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Labour leadership: Thornberry gives Corbyn '0 out of 10' for election, but '10 out of 10' for principle - live news
Labour leadership: Thornberry gives Corbyn '0 out of 10' for election, but '10 out of 10' for principle - 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
In Edinburgh first minister’s questions - which was briefly interrupted by Extinction Rebellion climate protesters - was dominated by a domestic agenda today, but not without the usual thread of constitutional matters. Interim Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw’s attack on Nicola Sturgeon’s education record probably has to be seen in the context of his current big for party leadership to replace Ruth Davidson as he promised that 2020 would be the year of holding the SNP government to account.
Likewise, the Scottish Labour leader, Richard Leonard, mounted a dissection of social care services, arguing that the failing integration of health and social care services alongside council funding cuts were the direct responsibility of the Scottish government.
As usual, Westminster was not far away: Sturgeon responded that her government was working to protect heath and social care within a very constrained overall budget, the ultimate result of Westminster austerity. Similarly, she rebuffed attempts to criticise the SNP’s record by repeating that the public had given their verdict in last month’s election. One might argue this is not necessarily a direct conclusion of the SNP’s general election success, given that a Westminster campaign does not scrutinise their performance in Holyrood.
But when Brexit was mentioned directly, with a question about Wednesday’s decisive Holyrood vote to reject Boris Johnson’s withdrawal agreement, Sturgeon repeated what is now an entirely familiar call for Scotland to have the opportunity to decide its own future. While yesterday’s vote was entirely symbolic – Holyrood can’t bind the Westminster parliament in this way – it does add to the growing narrative of Scotland as entirely divergent politically from the rest of the UK.
Here is the New Statesman’s Stephen Bush on Barry Gardiner’s possible run for the Labour leadership. (See 1.26pm.)
Emily Thornberry has picked up another nomination. This is from the Labour MP and former minister Gareth Thomas.
Earlier I said that there was no evidence in this contest of Labour MPs nominating someone for the leadership even though they did not want them to become leader. (See 9.38am.) Some MPs nominated Jeremy Corbyn on this basis in 2015, and were horrified when he actually won.
Not for the first time, I spoke to soon. On the BBC’s Daily Politics Lloyd Russell-Moyle said that, although he was backing Rebecca Long Bailey for the leadership, he was considering nominating Clive Lewis because he thought that Lewis’s ideas for constitutional reform should be included in the debate.
Hannah Bardell, an SNP MP who was who was called “queer” by a peer after she raised his “abusive” behaviour towards parliamentary staff, is set to report him to the police for an alleged hate crime, HuffPost’s Arj Singh reports. Bardell was speaking in the Commons during business questions this morning. Here is an extract from Singh’s story.
Journalists last night were taken aback by the news that Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, was considering entering the Labour leadership contest because it sounded most improbable. Gardiner has not been campaigning, candidates only have until 2.30pm on Monday to get the 22 nominations they need from MPs or MEPs to stay in the contest, around half of MPs have already nominated someone, and Gardiner himself is in Abu Dhabi at a climate crisis event, which is not the best place to be if you need to win over almost two dozen MPs. But he is considering standing, as he told my colleague Kate Proctor. Here is her story.
Journalists last night were taken aback by the news that Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, was considering entering the Labour leadership contest because it sounded most improbable. Gardiner has not been campaigning, candidates only have until 2.30pm on Monday to get the 22 nominations they need from MPs or MEPs to stay in the contest, around half of MPs have already nominated someone, and Gardiner himself is in Abu Dhabi at a climate crisis event, which is not the best place to be if you need to win over almost two dozen MPs. But he is considering standing, as he told my colleague Kate Proctor. Here is her story.
This morning Gardiner gave another interview about his possible candidature to the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire. He was speaking from Abu Dhabi, apparently via Skype. Here are the main points.
This morning Gardiner gave another interview about his possible candidature to the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire. He was speaking from Abu Dhabi, apparently via Skype. Here are the main points.
Gardiner said if he could get the backing of 22 MPs he definitely would stand. Asked if he would be a candidate, he replied:
Gardiner said if he could get the backing of 22 MPs he definitely would stand. Asked if he would be a candidate, he replied:
He said if he did stand it would be to “energise” the campaign and to get “dynamism” into the debate.
He said if he did stand it would be to “energise” the campaign and to get “dynamism” into the debate.
He confirmed that Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, had not asked him to stand. And he said no one had urged him to stand on McCluskey’s behalf. But he would welcome McCluskeys’ support, he said. He told Derbyshire:
He confirmed that Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, had not asked him to stand. And he said no one had urged him to stand on McCluskey’s behalf. But he would welcome McCluskey’s support, he said. He told Derbyshire:
This is odd because, according to McCluskey, Gardiner did get a call from the Unite leader last night.
This is odd because, according to McCluskey, Gardiner did get a call from the Unite leader last night.
Gardiner said Labour colleagues were urging him to stand because they saw him as an election winner. Asked what qualities he had that other candidates didn’t, he replied:
Gardiner said Labour colleagues were urging him to stand because they saw him as an election winner. Asked what qualities he had that other candidates didn’t, he replied:
Asked if he was saying the other candidates could not, he went on:
Asked if he was saying the other candidates could not, he went on:
McCluskey says he has not urged Gardiner to run, but Skwawkbox, a pro-Corbyn website supported by Unite and seen by some as a mouthpiece for the union, has over the last two days run articles promoting Gardiner as a candidate. Skwawkbox also ran various articles pushing Ian Lavery as a leadership candidate until he announced that he would not be standing. These blogs fuelled the theory that some Corbynites were either unhappy with Rebecca Long Bailey as a candidate, or doubtful about whether she could win, and were looking around for someone else to champion Corbynism in the contest.
