@DavidLammy: I won't be voting @Corbyn4Leader but I've nominated him because the next Labour leader should be chosen by members and supporters, not MPs.
They are going to elect Ed take 2 aren't they.
They need to be a bit more Night's watch and a bit less Stannis's army.
@MSmithsonPB: Been stuck on Eurostar train at Channel Tunnel entrance for nearly an hour. Reason - animals on the line after Calais.
I hope he's not referring to these:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=syyl0gfNDRE
He would never do that, he's nearly as pro-immigration as Robert and I, which is saying a lot.
That's good to know. However, you can be pro-immigration but believe it should happen through legal channels rather than through smuggling, as I am. I find it quite shocking how they can climb onto lorries so openly and in plain view. The French authorities do not seem to be making any effort to regulate it at all. It seems funny how the UK gets lectured on EU 'solidarity' when France acts like this.
Interesting the currently Franceis turning back refugees/emigrants at the coastal French/Italian border and sending them back to Italy!
I read earlier today that the UK has several times requested to be able to deploy our own agents in Calais, given the French don't do their jobs. France has turned down this request several times. Seems like the sort of thing Cameron should add on to our EU negotiations. This problem will only get worse as more and more asylum seekers come from Libya, Syria and Iraq - and who knows what will be the next Middle Eastern country to collapse.
I think we'd probably say "no", if the French asked us if they could put their agents at Dover.
And I think the reason is that it would look politically awful (i.e. a breach of sovereignty) to have some other country's officials working on your soil. The first time a French citizen was treated badly by a British customs agent on French soil would be on the front page of Le Monde.
I think the British wouldn't allow brazen people smuggling to happen in full daylight on its soil. If France isn't willing to detain these people openly breaking into British lorries on its soil then they must surely accept someone else should do it.
Another option would be for us to put every illegal immigrant that comes in via Calais on a lorry and send it straight back to France.
@DavidLammy: I won't be voting @Corbyn4Leader but I've nominated him because the next Labour leader should be chosen by members and supporters, not MPs.
They are going to elect Ed take 2 aren't they.
They need to be a bit more Night's watch and a bit less Stannis's army.
If we polled who was more popular, who would win ?
@DavidLammy: I won't be voting @Corbyn4Leader but I've nominated him because the next Labour leader should be chosen by members and supporters, not MPs.
They are going to elect Ed take 2 aren't they.
They need to be a bit more Night's watch and a bit less Stannis's army.
If we polled who was more popular, who would win ?
Ed or Joffrey?
If Ed was Joffrey - the jumped up little boy. Does that mean AB = Ramsay Bolton ?
@faisalislam: No retreat from starkey on SNP: says it's "virulently nationalistic" & "civic" nationalism a figleaf or "a jockstrap" http://t.co/Hs27n4Odlb
On topic, I agree with others that David is not the answer for Labour. However I don't think David concurs, and thus the 7/1 William Hill are offering that he is an MP before the next General Election is worth taking.
From David Miliband's point of view, he did the decent thing getting out of his brother's way. Now there's nothing preventing him from returning. If the new leader disappoints and he's become an MP, he would be a contender.
@DavidLammy: I won't be voting @Corbyn4Leader but I've nominated him because the next Labour leader should be chosen by members and supporters, not MPs.
They are going to elect Ed take 2 aren't they.
They need to be a bit more Night's watch and a bit less Stannis's army.
I'd vote for Liz Kendall and I haven't been partial to Labour since about 1999.
Seconded.
It will be interesting to hear what she has to say in the coming weeks, but she appears to represent Labour's best chance of coming close to the Conservatives in 2020.
I would love to know the question to which the answer is David Miliband, the worst foreign secretary in living memory.
@DavidLammy: I won't be voting @Corbyn4Leader but I've nominated him because the next Labour leader should be chosen by members and supporters, not MPs.
They are going to elect Ed take 2 aren't they.
They need to be a bit more Night's watch and a bit less Stannis's army.
One last push...
I would say Andy/Yvette were more continuity Ed. Jeremy is left of the field still.
