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Labour: NEC sets £25 fee for registered supporters voting in leadership contest – live news
Labour leadership: NEC decides contest to last three months, with result announced Saturday 4 April – live news
(32 minutes later)
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
Here are the details of the timetable for the Labour leadership election decided by the NEC.
Tuesday 7 January: Nominations open from MPs and MEPs.Monday 13 January: Nominations from MPs and MEPs close at 2.30pm.Tuesday 14 January: Registered supporters applications open at 5pm.Thursday 16 January: Registered supporters’ applications close at 5pm.Wednesday 15 January: Second stage of nominations from constituency Labour parties and affiliates opens.Monday 20 January: Freeze date for eligibility for new members and affiliated supporters. Closes at 5pm.Friday 14 February: Close of CLP and affiliate nominations.Friday 21 February: Ballot opens.Thursday 2 April: Ballot closes at 12pm.Saturday 4 April: Special conference to announce results.
The NEC has announced the timetable for the leadership election. A Labour spokesman said:
Here is more from the NEC meeting.
Here is more from the NEC meeting.
From ITV’s Paul Brand
From ITV’s Paul Brand
From the FT’s Jim Pickard
From the FT’s Jim Pickard
This is from HuffPost’s Paul Waugh.
This is from HuffPost’s Paul Waugh.
A £25 fee and a 48-hour registration period are what applied in 2016, when Labour last staged a leadership contest. It was assumed at the time that this might discourage people from registering, but it didn’t; around 120,000 people signed up and voted in the contest as registered supporters. (See 10.37am.)
A £25 fee and a 48-hour registration period are what applied in 2016, when Labour last staged a leadership contest. It was assumed at the time that this might discourage people from registering, but it didn’t; around 120,000 people signed up and voted in the contest as registered supporters. (See 10.37am.)
Ian Murray, Labour’s only surviving MP in Scotland, is preparing to enter the contest to become Labour’s deputy leader on a platform of constitutional reform and countering nationalism.
Ian Murray, Labour’s only surviving MP in Scotland, is preparing to enter the contest to become Labour’s deputy leader on a platform of constitutional reform and countering nationalism.
Murray, an arch critic of Jeremy Corbyn’s and an opponent of Brexit, is expected to signal his intention to run tomorrow after being asked to stand by other Labour MPs. His plans to run are thought to depend on getting sufficient early nominations, but it would fuel the brewing conflict between the party’s pro-Corbyn wing and its centrists.
Murray, an arch-critic of Jeremy Corbyn and an opponent of Brexit, is expected to signal his intention to run tomorrow after being asked to stand by other Labour MPs. His plans to run are thought to depend on getting sufficient early nominations, but it would fuel the brewing conflict between the party’s pro-Corbyn wing and its centrists.
Before the election, the union Unite had attempted to block his nomination because of his open hostility to Corbyn and to Len McClusky, the Unite leader, but failed.
Before the election, the union Unite had attempted to block his nomination because of his open hostility to Corbyn and to Len McClusky, the Unite leader, but failed.
Murray held Edinburgh South on 12 December with an 11,095 (22.3%) majority while Labour suffered its worst general election result in Scotland of the modern era. It lost six of its seven MPs in another Scottish National party landslide after winning just 18.6% of the vote.
Murray held Edinburgh South on 12 December with an 11,095 (22.3%) majority while Labour suffered its worst general election result in Scotland of the modern era. It lost six of its seven MPs in another Scottish National party landslide after winning only 18.6% of the vote.
Party sources say Murray has told other MPs he believes Labour’s future and the UK’s survival rests on it tackling Scottish, English and Welsh nationalism, with a substantial constitutional reform programme.
Party sources say Murray has told other MPs he believes Labour’s future and the UK’s survival rests on it tackling Scottish, English and Welsh nationalism, with a substantial constitutional reform programme.
He has not yet specified what those reforms would involve, but he echoed a pledge in Labour’s manifesto to set up a constitutional convention or – if it eventually formed a UK government, through a royal commission.
