Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon “prepared to listen” to case for air strikes in Syria November 19, 2015 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon has said while she is "not convinced" that a compelling case for air strikes in Syria has been made, she is "prepared to listen" to arguments for targeting the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Speaking to BBC Scotland, Sturgeon said some tests need to be passed for the case for air strikes to [...]
Alan Johnson talks Labour’s relationship with business, its prospects in 2020 and the EU referendum January 25, 2016 Labour is a party in disarray. Under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, it is struggling to connect with the public and earn back the confidence of business. Some polls have Labour commanding just 25 per cent of the national vote. And it does not help that the party’s MPs seem constantly embroiled in public rows [...]
PM: Labour threatens financial security in UK September 11, 2015 PRIME Minister David Cameron will today attack Labour, taking a swipe at the party’s leadership contest and claiming that its next leader poses a “clear threat” to British taxpayers’ “financial security”. “I have watched with some bewilderment the Labour leadership election of the past few months,” Cameron will say this morning in a speech in [...]
Gordon Brown speech: Former PM says Labour party must be credible and electable as leadership poll shows Corbyn as best and worst for Labour August 16, 2015 The former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has weighed in on the Labour leadership battle for the first time following Tony Blair's warning against electing Jeremy Corbyn. Brown said the party must be credible and electable and can only deliver its principles in power, while speaking on "power for purpose" at an event at the South [...]
Home Affairs Committee to question Labour deputy leader Tom Watson over Leon Brittan allegations October 13, 2015 It's more bad news for those at the top of the Labour party as the influential Home Affairs Committee summons deputy leader Tom Watson to answer questions over the allegations he made against Leon Brittan. The Home Affairs Committee is to hold evidence on Wednesday 21 October around matters "currently in the public domain concerning [...]
London mayoral election 2016: Why Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith may struggle to emulate Boris Johnson by defying polls to win City Hall January 20, 2016 A Tory candidate for London mayor that isn’t beloved by the wider Conservative party is down in the polls to a strong Labour candidate, but has Australian election strategist Lynton Crosby on board. It’s just over 100 days until the election and all signs point to a Labour win. Starting to sound familiar? The year [...]
Andy Burnham still the favourite among Labour voters to lead the party August 5, 2015 An opinion poll indicates Andy Burnham is still the preferred choice amongst Labour voters to win the contest. Opinium’s first major poll for the leadership says that 39 per cent of Labour voters, rather than just party members, would vote for Burnham if they had a vote in the election. Next is Jeremy Corbyn trailing [...]
In praise of Simon Danczuk MP: A Great British contrarian who can’t be silenced November 26, 2015 Disruption is in vogue. Airbnb, Uber and BlaBlaCar are all cases in point. Their tech-savvy founders are turning conventional wisdom on its head to deliver services to customers in new ways. This is laudable and exciting. It is also about more than making money. Take Elon Musk, arguably the most daring entrepreneur of our time. [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: When it comes to tax credits, it’s heartening to see George Osborne perform a u-turn, even at the cost of looking weak November 25, 2015 In the run-up to the Autumn Statement and Spending Review, the biggest question was what George Osborne was going to do about tax credits. He couldn't u-turn fully, because there was nowhere else to find his £12bn of welfare cuts needed to generate a £10bn surplus by 2020—or so ran the conventional line. Therefore people [...]
Is Labour damaging its chances in 2020 by campaigning to remain in the European Union? February 20, 2016 Across the political spectrum there is widespread agreement that the upcoming referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union is the biggest political decision of a lifetime. But for the Labour party, the campaign creates a unique dilemma: the party risks alienating many of the voters it desperately needs to win back in [...]