Labour party

Nick Cohen and Fraser Nelson discuss The Spectator’s decision to back Brexit: We British flatter ourselves that common sense is a national personality trait. Giddy Europeans may follow the abstract notions of dangerous leaders, but we could not be more different. We are a practical, moderate breed — if we do say so ourselves — who act according to the evidence, not fantastical theories. Let me see how this dear delusion is bearing up. It feels as if the Leave campaign will win the EU referendum. But even if Leave loses, it seems certain that it will perform so well as to produce an existential crisis in both our main

Tom Watson’s comments today that a future government would have to try to reform freedom of movement rules in the European Union are clearly a last-ditch attempt to show the party’s voters that it is taking their anger about immigration seriously. But they are also strange, for three reasons. The first is that it is strange to be talking about a future renegotiation when the Remain campaign does still occasionally try to persuade voters that they are voting to stay in a reformed European Union. By talking about what more needs to be done, Watson is effectively dumping all over the renegotiation that David Cameron has already carried out, saying that

Gordon Brown’s intervention in the EU referendum debate was meant to be all about putting forward the positive case for voting ‘Remain’. But not for the first time, the former Prime Minister appears to have fallen flat on his face over immigration. It wasn’t quite as bad as Brown’s Gillian Duffy moment in that he didn’t call anyone ‘bigoted’ for holding a view on migration. Instead, though, the message to those worried about migration was…you’re worrying about the wrong thing. Brown told John Humphrys on Today that: ‘The biggest problem is illegal immigration.’ So the essence of Brown’s message was not to speak to the many Labour voters who genuinely

Just in case last night’s Boris-bashing in the ITV debate wasn’t enough, Labour have decided to take another jab at the leading Brexiteer today at its ‘Tory Brexit Budget’ press conference. The room was filled with Remain activists wearing BoJo masks. A number then made their way to the Red Lion in Westminster where they posed with pints and St George flags. Steerpike suspects that the stunt will backfire — given that Euro 2016 means the nation are about to go to their local watering hole and do exactly this. Still, Mr S welcomes your caption suggestions for the latest Boris attack. The winner will be revealed on Monday.

After Ken Livingstone claimed that Hitler supported Zionism, he found himself suspended from the Labour and his media presence dwindle — as he was let go from his weekly LBC show. Happily, the former Mayor of London has found a publication that still wants him. Step forward the Morning Star. Yes, the socialist paper has decided that Livingstone — who recently said ‘a real anti-Semite doesn’t just hate the Jews in Israel’ — has all the makings of a star columnist. In his first column, on the Queen’s Speech, Red Ken makes sure to thank the publication for its faith in him: ‘First, I would like to thank the Morning Star

After the recent local elections, John McDonnell put Labour’s ‘better-than-expected’ results in part down to the efforts of Momentum activists. Alas, it seems that not everyone involved with the hard-left campaign group is so in chime with the party when it comes to Labour values. Mr S understands that Momentum’s Marlene Ellis has been suspended by the party over an open letter to Corbyn from the Momentum Black ConneXions group. Ellis — who previously made the news after she was accused of labelling Chuka Umunna as not ‘politically black‘ — co-signed the blog post which calls on Corbyn to reverse the ‘unjustified suspension of Ken Livingstone’ after the former mayor was suspended over his

Given that Jeremy Corbyn described the BBC as ‘obsessed with trying to damage the Labour leadership’ in yesterday’s VICE News documentary, it’s little surprise that his supporters hold a low opinion of the Beeb. Today at Corbyn’s EU press conference, his fanbase let their feelings known when BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg tried to ask a question. When her her name was announced, supporters hissed at her, before she asked a question: ‘For Labour voters, what do you think is more important? Defending workers’ rights or immigration and the impact on communities in this country?’ While Corbyn went on to tell his supporters not to do so, it was a

Labour voters will prove crucial in determining the outcome of the EU referendum, which makes the party’s near silence on the issue all the more surprising. Whilst the Labour leadership maintain their reticence, however, the TUC has stepped in with a report out today. In it, the TUC warns that Brexit would cut pay by an average of £38 a week by 2030. Brexit will also send Britain into a ‘steep decline’, Frances O’Grady, the TUC’s General Secretary says. Given that the maths behind this hasn’t been published yet, it’s difficult to know how the figures were compiled. It’s also probably good to be sceptical of such an exact calculation

Danny Dorling is one of the warmest and most intelligent left wing intellectuals of our day; an egalitarian, who proposes radical and practical solutions. He is a worthy target, in other words. Oxford University’s professor of Geography has also produced  an essay entitled: ‘Why Corbyn’s moral clarity could propel him to Number 10.’ It is the most cowardly exposition of the left’s great illusion that I have read. More to the point, virtually every supporter of the new Labour leadership will believe it. He makes two claims: Corbyn and the far left are moral; and they can win power. Allow me to take them in reverse order. The assertion that

Oh dear. Spare a thought for whichever bright spark at Labour HQ is responsible for today’s email on the EU referendum. The message — which has been sent out to party supporters — asks voters to help Labour campaign to remain in the EU. To do this, they are keen to take the personal approach — inviting readers to share the reasons they will be voting In. The email also urges recipients to donate money. Alas, a technical glitch means that the email has struck the wrong chord with would-be supporters. Instead of individually addressing each email to the recipient by name, all the emails begin with ‘Dear Firstname’: A second email has

In the General Election, a number of Labour supporters defected to Ukip over growing concerns that the party was no longer able to address the issue of immigration. Given that uncontrolled immigration is a big issue in the EU referendum debate, Labour’s Remain-ers need to win back trust here. Alas, Pat Glass appears to have done the In camp no favours today while out on the campaign trail. The Shadow Europe Minister described a voter she met on the campaign trail in Sawley, Derbyshire, as a ‘horrible racist’ after they described a Polish family in the area as ‘scroungers’. Speaking to BBC Radio Derby, Glass said: ‘The very first person I come to was

The speeches in the Commons which follow the Queen’s Speech blend together humour with some serious points. They are the Commons as its most clubbable, with lots of in jokes and the like. So, there was a fair amount of chatter about how Jeremy Corbyn – who is not the clubbable sort – would deal with the occasion. At first, the answer was surprisingly well. He was funny, and generous, about the proposer, Caroline Spelman, and the second, Philip Lee. The House was laughing with him, and even Cameron couldn’t help but chuckle at some rather good jokes including those at his own party’s expense. But then Corbyn turned serious,