Tagged with Shadow Cabinet

Emily Thornberry’s tweet – double standards at play?

Emily Thornberrys tweetAm I the only person who thinks that the reaction to the picture of a house in Rochester decked with St George flags tweeted by Labour MP Emily Thornberrry might be a tiny bit over the top? Anne Perkins in The Guardian described it as “stupendous, crass, insensitivity” adding, “It may be the most devastating message Labour has managed to deliver in the past four years.”

Labour loyalists have queued up on news bulletins to denounce Thornberry, who has had to quit as Shadow Attorney General. Sources say they have never seen Ed Miliband so furious, which says a lot about his priorities. But this feverish response feels desperate and reeks of other forces with different agendas telling Labour what to do. The Labour leadership is in a panic, yet it’s clear that UKIP are a far bigger threat to the Tories. Continue reading →

Ed Miliband shifts Leftwards at conference but Rightwards in the PLP

What sort of party does Miliband really want? The signs are confused because his radical stance at conference in taking on corporate power has now just two weeks later been followed by a distinct turn to the right in the reshuffle. How a programme of transforming capitalism is to be carried through by a Labour front bench which is largely made up of people wholly opposed to any such project is hard to see.

The Opposition shadow cabinet plus attendees is now composed of 12 Blairites, 4 Brownites (who together make up a majority), plus 9 centrists, and 6 on the left or left-inclining. Ed Miliband has constantly asserted that he wants a united party which balances the various factions and interests. In no sense can this reshuffle be said to achieve this. Leaving aside the centrists whose politics cannot readily be identified, the right outnumbers the left by almost 3 to 1. That is contrary to Ed’s instincts proclaimed at conference, contrary to the balance within the Labour Party as a whole, and contrary to the spirit of a shared unity which Ed professes to believe in. Continue reading →

Labour’s reshuffle – and what it means for party reform

Defend the Link colourIt may not be something to which most commentators (with the exception of Labour Uncut) have devoted space but the Labour Left and the trade unions will be pleased that Jon Trickett has been appointed as Labour’s “deputy chair”, job title notwithstanding (the real chair and vice-chair of the Labour Party are elected annually by Labour’s national executive not appointed by the Leader). Jon will oversee ‘party reform’ which will encourage all those who wish to see the trade union collective voice undiminished within the party. Continue reading →

Ed Miliband’s reshuffle

shuffling the deck“Ed Miliband backs down and gives Len McCluskey his dream team!!!” screams Conservative Central Office as if people outside the Tories’ increasingly fevered (and depleted) ranks gives a monkey’s. Meanwhile, back on planet Earth Ed’s shadcab reshuffle is being dissected by friend and foe alike. As with any leader, the appointment of ministers and shadow ministers is never just a matter of ability – it’s about the internal politics of party management and how the party looks to the electorate. With these factors in mind, these choices are smart politics. Bring on the Kremlinology. Continue reading →

A Shadow Cabinet Nightmare Scenario

Everyone concerned for the future of the Labour Party and how it goes into the general election in 2015 wants to see a stronger Shadow Cabinet. Virtually no one, wherever they stand on policy matters, is satisfied with the generally lacklustre performance of the Shadow Cabinet taken as a whole.

Andy Burnham’s recent Guardian interview was one of the few pieces of serious reflection and reconsideration to come from a Shadow Cabinet member since Labour left office in 2010. There was more substance in his comments than the entire output of three years of Labour’s Policy Review. Particularly important was Burnham’s statement that the Labour government was wrong to be captivated by the mantra “standards not structures”. He now believes that it matters who provides services.

It hardly matters where one looks, whether it is defence, foreign policy, pensions and work, or the economy, the Party is hitting well below its weight. But if there is one area where this shortfall in performance and policy stands out like a sore thumb, even against the background of the rest of Labour policy, it is education. Continue reading →