It's certainly hard to see a worse backdrop for the next Labour leader, whoever he or she is, than the current speculation about Miliband Snr (speculation which is, pace Keiran Pedley, the stuff of political satire, not reality), and the rather more significant calls by senior Labour figures for an easier means to ditch the leader. In other words, the next leader is already being set up to fail.
Talking of which, look at this horrendous affront to grammar:
It's certainly hard to see a worse backdrop for the next Labour leader, whoever he or she is, than the current speculation about Miliband Snr (speculation which is, pace Keiran Pedley, the stuff of political satire, not reality), and the rather more significant calls by senior Labour figures for an easier means to ditch the leader. In other words, the next leader is already being set up to fail.
Talking of which, look at this horrendous affront to grammar:
Hi all. Thanks for the comments. Fair to say a degree of scepticism here. I do still think that if he choose to come back that will change. Rightly or wrongly I think he has credibility with the public as the 'right brother' though I won't rewrite my article here.
And regardless of the leadership, why shouldn't D Milibad return at least in some capacity? Are we saying his defeat to Ed in 2010 should end his political career yet Ed should have the chance of a comeback?
Starkey just about caused the PC Beeboids to have a meltdown on R5 this morning.
Are the SNP nationalist ? Yes . Are they socialist ? Yes. Ergo... was the rub of his argument
I can see this as a running theme - Starkey lives to be controversial and doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. It will certainly be interesting to watch how the more excitable wing of Scottish nationalists react to him, they need to be very careful about the words they use in response.
I don't believe it is possible to square the circle between the EU and the Eurozone. Essentially, I don't see how a satisfactory arrangement can be worked out between the two groups of countries: they will be pushing ahead for integration, and will regard us as standing in their way. We will feel that the EU is being run for the Eurozone and not for all its members.
As a result, it's hard to see how ourselves, the Swedes and possibly the Danes can remain a part of the EU (Denmark is different, in that they still have the Krona, but have an essentially permanent peg to the Euro).
It would be better we (and the other EU leaders) recognised this issue now, and organised a velvet divorce. I would suggest that the non-Eurozone members become Associate EU members, which remain part of the single market (like EFTA/EEA), but just like with Norway or Switzerland, are not subject to EU regulation on working conditions, or the like. We remove ourselves from the CAP and from the bulk of the contributions (which should instead be between Eurozone members).
I think that is almost right, but it won't be presented like that. Because of the massive political capital invested in The Project, to save face the restructuring will be presented as the UK and other non-Eurozone countries remaining as 'full members' of the EU, whilst the Eurozone becomes as you say more like a country.
Such an outcome, whereby we reamin in the Single Market and, crucially, retain the right to protect our interests in the EU but are not bound by the Eurozone integration, is the best possible outcome IMO - a great prize, if we can engineer it. There's many a slip, though.
Hi all. Thanks for the comments. Fair to say a degree of scepticism here. I do still think that if he choose to come back that will change. Rightly or wrongly I think he has credibility with the public as the 'right brother' though I won't rewrite my article here.
And regardless of the leadership, why shouldn't D Milibad return at least in some capacity? Are we saying his defeat to Ed in 2010 should end his political career yet Ed should have the chance of a comeback?
Interested in people's thoughts.
If David Miliband is to return to the frontline of British politics, the question that he has to answer which he has so far not attempted to address is why he would not work with his own brother, preferring to leave Parliament and indeed to leave the country. If he had accepted a senior role under his brother, he would still be in the first rank of Labour politicians. And who knows, Labour might have done considerably better last month.
It was not losing in 2010 that finished David Miliband's career, it was his response to defeat that did so.
Hi all. Thanks for the comments. Fair to say a degree of scepticism here. I do still think that if he choose to come back that will change. Rightly or wrongly I think he has credibility with the public as the 'right brother' though I won't rewrite my article here.
And regardless of the leadership, why shouldn't D Milibad return at least in some capacity? Are we saying his defeat to Ed in 2010 should end his political career yet Ed should have the chance of a comeback?
