Impotent rage: Boris Johnson is losing his grip on his party, as his incompetence as a leader becomes increasingly apparent.
Remember the old adage that repeating an action and expecting a different result is a sign of madness? It seems Boris Johnson hasn’t.
But then we already knew his grip on reality is tenuous at best.
The Observer is reporting that he is furious at the failure of his attempt to smear Labour leader Keir Starmer by connecting him with the IRA.
But rather than finding an alternative, he has instead reprimanded his advisers for leaving him under-prepared – and demanded more attack lines on Starmer, doubling down on criticism of his legal record.
It hasn’t worked; it won’t work.
Even where Starmer may be criticised, he knows those weaknesses and will have answers.
And of course Johnson will be laying himself open to analysis of his own past career – which consists of multiple claims of dishonesty and at least one high-profile sacking.
That won’t play well when he lays himself open to an airing of his faults at PMQs.
Meanwhile, his colleagues in the Conservative Party will be doing what they always do when they see a leader sinking; they’re sharpening their knives. Here’s The Observer:
There is evidence that the wider Tory party is losing faith in Johnson’s ability to lead them against Starmer – and signs that the chancellor Rishi Sunak has become the new favourite of the Conservative grassroots.
According to the latest survey of Tory members by ConservativeHome, the website for party activists, Johnson is now in the bottom third of cabinet ministers in the satisfaction ratings – having been the runaway leader nine months ago.
Johnson has slumped to 19th place, below Baroness Evans, the leader of the House of Lords, with a rating of plus 24.6%. Sunak meanwhile is out in front on plus 82.5%.
The verdict among the Twitterati is that Johnson is self-destructing:
If Boris wants to keep acting like a child and get even more people to turn against him then go ahead. Hes doing it to avoid answering questions and Keir will win.
Whilst our veterans are being assaulted by police, death of free speech, economy being thrown off a cliff, endless culture war, illegal immigration, etc.
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The villain of the piece: Keir Starmer set Labour up to fail with a weak Brexit policy – and a new report has blamed that policy on Jeremy Corbyn. How hypocritical.
Why are the media making such a fuss about a right-wing report that blames Labour’s defeat in the last general election on the party’s then – lefty – leader?
It makes the blood boil to read the distortions in this so-called report, put together by a cabal of Starmer-supporting right-wingers with an anti-Corbyn chip on their collective shoulder who have the cheek to brand themselves “Labour Together”!
Labour backstabbers, more like!
It should be no surprise that all the major members of Labour Together now have prominent roles in the shadow cabinet of Keir Starmer: Ed Miliband, Steve Reed, Lisa Nandy and Jim McMahon. Other right-whingers writing the review included Lucy Powell.
The report claims that the biggest issue in the election was Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, which had fallen in popularity. It does not correctly describe the reasons for that fall in popularity.
So for example, the report – falsely, in This Writer’s opinion – claims that the departure of backstabbers including Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna to form the unpopular and ill-fated Independent Group/Change UK/whatever-they-ended-up-calling-themselves led to a collapse in Corbyn’s approval ratings.
It does not state that this could have been because those now-former Labour MPs immediately went on media junkets trashing his leadership and spreading falsehoods about anti-Semitism.
In fact, after his success in the 2017 election, it is widely accepted that Jeremy Corbyn suffered the longest-running and most unfair hate campaign, possibly of any political leader in UK history – with a complicit media lapping up every lie.
Labour's election review cites cliff-edge drop in Corbyn's popularity after 2017 as a key factor in historic 2019 electoral defeat.
It neglects any mention of the huge simultaneous spike and slew of fake news headlines brandishing him a communist spy, a terrorist and a racist..
Labour “went into the 2019 election without a clear strategy of which voters we needed to persuade or how”, and failed to settle on a coherent message with the power of 2017’s “For the many, not the few”, the report says.
It states: “It was unclear who was in charge” of the election campaign, and relationships were soured by years of infighting which had created a “toxic culture” and “significant strategic and operational dysfunction”.
And it says: Labour was outgunned by the Tories in the digital war, with messages poorly coordinated and most of them failing to reach beyond the party’s base.
All of these three issues can be related to a single cause: treachery against the party leader. We know this because it was very clearly highlighted in the leaked report on the way the party handled anti-Semitism allegations under Corbyn.
