Corbyn's Labour
Jeremy Corbyn's core supporters are an ugly bunch who draw great encouragement from their leader's ritual condemnation of 'bad acts everywhere' while failing to take decisive action against people who bring the Labour Party into disrepute.
The latest outbreak of political insanity was on display over a minute's silence for the widely respected former Labour minister Tessa Howell which Corbyn supporters disrupted because of her long association with Tony Blair and the last Labour Government.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/leftwingers-heckle-minute-s-silence-to-honour-dame-tessa-jowell-a3850101.html
Left-wingers heckle minute’s silence to honour Dame Tessa Jowell
By KATE PROCTOR - Evening Standard
Admired: Dame Tessa Jowell was praised by all parties for her work on the Olympics and her campaign for better cancer treatment (Reuters)
Labour Left-wingers refused to honour a minute’s silence in honour of the late Tessa Jowell and heckled during a fractious branch meeting.
Members of Hampstead and Kilburn constituency Labour Party said they were shocked when a woman shouted that Baroness Jowell had voted to “murder a lot of people” by backing welfare reforms and she would not take part in the silence to respect her memory. A small group of Left-wing activists at the meeting then declined to take part.
The incident happened on May 16, a few days after the popular former Olympics minister died, aged 70, from a brain tumour. She was praised across the political spectrum for helping to bring the Olympic Games to London in 2012, rolling out Sure Start centres and campaigning for better cancer treatment.
The silence was held to commemorate both her work on the national stage and as a Camden councillor between 1971 and 1986.
The heckler appeared to pick out Baroness Jowell’s role as a close ally of Tony Blair and stalwart of New Labour. A source said: “There was quite a lot of heckling and one person shouted that Tessa Jowell had voted for murders of lots of people. They instead wanted to hold a minute’s silence for Gaza.
“It was pretty upsetting for people in the room who knew Tessa well as she had a lot of connections to the area and was a member of the constituency party when she was a councillor.”
The party’s constituency secretary Helen Brown said: “The serious incident will not be ignored and shall be dealt with accordingly.”
The meeting was being chaired for the first time by newly appointed CLP chief Leao Neto, who continued with the minute’s silence despite the heckling.
Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom today called the incident “hateful” and stressed the need for greater tolerance in local politics.
Ex-Camden councillor Phil Rosenberg said: “The standard of behaviour at Hampstead and Kilburn Constituency Labour Party has long ceased to be acceptable, and it seems that a lack of discernible action from the Labour Party is allowing it to plumb new depths.”
'Does My Head In' (27/05/18)
Alastair Campbell has admitted that Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party 'does his head in' and cites Corbyn's support for Brexit as a prime example of his concerns.
But Campbell also highlights the ugly behaviour of some local Labour branches which have apparently refused to pay tribute to the former and widely respected minister, Tessa Jowell, because she was a big supporter of Tony Blair.
'Incredible', as Alastair Campbell says but read the full article via the following link to The Guardian and decide for yourself.
Alastair Campbell: Labour under Corbyn 'does my head in'
Ex-press chief condemns demonisation of Tony Blair, hailing him as party’s most successful leader
Mark Brown - The Guardian
Tony Blair’s former press chief Alastair Campbell has condemned the demonisation of the ex-prime minister.
Campbell was speaking at the Hay literary festival in Wales, where he was withering in his opinion of the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn.
He hailed Blair as “the most successful Labour leader we have ever had”, adding “if you want to get a cheap round of applause at a Labour party meeting, just slag off Tony Blair”.
He said some local Labour party branches had refused to pay tribute to the late Tessa Jowell because of her support for Blair.
He added: “Tessa Jowell died … and you’ve had local parties refusing to have tributes to her because she helped Tony Blair. It’s madness.”
Campbell, one of Blair’s most loyal lieutenants, said he still could not get over Corbyn being leader. “I’ve known him on and off for 40 years and I find it incredible, the whole thing incredible.
“I hate what he has done to the Labour party and his position on Brexit, I’m afraid, absolutely does my head in because the Labour party is meant to be the party for working people and working people are going to get absolutely shafted by Brexit.”
Campbell said Corbyn could win the next election but would not. Many people had voted Labour last time because they knew Corbyn would not win, he said, but next time would be different.
Labour Fail Over Brexit (22/05/18)
Jeremy Corbyn is deliberately defying the will of the vast majority of Labour Party members over Brexit and Andrew Adonis is right to point out on Twitter that there's really nothing to between Labour and the Conservatives.
Now if Keir Starmer were to seize the opportunity and speak out that really would set the cat amongst the pigeons - and not before time!
What would Labour policy on Brexit be if there were a snap election? On Keir’s statements to date, it would be essentially the same as Mrs May’s. So what choice would the voters have, when it looks as if a majority now want to stop Brexit with a people’s vote?