Interested in people's thoughts.
Hi Keiran, thanks for the article. I'm not sure that anyone objects to or thinks that Miliband (D) shouldn't return to politics, but the idea he might return straight to the front line within weeks of Ed's defeat looks a lot like he's jumping on his brother's (metaphorical) grave.
He should do an IDS and come back a few years down the line with a big idea that's been thought through that he can offer the party - but if he wants to do this he should find himself a seat to campaign for 2020 rather than parachuting himself straight back via a stitched-up by-election.
Starkey just about caused the PC Beeboids to have a meltdown on R5 this morning.
Are the SNP nationalist ? Yes . Are they socialist ? Yes. Ergo... was the rub of his argument
I just caught up with Charlie Brooker's GE2015 wipe, Starkey would've fitted right in, unfortunately he's being serious. For what its worth the SNP are a nationalist centrist party, not many socialist parties out there considering policies like cutting corporation tax to encourage firms to set up in Scotland etc.
Hi all. Thanks for the comments. Fair to say a degree of scepticism here. I do still think that if he choose to come back that will change. Rightly or wrongly I think he has credibility with the public as the 'right brother' though I won't rewrite my article here.
And regardless of the leadership, why shouldn't D Milibad return at least in some capacity? Are we saying his defeat to Ed in 2010 should end his political career yet Ed should have the chance of a comeback?
Interested in people's thoughts.
Hi Keiran, thanks for the article. I'm not sure that anyone objects to or thinks that Miliband (D) shouldn't return to politics, but the idea he might return straight to the front line within weeks of Ed's defeat looks a lot like he's jumping on his brother's (metaphorical) grave.
He should do an IDS and come back a few years down the line with a big idea that's been thought through that he can offer the party - but if he wants to do this he should find himself a seat to campaign for 2020 rather than parachuting himself straight back via a stitched-up by-election.
I think that is almost right, but it won't be presented like that. Because of the massive political capital invested in The Project, to save face the restructuring will be presented as the UK and other non-Eurozone countries remaining as 'full members' of the EU, whilst the Eurozone becomes as you say more like a country.
Such an outcome, whereby we reamin in the Single Market and, crucially, retain the right to protect our interests in the EU but are not bound by the Eurozone integration, is the best possible outcome IMO - a great prize, if we can engineer it. There's many a slip, though.
You explain matter this very well.
That would be my ideal, and I strongly suspect that of a large majority of the British people.
However if I had to make a forced choice between the UK joining the United States of Europe and BOO then I would want to see a lot more evidence from both points of view before making a choice. For me personally, both of these extremes are highly undesirable.
Starkey just about caused the PC Beeboids to have a meltdown on R5 this morning.
Are the SNP nationalist ? Yes . Are they socialist ? Yes. Ergo... was the rub of his argument
I just caught up with Charlie Brooker's GE2015 wipe, Starkey would've fitted right in, unfortunately he's being serious. For what its worth the SNP are a nationalist centrist party, not many socialist parties out there considering policies like cutting corporation tax to encourage firms to set up in Scotland etc.
Calum, if the SNP are a nationalist centrist party, why would Nicola only be prepared to form a Govt with a left leaning Labour party, rather than a right leaning Conservative one?
Starkey just about caused the PC Beeboids to have a meltdown on R5 this morning.
Are the SNP nationalist ? Yes . Are they socialist ? Yes. Ergo... was the rub of his argument
I just caught up with Charlie Brooker's GE2015 wipe, Starkey would've fitted right in, unfortunately he's being serious. For what its worth the SNP are a nationalist centrist party, not many socialist parties out there considering policies like cutting corporation tax to encourage firms to set up in Scotland etc.
State over free enterprise = socialism. Drag the rich down to raise the feckless = socialism Nanny state puritanical crackdown = socialism
As for corporation tax cuts in Scotland - yes there have been a few recently. All by George Osborne - none by the SNP.
