party members and members of affiliated bodies like the trade unions. – The Herald

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INSIDE: Lefty weirdos and Tory bigots: Stewart Jackson MP and sex education

31/08/2010, 01:44:42 PM

Hannah McFaull wrote a striking piece on Labour Uncut recently about the future of sex education under the Tory-Lib Dem government. Tory MP Stewart Jackson’s recent comments on the same subject are equally remarkable.

Mr. Jackson tweeted: “Sex education memo to sad tedious sex obsessed Leftie weirdos – you’re confusing me with someone who’s interested.” So: you may be a Peterborough constituent. You may be interested in sex education (some people think it’s important). But your MP is not. So get lost.

Jackson’s row with the ‘tedious weirdo’, which has been picked up by his local paper, began after he tweeted: “Very disappointing news on STD rates in Peterborough. No doubt our liberal friends will tell us we need more sex education – as it’s worked so well!”

This followed publication of figures by the heath protection agency (HPA) showing that Peterborough has the fourth highest number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the eastern region.

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GRASSROOTS: We must regroup, rebuild and consider ourselves electable says Claire French

31/08/2010, 10:41:00 AM

Following the events of the weeks post-election, I joined the Labour party as an enthused young person ready for the fight against the Con-Lib Dem government and their lust for cuts.

The party have suffered immensely without a leader to fight the government and its austerity package. While selecting somebody on merit and without debate would have been a mistake, the subsequent infighting – both in the leadership race and between the candidates to represent Labour in the London mayoral elections – is putting us on a slippery slope.

Opposing parties see us and those who represent us in parliament as no threat at all. We appear uncoordinated; we are stale and out of ideas.

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UNBOUND: Tuesday News Review

31/08/2010, 07:00:24 AM

Ed hits back

Ed Mil hits back

Labour leadership candidate Ed Miliband has hit back at veiled criticism from Lord Mandelson, insisting the party needed to change. Mr Miliband’s comments came after Lord Mandelson said Labour could be left in an “electoral cul-de-sac” if its next leader tried to create a “pre-New Labour party”. Lord Mandelson appeared to be referring to Mr Miliband in particular, in what is being seen as a personal attack. Mr Miliband said Labour must “move on”. – BBC News.

Positive press in the back yard

More than 1,000 councillors provided the Shadow Foreign Secretary with a huge boost at a crucial moment ahead of the ballot drop next week. Support comes from all corners of Britain as the father-of-two goes head-to- head with his brother Ed, Andy Burnham, Ed Balls and Diane Abbott. – Shields Gazette.

Blair: book trouble

Blair’s book

High-profile book launches are meant to be a bit of a circus. But it is hard to find a parallel for the mixture of hype and hatred that will attend the publication of Tony Blair’s memoirs on Wednesday. – Financial Times.

Burnham takes Lib Dem pulse

“You hold the key to the future of our NHS. People who voted for you at the election did not vote for such a radical break-up plan. I urge you to listen to them and stand up for our NHS in the face of this attack, which threatens to unpick its very fabric.” – Andy Burnham to Lib Dems, The Guardian.

Cruddas

Jon’s brand of socialism is based on moral foundations – don’t forget he’s a Catholic. When asked why he was backing David he reeled off a list areas on which they agree: “responsibility, family, duty, the importance of community.” I say this with no special knowledge or insight and I stand ready for an angry phone call rebutting the suggestion but it struck me that the fact David is married and Ed Miliband isn’t could also have been a (small) contributing factor in winning the Cruddas vote. – Jason Beattie, The Mirror.

Mullin’s diaries

‘When it’s all over, the big question will be how Gordon ever got there in the first place.’ – unnamed cabinet minister in Chris Mullin’s Decline and Fall, The Independent.

Abbott: Facebook slur

Abbott slur

A tory high-flyer has been forced to quit after writing a vile, expletivefilled rant about Labour MP Diane Abbott on his Facebook page…After the Sunday Mirror contacted the Party, Hallam’s details were removed and he quit his post. Last night he apologised, saying: “It was inappropriate.” – The Mirror.

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