Continuity Corbyn
The Guardian reports that Richard Burgon (a devoted Corby fan) is throwing his hat in the ring to become Labour's deputy leader.
I doubt he'll be successful, but I think it's fair to say that a Long-Bailey/Burgon 'dream ticket' would be another early Christmas present for Boris Johnson and Co.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/dec/31/labour-leadership-corbyn-provokes-anger-from-labour-critics-with-new-years-message-glossing-over-impact-of-election-defeat-live-news
Labour leadership: Richard Burgon confirms he's standing for deputy leader - as it happened
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
Richard Burgon to stand for Labour deputy leadership
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Burgon Strikes Again (25/10/19)
I sometimes get teased for being thick because I spurned university to join up and serve when I was 19. Then I see what a Cambridge degree and career in politics does for this guy and so many others of my colleagues, and think I got it about right.
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Richard Burgon is a devoted (some would say deluded) 'Corbynista' - and it shows in this hilarious clip with Kay Burley from Sky News.
Richard Burgon is a devoted (some would say deluded) 'Corbynista' - and it shows in this hilarious clip with Kay Burley from Sky News.
Corbyn's Cronies (10/05/19)
I think this speaks for itself really. Something is very wrong with our public sphere. twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/s…
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Jeremy Corbyn's shadow justice secretary is not the brightest button in the box, but here Richard Burgon gets well and truly skewered by the BBC's Emma Barnett over his claim that Zionism is "the enemy of peace".
WATCH: Richard Burgon insists he 'did not lie' over Zionism comments
By Kevin Schofield - Politics Home
A senior Labour frontbencher has insisted he did not lie when he wrongly claimed not to have described Zionism as "the enemy of the peace".
Richard Burgon is the Shadow Justice Secretary.
Credit: PA Images
Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon was plunged into a row last month when footage emerged of him using the phrase during a speech in 2014.
Asked by journalist Andrew Neil two years later whether he had done so, Mr Burgon denied it and insisted those were not his views.
Richard Burgon expresses ‘regret’ at branding Zionism ‘the enemy of peace’ following backlash
WATCH: Richard Burgon accused of 'misleading public' over Zionism 'the enemy of peace' claim
But in April, video footage emerged of the MP delivering a speech in 2014 - a year before he became MP for Leeds East - in which he said: "The enemy of the Palestinian people are Zionists and Zionism is the enemy of peace and the enemy of the Palestinian people."
Mr Burgon also said: “I make no apologies – and I am proud to say not only wouldn’t I be a member of Labour Friends of Israel, I’ve never been a member of Labour Friends Of Israel.”
Asked about the row on the BBC's Newsnight programme, Mr Burgon said: "I certainly didn't lie. I was first asked by a newspaper in 2016 whether I had made such a declaration. I asked them when I was meant to have said it and where, they couldn't tell me.
"Fast forward two years later to 2018 and your colleague, Andrew Neil, asked me if I'd made that comment in a meeting in 2016. And then a year after that, a video came to light - not of 2016 but actually from 2014, five years ago before I was even a Member of Parliament."
Asked again why he had lied, Mr Burgon said: "I've just explained, I didn't lie."
Credit: PA Images
Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon was plunged into a row last month when footage emerged of him using the phrase during a speech in 2014.
Asked by journalist Andrew Neil two years later whether he had done so, Mr Burgon denied it and insisted those were not his views.
Richard Burgon expresses ‘regret’ at branding Zionism ‘the enemy of peace’ following backlash
WATCH: Richard Burgon accused of 'misleading public' over Zionism 'the enemy of peace' claim
But in April, video footage emerged of the MP delivering a speech in 2014 - a year before he became MP for Leeds East - in which he said: "The enemy of the Palestinian people are Zionists and Zionism is the enemy of peace and the enemy of the Palestinian people."
Mr Burgon also said: “I make no apologies – and I am proud to say not only wouldn’t I be a member of Labour Friends of Israel, I’ve never been a member of Labour Friends Of Israel.”
Asked about the row on the BBC's Newsnight programme, Mr Burgon said: "I certainly didn't lie. I was first asked by a newspaper in 2016 whether I had made such a declaration. I asked them when I was meant to have said it and where, they couldn't tell me.
