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Corbyn must be beaten in a leadership contest. MPs can’t exclude him from the ballot

27/06/2016, 06:13:34 PM

by Atul Hatwal

The first stage of the PLP rebellion has been executed well. The scale and pace of the resignations have demonstrated the level of breach between the leader and his parliamentary troops.

Now comes the tricky bit.

Once the motion of no confidence in the leader has been passed – current predictions suggest 80%+ PLP backing – the MPs are primed to attempt something disastrous: to keep Jeremy Corbyn off the ballot.

The mechanic will be MP nominations. Once the race is on, contenders need the backing of 35 MPs, a threshold Jeremy Corbyn could not hope to cross.

However, the rules are ambiguous as to whether he, as the incumbent, would need any nominations. Jolyon Maugham QC looked at the detail and, while no fan of Corbyn, concluded that he would be on the ballot automatically as leader. Legal firm, Doughty Street Chambers have come to the same view.

Apparently there is some contradictory advice with Iain McNicol, Labour party general secretary, but regardless of the legal he-said-she-saids, MPs should abandon this plan. It’s utterly mad.

Attempting a fix, so that the name Jeremy Corbyn isn’t an option on members’ ballots, is self-harming for two reasons.

First, the party in the country will tear itself apart.

Many MPs seem to have the insouciant attitude that the sole result will be several thousand Corbynistas leaving the party in a huff.

Wrong.

There will be full blown civil war across every level of the party.

(more…)

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Luis Suarez and football tribalism

12/02/2012, 07:00:28 AM

by Anthony Painter

Yesterday, Luis Suarez refused to shake the hand of Manchester United captain, Patrice Evra. It was idiotic and undignified. It also meant that for the third Liverpool versus Manchester United match running, the story was not going to be about the football.

At half time, there was a confrontation outside the team dressing rooms. And after the match, Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, called Luis Suarez a disgrace and said he should never play for Liverpool again. And so the pot is kept on the simmer.

Since the incidents that have led to this – when Luis Suarez used racially abusive language towards Patrice Evra in a league game in October last year – Liverpool FC has been living through a disaster of its own making. It did not need an FA independent regulatory commission to realise that Suarez was in the wrong. A cursory glance at the striker’s own evidence and the video footage would show, first, that an offensive term was used and second that it was meant in a hostile manner.

That should have been enough for Liverpool FC to severely reprimand the player, fine him and suspend him of their own accord. Both club and player should have issued an apology. If Suarez refused, he should have been placed on the transfer list. When this did not happen, its American owners, more aware than most of brand value and propriety, should have stepped in. They failed to.

(more…)

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Sunday News Review

25/07/2010, 09:06:39 AM

Balls out?

There are Westminster rumours that Ed Balls may be considering dropping out of leadership contest

The Unite union’s national policy committee overwhelmingly opted for Ed Miliband in a significant boost for the former climate change secretary’s campaign. Mr Balls had hoped to win Unite’s backing – but only secured four votes compared to Ed Miliband’s 24. The decision left him contemplating withdrawing from the fray and backing either Ed Miliband or his brother David, the former foreign secretary, who remains the bookies’ favourite. Both Miliband brothers were attempting to persuade Mr Balls, who has won Labour plaudits for his recent attacks on the decision by Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, to abandon plans to rebuild schools, to quit and support them. – The Telegraph

The main piece of hard information we have is that Balls will start well behind both Milibands in the Parliamentary third of the electoral college on the first round. Most, though not all, MPs first preferences are public. Left Foot Forward have estimated that Balls trails with 13.4% of this section behind David (38.9%) and Ed Miliband (27.9%). A winning Balls strategy would surely need to offet that deficit by topping the affiliated section, and doing so with a commanding double digit lead over at least one and preferably both Milibands there. – Next Left

More than 100 council leaders and Labour group leaders will today publish a letter backing Mr Miliband. A third of the votes in the Labour Party election will come from grassroots members. Last week bookies cut the odds on David’s closest rival – his brother Ed – after he received the support of most of Britain’s major trade unions. And yesterday Ed was backed by the Unite, in a severe blow to leadership contender Ed Balls, who had close ties with the union. But the turnout in the leadership ballot will be far lower among trade unionists than grassroots party members. – News of the World

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The Diane Abbott interview

09/06/2010, 01:05:45 PM

UPDATE: Diane Abbott has secured 33 nominations and will be on the Labour leadership ballot paper.