He has not yet specified what those reforms would involve, but he echoed a pledge in Labour’s manifesto to set up a constitutional convention or – if it eventually formed a UK government, through a royal commission.
In a note circulated around the parliamentary party he accused Corbyn, and by implication Ed Miliband, of failing to tackle nationalism effectively. He said:
In a note circulated around the parliamentary party, he accused Corbyn, and by implication Ed Miliband, of failing to tackle nationalism effectively. He said:
After listening to Angela Rayner’s speech this morning, my colleague Kate Proctor concluded it was hard to see why she was running for the deputy Labour leadership when she might be a strong candidate for leader. (See 12.23pm.) It is not hard to see why. It’s a good speech, with some compelling lines and a superb opening.
After listening to Angela Rayner’s speech this morning, my colleague Kate Proctor concluded it was hard to see why she was running for the deputy Labour leadership when she might be a strong candidate for leader. (See 12.23pm.) It is not hard to see why. It’s a good speech, with some compelling lines and a superb opening.
Here is the opening.
Here is the opening.
(It was Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail who compared Rayner to a Little Britain character.)
(It was Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail who compared Rayner to a Little Britain character.)
And here are some of the news lines from the speech.
And here are some of the news lines from the speech.
Rayner said it was a mistake for Labour to describe some of its policies are revolutionary when it would have been better to present them as common sense.
Rayner said it was a mistake for Labour to describe some of its policies are revolutionary when it would have been better to present them as common sense.
She said that some of Labour’s manifesto promises were seen as “glib promises of free things ... and distrusted as much as any other sales pitch”.
She said that some of Labour’s manifesto promises were seen as “glib promises of free things … and distrusted as much as any other sales pitch”.
She said Labour leave supporters felt patronised by the party. She said:
She said Labour leave supporters felt patronised by the party. She said:
She said Labour should deal more firmly with antisemitism.
She said Labour should deal more firmly with antisemitism.
She said the coalition that had sustained the Labour party (the working class and the progressive middle class) was “broken”. Explaining how bad the election result was for Labour, she said that it had lost working class seats it had held for decades, that in some seats it had only won because the leave vote was split, and that the Tories were ahead of Labour by 40% to 23% amongst blue collar workers. And even in remain areas the party was vulnerable, she said:
She said the coalition that had sustained the Labour party (the working class and the progressive middle class) was “broken”. Explaining how bad the election result was for Labour, she said it had lost working-class seats it had held for decades, that in some seats it had only won because the leave vote was split, and that the Tories were ahead of Labour by 40% to 23% among blue collar workers. And even in remain areas the party was vulnerable, she said:
She said Labour was facing the biggest challenge in its history.
She said Labour was facing the biggest challenge in its history.
She said other social democratic parties were also facing the same problems. She said:
She said other social democratic parties were also facing the same problems.
She said Labour needed a “collectivist” approach to its problems, and that she did not have all the answers herself. She said:
She said Labour needed a “collectivist” approach to its problems, and that she did not have all the answers herself.
She said she owed much of her life to Labour, including policies introduced by the Blair government. She said:
She said she owed much of her life to Labour, including policies introduced by the Blair government.
Here are some lines from Labour’s NEC meeting.
Here are some lines from Labour’s NEC meeting.
From the Yorkshire Post’s Geri Scott
From the Yorkshire Post’s Geri Scott
From the FT’s Jim Pickard
From the FT’s Jim Pickard
From the Telegraph’s Harry Yorke
From the Telegraph’s Harry Yorke
Keith Vaz sits on the NEC as the representative of BAME Labour.
Keith Vaz sits on the NEC as the representative of BAME Labour.