Party officers worked hard to present Corbyn as an anti-Semite, to undermine his leadership and to ensure that Labour could not win a general election with him as leader, that report stated.
You wanna talk about why Labour lost so badly? Suspend those who:
– bullied Diane Abbott & others – diverted campaign funds – sat on AS complaints to embarrass Corbyn – were horrified by the close 2017 result – smeared their own leader
The Labour Together Analysis on 2019 GE failure seems to have no notable mention of the internal sabotage that was so clearly evidenced in the Labour Leaks report three months ago
Given the huge part this would have played in Labour's GE defeats of 17 & 19, it's a big omission🧐
Mr Starmer has launched an investigation into that leaked report, apparently with the intention of clearing those accused of treachery (and in many cases racism) and tarring the whistleblowers.
One criticism that rings true is the fact that the Conservatives’ “Get Brexit Done” message was more popular with voters than Labour’s offer of a new referendum on membership of the EU. But the report seems to forget that this particular policy was the brainchild of the current Labour leader, Keir Starmer. I wonder why?
Here’s a more accurate analysis of that part of Labour’s defeat:
Of the 54 seats that Labour lost in England and Wales at the last election, 52 voted to Leave the EU. In that election Labour promised a second referendum on EU membership.
Nobody with an ounce of knowledge about politics in the last five years has been fooled by this self-serving pack of distortions from Starmer’s new New Labour elite. See the responses for yourself:
I think the Labour Party blaming defeat on those that were actually trying to win the election, rather than those actively trying to lose it, is quite a stretch.
Public dislike for Jeremy Corbyn played 'significant' role in Labour’s historic election defeat, independent post mortem finds https://t.co/N4nLtMIEkj I wonder why with Panorama shite and , lies of being pro IRA, hostile MPs and a press that is the pits
The barely regulated tax doging media, half the Parliamentary Labour Party and others threatened by an internationalist socialist getting into power spent five years making up horrific lies and peddling disgusting distortions about a genuinely decent man and it worked shocker! https://t.co/DBLv07GrSQ
This Writer was even tempted to respond to some of the usual suspects who have trumpeted this travesty as though it were the Word of God:
Yes – it seems to have been written by people who share your political leanings. I look forward to hearing that you have voted for Keir Starmers new New Labour after the 2024 election.
But media Toryism of the last 10 years has created a generation of ignorance, with most of the public happy to be spoonfed lies rather than think for themselves about the Age of Hypocrisy into which they have voted themselves.
The Guardian all but ignored the leaked review showing that Labour's Blairite officials sabotaged Corbyn's chances at the 2017 GE. But it gives front page billing to a new Labour report suggesting the party must swing dramatically rightwards to win in 2024 https://t.co/sEfDcHIWJf
The hypocrisy is strong in this report. How sad that the same people who lapped up the “Corbyn is a racist/Corbyn is a traitor/Corbyn is the devil” bull will be happy to do the same with this.
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No Labour leader: Instead of taking action to identify and expel the wrongdoers in the leaked Labour report on anti-Semitism, Keir Starmer seems to be trying to protect them.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has issued a statement on the leaked Labour report that shows evidence that right-wing party staff members actively campaigned to undermine previous leader Jeremy Corbyn – by promising to protect the members implicated in wrongdoing, and investigate how the public got to find out about them.
Or so it seems to me.
In a joint statement with deputy leader Angela Rayner, he said the following. I’ll comment on his words [in bold] as we go through it:
“We have seen a copy of an apparently [apparently? It is an official Labour document on anti-Semitism and as such he is certain to have known about it. Isn’t he? Skwawkbox reckons he had a copy of the report shortly after his election as leader was announced yet he was completely relaxed about it until it was leaked] internal report about the work of the Labour Party’s Governance and Legal Unit in relation to antisemitism. The content and the release of the report into the public domain raise a number of matters of serious concern.
“We will therefore commission an urgent independent investigation into this matter. This investigation will be instructed to look at three areas. First, the background and circumstances in which the report was commissioned and the process involved [which, as leader, he should already know. In any case, it is made explicitly clear in the text of the report]. Second, the contents and wider culture and practices referred to in the report [which suggests an attempt to deny the findings and whitewash the wrongdoers]. Third, the circumstances in which the report was put into the public domain [which suggests he would have preferred it to remain secret and the wrongdoers to go unquestioned, let alone punished].
