[The Weeping Angel]

Here's a review from the Jewish Chronicle

https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/ ... W3N52d0vxR

Wow, I’ve really taken a bullet for you lot. Before going to print I managed to watch two episodes of Al Jazeera Investigates: The Labour Files, and heroically making it through the desperate narrative from the propaganda wing of a slave state was a tortuous few hours I’m never going to get back.

Mind you, I’m never going to get back the many hours and days I’ve spend fighting antisemitism these last few years, predominantly from Corbynites, and whilst that means I can’t pretend to have any level of impartiality in this matter, it also meant I was actually a bit apprehensive going in.

What if there was some hidden gun? What if they’d uncovered new information that proved that myself and our community had been hoodwinked, that as the antisemitic hashtag proclaims of the hate unleashed under Corbyn’s Labour, #itwasascam?

I’m relieved to report that trepidation quickly turned to boredom, turned to amusement, turned to incredulity, then turned back to boredom.

If this is the best they could come up with after the largest leak of documents in Labour’s history, every second spent keeping Corbyn and his ilk away from power was worth it.

[Youngian]

So much in that review which is spot on. They also made internal party meetings sound boring toxic and petty. Due to their presence.

The rest of the time is spent with a bunch of talking-head cranks whose sole purpose seems to be convincing the audience that local politics is the most boring, toxic, petty arena of public life.

The most anti-democratic aspect of this is that it is sure to put people off wanting to enter local politics for fear of having to spend time with people like that.

[mattomac]

Local politics before 2015 always seemed dull but friendly.

The only branch meeting where it got heated was one where some bloke who knew Dylan Thomas came along to slag the council off for spending so much on an “idle drunk”.

[Arrowhead]

This guy may as well walk about wearing a "VOTE TORY" t-shirt 24/7:

Also approvingly retweeted Lutfur Rahman the other day. Presumably Rahman's re-election in May was a "victory for true socialism", or some such guff.

[Youngian]

A crank writes. Good line from Streeting

[mattomac]

I find it very odd that you can judge someone you hardly know and inform them they are or are not a socialist.

[davidjay]

I find it very odd that you can judge someone you hardly know and inform them they are or are not a socialist.

If you believe in the divinity of St Jeremy you are a socialist.

[The Weeping Angel]

What are people's thoughts on this?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... -black-man

A white council leader who once joked that he had “the worst tan possible for a black man” has been selected to stand as a Labour MP.

Darren Rodwell, the leader of Barking and Dagenham London borough council, fought off selection competition from councillor Josie Channer, a black councillor who has previously run for selection near Bristol.

Channer was previously selected for the Kingswood seat in Gloucestershire, but stood down after she was found to have £2,000 in unpaid parking fines, in 2013. The Black Labour movement had backed Channer’s campaign.

Rodwell was investigated after a video emerged of him telling an audience at a Black History Month event he used to do “swing dance” and loved “jiggling about”.

“You might have known that I’ve got the worst possible tan possible for a black man,” Rodwell said at the event. “But I have the passion and the rhythm of the African and the Caribbean. I used to do swing dance, because I used to love jiggling about.”

[mattomac]

I was hoping this kind of individual was the kind they were sifting out.

He sounds like a right knobwank.

[Youngian]

Maureen from Driving School Vs David Brent is not an inspiring choice of candidates. Sounds like Peterborough CLP.

[Arrowhead]

This is good news. I remember Sarah standing in the same seat at GE2015 & being the subject of one of those daily "campaign vlog" features on (I think) The Guardian website at the time, she came across as very likeable and an outstanding candidate.

Although the Lib Dems did very well there at GE2019 (when Luciana Berger was their candidate), judging by the current polls Finchley & Golders Green is probably more likely to end up with a Labour MP come the next election. Similar situation in Cities of London & Westminster (Chuka Umunna) as well.

[Arrowhead]

The Edinburgh News is reporting that Douglas Alexander is considering a bid to run as the Labour candidate in East Lothian, a constituency which had an SNP majority of nearly 4,000 in 2019 but whose MP has since defected to Alex Salmond's Alba Party.

Not sure how I feel about this - on the one hand, if elected he'd be a valuable addition to the Starmer team given his past cabinet experience. But I can't help but feel the various Scottish Labour MPs who lost their seats so dramatically in 2015 were booted out for a reason, and that the party in Scotland would probably be best served to move on from that generation and start afresh.

[Youngian]

But I can't help but feel the various Scottish Labour MPs who lost their seats so dramatically in 2015 were booted out for a reason, and that the party in Scotland would probably be best served to move on from that generation and start afresh.

Comeback kids rarely succeed in politics. That’s not very fair but not a lot you can do about it.

[Arrowhead]

Comeback kids rarely succeed in politics. That’s not very fair but not a lot you can do about it.

