Westminster Live!
The Telegraph's political sketch writer Michael Deacon reports live from the House of Commons:
@MichaelPDeacon
Where we are now:
* Theresa May has publicly said Brexit can be stopped
* Jeremy Corbyn has publicly said Brexit can't be stopped
The issue cannot be left to a handful of MPs at Westminster - demand a democratic People's Vote on the final terms of Brexit!
Corbyn - Beyond Useless (14/11/18)
I enjoyed the following Twitter comments which, in their different ways, highlight how useless Jeremy Corbyn is on the single biggest issue of our time - Brexit.
Emily Benn
A Conservative Transport Minster (Jo Johnson) is showing more leadership on the defining issue of our political times, than the Leader of the Opposition
Will Hutton
With Johnson’s resignation there is a potential Commons majority for a PeoplesVote. The biggest roadblock is Jeremy Corbyn and his pro/Brexit kitchen cabinet. This is as existential for Labour as it is for the Tories.
Labour conference: Nothing is off the table, including a referendum with the option to Remain. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45622161
*two months later*
Jeremy Corbyn: We can’t stop Brexit.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/interview-with-labour-leader-corbyn-we-can-t-stop-brexit-a-1237594.html …
Labour's pro-Brexit leader Jeremy Corbyn loses more ground to Theresa May and the 'Don't Knows' in the latest YouGov opinion poll on who would make the best Prime Minister.
Labour's 'lost' leader John Smith died 24 years ago today.
At the time of his death, which came as a great shock, the Labour opposition enjoyed huge opinion poll leads over the Tories raging from 15% to 21% - a gulf which widened even further under Labour's new leader Tony Blair.
Yet the latest opinion polls with Jeremy Corbyn as leader have the Tories have the Tories ahead by five percentage points and Theresa May pulling further ahead, by fourteen points, in the 'Who would make the best Prime Minister stakes'.
It's a funny old world, as the former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson observes in this interview with Michale Settle in The Herald.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16217219.Labour__in_worst_position_since_the_early_1980s___says_former_Home_Secretary/
No, It's Not A Joke! (13/11/18)
Labour's pro-Brexit leader Jeremy Corbyn loses more ground to Theresa May and the 'Don't Knows' in the latest YouGov opinion poll on who would make the best Prime Minister.
The Corbyn Effect (12/05/18)
Labour's 'lost' leader John Smith died 24 years ago today.
At the time of his death, which came as a great shock, the Labour opposition enjoyed huge opinion poll leads over the Tories raging from 15% to 21% - a gulf which widened even further under Labour's new leader Tony Blair.
Yet the latest opinion polls with Jeremy Corbyn as leader have the Tories have the Tories ahead by five percentage points and Theresa May pulling further ahead, by fourteen points, in the 'Who would make the best Prime Minister stakes'.
It's a funny old world, as the former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson observes in this interview with Michale Settle in The Herald.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16217219.Labour__in_worst_position_since_the_early_1980s___says_former_Home_Secretary/
Labour 'in worst position since the early 1980s', says former Home Secretary
By MICHAEL SETTLE - The Herald
Back to 1980s? Johnson claims Corbyn's leadership will "all end in tears"
Labour is in its "worst position since the early 1980s" Alan Johnson, the former Home Secretary, has claimed, saying the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn would “all end in tears”.
His remarks came as a YouGov poll of more than 1,600 adults undertaken earlier this week put the Tories five points ahead of Labour with analysis showing support for the UK Opposition fell in almost half of the 50 most marginal constituencies where all councillors were up for election last week.
Speaking at a conference held at Brighton College, Mr Johnson - who also served as Education Secretary and was Shadow Chancellor under Ed Miliband’s leadership - also dismissed Labour's pledge to scrap tuition fees as "a crazy piece of populism".
Mr Johnson told delegates: "We are in a worse position than we were in the early 80s, when Militants tried to take over the party."
Militant was a Trotskyist group in control of Liverpool City Council during the 1980s and which dominated the Labour Party there.
"Ever since we were formed in 1900 by 27 trade unionists in London, ever since then people to our left and people who believed in revolutionary socialism, which the Labour Party never has - we believe in democratic socialism - have tried to come into the party," explained Mr Johnson.
"That's not saying that everyone who's come in since Jeremy won is a revolutionary socialist. But all the people who were chucked out when Militant was around are back in," he declared.
Mr Johnson went on to question the purpose of pro-Corbyn group Momentum, saying: "Why do we need a second organisation within an organisation, particularly when it is just a fan club for the leader?"