"Fast forward two years later to 2018 and your colleague, Andrew Neil, asked me if I'd made that comment in a meeting in 2016. And then a year after that, a video came to light - not of 2016 but actually from 2014, five years ago before I was even a Member of Parliament."
Asked again why he had lied, Mr Burgon said: "I've just explained, I didn't lie."
“Those are not my views… I didn’t lie” – Richard Burgon, shadow justice secretary, when asked about his previous remarks on Zionism being the "enemy of the peace"@RichardBurgon | #newsnight
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At the time of the row, Mike Katz, chairman of the Jewish Labour Movement, said: "You cannot play at being a Lord Chancellor-in-waiting while making dog-whistle attacks on British Jews and their right, through Zionism, for national self-determination."
Amid calls for Jeremy Corbyn to sack him from Labour's front bench, Mr Burgon said he "regretted" the words he had used in the 2014 speech.
“As I have subsequently said on numerous occasions when asked about this, I do not agree with that phrase,” he said.
“I recognise that such a phrase fails to distinguish between those seeking a peaceful solution in line with international law, and those, such as the current Israeli government, which is undermining efforts towards peace.
“The terminology has different meanings to different people and the simplistic language used does not reflect how I now think about this complex issue and I would not use it again today."
Amid calls for Jeremy Corbyn to sack him from Labour's front bench, Mr Burgon said he "regretted" the words he had used in the 2014 speech.
“As I have subsequently said on numerous occasions when asked about this, I do not agree with that phrase,” he said.
“I recognise that such a phrase fails to distinguish between those seeking a peaceful solution in line with international law, and those, such as the current Israeli government, which is undermining efforts towards peace.
“The terminology has different meanings to different people and the simplistic language used does not reflect how I now think about this complex issue and I would not use it again today."
Early Christmas Presents (31/12/19)
Private Eye, the UK's best and only fortnightly satirical magazine, on the consequences of agreeing to a general election without ensuring that the voters had the final say over Brexit in a second, confirmatory referendum.
Boris Johnson's Elephant Trap (13/12/19)
Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP gave Boris Johnson an early Christmas present by agreeing to his call for an early general election without insisting on a democratic People's Vote over the final terms of Brexit.
The 'prize' for the SNP is a clean sweep of all seven Glasgow seats and a landslide victory across the rest of Scotland - courtesy of a discredited, unrepresentative First Past The Post (FPTP) electoral system.
But if you ask me, all of the opposition parties should be throughly ashamed of themselves for walking straight into Boris Johnson's FPTP elephant trap.
On Your Marks. Get Set. Go! (12/12/19)
Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP all agreed to an early general election which always seems like a terribly high risk strategy to me.
Not least because the much smarter move was for the opposition parties to refuse to budge without securing the right of voters to have the final say on Brexit - by holding a democratic People's Vote between Remain and Boris Johnson's deal.
The Times cartoonist, Peter Brookes, captured the pre-election mood rather well, I thought, but we will know how things turn out later today.
Santa's Little Helper 1 ((31/12/19)
As 2019 draws to a close Labour has some serious thinking to do over its woeful performance in the general election, but as ever Peter Brookes hit the nail on the head with this cartoon in The Times.
The Uncomfortable Truth (19/12/19)
To those saying that Corbyn was not the problem an opinion poll finding just broadcast on BBC2
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The uncomfortable truth for Labour is that far too many voters regarded Jeremy Corbyn as useless and unfit for high office which is not that surprising since he was a mediocre backbench MP between 1983 and 2015 - before being elected, against all odds, as party leader.
In 2020, we are told that Jeremy (aged 70) will retire to the backbenches again where he can continue to draw a handsome salary until the next general election (probably in 2024) by which time he will have been an MP for 41 years.
Remarkable.
So why didn’t you vote Labour?
Remainers - “Corbyn”
Leavers - “Corbyn”
Swing voters - “Corbyn”
Traditional Labour voters - “Corbyn”
Men - “Corbyn”
Women - “Corbyn”
AB,C1,C2,DE,ABC1,C2DE - “Corbyn”
Corbynites- “I GUESS WE’LL NEVER TRULY KNOW WHY THEY DIDNT”#CorbynWasRight
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