Some moron side than others
This week has been one which has seen big names weighing in with their thoughts on the direction of the Labour leadership contest.
Wednesday (22 July) began with a Tony Blair in Conversation event at Blairite think tank, Progress’s offices (see below). When addressing Jeremy Corbyn’s lead in the polls, Blair remarked that those supporting him should “get a [heart] transplant,” Mr Blair had only had supraventricular tachycardia you see.
Later that day, former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett admitted on BBC Radio 4’s The World at One on Wednesday that she felt like a “moron” for nominating Jeremy Corbyn, now that the polls suggest he stands as the front runner.
The most recent person to speak up is John Prescott. Never one to mince his words, Prescott managed to attack over ten people in a Today Programme interview. Among his victims were Beckett and Blair who he slated for their earlier comments.
Committee flies in the face of Heathrow opposition
It was announced this week that the Prime Minister would be heading an aviation committee to investigate “matters relating to airport capacity in the South East of England in the light of the Airports Commission’s report”. This all comes in light of the Commission’s controversial recommendations earlier this month to expand Heathrow.
The Committee has already faced criticism however, as none of its members represent London seats or constituencies that would be directly affected by the airport expansion. It has been disclosed that along with Cameron, other committee members would include George Osborne, Business Secretary Sajid Javid, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, Environment Secretary Liz Truss, Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd and Chief Whip Mark Harper. Missing from the panel, are Home Secretary Theresa May, and foreign secretary Phillip Hammond, both of whose constituencies are directly under the flight path.
In response to this criticism, the Cabinet Office has argued that ministers were selected on the basis that they had the “greatest policy interest” in the matter. But this has not silenced well-known opponent to the expansion, Zac Goldsmith MP, who has argued that “this same formula was not applied to HS2” and as such one could “conclude that the decision is being rigged in favour of the Heathrow lobbyists". Guess things are off to a flying start.
Blair-right politics
Everyone’s favourite Blairite came out earlier this week. And by that, this Smith Square correspondent refers to Tony Blair speaking openly for the first time since His former party’s defeat back in May.
Our once Glorious Leader addressed the New Labour pressure group, Progress, in London on Wednesday morning. The public speaker that we knew in the 1990s was there in parts. But in others, Tony was just simply an aging ex-politician that wanted to get a few things off his chest.
Jeremy Corbyn took a fair bit of flack; it’s safe to say Blair is not his biggest fan (Old vs New labour and all that). He also took some time to have another stab at the nationalist surge in Scotland, branding it as the “politics of the first caveman”. Oh, and he warned Labour not to move too much to the left as well. All in a day’s work!
He said he wouldn’t “make a speech to (Progress) about how to win”. But he carried on and did it anyway. And on top of that, he said Labour had “rediscovered losing successively”. Surprisingly, none of the audience heckled him for this quite frankly scathing attack on His former party and His former ‘honourable friends’. Perhaps the crowd were too hypnotised with nostalgia.
An arm and a Clegg
Just as Nick Clegg was starting to feel comfortable with life as a constituency MP, the former Liberal Democrat leader has found himself back under the spotlight.
The website of events company, Leading Authorities, has listed Nick Clegg as available for booking as an after dinner speaker. Although this is not newsworthy in itself, there was a collective intake of breath on Smith Square when it was revealed that Clegg would command as much as £55,000 an hour.
While Clegg has not denied having formed a business partnership with Leading Authorities, he has stated that he did not authorise the company to publicly list him on their website. It is interesting to note that both Gordon Brown and William Hague have made similar amounts simply for making appearances at industry conferences.
We are of course convinced that IPSA (the parliamentary pay regulator) factored in the earning potential of MPs' second jobs when awarding the recent 10% pay rise.
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.
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