“We have also asked for immediate sight of any legal advice the Labour Party has already received about the report.
“In the meantime, we ask everyone concerned to refrain from drawing conclusions before the investigation is complete [why? The report is complete and its conclusions are clear] and we will be asking the General Secretary to put measures in place to protect the welfare of party members and party staff who are concerned or affected by this report [but not party members and former party members who were clearly victimised by those party members he is trying to protect].”
I would not want to see anyone face unreasonable abuse – either verbal or physical – for having taken part in the activities mentioned in the report.
But the behaviour it describes is utterly vile and, if true, anybody who was involved in it should – no, must – be expelled from the Labour Party forever.
If anyone thinks a lifetime expulsion is too much, bear in mind that these senior Labour staff used language that was considerably more abusive and inappropriate than that cited as justification for suspending many Labour members who supported Jeremy Corbyn in 2016.
Labour members past and present are lining up to demand action.
But it seems Mr Starmer is more interested in protecting the perpetrators of these offences.
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“Straight talking”? “Honest politics”? Prove it, Lord McNicol; prove it.
Labour lawyers have stepped in to stop a report on the party’s response to anti-Semitism accusations being submitted to the Equalities & Human Rights Commission – because it shows that right-wing party officers spent years backstabbing Jeremy Corbyn.
The report runs to 860 pages and concludes that factional hostility towards Mr Corbyn amongst former senior officials contributed to “a litany of mistakes” that hindered the effective handling of the issue.
It provides evidence that senior staff “openly worked against the aims and objectives of the leadership of the Party, and in the 2017 general election some key staff even appeared to work against the Party’s core objective of winning elections”.
In other words, by the time Jeremy Corbyn became leader, it seems the organisational structure beneath him was riddled with individuals who hated the Labour Party and were actively working to ensure it would not win a general election.
Reading between the lines, it seems this means they misled the elected leadership about the number and nature of anti-Semitism allegations, hid documents to make some claims appear more credible than they were, and deliberately obstructed investigations to falsely make Mr Corbyn’s leadership appear incompetent.
Of course, there’s no way to know whether that’s true, until the report is published. I look forward to seeing new leader Keir Starmer order it, although I fear I may be waiting for some time.
What we do know, from a Sky News report on the document, is that it says there was “abundant evidence of a hyper-factional atmosphere prevailing in Party HQ” towards Jeremy Corbyn which “affected the expeditious and resolute handling of disciplinary complaints”.
It seems the anti-Corbyn faction ensured a lack of “robust processes, systems, training, education and effective line management”.
The report doesn’t find any anti-Semitic intent behind the behaviour, or that anti-Semitism complaints were handled differently to any other – but this should not come as any surprise.
The anti-Corbynites’ intention was to create an impression that anti-Semitism was a huge problem in the party – not to engage in it themselves. That would have been counter-productive.
And why should anti-Semitism complaints be handled any differently when the intention was to portray Mr Corbyn as incompetent?
In this context, the report casts doubt on the validity of claims made by the BBC in last year’s Panorama documentary, Is Labour Antisemitic.
Some of the stars of that particular film – which took their claims as cast-iron fact – are also heavily featured in the report, including the former General Secretary, Lord McNicol, and the former acting head of the governance and legal unit, Sam Matthews.
Lord McNicol and other senior figures are accused of providing “false and misleading information”on the handling of anti-Semitism complaints to Mr Corbyn’s office, which the report claims meant “the scale of the problem was not appreciated” by the leadership.