This was the second in our series of crowdsourced interviews with the leadership contenders.

Diane spoke to us last night at her office in Westminster, where everyone was keenly monitoring her leadership support with hours left until nominations closed.

She was completely unphased by your questions, which included her son’s private education, the demographic of her leadership opponents and how much she is paid by the BBC.

Q. (From Derek) You and John McDonnell both have solid socialist credentials, but isn’t there a danger that in standing you will split the left vote? I don’t really want the wishy washy alternative of the other 4 candidates. What are your thoughts?

A. There always was a tendency to say that if women stood it split the vote. I think that there is the politics that I’m on the left, and have as good a voting record on left wing issues as John McDonnell, but there’s another issue which is about gender. It’s not so much that I stood against John, but that John stood against me.

Q. John McDonnell’s come out and said that if it means getting a woman on the ballot, he’ll stand down. In that case, do you wish he’d never stood in the first place?

A. I think it would have been easier if he hadn’t stood. If he was committed to gender issues it would have been easier if he hadn’t. Initially, it was very difficult for either of us to gain momentum. If there’d been just one of us standing then that person would have gained momentum much quicker. (more…)

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Sunday News Review

06/06/2010, 08:04:50 AM

The candidates

“The insipid campaign has laid bare the paucity of talent on Labour’s benches, and the party’s ideological exhaustion. No serving Cabinet minister lost their seat at the election; Tony Blair aside, the Milibands and Ed Balls are the best Labour has. That’s a grim prospect if your colour’s red. Ed Balls has the panache of a Vauxhall Safira; and the two Milibands are trapped in a Beckettian whirl of meaningless jargon, convinced that using abstract nouns is a mark of vital intelligence.” – The Spectator

“”They have all grown. I got on very well with Ed during the campaign. But in the end you’ve got to make a judgment. Of all of them, I think David [Miliband] has got the most rounded political and policy skills that you need. I’m a pragmatist about this. I think about who can take on Cameron best.”” – Alistair Campbell, Independent on Sunday

“One rival, Ed Balls, Gordon Brown’s anointed heir, offers a clear contrast as a centraliser in the Fabian tradition, backed by Unite, the giant union. He has one great achievement to his name for which we can all be grateful: he convinced his master that Britain should stay out of the euro.” – The Times

“Labour leadership hopeful Ed Balls says he is the man to take Labour back to Number 10. As the campaign to find Gordon Brown’s successor gains momentum, the former schools secretary said he is the only candidate to hold on to the “New Labour understanding”. – Staffordshire Newsletter

Movement for Miliband

David Miliband says he will reform the Party

“Mr Miliband said: “We are at a very, very important moment. Instead of the leadership being ashamed of the membership the membership feels let down by the leadership, and it’s really important that those of us in a leadership position understand that. A fundamental part of correcting that is to reconnect the leadership with the membership.”” – The News of the World

“They include allowing Labour members to elect the party chairman; launching a “find-a-friend” campaign to double Labour’s membership; training Labour Party members to become community organisers; and maintaining, in opposition, the requirement for the Labour leader to have weekly meetings with a committee of backbench MPs.” – Press Association

Policy pronouncements

“As Labour seeks to rebuild trust with the British people, it is important we are honest about what we got wrong. In retrospect, Britain should not have rejected transitional controls on migration from the first wave of new EU member states in 2004, which we were legally entitled to impose. As the GMB’s Paul Kenny and others have pointed out, the failure of our government to get agreement to implement the agency workers directive made matters worse.” – Ed Balls, The Observer

