Corbyn blasts nuclear weapons
This week saw ‘silly season’s’ favourite Labour leadership candidate, Jeremy Corbyn, set out his plans for UK nuclear disarmament. The MP for Islington North made the announcement while addressing a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament rally. The event was organised to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
Corbyn’s declaration comes at a time when Parliament is preparing itself for a vote on the future of Trident, the UK’s nuclear deterrent programme, in 2016. While there is widespread support for international nuclear disarmament, Corbyn’s proposals for unilateral UK disarmament have been met with considerable scepticism. Indeed, Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, has claimed that scrapping Trident would be tantamount to “stabbing the United Kingdom in the back”.
Trident’s critics often refer to the fact that the programme will cost approximately £100bn over the lifetime of the new submarines. This money would be enough to build approximately 1.5 million affordable homes, going some way to solving the nation’s housing crisis in one fell swoop. Nevertheless, the point stands that a UK without Trident could potentially be more vulnerable on the global stage.
Naughty Loughton
Since Ed Miliband changed the rules in 2013, anyone can become a supporter of the Labour Party by paying £3 and filling in a form online. Since joining is now so easy; it seems that even Conservative MPs can’t resist trying to sign up.
The former Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, Tim Loughton, was outed by the Labour Press Team on twitter: “Thanks for your donation to the Labour Party @timloughton. However as a Tory MP you will not get a vote in our leadership election.”
A Labour spokesperson further added that they were “delighted to hear Tim shares Labour’s aims and values”, but Loughton claimed it was all a stunt gone wrong. “If I’d got a voting paper I was going to tweet myself ripping it up, just to make a point about how ridiculous the whole open exercise is” he said.
Andy Burnham - too cruel on school
Andy Burnham, everyone’s favourite third choice Labour leader, launched his manifesto this week. Many see it as a cut and paste job from his own party’s election manifesto, with added radical Milibandism (if that’s even a term). And no, we are not talking about the prominent Marxist sociologist, we are talking about his son Ed, the one that lost the election in May, stepped down, and has not been seen since.
At the centre of the manifesto is education, education, education. It includes a reform process that will eventually put a stop to academies and free schools, with the Labour leader hopeful pledging to revitalise comprehensive education.
Earlier this week Burnham announced that he would renationalise the railways if he became PM to end the “fragmentation and privatisation” of the rail system. Seemingly a straight copy of a Miliband policy. Andy explained his reasoning behind his manifesto; “I think people are looking for something bigger. The Labour Party is crying out for a bigger vision it can get behind, it can unite around, and that’s what I’m offering. But my vision had credibility at its heart.”
Ones to watch
The House of Commons and the House of Lords have now risen for recess. Both Houses will return from their summer holidays on the 7th September.