Iain McNicol was Labour Party General Secretary until 2018. He has many questions to answer about his own conduct including 1. His handling of antisemitism claims 2. His mass suspensions of Corbyn supporters in 2016 3. His undermining of the Labour party in the 2017 election
Conversations in 2017 which appear to show senior staff preparing for Tom Watson to become interim leader in anticipation of Jeremy Corbyn losing the election
Conversations which it is claimed show senior staff hid information from the leader’s office about digital spending and contact details for MPs and candidates during the election
Conversations on election night in which the members of the group talk about the need to hide their disappointment that Mr. Corbyn had done better than expected and would be unlikely to resign
A discussion about whether the grassroots activist network Momentum could be ‘proscribed’ for being a ‘party within a party’
A discussion about ‘unsuspending’ a former Labour MP who was critical of Jeremy Corbyn so they could stand as a candidate in the 2017 election
A discussion about how to prevent corbyn-ally Rebecca Long-Bailey gaining a seat on the party’s governing body in 2017
Regular references to corbyn-supporting party staff as “trots”
Conversations between senior staff in Lord McNicol’s office in which they refer to former director of communications Seamus Milnes as “dracula”, and saying he was “spiteful and evil and we should make sure he is never allowed in our Party if it’s last thing we do”
Conversations in which the same group refers to Mr. Corbyn’s former chief of staff Karie Murphy as “medusa”, a “crazy woman” and a “bitch face cow” that would “make a good dartboard”
A discussion in which one of the group members expresses their “hope” that a young pro-Corbyn Labour activist, who they acknowledge had mental health problems, “dies in a fire”
The report was drafted as a submission by the Labour Party to the EHRC’s ongoing investigation into “institutional anti-Semitism” in the Labour Party, and contains passages that refer to that organisation or address it directly. It therefore seems strange in the extreme that the party is now refusing to submit it, and claiming that it is out of the scope of the EHRC’s inquiries. Here’s Sky’s Tom Rayner:
A Labour party spokesperson confirmed the document had not been sent to the equalities watchdog. It's understood it was considered out of the scope of the EHRC investigation into institutional racism and should instead be used to enhance the party's own understanding pic.twitter.com/ijnCN21Txa
Indeed, the report specifically urges the EHRC to “question the validity of the personal testimonies” of former members of staff and to “focus instead on the documentary, primary-source evidence that the Party has made available” pic.twitter.com/OwBIKQ8WY9
The quoted extract says, “We hope the EHRC will focus on the documentary, primary-source evidence that the Party has made available to it… rather than the personal accounts of staff or former staff.” How is the EHRC supposed to do that if Labour won’t hand over the report?
Mr Rayner went on to say that a Labour source who worked in Mr Corbyn’s office said the report showed the leadership had been “sabotaged and set up left right and centre by McNicol’s team”.
Now read the quotes he had from McNicol himself, and from Matthews:
In response to the allegations made against him, Sam Matthews said the report was "an effort by a disgruntled faction who are floundering in their attempts to blame others in order to distract from matters that will be investigated by the EHRC": pic.twitter.com/3LDpHaDA3H
From McNicol we get whataboutery: party officers have been “trawling 10,000 emails rather than challenging anti-Semitism”. Of course, it would not have been necessary if he had done his job properly, right? And, really, an issue affecting only 0.06 per cent of party members (some of whom have been falsely accused, like This Writer) doesn’t merit the attention of every single person working for Labour.
Matthews simply attempts to divert blame. But here’s the thing: the report asks for the primary evidence – the documents – to be considered, rather than the comments on those documents by interested parties. The data doesn’t lie.
The report’s non-publication has scandalised those of us with a stake in the issue – and should upset anybody else with an interest in justice. Many in the media leapt on the fabrication and treated it as real, without any reason to do so.
For example: remember Phillip Schofield demanding an apology for the anti-Semitism crisis in Labour, on live TV during the general election campaign? Now we see evidence that it was cooked up by backstabbers, will Mr Schofield be issuing an apology for sabotaging Labour’s election campaign?
Twitter has been alive with outrage:
Sky have broken the news that the AS investigation into Labour under Corbyn will not now be passed to the EHRC, as it emerges former party workers, loyallists to then GE Iain McNicol caused absolute chaos in the party's organisation.
A group of Centrist Labour staffers, corralled by former general secretary Ian McNicol wilfully and secretly sabotaged Labour’s antisemitism complaints process to cause chaos and lose Labour the 2017 general election. And now the party’s lawyers are suppressing the report. https://t.co/bBgRQZq1CH
— Kerry-Anne Mendoza 🏳️🌈🏴 (@TheMendozaWoman) April 11, 2020
Let's be clear. Everyone, *everyone* knew that Labour HQ have been wrecking since day one of Corbyn's leadership. The PLP, the press, the members, everyone.
Damage done – to me, thousands of members, the Corbyn project…these fuckers hindered and delayed and lost documents.. Damn them and the Party structures that gave peerages and protection to these agents of wickedness https://t.co/xj9C0LPryd
The saboteurs and malcontents inside @UKLabour are bang to right.