Downing Street has issued a read-out following Boris Johnson’s conversation with his Iraqi opposite number, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, this morning. A No 10 spokesperson said:
Downing Street has issued a read-out following Boris Johnson’s conversation with his Iraqi opposite number, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, this morning. A No 10 spokesperson said:
This morning, Tom Watson, the former deputy Labour leader, said he was worried that Rebecca Long Bailey would be a “continuity candidate”. (See 9.38am.) But Angela Rayner, who is standing to replace Watson as deputy leader and backing her friend and London flatmate for leader, told Sky News this claim was wrong. When it was put to her that she and Long Bailey were seen as Jeremy Corbyn continuity candidates, Rayner replied:
This morning, Tom Watson, the former deputy Labour leader, said he was worried that Rebecca Long Bailey would be a “continuity candidate”. (See 9.38am.) But Angela Rayner, who is standing to replace Watson as deputy leader and backing her friend and London flatmate for leader, told Sky News this claim was wrong. When it was put to her that she and Long Bailey were seen as Jeremy Corbyn continuity candidates, Rayner replied:
In her Guardian article last week, Long Bailey said she was backing Rayner for the deputy leadership. Rayner is reciprocating. But, in her Sky News interview, Rayner also said the fact that she was supporting her friend did not mean she was opposed to having anyone else as Labour leader. Asked who she wanted to lead the party, Rayner replied:
In her Guardian article last week, Long Bailey said she was backing Rayner for the deputy leadership. Rayner is reciprocating. But, in her Sky News interview, Rayner also said the fact that she was supporting her friend did not mean she was opposed to having anyone else as Labour leader. Asked who she wanted to lead the party, Rayner replied:
When asked if she would be happy to have Jess Phillips as party leader, Rayner replied:
When asked if she would be happy to have Jess Phillips as party leader, Rayner replied:
From my colleague Dan Sabbagh, the Guardian’s defence and security editor
From my colleague Dan Sabbagh, the Guardian’s defence and security editor
When Boris Johnson meets Ursula Von Der Leyen, the European commission president, at No 10 on Wednesday, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, will attend too. The European commission’s chief spokesman said the meeting was taking place at “a very specific moment” before trade talks had begun. “This is not a meeting that will go into the details of the trade negotiation.”
The EU is not expected to finalise its mandate for talks on the future relationship with the UK until 25 February, the first time the EU’s European affairs ministers will meet after the UK’s departure on 31 January.
While I was at the No 10 lobby briefing, Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, was launching her campaign to be Labour’s deputy leader. My colleague Kate Proctor was there and here is her story about the speech.
And here are some more tweets from Kate.
I will post more on the speech shortly.
Labour’s national executive committee is meeting now to discuss the arrangements for the leadership contest.
As he arrived for the meeting, Ian Lavery, the party chairman, who has not ruled out standing for the leadership himself, said he expected the NEC to come up with the “right solution” during its discussion on the leadership contest. He said:
I’m just back from the No 10 lobby briefing. Holding these meetings in 9 Downing Street, instead of in a room in the Houses of Parliament, will probably be good for lobby journalists’ exercise levels, although it is hard to see any other benefits at the moment, and for someone writing a live blog it’s a big inconvenience.
Here are the main points.
Britain would oppose any move by the US to attack cultural sites in Iran, the prime minister’s spokesman confirmed. The spokesman said it was clear that this was not allowed under international conventions – although he stopped short of saying the move would amount to a war crime.
Boris Johnson will host a meeting of senior ministers this afternoon to discuss Iran, the spokesman said. And tomorrow he will chair a national security council meeting on the topic.
Britain is urging Iraq not to insist on the withdrawal of American troops, the spokesman said. He said:
Johnson was speaking to his Iraqi counterpart on this issue this morning, the spokesman said.
The spokesman rejected suggestions that the US assassination of Qassem Suleimani was illegal. Asked about this, he said:
But the spokesman refused to say if the UK government had been shown any evidence by the Americans to justify their claim that Suleimani posed an imminent threat to US personnel when he was killed.
Dominic Cummings will not be allowed bypass normal civil service recruitment processes when hiring staff for No 10, the spokesman said. Asked about the blog by Cummings, the PM’s chief adviser, inviting “weirdos” and others interested in working for him to respond to a private email address, the spokesman said this was for “expressions of interest” only. He said new civil servants would be appointed in the usual way.
This is from ITV’s Paul Brand.