Labour Brexit (30/08/17)
Some wag on Twitter posted this crude but very effective drawing to illustrate the policy difference between Labour and Conservatives over Brexit.
As the Pound continues to fall like a stone against the Euro, sucking in higher inflation, the claims from the Leave camp about 'taking back control' seem comical and absurd, although not in the least funny.
As I've said before on the blog site, no one voted for this nonsense and if you ask me what we really need is a cross party campaign for the final Brexit deal to be put to a 'free vote' of MPs at Westminster.
Followed by a second referendum once people can fully appreciate the costs and benefits of leaving the European Union (EU).
Labour on Brexit (27/07/17)
Labour policy on Brexit is turning into something of a pantomime as Jeremy Corbyn says 'all options are on the table' only days after ruling out continued membership of the Single Market.
One of Corbyn's key supporters in Labour's shadow cabinet (Barry Gardiner) also went out of his way this week to insist that a Labour would not support continued membership of the Customs Union.
In reality, the Conservative Government is all over the place on Brexit and the same goes for the official Labour opposition.
What a complete mess.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-barry-gardiner-labour-customs-union-eu-brexit-international-trade-secretary-a7859561.html
Jeremy Corbyn upbraids Barry Gardiner for contradicting Labour customs union position
The Labour leader and the Shadow International Trade Secretary have set out completely different positions over the customs union
By Tom Peck - The Independent
But Mr Corbyn has already ruled out continued membership of the single market. He said at the weekend that leaving the single market and leaving the EU were "inextricably linked", even though Liechtenstein and Norway remain a member of the single market but not the EU.
On Sunday night Mr Gardiner said remainining in the customs union would create an “asymmetrical relationship” between the UK and any nations the EU went on to strike trade agreements with, as the UK's interests in those deals would not be considered.
“The EU could do a deal with another country, let’s say America, which we would be bound by in the UK,” he explained.
“We would have to accept the liberalisation of our markets, we would have to accept their goods coming into our markets on the terms agreed by Europe, which could be prejudicial to us.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-40726213
John McDonnell not ruling out single market membership
BBC UK Politics
Labour has not ruled out continued membership of the EU single market, John McDonnell has said, as he sought to play down divisions over Brexit.
Everyone wanted tariff-free access to EU markets, the shadow chancellor said.
But there was a debate on-going within the Labour Party about whether the best option was continued membership or a separate agreement, he added.
Jeremy Corbyn has suggested the single market is "inextricably linked" to EU membership and the UK cannot remain.
Speaking on Sunday, the Labour leader said leaving the EU meant leaving the EU's internal market - whose members must abide by rules on the free movement of goods, capital, services, and labour.
Jones calls on May to rethink Brexit
Cabinet 'united' over EU transition deal
Brexit: All you need to know
The party's international trade spokesman, Barry Gardiner, has gone further, saying the UK should also rule out remaining in the customs union beyond any transitional period, claiming that failing to do so would make the UK a "vassal state" unable to negotiate sovereign trade deals.
However, many Labour MPs disagree with both positions - arguing that it is in the UK's economic interests to remain in both. They point out there are non-EU members, like Norway, which have full access to the single market and countries such as Turkey which belong to the customs union.
And Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones is arguing Labour should be pushing for the UK to remain in the single market - even though it might mean not being able to impose any controls on immigration from the EU.
Mr McDonnell insisted Labour had a "straightforward" position on the type of access the UK needed to its largest market after it leaves the EU in March 2019.
"Our objective is tariff-free access to the market," he said. "That has been our objective since immediately after the referendum.
"The structures - whether we are in or out - are a secondary matter.
"We are not ruling anything out but what we are saying is that we are the fifth largest economy in the world and we have a special status in both our relationship with the EU and the rest of the globe and we feel we can get a deal that achieves tariff-free access."
'Special status'
Pressed on whether he and Mr Corbyn disagreed on the matter, he said: "I think we are all on the same page with regard to our objectives... there is a debate around whether it is full membership or a new relationship or a separate agreement.
"What we are saying is keep our eye on what is the most important objective, tariff-free access. We can achieve that."
The BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith said there was a "deep internal divide" within the party and the shadow chancellor was seeking to "soften" the party's stance following a backlash by pro-EU MPs and trade unionists over Mr Corbyn and Mr Gardiner's remarks
Amid signs of growing internal strains over Brexit, the former shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander said she had never felt "more concerned" about her party's position.
"My colleague Barry Gardiner's contribution to the Brexit debate, in which he argues for the UK to come out of the single market and customs union to facilitate Brexit was, for me, depressing and disingenuous in equal measure," she wrote in the Guardian.