I don't believe it is possible to square the circle between the EU and the Eurozone. Essentially, I don't see how a satisfactory arrangement can be worked out between the two groups of countries: they will be pushing ahead for integration, and will regard us as standing in their way. We will feel that the EU is being run for the Eurozone and not for all its members.
As a result, it's hard to see how ourselves, the Swedes and possibly the Danes can remain a part of the EU (Denmark is different, in that they still have the Krona, but have an essentially permanent peg to the Euro).
It would be better we (and the other EU leaders) recognised this issue now, and organised a velvet divorce. I would suggest that the non-Eurozone members become Associate EU members, which remain part of the single market (like EFTA/EEA), but just like with Norway or Switzerland, are not subject to EU regulation on working conditions, or the like. We remove ourselves from the CAP and from the bulk of the contributions (which should instead be between Eurozone members).
I think that is almost right, but it won't be presented like that. Because of the massive political capital invested in The Project, to save face the restructuring will be presented as the UK and other non-Eurozone countries remaining as 'full members' of the EU, whilst the Eurozone becomes as you say more like a country.
True. Just look at how desperately the UK establishment tried to stay in the EC monster of the ERM. It may take the markets to eventually dictate some sense into the EC project lovers. But that could be after a lot of financial and economic distress.
Hi all. Thanks for the comments. Fair to say a degree of scepticism here. I do still think that if he choose to come back that will change. Rightly or wrongly I think he has credibility with the public as the 'right brother' though I won't rewrite my article here.
And regardless of the leadership, why shouldn't D Milibad return at least in some capacity? Are we saying his defeat to Ed in 2010 should end his political career yet Ed should have the chance of a comeback?
Interested in people's thoughts.
Again, Prezza had it right.
DMilliband is an internecine combatant, which is redolent of Blair/Brown, who f&&&&d the country, which is why Lab/the UK should run a mile from him.
David Milliband is yesterday's man, just as Burnham and Cooper are indelibly linked to the Blair/Brown years. I should be a die hard Labour voter, born and raised in a council house, I'm a striking FBU member, middle aged, wwc, with kids either just starting university, or taking courses leading up to university, Labour should be my vote of choice. They ain't, because they are getting stuck in the past. They've genuinely alienated people like me, with fantasy progressive policies, and loading themselves up with PPE qualified spads, candidates, supporters and nepotist candidates like Kinnock, Rowenna Davies, Polly bloody Toynbee, Owen Jones and the like. It's cringe worthy, watching Labour crying and bleating about how the country has ended up with a Cameron majority. The leadership candidates, 3 of whom were actively involved with the Blair/Brown years, and all of them who followed Ed Milliband so slavishly, now want us to believe that they'e had an epiphany, and that the past is a different country, and they now understand what people like me want out of life. The country needs a sensible leftwing party. The current Labour party ain't it.
If Greece leaves the Euro, David Cameron's hand in Britain's negotiations with the EU would be greatly strengthened. The EU hierarchy would not want the EU to look as though it is crumbling so it would not wish to have a second grievous blow so soon. So David Cameron could push much harder.
It is true also that if a deal is reached with Greece then David Cameron's negotiating position is weakened, but not to the same extent. Losing Britain would be a grievous blow for the EU all by itself.
I think a lot depends on what happens to Greece after it falls out the Euro (if it falls out the Euro).
The most likely outcome of a traumatic end for Greece in the Euro, is that the Eurozone ends up becoming ever more tightly entwined. "To stop this happening again, we much strengthen the bonds, etc etc." This, of course, makes it increasingly hard for those members of the EU that are not members of the Eurozone.
The - as I've said many time before - Eurozone is going to look more and more like a country. There will be fiscal transfers between the various parts. There will be common Eurozone debt. And, in time, Eurozone MEPs will in the European Parliament will start to exercise democratic oversight of the running of the Eurozone.
I don't believe it is possible to square the circle between the EU and the Eurozone. Essentially, I don't see how a satisfactory arrangement can be worked out between the two groups of countries: they will be pushing ahead for integration, and will regard us as standing in their way. We will feel that the EU is being run for the Eurozone and not for all its members.