The party should make a fulsome apology to me and everyone else who've been so despicably defamed by this contemptible behaviour.https://t.co/BE1MwHFe3j
reported again with evidence that had no reference to me at all. Jewish chronicle put up a video of me on YouTube that YouTube refuse to take down… the daily mail camped on my doorstep and when I asked the party for help I was out in the cold.
…checks or consequences for those who submit false claims (especially when such obvious and partisan agendas are in evidence) will be prone to this sort of abuse, and remember, complaints needn't be members or allies of the party providing a root for a sort of soft entryism.
— 🌹Lee Hyde 🌹#EarnMyVote #SocialismOrQuits (@anubeon) April 12, 2020
As a Jewish member of @UKLabour I am utterly appalled by these allegations. The wilful dereliction of duty by senior staff at Lab HQ + effective weaponisation of anti-semitism against the leadership has brought the party into disrepute. I expect full investigation @JennieGenSec https://t.co/G4NbzAEFF2
— Martin #JOINaUNION✊ #WEARaMASK😷 Abrams🌹 (@Martin_Abrams) April 12, 2020
Keir Starmer where are you ? Jeremy Corbyn vindicated Labour Members vindicated Not a word from the leader of the party This abhorrence was treacherously coordinated from within and most of the purpotrators are in your shadow cabinet Labour has some explaining to do
— # Christi64914989 Labour Save our NHS from Tory's (@Christi64914989) April 12, 2020
Will Keir Starmer now apologise for claiming rampant anti-semitism in the Labour Party?
Dear @Keir_Starmer thoroughly disappointed, disgusted and downright angry. False AS claims meant we lost a true left wing government. Liars must be expelled. Do something NOW! @DerbyChrisW@Marcwads@jeremycorbyn (and many others) were all right.
A tsunami of false and malicious accusations stopped a vanishingly small number of actual antisemites being seen for what they are
The blame for that lies squarely with those responsible for initiating and promoting these dreadful and politically motivated smears pic.twitter.com/lBwNmJm4ad
— Donahue Rogers Ex-Labour 🥀 (@DonahueRogers) April 12, 2020
and to think that the best leader that Labour ever had, resigned to appease these people, when the problem wasn't him, all along. I'm so angry and upset right now.
The Left, vindicated. Every soft Left, Centrist idiot bleating about “cranks” joined in a smear campaign against one of Britain’s finest MPs on behalf of Tories & anti-Palestinian racists. Survey the results of your efforts & hang your heads in shame.https://t.co/0kQiYC8roV
— Kerry-Anne Mendoza 🏳️🌈🏴 (@TheMendozaWoman) April 11, 2020
Important to remember this controversy was never about whether or not Labour has a problem with antisemitism among a small minority of its members. Neither @DerbyChrisW nor anyone with any credibility denied that. https://t.co/jZgvhTFyeS
If the @EHRC has the authority to compel Labour to transfer relevant evidentiary materials to it, then, surely it should demand to see the Labour dossier. Is there any doubt that the materials therein are pertinent to its Investigation?
Labour members must now demand en masse that the dossier be published. @Keir_Starmer must face such overwhelming pressure that he can't sweep it under the carpet. He will have to be forced to act decently: we will have to force him.@Keir_Starmer: publish the dossier. Today.
There is already a mechanism by which anybody who is concerned about this issue can demand that the report be published for all to read, including the EHRC. Here it is:
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Proudly backstabbing: If Tom Watson really wanted to support the pro-European cause, he would be demanding the annulment of the 2016 referendum result that was based on false information.
With the Conservatives holding a summer leadership election, this would appear the perfect time to remove Labour’s turncoat deputy leader from a position he has unceasingly betrayed.
When he was campaigning for the deputy leader role in 2015, Tom Watson promised unswerving support for whoever became leader. Little did he know that Jeremy Corbyn would be that leader, with landslide support from the party membership.
It raised the curtain on nearly four years of backstabbing and betrayal, of which his speech on Brexit today (June 17) is merely the latest manifestation.
In his speech, Mr Watson demanded that Labour must become a firmly anti-democratic party, adopting an anti-Brexit stance in defiance of the national vote that narrowly supported leaving the European Union in 2016.
Personally, This Writer supported remaining in the EU, and I still think it would have been the wisest choice. But rejecting the choice that was made is not the answer and Mr Watson is only demanding it because it puts Mr Corbyn on the spot.