She accused her colleague of using arguments on sovereignty, immigration and the legal jurisdiction that "could have come straight out of Tory Central Office", Instead, she said Labour must focus on the damage posed to those on low and middle incomes of a so-called hard Brexit.
The government has said the UK will leave the single market and customs union but could maintain some existing arrangements for an interim period to help British business adjust.
The Labour leader's spokesperson said remaining in the customs union was still 'on the table' Reuters
Jeremy Corbyn has disagreed with his own Shadow International Trade Secretary, and said that the Labour party would keep membership of the customs union after Brexit "on the table."
Mr Gardiner had said in a newspaper article and repeated his comments in various television interviews, that remaining in the customs union after leaving th EU would render Britain a "vassal state" as it would be subject to rules it had no power to set or amend.
A spokesperson for Mr Corbyn said it was wrong to "sweep options off the table."
Jeremy Corbyn has disagreed with his own Shadow International Trade Secretary, and said that the Labour party would keep membership of the customs union after Brexit "on the table."
Mr Gardiner had said in a newspaper article and repeated his comments in various television interviews, that remaining in the customs union after leaving th EU would render Britain a "vassal state" as it would be subject to rules it had no power to set or amend.
A spokesperson for Mr Corbyn said it was wrong to "sweep options off the table."
But Mr Corbyn has already ruled out continued membership of the single market. He said at the weekend that leaving the single market and leaving the EU were "inextricably linked", even though Liechtenstein and Norway remain a member of the single market but not the EU.
On Sunday night Mr Gardiner said remainining in the customs union would create an “asymmetrical relationship” between the UK and any nations the EU went on to strike trade agreements with, as the UK's interests in those deals would not be considered.
“The EU could do a deal with another country, let’s say America, which we would be bound by in the UK,” he explained.
“We would have to accept the liberalisation of our markets, we would have to accept their goods coming into our markets on the terms agreed by Europe, which could be prejudicial to us.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-40726213
John McDonnell not ruling out single market membership
BBC UK Politics
Labour has not ruled out continued membership of the EU single market, John McDonnell has said, as he sought to play down divisions over Brexit.
Everyone wanted tariff-free access to EU markets, the shadow chancellor said.
But there was a debate on-going within the Labour Party about whether the best option was continued membership or a separate agreement, he added.
Jeremy Corbyn has suggested the single market is "inextricably linked" to EU membership and the UK cannot remain.
Speaking on Sunday, the Labour leader said leaving the EU meant leaving the EU's internal market - whose members must abide by rules on the free movement of goods, capital, services, and labour.
Jones calls on May to rethink Brexit
Cabinet 'united' over EU transition deal
Brexit: All you need to know
The party's international trade spokesman, Barry Gardiner, has gone further, saying the UK should also rule out remaining in the customs union beyond any transitional period, claiming that failing to do so would make the UK a "vassal state" unable to negotiate sovereign trade deals.
However, many Labour MPs disagree with both positions - arguing that it is in the UK's economic interests to remain in both. They point out there are non-EU members, like Norway, which have full access to the single market and countries such as Turkey which belong to the customs union.
And Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones is arguing Labour should be pushing for the UK to remain in the single market - even though it might mean not being able to impose any controls on immigration from the EU.
Mr McDonnell insisted Labour had a "straightforward" position on the type of access the UK needed to its largest market after it leaves the EU in March 2019.
"Our objective is tariff-free access to the market," he said. "That has been our objective since immediately after the referendum.
"The structures - whether we are in or out - are a secondary matter.
"We are not ruling anything out but what we are saying is that we are the fifth largest economy in the world and we have a special status in both our relationship with the EU and the rest of the globe and we feel we can get a deal that achieves tariff-free access."
'Special status'
Pressed on whether he and Mr Corbyn disagreed on the matter, he said: "I think we are all on the same page with regard to our objectives... there is a debate around whether it is full membership or a new relationship or a separate agreement.
"What we are saying is keep our eye on what is the most important objective, tariff-free access. We can achieve that."
The BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith said there was a "deep internal divide" within the party and the shadow chancellor was seeking to "soften" the party's stance following a backlash by pro-EU MPs and trade unionists over Mr Corbyn and Mr Gardiner's remarks
Amid signs of growing internal strains over Brexit, the former shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander said she had never felt "more concerned" about her party's position.
"My colleague Barry Gardiner's contribution to the Brexit debate, in which he argues for the UK to come out of the single market and customs union to facilitate Brexit was, for me, depressing and disingenuous in equal measure," she wrote in the Guardian.
She accused her colleague of using arguments on sovereignty, immigration and the legal jurisdiction that "could have come straight out of Tory Central Office", Instead, she said Labour must focus on the damage posed to those on low and middle incomes of a so-called hard Brexit.
The government has said the UK will leave the single market and customs union but could maintain some existing arrangements for an interim period to help British business adjust.