As a result, it's hard to see how ourselves, the Swedes and possibly the Danes can remain a part of the EU (Denmark is different, in that they still have the Krona, but have an essentially permanent peg to the Euro).
It would be better we (and the other EU leaders) recognised this issue now, and organised a velvet divorce. I would suggest that the non-Eurozone members become Associate EU members, which remain part of the single market (like EFTA/EEA), but just like with Norway or Switzerland, are not subject to EU regulation on working conditions, or the like. We remove ourselves from the CAP and from the bulk of the contributions (which should instead be between Eurozone members).
I agree with all of this. Only piece that's missing is on sovereign borders.
Free movement of people sounds good but when it means surrendering to semi-permanent mass immigration to sustain it, it starts to look like dogma.
Sensible limits must be in place, and allowed to be put in place.
Completely off topic: If you have a money-purchase pension scheme, especially one run by your employer, you should read this FT article, available for free here:
I'm not so sure about the mis-selling bit, but the core message that many pensions are invested in 'lifestyle' funds that might not be suitable for everyone is spot-on.
Completely off topic: If you have a money-purchase pension scheme, especially one run by your employer, you should read this FT article, available for free here:
I'm not so sure about the mis-selling bit, but the core message that many pensions are invested in 'lifestyle' funds that might not be suitable for everyone is spot-on.
Certainly while lifestyled funds were most appropriate for the old annuity-focussed regime, I am far from convinced they do not represent a useful default. Even if that default does not work for everybody. The fundamental idea - that younger people can ride more peaks and troughs - remains sound.
Several MPs have suggested they will nominate Corbyn despite having no intention of backing him for leader, insisting they enjoy the idea of a ‘fair society’ in the same way as they enjoy Star Wars.
It's certainly hard to see a worse backdrop for the next Labour leader, whoever he or she is, than the current speculation about Miliband Snr (speculation which is, pace Keiran Pedley, the stuff of political satire, not reality), and the rather more significant calls by senior Labour figures for an easier means to ditch the leader. In other words, the next leader is already being set up to fail.
Talking of which, look at this horrendous affront to grammar:
Christ, that's awful. The one piece of New Labour that seems to have stuck with all Labour politicians since is the dreadful butchering of the English language. Not to mention totally meaningless guff.
If I were a Labour Party member, I'd vote for the candidate willing to have their campaign literature stamped by the campaign for plain English.
Completely off topic: If you have a money-purchase pension scheme, especially one run by your employer, you should read this FT article, available for free here:
I'm not so sure about the mis-selling bit, but the core message that many pensions are invested in 'lifestyle' funds that might not be suitable for everyone is spot-on.
Corbyn makes the ballot, they lose; Corbyn fails to make the ballot, they lose. But which is worse for the party?
If the race turns into an auction for Corbyn's second-preferences then Kendall's earlier positioning on the right will make it easier for her to offer some red meat without being seen as a union puppet.
Corbyn makes the ballot, they lose; Corbyn fails to make the ballot, they lose. But which is worse for the party?
If the race turns into an auction for Corbyn's second-preferences then Kendall's earlier positioning on the right will make it easier for her to offer some red meat without being seen as a union puppet.
Could work for her. I think Burnham and Cooper will have to distance themselves, could end up in no man's land.
Just been watching Inside The Midland Hotel C5, where Labour held their last conference. EdM now looks like such an odd ball. Even more so now we know how his speech worked out and the GE result.
What is the point in running the deputy race at all, and particularly at the same time as the leadership?
There's a strong likelihood that Labour might end up with a leader and deputy who have very different views on the country, and even might not work well with each other. Like Balls and Miliband, except the latter actually chose the former.
I could understand it if the leader was picked, and then there was a deputy contest. But it seems very strange, and potentially dangerous, to do it this way.
What is the point in running the deputy race at all, and particularly at the same time as the leadership?
There's a strong likelihood that Labour might end up with a leader and deputy who have very different views on the country, and even might not work well with each other. Like Balls and Miliband, except the latter actually chose the former.