I’m off to the No 10 lobby briefing now. From today, No 10 is holding the briefings in Downing Street, instead of in a room in the House of Commons (about two minutes’ walk from the corridor where press gallery journalists are based), and this means getting to and from the meetings is going to take longer and be more cumbersome (because it will involve clearing No 10 security). I probably won’t be able to post again until after 11.45am.
These are from Alice Perry, a local government representative on Labour’s national executive committee. One of the key issues to be decided at today’s NEC meeting is what the arrangements will be for registered supporters to vote in the leadership contest. Under the rules introduced when Ed Miliband was leader, registered supporters can vote, as well as proper party members and people who are affiliated to the party through membership of a trade union. But the NEC will have to decide how much people will have to pay to vote as a registered supporter, and how long they will get to register.
In 2015, the fee was just £3. People in the party were not sure how popular the scheme would be, but more than 100,000 people ended up registering. In 2016, the fee was set at £25 and registration was open for just 48 hours, but 120,000 people registered anyway. At the time Corbynites on the NEC were worried about the registered supporters scheme being exploited by Owen Smith supporters, but in the event 70% of the people who signed up in the 48-hour window voted for Jeremy Corbyn.
In an interview with Sky News this morning, Tom Watson, the former Labour deputy leader, refused to say whom he would be backing in the Labour leadership contest. But he said that Rebecca Long Bailey, the shadow business secretary, was the candidate he was worried about. He explained:
But he also acknowledged that, when Long Bailey does announce her campaign, she might adopt a different line.
It is true that Long Bailey has not said anything in the form of an interview or a speech. But she did make an opening pitch in the form of an article in the Guardian last week.
For the record, this is what Sir Keir Starmer, the frontrunner in the Labour leadership contest, said in his Andrew Marr interview (pdf) yesterday when asked if he would back rejoining the EU if he became Labour leader.
Starmer was not pressed on whether he was firmly ruling out Labour ever adopting a rejoin position under his leadership, or whether he was just saying there was no realistic possibility of this being an option over the next five years (which is now Jess Phillips’ position - see 8.51am).
There are two other lines in Jess Phillips’ article in the Independent today that are worth pointing out.
First, she argues that one of Labour’s biggest mistakes during the election was to allow Boris Johnson to get away with the claim that he would “get Brexit done” by 31 January. She says:
This is also what Keir Starmer, the favourite in the contest, has been arguing. For pro-Europeans like Starmer and Phillips, who strongly supported a second referendum, it is a way of acknowledging that Brexit was a problem for the party during the election (an argument being made powerfully by Corbynites in the party), without accepting the second referendum policy was at fault.
And, second, while implicitly accepting that she have gone too far in her Andrew Marr interview (see 8.51am), Phillips argues that overall honesty and plain speaking are positive attributes. She says:
Good morning. Labour’s national executive committee is meeting today to decide the detailed arrangements for the party’s leadership contest. And this morning we have witnessed what amounts to something close to the first U-turn by one of the candidates.
Yesterday, in an interview (pdf) with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Jess Phillips did not rule out Labour campaigning to rejoin the European Union at the next election. As my colleague Heather Stewart points out, this contrasted with the approach taken by Keir Starmer, who stressed it was time to move one. Asked if the party would be a “return party” at the next election, Phillips said:
And when pressed if, as leader, she could make rejoining the EU official Labour policy, she replied:
Some commentators viewed this as a mistake, and Phillips herself seems to agree because in an article for the Independent this morning she has clarified her position, saying she could not imagine Labour backing rejoin at the next election. She says:
There are, of course, more important things happening in the world than the Labour leadership contest, although any influence the UK may have over the conflict between President Trump and Iran may be limited. But Boris Johnson will be discussing it today with ministers on his first full day back from holiday. Parliament does not return until tomorrow, but we will be getting a No 10 lobby briefing.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Boris Johnson is due to hold talks with ministers about the Iran crisis following his return from holiday.
11am: Downing Street lobby briefing.
11am: Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, gives a speech in Stockport. She is expected to announce that she is standing to be Labour’s deputy leader.
12pm: Labour’s national executive committee meets to decide the arrangements for the party’s leadership contest.
As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I will post a summary when I wrap up.
You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.
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