Under Mr Corbyn’s direction, Labour’s policy has been to make the best of the situation, working to get the best exit deal possible and reject damaging Tory plans, while keeping in reserve the possibility of going back to the electorate for confirmation of the decision if it becomes impossible to move forward. It is a wise policy, considering the circumstances.
If Mr Watson wanted to mount a credible challenge, he could have called on Labour to support an investigation into the legality of the 2016 referendum result. Proof of interference by foreign powers and other political operators has emerged since the result was announced, and it has been demonstrated that voters were exposed to false information – most famously the claim that £350m a week could be given to the NHS after Brexit – which brings it into doubt.
Switzerland recently annulled a referendum result after it was revealed that the public had been exposed to false claims – why shouldn’t this happen in the UK?
Because Tom Watson is too busy trying to backstab his leader – that’s why.
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Look out behind you! Amber Rudd has been the first to undermine Theresa May.
Conservative MPs are conforming to type – backstabbing their leader in times of trouble.
Public opinion has turned against Theresa May over her disastrous Brexit plan, so her MPs are preparing to push her out of office.
But who would have thought that the first person to undermine her would be Amber Rudd?
Ms Rudd is Mrs May’s trusted lieutenant – the one she sent in to bat for the Tories in a TV debate before the 2017 general election while she ran scared.
It may seem doubly strange that Ms Rudd was the first to plunge the knife in, as she won her Hastings and Rye Parliamentary seat with a majority of just 346 in the 2017 general election, after several recounts, and is likely to lose the seat at the next election.
Still, she took to the airwaves to proclaim a “Plan B” in opposition to Mrs May’s “only plan on the table” – a “Norway-plus” option that would see the UK retain access to the EU’s single market and also join a customs union.
This is what she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd says "anything could happen", if Theresa May's deal is voted down, including a Norway Plus option or a "People's Vote". pic.twitter.com/Q7ggTqwTO6
It seems more likely that Ms Rudd has sealed her own fate, besides launching the first volley against Mrs May.
But with the prime minister likely to lose the “meaningful vote” at 8.30pm on Tuesday, it’s only a matter of time before more Tory MPs line up to take their shot at her.
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A more topical shot of Mr Watson would be one of him with his back to the camera, because he does his best to ignore legitimate criticism of his activities.
If only we could ask Mr Watson for his side of the story – but he blocks anyone who contacts him on the social media with tricky questions like that.
The following tweets will seem highly repetitive but the point needs to be made: Talk radio station LBC has alleged that Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, attended a secret barbecue hosted by Peter “I try to undermine Jeremy Corbyn every single day” Mandelson, at which they and other hard-right Labour MPs discussed ways to “save” the party from its current leader.
This is the same Tom Watson who complained bitterly about a campaign calling for his own resignation after one of his recent high-profile attempts to stab his party leader in the back.
The apparent hypocrisy should be obvious to everybody.
Tom Watson was reportedly among the 10 moderate Labour MPs attending a secret barbecue hosted by Lord Mandelson, where they discussed how to save the party from Jeremy Corbyn. @MaajidNawaz asks: do we need a new centrist party? pic.twitter.com/ITMT9OmVNn
name them, report them to the NEC. plotting and planning to try and overthrow the elected leader by progress which is a very minority group of MPs in Labour is despeicable.. we should DEMAND the NEC deal with this immediately.. every one of those who attended should be suspended https://t.co/DV8V2kzZSH
— Will Never Vote Labour Again **All Lives Matter** (@Isobel_waby) August 26, 2018
LBC reports that Tom Watson was among the 10 Blairites who attended Peter Mandelson’s secret barbecue where they plotted to overthrow Jeremy Corbyn
The same Tom Watson who complained when Labour Party members and supporters recently held a Twitter storm calling for him to resign pic.twitter.com/QP2NhK3ikU
I remember several MPs and prominent activists criticised the successful #ResignWatson Twitter Storm. I’ll make it clear again: the demand for Watson to stand down had *nothing* to do with anti-Semitism and *everything* to do with undermining Jeremy Corbyn for 3 years. https://t.co/pHJToJthvD
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The only problem with this fabulous cartoon from the Daily Mirror is that Theresa May is being compared to Julius Caesar, who was a far greater leader than her.