“In a BBC Politics Show interview later, Mr Balls is also expected to urge more debate about policy in the contest. Mr Balls’ comments could be a sign that dividing lines between candidates was opening up, says the BBC’s Iain Watson. David Miliband, another leadership hopeful, will also be speaking to the BBC to outline his proposed party reforms.” – The BBC

Burnham sprint finish

Andy Burnham hopes to make the cut

“Burnham’s campaign managers said yesterday they believed he would secure enough support to run. In his pitch to MPs tomorrow he will criticise new Labour’s courting of big business, saying it sent out the wrong message to the party’s core supporters. “We were in the thrall of big business. We lost sight of the impact that had on individuals and their circumstances,” he plans to say.” – The Times

“Andy Burnham is set to win enough support to battle for the Labour leadership. Party sources say the ex-Health Secretary will get the required backing of 33 Labour MPs before Wednesday’s deadline to be the fourth and final contender for the top job.” – The Sunday Mirror

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Pressure mounts on undecided MPs to back likely losers

31/05/2010, 10:50:47 AM

The weekend has seen a flurry of letters to MPs from unrelated activists all over the country asking them to nominate John McDonnell. Several MPs report having received literally dozens of such emails in the last 72 hours.

There was a short burst of similar activity in support of Diane Abbott just after she announced her candidacy, but it soon tailed off.

The current deluge is the result of an impressive organisational effort by McDonnell, who has also succeeded in getting the leaders of several unions (for instance, the bakers, the Fire Brigades Union, the Communication Workers Union) to write to MPs in his support.

Reports from constituency parties reveal an almost universal desire for as many names as possible on the leadership ballot paper. Regardless of their individual allegiences, party members want the widest choice. (more…)

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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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The Ed Balls interview

27/05/2010, 12:07:36 PM

Labour Uncut interviewed Ed Balls on Tuesday evening. We couldn’t ask all the questions you submitted. There were far too many. We gave Ed the option of whether or not to answer questions – in this Labour leadership interview – from people who clearly weren’t Labour members or supporters. He chose to answer, and we’ve included several.

Ed’s is the first of our leadership candidate interviews. We were impressed by his focus and presence. It will be great if the rest are as good.

Q. (From Alex R) When the leadership candidates say that they were guilty of ‘not listening’ enough in the last government, how and why were you not listening? What steps would you take to listen sufficiently if you had another opportunity?

A. I think our problems about not listening started much earlier than the last Parliament. I think one of the great frustrations that we had in the election campaign, and in my case the year before, was that many of the things people were upset about, like public housing, the impact of unskilled immigration on terms and conditions, the obstacle of upfront tuition fees for young people going to university – these were issues we’d actually addressed. We’d put in place controls on immigration; John Healy was leading a big expansion on public housing; we’d got rid of upfront tuition fees. But the public weren’t hearing at that time what we were saying and it takes time for policy decisions to feed through to the reality of peoples lives.

I think the truth is that the time when we weren’t listening enough was probably during the second term in Government. My election campaign for the last 18 months has been all about repeated public meetings, listening to people and their issues – and lots of other MPs who were successful in their campaigns did the same thing in this last couple of years. If we’d been doing that five years earlier we’d have made different and better policy decisions at an earlier stage.

So your politics can’t be about telling communities what you’ve concluded; it’s got to be about asking them, listening to the voices of people who need us on their side and responding. That’s what I mean by listening. (more…)

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Deadline for leadership nominations extended.

20/05/2010, 03:42:46 PM

As reported exclusively on Labour Uncut yesterday, Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee has now confirmed that the deadline for nominations in the leadership election will be extended. The initial timetable, according to which nominations would have both opened and closed next week, provoked a wave of protest at all levels of the party.

At today’s meeting of the NEC procedures subcommittee, therefore, it was agreed to extend the deadline for nominations till June 9.

One NEC member told Labour Uncut “It was never a conspiracy. All the fuss in the first meeting was about making sure it went long. We just dropped this part of the ball, and now it’s been tidied up. That’s all.”

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