Tagged with Andy Burnham

Some comradely advice for Andy and Yvette

Labour Leadership Candidates and now they are 4_edited-1In a world that gave us Milifandom, should we be shocked that Jezmania has become a thing, that Camp Corbyn has powered ahead in YouGov’s poll of Labour members? Well, some of us are. And by ‘us’ I mean sections of the Parliamentary Labour Party and self-styled sensible people.

You’ve had ex-Jim Murphy advisor John McTernan castigate Jez supporters as “morons“, to which Margaret Beckett – one of Jeremy’s PLP “enablers” – labelled herself as such for allowing him on the ballot paper. That’s not likely to go down well in Derby South CLP, who just so happened to nominate Jeremy too. And then we’ve had Tony Blair chime in with yet another of his frequent “infrequent” interventions. Out came the same old on the centre ground showing scant awareness that its time as a meaningful filter for understanding politics is long gone, and warnings about comfort zones and the like. All ammo for the Corbyn tommy gun, if you ask me. Continue reading →

There is a concerted ‘Anyone but Corbyn’ campaign organised by the Labour right

Labour Leadership Candidates and now they are 4_edited-1The story of the Labour leadership election has moved firmly from which of the four possible contenders could win, to whether or not it could be Jeremy Corbyn – and how to stop him. For many on Labour’s self-proclaimed ‘moderate’, austerity-backing wing of the party, this has become an all out campaign to stop Jeremy winning – and all the dirty tricks are coming out.

Labour First activist and blogger, Luke Akehurst, whose views and politics we have reported on before, sent an email in which he outlined Labour First’s campaign to fight Corbyn. He has also tweeted, “Labour First is fighting to stop nightmare of a Corbyn leadership.” Continue reading →

The Labour right are risking ‘Pasokification’ on their own

Harriet_Harman,_2014Harriet Harman’s announcement on the Sunday politics yesterday, that Labour would not be voting against the welfare bill, nor would they oppose child tax credit cuts or the Tories new benefits cap, has rightly drawn condemnation from different sections of the Party, and now both Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham have joined Jeremy Corbyn (who launched a petition last night) calling for opposition to the child tax credit cut. Kendall has remained silent, while none of the candidates have yet said they would oppose the new lower benefit cap (of £23,000 in London, and £20,000 outside of London – an astonishing cut of 23%) with the exception of Jeremy Corbyn, who has already said in hustings that he is opposed to the cap altogether.

It is worth remembering, that both Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham voted in favour of the initial household benefit cap in 2014, despite Save the Children’s report that the policy would push 345,000 children into poverty. Of all the leadership and deputy leadership candidates, only Corbyn and Watson voted through the ‘No’ lobby on that occasion. Continue reading →

Jeremy Corbyn has got Labour’s right wing on the run

JeremyCorbyn1Having at the outset of the leadership contest been contemptuously written off as ‘unelectable’, Jeremy Corbyn seems to be surprising everyone that he is now rapidly emerging as a serious contender. But they shouldn’t be surprised. He represents what the majority of the Labour Party have been crying out for – a leader who does not think that we should all behave like mini-Tories, who is not an insider member of the enclosed Westminster bubble, and who genuinely engages with grassroots activists campaigning across the country and indeed internationally.

The Blairites don’t get it because they believe that their ideology of light-touch financial deregulation, market fundamentalism, privatisation of public services, relaxed attitude to people becoming filthy rich, keeping the unions on a very short leash, and hob-nobbing with the corporate elite is the natural order of modern politics. But those are Tory themes and they are not shared by the vast majority of Labour members. They are in fact the reasons why throughout the noughties the leadership became so estranged from the grassroots base of the party. To return to these basically Tory themes now would risk not only alienating further a disconsolate party, but actually splitting it altogether. Continue reading →

What are the Labour leadership candidates saying on Greece?

Labour Leadership Candidates and now they are 4_edited-1Yesterday’s vote in Greece was a momentous occasion. Almost two thirds of a people, many with politics far removed from that of its leadership, said no to demands for more austerity from the well-heeled bureaucrats of the IMF and European Central Bank, and the ministers of the European Commission. It won’t be until tomorrow that we’ll know what the troika are going to do in response. Reasoned heads would suggest a debt write down and allowing Greece space to grow its economy to meet its obligations. This, after all, is the oh-so radical demand Syriza are pushing – it’s hardly all power to the Soviets combined with the socialisation of private property. Yet as past behaviour indicates, the troika are anything but reasoned. Continue reading →