The former Hull MP said the Labour leader had a "particular niche" as a backbencher and argued that two factors had fuelled his successful bid for the leadership - a move by Mr Miliband to change the voting system and allow people to join the party for £3 and take part in the vote, and a decision by some senior Labour figures, such as Margaret Beckett, Sadiq Khan and Frank Field, to nominate Mr Corbyn to put him on the ballot paper, but not support his campaign.
Mr Johnson acknowledged that "there's something about some hope" that he has given young people, but added: "In the end, it will all end it tears for the party."
The former minister, who was part of the Labour government that introduced £3,000 tuition fees, also criticised Labour's pledge to scrap fees, arguing "it is a crazy policy".
He said: "The tuition fee system is the best way of ensuring there is a contribution from the students to higher education that is fair and equitable and that has helped to close the social gap.
"We have pledged to abolish it, which will cost £11 billion. It's a crazy piece of populism," he added.
Meanwhile, the poll for The Times put the Tories on 43 per cent, up one point on last week, Labour was unchanged at 38 per cent and the Liberal Democrats were up two points to nine per cent.
This is the fourth poll in a row showing a four to five-point lead for Theresa May’s Conservatives.
Possible contributing factors to the Tory lead include the anti-Semitism row within Labour and Mr Corbyn’s handing of the Russia attack in Salibsury.
The Prime Minister also extended her lead over the Labour leader from 10 points to 14 when voters were asked to choose the best prime minister.
Some 39 per cent chose Mrs May, up two points, while 25 per cent opted for Mr Corbyn, down two points.
Back to 1980s? Johnson claims Corbyn's leadership will "all end in tears"
Labour is in its "worst position since the early 1980s" Alan Johnson, the former Home Secretary, has claimed, saying the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn would “all end in tears”.
His remarks came as a YouGov poll of more than 1,600 adults undertaken earlier this week put the Tories five points ahead of Labour with analysis showing support for the UK Opposition fell in almost half of the 50 most marginal constituencies where all councillors were up for election last week.
Speaking at a conference held at Brighton College, Mr Johnson - who also served as Education Secretary and was Shadow Chancellor under Ed Miliband’s leadership - also dismissed Labour's pledge to scrap tuition fees as "a crazy piece of populism".
Mr Johnson told delegates: "We are in a worse position than we were in the early 80s, when Militants tried to take over the party."
Militant was a Trotskyist group in control of Liverpool City Council during the 1980s and which dominated the Labour Party there.
"Ever since we were formed in 1900 by 27 trade unionists in London, ever since then people to our left and people who believed in revolutionary socialism, which the Labour Party never has - we believe in democratic socialism - have tried to come into the party," explained Mr Johnson.
"That's not saying that everyone who's come in since Jeremy won is a revolutionary socialist. But all the people who were chucked out when Militant was around are back in," he declared.
Mr Johnson went on to question the purpose of pro-Corbyn group Momentum, saying: "Why do we need a second organisation within an organisation, particularly when it is just a fan club for the leader?"
The former Hull MP said the Labour leader had a "particular niche" as a backbencher and argued that two factors had fuelled his successful bid for the leadership - a move by Mr Miliband to change the voting system and allow people to join the party for £3 and take part in the vote, and a decision by some senior Labour figures, such as Margaret Beckett, Sadiq Khan and Frank Field, to nominate Mr Corbyn to put him on the ballot paper, but not support his campaign.
Mr Johnson acknowledged that "there's something about some hope" that he has given young people, but added: "In the end, it will all end it tears for the party."
The former minister, who was part of the Labour government that introduced £3,000 tuition fees, also criticised Labour's pledge to scrap fees, arguing "it is a crazy policy".
He said: "The tuition fee system is the best way of ensuring there is a contribution from the students to higher education that is fair and equitable and that has helped to close the social gap.
"We have pledged to abolish it, which will cost £11 billion. It's a crazy piece of populism," he added.
Meanwhile, the poll for The Times put the Tories on 43 per cent, up one point on last week, Labour was unchanged at 38 per cent and the Liberal Democrats were up two points to nine per cent.
This is the fourth poll in a row showing a four to five-point lead for Theresa May’s Conservatives.
Possible contributing factors to the Tory lead include the anti-Semitism row within Labour and Mr Corbyn’s handing of the Russia attack in Salibsury.
The Prime Minister also extended her lead over the Labour leader from 10 points to 14 when voters were asked to choose the best prime minister.
Some 39 per cent chose Mrs May, up two points, while 25 per cent opted for Mr Corbyn, down two points.
The Corbyn Effect (07/05/18)
While the Corbyn faithful keep repeating their mantra of 'just one more heave' - I think The Times cartoonist Peter Brookes has a more accurate analysis of Thursday's local election results in England in which Labour failed to capture any of its target seats.
Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn predicted huge gains in yesterday's local council elections in England, but ended up losing even Barnet Council in London (a key target) where the Conservatives gained overall control.
Maybe it's time that diehard Corbyn supporters woke up to the fact that Jeremy is part of the problem - rather than part of the the solution.
The latest YouGov poll confirms that the Labour leader is in third place for 'Best Time Minister' behind the Don't Knows.
The Corbyn Effect (05/05/18)
Maybe it's time that diehard Corbyn supporters woke up to the fact that Jeremy is part of the problem - rather than part of the the solution.
The latest YouGov poll confirms that the Labour leader is in third place for 'Best Time Minister' behind the Don't Knows.
Corbyn's Out of Step on Brexit (12/11/18)
Blair McDougall on Twitter mocks Jeremy Corbyn's claim that 'Brexit can't be stopped' and that it's time for everyone to 'move on'.
What a plonker Corbyn is - not least because his own personal views on Brexit are complete at odds with the official policy of the Labour Party and with the views of the great majority of Labour Party members.
@blairmcdougall
A thought experiment.
“We can’t stop the poll tax because parliament voted for it.”
“Those arguing that Labour should oppose the poll tax need to understand how smug they sound.”
“Listen, I voted against the poll tax but now we’ve got to move on and make the poll tax work.”
Worst Labour Leader Ever (11/11/18)
Jeremy Corbyn showed his true colours over Brexit with the following comment to Germany's Der Spiegel magazine:
"We can't stop it. The referendum took place. Article 50 has been triggered. What we can do is recognise the reasons why people voted Leave."
Now the day after the great EU referendum the Labour leader called for Article 50 to be triggered even though wiser heads (even Tory heads) counselled, at the time, that there was absolutely no need to rush headlong into difficult Brexit negotiations.
So it has proved and Jezza is quite wrong to say that Brexit can't be stopped or that Article 50 can't be revoked.
What a complete fool the man is the worst ever Labour leader.
Brexit - Then and Now (10/11/18)
Jo Johnson explains his reason for resigning as Minister for Transport and Minister for London over Brexit:
"What is now being proposed won’t be anything like what was promised two years ago."
We need a democratic People's Vote on the final terms of the government's Brexit Deal or No Deal - the issue is far too important to be left to a vote in the House of Commons.
People's Vote on Brexit (07/11/18)
Support for Brexit if shrinking right across the country - a democratic People's Vote is the only way to decide if the Government's Final Deal should be accepted.
Where's Jeremy Corbyn? (06/11/18)
Hugo Rifkind doesn't pull his punches with this hard-hitting column in The Times which lays into one of the main Brexit backers, Aaron Banks, who is now under investigation by the National Crime Agency.
Jeremy Corbyn likes to think of himself as a democrat, yet the Labour leader could be bothered to get his arse along to yesterday's People's Vote march in London.
Even though the great majority of Labour Party members support the call for a People's Vote on the final terms of Brexit.
What a plonker!
A good question from one of the Peoples' Vote marchers as Jeremy Corbyn is posted missing even though the vast majority of Labour members support a vote on the final terms of Brexit.
Banks now say that he regrets voting for Brexit and all the opinion polling evidence now suggests that a majority of the public support a People's Vote on the final terms of any Brexit deal - or No deal.
So where is Jeremy Corbyn when you need him?
Because instead of giving voice to the majority of Labour members who support the EU's Single Market and its Customs Union, the party leader has nothing of real substance to to say.
Arron Banks’s mission is political vandalism
By hugo rifkind - The Times
Whatever the truth about the Brexit backer’s finances, his interventions have sowed xenophobia and division
Arron Banks, a man who claims to have spent £8 million of his own money bringing about Brexit, now says he regrets voting for it because the process has “unleashed demons”. He is right. Those demons include viciousness, divisiveness and xenophobia for political ends. They also include smug stupidity. You will find variants of all these demons, true, across the political spectrum, but there is one man who is the ultimate avatar of them all, and that man is Arron Banks. Perhaps he regrets unleashing himself.
Read the full article via the link below to The Times.
Where's Jeremy Corbyn? (21/10/18)
Jeremy Corbyn likes to think of himself as a democrat, yet the Labour leader could be bothered to get his arse along to yesterday's People's Vote march in London.
Even though the great majority of Labour Party members support the call for a People's Vote on the final terms of Brexit.
What a plonker!
Where's Jeremy Corbyn? (24/06/18)
A good question from one of the Peoples' Vote marchers as Jeremy Corbyn is posted missing even though the vast majority of Labour members support a vote on the final terms of Brexit.
