Assessing the mood amongst Labour pragmatists

Assessing the mood amongst Labour pragmatists

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Ex-MP Nick Palmer on a non-Corbynite Labour focus group For friendship and nostalgia, I had a dinner last week with 14 veteran campaigners who have mostly been with me in every campaign since 1997. Coincidentally or not, I think I was the only one at the table who had voted for Jeremy Corbyn. The others are pragmatic Labour campaigners who fight every election to win, and turned a safe Tory seat in 1992 (16% margin) into a perpetual marginal. They’d voted…

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This morning’s Brussels attacks are a terrible tragedy not something on which to make a political point

This morning’s Brussels attacks are a terrible tragedy not something on which to make a political point

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How a Telegraph columnist responded to the Brussels attacks. pic.twitter.com/akuhYcObTu — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) March 22, 2016 Clearly the news today has been totally dominated by the attacks in Brussels but, like many, I was somewhat aghast by the above Tweet by a Telegraph columnist. This happened only hours ago and we still don’t know how many died or were injured. To try to argue that this is for or against BREXIT is simply beside the point. How would we…

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Alastair Meeks: How the Eurosceptics are destroying the Conservative party

Alastair Meeks: How the Eurosceptics are destroying the Conservative party

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Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  By that definition, the Eurosceptic right of the Conservative party is insane. It’s not as if we haven’t been here before.  In the mid-1990s, a cell of dissident Conservative MPs contrived to make government with a small majority a living hell for their nominal party superiors, challenging the government on a succession of grievances (real and imagined) relating to Britain’s membership of the EU.  By the…

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Today should have been a day for Jeremy Corbyn to shine and embarrass Cameron and the Government. He failed

Today should have been a day for Jeremy Corbyn to shine and embarrass Cameron and the Government. He failed

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Today is a further example of why the Tories think they have 2020 election won. Corbyn simply isn’t up to the job of Leader of the Opposition. Did Corbyn really not mention IDS, or any of his attacks on Osborne? Did I miss that bit? Should have read out the Marr Show transcript — Jack Blanchard (@Jack_Blanchard_) March 21, 2016 Labour MP: “It takes a particularly special kind of genius to fuck up today. But Jeremy obliged” – Via @georgeeaton…

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It now feels when in 2016 not if Osborne departs as Chancellor

It now feels when in 2016 not if Osborne departs as Chancellor

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Ladbrokes: 25/1 for George Osborne to be replaced as Chancellor before end of March.https://t.co/hODGfvMiVk pic.twitter.com/BHJ3MDqLon — Ladbrokes Politics (@LadPolitics) March 21, 2016 After No10 says the PM "absolutely" has 'full confidence' in George Osborne…a reminder https://t.co/uxmsFMS9ak — Paul Waugh MP (@paulwaugh) March 21, 2016 People in whom David Cameron has had "full confidence": Andy Coulson; Maria Miller; Chris Huhne; Liam Fox; Grant Shapps…. ht @hrtbps — Simon Usborne (@susborne) March 16, 2015 Osborne given vote of confidence by PM.Here are…

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Why Labour has its concerns about the Tory turmoil

Why Labour has its concerns about the Tory turmoil

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Donald Brind says a big REMAIN victory remains the objective They do things different in Battersea. The local Labour party invited along the Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn for a fundraising fish and chip supper to launch the formal start of the London election campaign. Then they promptly turned the lights out. The environmentally savvy Battersea Labourites were taking part in Earth Hour a an international initiative that encourages “individuals, communities households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for…

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Corbynus interruptus would destroy Tory hubris about 2020 immediately

Corbynus interruptus would destroy Tory hubris about 2020 immediately

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John Major had bastards to deal with, David Cameron has twats to deal with.https://t.co/3JYbc2BUOc pic.twitter.com/71fMrLxHRV — TSE (@TSEofPB) March 20, 2016 IDS says welfare cuts when middle class tax is being cut is "deeply unfair and was seen to be unfair" — Tim Shipman (@ShippersUnbound) March 20, 2016 That was electrifying stuff. IDS has basically said, with real passion, that the government is not doing enough to help the poor. — Tim Shipman (@ShippersUnbound) March 20, 2016 Just look at…

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The Tories are very lucky the Lib Dems didn’t accept George Osborne’s coupon deal

The Tories are very lucky the Lib Dems didn’t accept George Osborne’s coupon deal

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Embed from Getty Images British politics today might have been very different if the Lib Dems had accepted Osborne’s deal The Mail on Sunday are serialising the memoirs of David Laws, the former Liberal Democrat cabinet minister, in it he reveals that The Tories secretly tried to form a 2015 Election pact with the Lib Dems to keep the Coalition going, according to David Laws. He says George Osborne proposed a so-called ‘coupon election’ deal with the Lib Dems, whereby…

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