Rupa Huq's Blog

As the Daily Mail (in house Tory rag) has pointed out 23/29 of the current cabinet (Lib Dems et al) are millionaires. Is this why they think that child benefit cuts don’t matter? Even Thatcher didn’t tinker with the universal principle behind this key plank of the welfare state. If at all anything were to have been changed perhaps a reduction could have applied to the very top rate taxpayers – maybe those in the Jonathan Ross bracket of earnings won’t notice £20 a week for the first kid and £13 for the siblings – but the £44,000 rate it cuts in at (it could be the dad earning that much with a stay-at-home mum partner or a single parent) is no longer super-rich, not in London at any rate. As the thisismoney blog puts it:
“There will be situations with families on just under £88,000 being able to claim it (two basic rate taxpayers), but another with only one partner earning £45,000 having it removed.”

The same blog points out that the reversal shows how the party blatantly lied before the election. When asked they said that child benefit would be safe under them. Today’s news bulletins have been replaying clips of Osborne promising to preserve it at the last Conservative conference (transcript here). Just like they lied about VAT. It’s pathetic of them to make the excuse that they inherited a worse than expected mess from Labour – all post-election indicators have shown the reverse.

It makes a mockery of their claim to be the most family friendly government ever. If they are looking for savings I hope they chop their ridiculous plan to reward marriage (cost = £1billion, the saving that the child benefit cut will net) although given their attacks on Ed Miliband’s marital status perhaps not. As it still has a couple of years to take effect, this could be for the coalition what the 10p band debacle was for Gordon Brown.

The whole thing reminds me of this Super Furry Animals track (youtube) – the main refrain is “You know they don’t give a f*** about anybody else”, full lyrics transcribed here.

Wasn’t sure how to title this post: “Congratulations to Ed Miliband”, “Introducing Labour’s new Leader” (NB words in that order with no variation) or even “All hail the chief” but in the end the announcement of Ed Miliband as new Labour leader is great news for the party and country. This means that we can move on from the stagnation of four-and-a-half months (feels like nearly 5 years) of leaderlessness and get on with the business of opposition. Now that the LibDums have slung their lot in with the Tories, Labour are this county’s only major opposition party. Omens are good: we are drawing level with the Conservatives in the polls despite only having an acting leader, the by-elections of actual votes cast in council by-elections are swinging our way and we are winning numerous new councillors from defected LibDems as the last post on this blog showed.

It may have been a close nailbiter of an affair but the selection was won fair and square. Ed needs to get on with the job of opposing and focus on the election to make sure that we don’t face another repeat of history. It is incumbent on all Labour members to unite behind the leadership and ensure this next period does not turn into another wilderness years for Labour, like 1979 – 1997 when I first came into political consciousness. Ed Miliband has shone with his thoughtful and powerful speeches to many a Labour gathering over the years (Fabians/ Progress/ Compass etc). He now needs to take his message to the country. Just a thought though. Like Hestletine v Major, Hilary Clinton v Obama heck David Cameron v David Davis: we have here another case of succession based on seniority (favouring the valiant David) being overturned by the youthful challenger. As Ed M said himself on tv this morning it’s more about the future business and a new generation rather than the sterility of debates on the legacy of New Labour. It may be a bumpy ride but as the scale of the Tory cuts unfold, the fightback/ path to power starts here.

Labourlist has an interview with Councillor Sharron Brooks, the LibDem who was in such a spin following the ConDem colation that she wrote to constituents to ask what she should do. Her much remarked on leaflet had a range of options: 50-50, phone-a-friend etc. Well the results are in and the winning answer is (cue fanfare) she’s become Labour’s newest councillor (in Barnsley) joining a clutch of by-election victors in the south (Norwich and Exeter). As LL says:

Significantly… this is more than a simple defection, no matter how principled many of those are. By consulting with her constituents, Sharron Brook has gained a mandate for her move.

..unlike her unprincipled former leader who hitched up with the Tories without asking anyone as soon as the prospect of six figure salaries and getting their bums on the back of the government’s fleet of Priuses beckoned for the LibDems.

Political Scrapbook points out that in Barnsley Council’s 38 year history its the lowest point for the LibDems as their only member has crossed the floor. A warm welcome to Councillor Brook, a shame she has missed out in voting in the Labour leadership contest (now underway) by just a matter of days.

Love him or hate him, Tony Blair was always a consumate performer, a first rate showman in British politics. Whether it was mounting a pushbike in Amsterdam, doing headers with Kevin Keegan or asking Lauren “Am I bovvered?” he had a fluent and easy manner with what he described in the latter period of his premiership “the feral media”. Throughout the current Labour leadership contest I had been wondering if any of the 5 contenders could do that studied spotaneity in the same way and now I stumble across this on the web:

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Ed Balls pounding the skins! Bravo that man, who I have to say has impressed far beyond how I thought he’d come over in both hustings I’ve attended. On Tuesday he talked with genuine affection about how he’d look after the kids in the early years when his wife Yvette Cooper began in politics (she was an MP nine years before him). Let’s hope that EdB can break out of perceptions of him as his master’s voice vis-vis-vis the last PM and play a top role in the next Labour government – but not quite as top as DM who’s my first choice.

UPDATE: On this final point, I’m in good company here; the breadth of Miliband Senior’s support has been highlighted here before in his endoserment by Gillian Duffy but now one time hard-left headbanger Dennis Skinner has also come out for him.