I could understand it if the leader was picked, and then there was a deputy contest. But it seems very strange, and potentially dangerous, to do it this way.
It'll be interesting to watch how it pans out.
There's a problem if you want them to share a vision for the country, there's a problem if you want them to get on well together, and there's a problem if you - say - are ideologically committed to one of them being a woman. Or from the North/South, or whatever.
OT Interesting follow up to the Commission briefing on Greece. Now a briefing on the Italian migration crisis.
Quick summary:
Italy has protested that the French, Swiss and Austrian governments are turning back migrants at the Italian border. The Commission is looking into this.
Italy is also saying it won't accept migrants who have been picked up by the relief effort in the Mediterranean into Italian ports and they have repeated the threat of issuing temporary visas to migrants to allow them to move around Europe if relocation plans are not agreed.
Commission proposing a mandatory relocation system for migrants to ease the pressure on Italy
...fewer than two out of ten of ordinary Conservative party members would vote for the UK to leave the EU regardless of whatever reforms Prime Minister David Cameron manages to obtain in the run-up to a referendum. In marked contrast, nearly two-thirds of them say that their vote depends on the outcome of negotiations, while one in five say they would vote to stay in the EU no matter what.
...fewer than two out of ten of ordinary Conservative party members would vote for the UK to leave the EU regardless of whatever reforms Prime Minister David Cameron manages to obtain in the run-up to a referendum. In marked contrast, nearly two-thirds of them say that their vote depends on the outcome of negotiations, while one in five say they would vote to stay in the EU no matter what.
A large chunk will say (a) that the negotiations have failed or (b) they have succeeded regardless of what Cameron actually gets. After all, who would say "they have succeeded, but we should leave anyway"? It bleeds into your idea of "success".
Luke James @LEJ88 - Deputy leadership candidate Rushanara Ali has just nominated #Corbyn4Leader. Jeremy is just 3 short now. Less than 15 minutes to go.
Is is Trades Union? or Trades Unions? Or something else.
Simon Heffer says it depends on context, either Trade Unions, or Trades Unions (but not Trades Union):
Some authorities, chiefly in the UK, suggest that the plural of trade union is trade unions when the relevant unions all represent the same trade (for example, "The teachers in the school were divided between two trade unions."), but trades unions when they represent different trades (for example, "There are hundreds of trades unions in England."). However, trade unions is commonly used for both cases.
Is is Trades Union? or Trades Unions? Or something else.
Simon Heffer says it depends on context:
Some authorities, chiefly in the UK, suggest that the plural of trade union is trade unions when the relevant unions all represent the same trade (for example, "The teachers in the school were divided between two trade unions."), but trades unions when they represent different trades (for example, "There are hundreds of trades unions in England."). However, trade unions is commonly used for both cases.
What is the point in running the deputy race at all, and particularly at the same time as the leadership?
There's a strong likelihood that Labour might end up with a leader and deputy who have very different views on the country, and even might not work well with each other. Like Balls and Miliband, except the latter actually chose the former.
In early US presidential elections the winner became President and the runner-up became Vice-President. (There were no Parties, or "Tickets" in those days)
Imagine running that system today - you would need very strong security for the President ...
...fewer than two out of ten of ordinary Conservative party members would vote for the UK to leave the EU regardless of whatever reforms Prime Minister David Cameron manages to obtain in the run-up to a referendum. In marked contrast, nearly two-thirds of them say that their vote depends on the outcome of negotiations, while one in five say they would vote to stay in the EU no matter what.
Kind of weird way of presenting it. Surely '2 in 10' and '1 in 5' are the same thing. Why use different wording for two groups who are effectively equally balanced in their amount of support?
Luke James @LEJ88 - Deputy leadership candidate Rushanara Ali has just nominated #Corbyn4Leader. Jeremy is just 3 short now. Less than 15 minutes to go.
Luke James @LEJ88 - Deputy leadership candidate Rushanara Ali has just nominated #Corbyn4Leader. Jeremy is just 3 short now. Less than 15 minutes to go.
