Advice for “Labour’s next generation”
There have been a few articles from Labour activists who have ambitions of becoming MPs, about how they would act differently if they were MPs. There’s nothing particularly wrong with what they are saying, and some of them are people who I know, like and respect.
But the idea that this is ‘Labour’s next generation’ makes me profoundly uneasy. For a start, I agree with Hopi when he writes that:
when “Labour’s next generation” put themselves forwards as voices of their community, I’d like to hear more about what the community really wants and less about the views of the next generation.
Dorries: The Gift that Keeps on Giving
I’ll say one thing for Nadine Dorries. She is, quite literally, the gift that keeps on giving.
Today, for example, the MP for Mid Narnia shipped up on BBC Radio to complain bitterly that the Telegraph’s exposé of MP’s expense is all a McCarthyite witch-hunt and – get this – that the media should not be openly vilifying MP’s over their expenses claims because they’ve known what MP’s have been up to for years but have only now got around to making a front page story out of it.
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MPs expenses now a PR disaster for Cameron
» Tory MP Anthony Steen’s don’t be hating on my MTV cribs tirade is all over the papers today (BBC, Guardian, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Independent, Sun (twice). It’s a PR disaster for David Cameron – a day after a duck adorned the Telegraph’s front page.
This may turn into a bigger headache for Cameron than he initially expected because things like moats, duck ponds and “my big house” stick in people’s minds better than flipping of houses. Secondly, it’s class-warfare at it’s best isn’t it? You don’t have to raise the 50p tax and wait for the Tory pips to squeak. Now people can just tell how removed Tories are from ordinary life by the size of their moats, duck-ponds and houses. I suspect the best Labour election poster at this stage would be the one that says ‘quack quack’.
» One aspect of media coverage continues to trouble me, and I’m glad Toby Helm @ Guardian blog brought it up: What’s the difference between Hazel Blears and James Purnell?. If Brown can get rid of James Pernicious (thanks commenters!) then things might even start looking up for New Labour. Though Blears’ allies are fighting back. I suspect this is going to turn into a full-blown civil war.
» Meanwhile, it looks like Margaret Moran is becoming a huge liability for Labour.
» Collared by the Telegraph today: Tory MP Peter Luff and Labour MP Ian Gibson. Plus, John Bercow faces questions over his expenses claims after he “flipped” his second home from his constituency to a £540,000 flat in London and claimed the maximum possible allowances.
Tory MP Steen: People are just jealous of my large pad
Tory MP Anthony Steen today said the negative reaction to his expense claim for the felling of trees was down to “jealousy”, and added that the details of his expenses should never have been published.
He said, “I think I behaved impeccably”, and added that the reaction to his claim was down to jealousy, because, “I’ve got a very very large house. It’s not particularly attractive…it does me nicely”.
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An election now is the worst of possible worlds
Gordon Brown didn’t exactly cover himself in glory when he said that calling an election now would cause “chaos”, which he elaborated on later to mean, rather disingenuously, that it would cause chaos for the public services to suddenly have to adjust to the Conservatives’ planned cuts.
It isn’t an entirely unjustified claim however.
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Hypocrisy
Mick Fealty at Slugger O’Toole today:
Technically, Iain has paid his dues. A court appearance by the Daily Mail in his behalf is enough to satisfy the law. There is no compunction for him to publish a mea culpa on his blog. But I have to say it is poor form for us bloggers to preach openness for the political classes when we are unwilling to admit when we actually get things wrong. At the very least it is ‘old world’ behaviour… Come on Iain, just get it out and over with?
As if by magic… Dale blames lefties again.
What could ‘a new politics’ look like?
The expenses scandal has superceded many recent pressing issues; turning the discussion away from politics’ structural malaise and towards the self-serving, insular & arrogant habits of our politicians. It’s in this context of disgust and despair that The Guardian has launched a series of opinion pieces on how best to conduct root and branch reform of Westminster to ensure that not only can politicians no longer claim expenses for non-existent mortgages, but to repair the damaged marriage between the public and its servants.
My own take on this question instead focuses on how it could be possible to strike a better balance between the state’s ability to anticipate and reduce threats to public safety, and the need for the public to become much closer & more involved in politics.
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The Royals and BNP deserve each other
I didn’t think much in the world of politics could shock me anymore. Yet the news that the BNP are to be invited to Buckingham Palace shocks me. My republicanism has not been pronounced over the last few years because there’ve been other things to attend to.
When attending picket lines or passing out leaflets there isn’t a lot of time to be denouncing the parasitic organism that is the Royal Family. Not when there are Tories aiming to take every last penny from the working man’s pocket and the Fascists aiming to relocate half of Britain abroad just because we don’t measure up to what they consider to be British.
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New MPs expense scandals and reaction
• The Daily Telegraph continues with its scalping today by going after big names. Bill Wiggin, a Conservative whip, is named as the most senior MP to have claimed interest payments for a property which had no mortgage. The Telegraph calls them “phantom mortgages”. We’ll have to see whether Cameron continues with his pledge to clear out the rot when it gets so close.
• Ruth Kelly is also named as having claimed thousands of pounds for flood damage to her second home even though she had building insurance at the time. Natascha Engel, a back-bench Labour MP, who claimed thousands of pounds for furniture, champagne flutes and other household items, is also named but she had already published her expenses and is holding a series of meetings with constituents.
• Sir Peter Viggers claimed for a £1,645 floating “duck island” in the garden pond at his Hampshire home. In a statement, the Conservative Party said: “Sir Peter Viggers has confirmed that he will retire as MP for Gosport at the next election. He will do so at the direct request of David Cameron”.
• Tory MP Anthony Steen, who gave a measured response when declaring his decision to stand down at the next election, launched into a tirade against the Telegraph and accused it of unfairly maligning him in an interview with the BBC later.
• The Guardian reports that cabinet modernisers want:
- A referendum on electoral reform for the House of Commons.
- An elected upper house.
- Spending caps on donations to political parties.
- A widening of the base from which candidates are drawn.
Smith’s banned list leads to radio fight in US
Jacqui Smith’s recently released ‘banned list’ of people barred from coming into the UK has had the unintended consequence of sparking a war of words between rightwing shock-jocks in the United States.
Radio commentator Michael Savage, banned from coming into the UK, launched into a full-blown tirade against Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly for not backing him enough.
According to the Huffington Post, he said:
Savage: And yet here in America, I’ve had some people come to my aid. They see the bigger picture. They’re not like [Bill] O’Reilly; they’re not like Limbaugh, who’s the biggest disappointment of all. Limbaugh has turned out to be the biggest phony of all of them, all of them. Amongst all of them, he is the biggest fraud. Rush Limbaugh is a fraud. When he was accused of the drug usage, I supported him. But that man is a one-way street. It’s all about him. He’s in it for nobody but himself.
Listen below
Perhaps something good did come out of the list then.
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