Exactly. I can't help but feel that the re-emergence of the likes of Douglas Alexander would be like a red rag to a bull for some Scottish voters, hardly ideal at a time when Scottish Labour are finally starting to make a little bit of headway at long last. Perhaps local CLPs might be better off nominating popular, unassuming local councillors wherever possible instead.

Still, it could be worse: at least Jim Murphy hasn't reared his head (yet).

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Keir Starmer has fundamentally shifted the Brexit debate by acknowledging that for many (ie not Tory headbangers and catastrophe capitalists) it was a vote against a system they found unresponsive to their demands and needs. Excellent. This cuts the legs off the 'sovrintee' arguments and the xenophobic twatterings of Baker and the ERG mob.

Brown's work seems pretty good, as one might expect. This summary from The Guardian:

Key recommendations from Brown's Commission on UK's Future report
The Brown report has just been published in full. Here is a summary of the main points from PA Media.

Abolish the ‘indefensible’ House of Lords
The commission proposed replacing the unelected upper chamber with a “smaller, more representative and democratic” assembly of the nations and regions, although details would be matters for further consultation.
Clean up politics
The panel proposed

new rules for politicians and civil servants, clamping down on MPs’ second jobs

and creating the role of a “powerful” anti-corruption commissioner to root out criminal behaviour in British political life.
Create a ‘New Britain’ by rebalancing the economy to drive up living standards in some of the most deprived areas and giving more local control over decision-making.
The panel called for a new constitutional law setting out how political power should be shared, with a requirement for decisions to be taken “as close as meaningfully possible” to the people affected by them.
There would be an explicit requirement to rebalance the economy to spread prosperity and investment more equally across the UK.
The right to healthcare based on need rather than ability to pay would be enshrined in a set of protected social rights.
Creating new regional industrial clusters
Towns, cities and other areas would be brought together as part of a coordinated economic strategy.
Mayors and local leaders will play a key role in shaping the plans, with the UK Infrastructure Bank and a British Regional Investment Bank (a rebadged British Business Bank) supporting investment.
About 50,000 civil service jobs would be transferred out of London.
Extra powers for Scotland and Wales, with restored and strengthened devolution in Northern Ireland
Scotland would be able to enter into international agreements in relation to devolved matters, the status of MSPs would be bolstered, devolution would get greater constitutional protection and there would be enhanced access to economic support through the British Regional Investment Bank.
Wales could get new powers over youth justice and probation, while constitutional protections for devolution and the rights of members of the Senedd would be extended in a way similar to the Scottish proposals, along with access to British Regional Investment Bank funding.
In Northern Ireland there is a desire for devolution to be “restored and strengthened”.
A new culture of co-operation between the UK government, England’s regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
New, legally-mandated “councils of the nations and regions of England” will replace the present joint ministerial committees.
The new bodies would include not just devolved administrations but local leaders from within England, to prevent the government treating communities in a “high-handed way”.

I feel quite optimistic, but the reptiles are ignoring the constructive bits and doing gotchas over the HofL.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Starmer on Brexit and the reasons for the vote:

People up and down this country are crying out for a new approach. During the Brexit referendum I argued for remain. But I couldn’t disagree with the basic case that many leave voters made to me.
They wanted democratic control over their lives so they could provide opportunities for the next generation, build communities they felt proud of, and public services they could rely on.
And I know that in the Scottish referendum in 2014, many of those who voted yes did so for similar reasons. The same frustration at a Westminster system that seems remote. The same yearning for the power to build a fairer future for themselves and their families.

[Andy McDandy]

Looks good, although I can confidently predict the attack lines already. Some are quite hackneyed and don't stand up to scrutiny (unwritten constitution, "constitutional crisis" as power shifts, we've managed fine for X number of years etc). I can see others (HoL reform for instance) getting bogged down in committees arguing over every dot and tittle and screaming about bias at every opportunity. Basically, the "but tradition!" farts will have a field day.

One thing that needs to be done is to significantly overhaul Commons procedure. Basically drag it away from its Oxford bloody Union debating club rules, its reliance on archaic crap, and anything beloved by the Tory backbench awkward squad.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

This:

One thing that needs to be done is to significantly overhaul Commons procedure. Basically drag it away from its Oxford bloody Union debating club rules, its reliance on archaic crap, and anything beloved by the Tory backbench awkward squad.

[davidjay]

Parliamentary procedure has worked fine for centuries, or rather had worked fine, because it worked on the principle that all sides obeyed the unwritten rules, that politicians were honourable and that they didn't need to be told what they couldn't do, because they wouldn't dream of doing it. Then you got this mob, who have ignored every convention in their lust for power and wealth. That's why our Parliamentary needs reforming.

[Andy McDandy]

And the irony is that it wasn't "opening the doors to the proles" that did it, but perhaps the most establishment executive since the 19th century.