Luke James @LEJ88 - Deputy leadership candidate Rushanara Ali has just nominated #Corbyn4Leader. Jeremy is just 3 short now. Less than 15 minutes to go.
Luke James @LEJ88 - Deputy leadership candidate Rushanara Ali has just nominated #Corbyn4Leader. Jeremy is just 3 short now. Less than 15 minutes to go.
Tories4Jeremy: Get ready for action
I'm resisting the urge to spend this stint as Guest Editor to do a daily thread telling Labour supporters why they must back Jeremy
Paul Waugh @paulwaugh 1m1 minute ago Surreal situation here: 4 MPs in PLP office waiting for Corbyn to hit 34 to help him over line: inc @tom_watson Gareth Thomas
Comments
They need to be a bit more Night's watch and a bit less Stannis's army.
Another option would be for us to put every illegal immigrant that comes in via Calais on a lorry and send it straight back to France.
Ed or Joffrey?
A very popular move methinks.
http://order-order.com/2015/06/15/david-starkey-snp-prove-democracy-does-not-work/#_@/TL4oW35UmfqY4g
It will be interesting to hear what she has to say in the coming weeks, but she appears to represent Labour's best chance of coming close to the Conservatives in 2020.
I would love to know the question to which the answer is David Miliband, the worst foreign secretary in living memory.
I've sold out my Corbyn position on the hype.
Are the SNP nationalist ? Yes . Are they socialist ? Yes. Ergo... was the rub of his argument
Talking of which, look at this horrendous affront to grammar:
http://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/leadership
And regardless of the leadership, why shouldn't D Milibad return at least in some capacity? Are we saying his defeat to Ed in 2010 should end his political career yet Ed should have the chance of a comeback?
Interested in people's thoughts.
Such an outcome, whereby we reamin in the Single Market and, crucially, retain the right to protect our interests in the EU but are not bound by the Eurozone integration, is the best possible outcome IMO - a great prize, if we can engineer it. There's many a slip, though.
It was not losing in 2010 that finished David Miliband's career, it was his response to defeat that did so.
I'm not sure that anyone objects to or thinks that Miliband (D) shouldn't return to politics, but the idea he might return straight to the front line within weeks of Ed's defeat looks a lot like he's jumping on his brother's (metaphorical) grave.
He should do an IDS and come back a few years down the line with a big idea that's been thought through that he can offer the party - but if he wants to do this he should find himself a seat to campaign for 2020 rather than parachuting himself straight back via a stitched-up by-election.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyton_by-election,_1965
That would be my ideal, and I strongly suspect that of a large majority of the British people.
However if I had to make a forced choice between the UK joining the United States of Europe and BOO then I would want to see a lot more evidence from both points of view before making a choice. For me personally, both of these extremes are highly undesirable.
Drag the rich down to raise the feckless = socialism
Nanny state puritanical crackdown = socialism
As for corporation tax cuts in Scotland - yes there have been a few recently. All by George Osborne - none by the SNP.
DMilliband is an internecine combatant, which is redolent of Blair/Brown, who f&&&&d the country, which is why Lab/the UK should run a mile from him.
I should be a die hard Labour voter, born and raised in a council house, I'm a striking FBU member, middle aged, wwc, with kids either just starting university, or taking courses leading up to university, Labour should be my vote of choice.
They ain't, because they are getting stuck in the past. They've genuinely alienated people like me, with fantasy progressive policies, and loading themselves up with PPE qualified spads, candidates, supporters and nepotist candidates like Kinnock, Rowenna Davies, Polly bloody Toynbee, Owen Jones and the like.
It's cringe worthy, watching Labour crying and bleating about how the country has ended up with a Cameron majority. The leadership candidates, 3 of whom were actively involved with the Blair/Brown years, and all of them who followed Ed Milliband so slavishly, now want us to believe that they'e had an epiphany, and that the past is a different country, and they now understand what people like me want out of life.
The country needs a sensible leftwing party. The current Labour party ain't it.
"Europe tells Greeks to prepare for 'state of emergency' as talks collapse in acrimony.