Andrea Leadsom is probably relying on people having a poor memory.
It is more than a year, after all, since she managed to derail her own leadership ambitions with a tasteless comment about Theresa May’s childlessness.
But this is the era of Tories overstepping the bounds of good taste.
Look at the many imbecilities of Boris Johnson.
Look at David Davis – a man who, it seems, “can swagger sitting down”, and whose reputation should have been burned after he insulted (and assaulted, in This Writer’s opinion) Diane Abbott in a House of Commons bar.
Even if enough time has passed for Tories to forget Ms Leadsom’s familial faux pas, it seems unlikely she’ll be able to prevent herself from sticking her foot in her mouth again.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson told Andrew Marr this morning (October 8) that Mrs May was “the best prime minister we’ve got” – a foolish comment as Mrs May is the only prime minister we’ve got.
The Tories’ problem is that – and let us all hope this is a prophecy that comes true – with the kind of candidates we’re seeing on display, she’s probably the last prime minister they’ll ever have.
It is not David Davis or Boris Johnson that Theresa May fears the most. It’s her old rival Andrea Leadsom.
The PM knows what DD and Boris are up to. The Brexit Secretary and Foreign Secretary want her job and make no secret of it.
Mrs Leadsom is a stealth fighter. If she is gathering support to launch a second bid to oust her in a leadership contest, she is going about it quietly.
So quietly, Mrs May’s early warning system in the Tory whips office is struggling to pick it up on their radar.
A top Tory source told the Sunday People the Commons leader has not given up on her Number 10 ambitions.
Mrs Leadsom [has] the chance to wave her strong Brexit credentials and come through the middle as a compromise candidate.
Mrs Leadsom, 54, received the support of 66 MPs and came second to Mrs May in the first round of voting in the July 2016 leadership battle.
But after widespread revulsion at comments made by the mother of three about Mrs May being childless, her campaign imploded.
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Grant Shapps: ‘A growing number of my colleagues realise the solution isn’t to bury our heads in the sand and hope things will get better.’ [Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images.]
Amazingly, we now have something for which to thank Grant Shapps!
The former Tory chair, whose own sordid history has been well-covered on This Site in the past, has emerged as the man behind the inevitable plot to oust Theresa May from the Tory leadership and from 10 Downing Street:
Some cabinet ministers privately agree Theresa May should step aside, a former Conservative party chairman has said, as pressure grows on the prime minister to call a leadership election.
Grant Shapps, who served as Tory chair for nearly three years, has emerged as the ringleader of a backbench plot to force May to step down. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the solution to the leadership crisis was not “to bury our heads in the sand”.
Shapps said he had the support of about 30 MPs, including five former cabinet ministers, and suggested some cabinet ministers privately agreed but would be reluctant to back him because they were on the “payroll”.
Shapps said he had hoped to speak to the prime minister privately but the Tory party whips had unmasked him in the Times newspaper. He revealed that No 10 was aware of his discontent and had urged him not to go public.
He said the group of MPs supporting him included Brexiters and those who supported remaining in the European Union.
Unfortunately, the fact that it is Grant Shapps, and that his own reputation isn’t spotless, means some are already seeing this as a storm in a teacup:
Fact that Grant Shapps is the name most commonly mentioned around efforts to remove May is best indication she'll survive.
This Site has already commented on reports that Mrs May was being “bullied” towards resignation by Boris Johnson, with Conservative donors saying she should stand down.
Twitter has, of course, been full of gossip about the latest crisis to hit to Tories:
Conservative MPs are spending part of today in meetings plotting how to get rid of Theresa May. 50% chance she will be gone within a week.
I'm appealing to the other 50% to get their shit together and get rid. I know a guy that's ready to fight and win a general election. #JC4PMhttps://t.co/UidDMS4BNu
It’s all very enjoyable for those of us who aren’t Conservatives, but it is worth reminding everybody that this is a dangerous distraction at a time when the United Kingdom – as a world economy – is extremely vulnerable.
Just by having a debate about Mrs May’s leadership, the Tories have caused another run on the value of Sterling:
Brexit represents huge threats to the UK, as does the underlying economic weakness of the country due to Conservative mismanagement.
A leadership election and the arrival of a replacement will not lead to any improvement in these serious issues.
The only solution is the resignation of the Tories and the election of a Labour government that is prepared for these challenges.
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