Seeing as Tony Blair’s London booklaunches were cancelled, I went to my second and I expect last Labour leadership hustings meeting last night with the Fabian sisterhood. It was a women only meeting so questions were oriented accordingly

Highlights/ Memorable utterarnces:

- Ed Miliband pointing out that at the last election, despite a number of women in the shadow cabinet, the most prominent one of the entire campaign was Sarah Brown
- Diane Abbott answering “we haven’t got all night” in answer to the question to provide an example of Labour’s macho behaviour
- Andy Burnham replyling “I’m worried there might be two sets of expenses” to the question on whether MPs should operate by jobshare
- Ed Balls’ answer “but I’m going to be leader” when the same question was paraphrased to him by chair Mary Riddell asking if he’d jobshare the shadow chancellor role with Yvette
- David Miliband declaring in answer to a question on the Big Society “We’re socialists not statists. We have become technocrats and managers rather than value-led politicians”… a state of affairs he clearly wants to reverse.
- David Miliband declaring that he has set aside a third of the mega-bucks he has raised from his campaign coffers for a fighting fund for the next general election – whoever wins – to level the playing field all round

Since the Tribune/Howard Society hustings earlier on on in the campaign, no real clanger has been dropped/ relevation has been made in this protracted campaign but having recieved 2 sets of ballot papers (my union one not yet turned up?) I am voting for David Miliband. I believe he is quite simply the most prime ministerial of the line up on offer. His apperance early on in the campaign on “This Week” when being grilled by Andrew Neil on the US’ role in torture tactics was calm and assured, unlike some of the others who did the same slot and came over as flustered. The statements quoted above made last night were also reassuring for me. He has also shown “new politics” in action by co-opting London Citizens to run his campaign amongst community organiser principles from the grassroots up rather than via a command-control model. He has adopted a good line on the Blairite v Brown-ite question too: “Tony Blair is not on the ballot paper, Gordon Brown is not on the ballot paper. For the avoidance of doubt, Michael Foot is not on the ballot paper.” He said this at the recent Channel 4 hustings debate and on a smiliar Sky News programme too to great effect. It is time instead to move forward.

It’s said in internal Labour selections that people are more likely to vote for candidates who have visited them to solicit their votes, well David Miliband is also the only only candidate to have been round for tea chez moi, pictured on his site and latest leaflet. Ballots must be in by 22nd September so get yours in pronto if you have one (or more) and do the right thing.

As Guido Fawkes points out, making a Florence aqnd the Machine gag along the way, the cutsey pics of the newest Downing Street resident are bound to fill the front pages tomorrow, jostling for space amongst the ads for free “Speak Esperanto” CD roms etc – aaaahhh. However here’s one that captures the political moment best that you won’t be choking over your cornflakes to.

Hat-tip: lifted from the increasingly indispensible Political Scrapbook.

No not a post about the so-called Ultimate Big Brother (no George Galloway and not a Jackson family member in sight… pah!) but instead a link to Channel 4′s Labour leadership debate where all 5 candidates locked horns with John Snow on Tuesday. If you were one of the 1.8 million glued to BBC2 where Tony Blair was facing Andrew Marr in an extended extended plug/ self-justification/ mea cupla for his memoirs, watch it via Labourlist here.

Is it just me or is there a very subtle plug for the Blair book right at the very end? After the credits a Lloyds TSB ad flashes up. Their current slogan is For the Journey.

Its day three and the rumour circulated by Left Futures blog in a tawdry piece that got the constituency of Charles Kennedy as well as his planned defection to Labour wrong is still on the tv news bulletins. So such so that I went to BBC Breakfast this morning to comment on it at their invitation.

The story being on a blog gives more credence and even “legs” to what in former times would have been a bit of Westminster gossip amongst those in the know. In this way blogs have had a democratising role: empowering people who would not formerly have been able to enter the elite of the commentariat to contribute to political debate. along with 24 hour news tv reaction is accelerated, but there are quality control issues. Velocity does however mean veracity.

As for Kennedy the ideological reason he joined the SDP all those years ago – ie Labour’s leftward drift – no longer applies, so even though the whips/ Lib Dem will have beaten any Labour inklings out of him by now he should sign up. This is the party of Keynes, Beveridge and Simon Hughes for Chrissake! Councillors elected as Lib Dems have already defected to Labour in Hull, Exeter and Southwark and Councillor Sharron Brook in Barnsley even put out a missive to all constituents clearly showing that she has been weighing it up seeing as the party have been so betrayed and sold out by the leadership.

Interesting choice of words by LibDem co-interviewee Mark Pack that “Trident is up in the air”. Ooops. Let’s hope not, for the sake of the planet.

Interesting post here from my fellow defeated Walpole candidate Wiktor Moszczynski who is underwhelmed by all the current Labour leadership candidates. Read on here. He also reveals himself as the chap who rumbled Diane Abbot as a private school parent (sort of).

Hopi Sen also has been doing a series of “the case against” the lot of ‘em over at Labourlist here.

Conventional thinking seems to be that it’s down to Miliband vs Miliband. There are two scenarios hereafter:
1. The cuts prove so unpopular the unravelled coalition limps into the next election which is there for the taking for anyone who becomes Labour leader
2. The honeymooon continues for Dave n Nick who fix the system so they romp home, whoever wins the Labour leadership becomes Labour’s William Hague (loved by activists, spurned by voters, young enough to make a comeback)

Obviously I’d like to see the former happen but opinion polls seem to suggest that the coalition is the most popular political force out there for now as does the delayed Thirsk constituency election result (after the Condem plan was revealed) where the two got three quarters of the vote between them.

It is early days though. If a week is a long time in politics five years is an eternity. Let’s hope the new leader of the Labour party can, to use a cliche, hit the ground running quickly on election (a process which also feels like an eternity) so the work of opposing can begin properly. Unlike NUS elections in my day there is no option to vote for RON (re-open nominations).

Can’t think of a suitable picture so here is Wiktor being filmed for Polish tv. Shame he can’t run for the leadership.

It’s all off (again) according to the Huffington Post. More here.