"Eleventh hour bail-out talks last just 45 minutes as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is accused of "swindling the world" with his demands"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11674609/Greek-talks-break-down-live.html
Looks like he might struggle to get the 35.
Free movement of people sounds good but when it means surrendering to semi-permanent mass immigration to sustain it, it starts to look like dogma.
Sensible limits must be in place, and allowed to be put in place.
EU Commission is holding their daily briefing.
http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/ebs/live.cfm
Greek briefing
http://webtv.ert.gr/ert1-live/
The Commission briefing is in English.
http://www.hl.co.uk/news/2015/6/12/why-pension-lifestyling-could-be-the-next-mis-selling-scandal
I'm not so sure about the mis-selling bit, but the core message that many pensions are invested in 'lifestyle' funds that might not be suitable for everyone is spot-on.
Margaret Beckett nominates Jeremy Corbyn: He's on 30.
I reckon this is a done deal now - Corbyn finishing on 33/34 is the worst possible result all round
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/politics/politics-headlines/corbyn-in-last-minute-bid-to-be-completely-ignored-2015061599263
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/gordon-matheson-seeks-labour-deputy-job-210320n.128972355
If I were a Labour Party member, I'd vote for the candidate willing to have their campaign literature stamped by the campaign for plain English.
I'm so proud.
Tom Watson: "Tom's all Labour"
Stella Creasy: "Stella Creasy is standing for deputy leader because she wants Labour to win."
What guff.
Shame this one wasn't issued after the GE though D; http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/wasps-bonds-65-interest--5590168
There's a strong likelihood that Labour might end up with a leader and deputy who have very different views on the country, and even might not work well with each other. Like Balls and Miliband, except the latter actually chose the former.
I could understand it if the leader was picked, and then there was a deputy contest. But it seems very strange, and potentially dangerous, to do it this way.
It'll be interesting to watch how it pans out.
@SebastianEPayne: Update on "Taliban New Labour" remarks: a source on Team Burnham says the comments came from Yvette Cooper's team #Labourleadership
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33114655
I think the court made the right decision, but I can see how the maternal grandparents feel. Hopefully contact will be maintained with them.
Quick summary:
Italy has protested that the French, Swiss and Austrian governments are turning back migrants at the Italian border. The Commission is looking into this.
Italy is also saying it won't accept migrants who have been picked up by the relief effort in the Mediterranean into Italian ports and they have repeated the threat of issuing temporary visas to migrants to allow them to move around Europe if relocation plans are not agreed.
Commission proposing a mandatory relocation system for migrants to ease the pressure on Italy
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11674871/Only-15-per-cent-of-Conservative-party-members-would-vote-to-leave-the-EU.html
A large chunk will say (a) that the negotiations have failed or (b) they have succeeded regardless of what Cameron actually gets. After all, who would say "they have succeeded, but we should leave anyway"? It bleeds into your idea of "success".
And see him talk about Israel...
What is the plural of Trade Union?
Is is Trades Union? or Trades Unions? Or something else.
Some authorities, chiefly in the UK, suggest that the plural of trade union is trade unions when the relevant unions all represent the same trade (for example, "The teachers in the school were divided between two trade unions."), but trades unions when they represent different trades (for example, "There are hundreds of trades unions in England."). However, trade unions is commonly used for both cases.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trade_union#cite_note-1
Imagine running that system today - you would need very strong security for the President ...
The Tory backbench group demanded three things from the renegotiation:
- Control of immigration
- Ability to sign our own trade deals
- A red card from UK parliament to stop EU legislation
The third one seems like being too aggressive, but the first two both seem like great ideas.
http://bit.ly/1TnghL7
What price if he makes the ballot?
The plural is still on the noun though. The words General/Martial are the adjective in thoses case.
Surreal situation here: 4 MPs in PLP office waiting for Corbyn to hit 34 to help him over line: inc @tom_watson Gareth Thomas
Surreal situation here: 4 MPs in PLP office waiting for Corbyn to hit 34 to help him over line: inc @tom_watson Gareth Thomas