McCluskey says he has not urged Gardiner to run, but Skwawkbox, a pro-Corbyn website supported by Unite and seen by some as a mouthpiece for the union, has over the last two days run articles promoting Gardiner as a candidate. Skwawkbox also ran various articles pushing Ian Lavery as a leadership candidate until he announced that he would not be standing. These blogposts fuelled the theory that some Corbynites were either unhappy with Rebecca Long Bailey as a candidate, or doubtful about whether she could win, and were looking around for someone else to champion Corbynism in the contest.
Jack McConnell, the former Labour Scottish first minister, is backing Lisa Nandy for Labour leader, the Scotsman’s Paris Gourtsoyannis reports.
Jack McConnell, the former Labour Scottish first minister, is backing Lisa Nandy for Labour leader, the Scotsman’s Paris Gourtsoyannis reports.
The Labour leadership candidate Jess Phillips has posted this response on Twitter to Clive Lewis’s article in the Nation saying Scottish Labour should be free to back independence. (See 9.18am.)
The Labour leadership candidate Jess Phillips has posted this response on Twitter to Clive Lewis’s article in the Nation saying Scottish Labour should be free to back independence. (See 9.18am.)
The Labour leadership candidate Emily Thornberry has been speaking to Sky News and she has been giving her own marks for Jeremy Corbyn on a scale from 0 to 10. Rebecca Long Bailey, of course, said on Tuesday that Corbyn deserves 10 out of 10 as a leader. Thornberry’s assessment is less generous. She told Sky:
The Labour leadership candidate Emily Thornberry has been speaking to Sky News and she has been giving her own marks for Jeremy Corbyn on a scale from 0 to 10. Rebecca Long Bailey, of course, said on Tuesday that Corbyn deserves 10 out of 10 as a leader. Thornberry’s assessment is less generous. She told Sky:
This is from Sky’s Mollie Malone.
This is from Sky’s Mollie Malone.
Downing Street has now issued a fuller read-out of the PM’s conversation with the Iranian president. A spokesman said:
Downing Street has now issued a fuller read-out of the PM’s conversation with the Iranian president. A spokesman said:
Boris Johnson has spoken to the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, and called for “an end to hostilities” in the Gulf, No 10 has said.
Boris Johnson has spoken to the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, and called for “an end to hostilities” in the Gulf, No 10 has said.
I will post more from the No 10 briefing when I get it.
I will post more from the No 10 briefing when I get it.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, delivered a speech in Sweden this morning, and then held a lengthy Q&A afterwards. The text of his speech is here, and there is video of the meeting on the Facebook page for the European commission in Sweden. Most of what he said was quite familiar, but there were some lines worth flagging up.
Barnier said that the EU would continue to prepare for a possible no-deal Brexit at the end of 2020. That was because there was a possibility that the UK and the EU might fail to reach an agreement this year, which would lead to no-deal because the UK government is ruling out an extension of the post-Brexit transition. He explained:
Barnier restated the EU’s belief that it would be impossible to conclude a comprehensive agreement with the UK this year. He said:
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European commission, made the same point when she was in London with Barnier yesterday to meet Johnson.
Barnier said the EU would insist on fishing being included as part of an overall trade deal. In the Q&A he was asked how the trade negotiations would be conducted, and whether the EU would insist on the principle that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” that applied during the first stage of the negotiations. Barnier said this time the negotiations would be carried out in a different way. But he went on:
Barnier said there would be a parallel negotiation covering security and defence. But he said he wanted to be “very clear” about the need for trade, level playing field rules and fishing to be considered together. This may turn out to be a flashpoint in the talks because the fishing industry is not happy about the idea that EU access to British waters may get given away in the hope of securing concessions in other parts of the trade talks.
Here is a question from a reader below the line (BTL) that I should have addressed in the post on the private members’ bills ballot. (See 10.16am.)
When MPs enter the ballot they don’t have to say what bill they would put forward and most of them don’t give it much thought at this stage because the chances of doing well in the ballot are relatively small. Some of them may have some ideas. But generally they wait a bit before making an announcement, partly to see what the options are available (MPs who do well in the ballot tend to get lobbied by campaigning organisations promoting off-the-shelf bills), and partly to see what the government might back. If you want a private member’s bill that will actually pass, the safest option is to choose a quasi-government bill. Most departments have small bits of legislation that they want to pass that they haven’t been able to get into the Queen’s speech.
In the Commons Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary and favourite in the Labour leadership contest, has just made his first intervention in Brexit questions. He also raised the government’s decision to remove the child refugee protections from the EU (withdrawal agreement) bill. It was a “disgraceful decision”, Starmer said, and he told Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, that he must know the government had got it wrong. He said a legal obligation had been removed, and replaced with “reliance on the prime minister’s word”, and that Barclay should be able to see why that was unacceptable. Starmer said Labour would continue to fight this.
In response, Barclay repeated his claim that the UK had a good record when it came to taking unaccompanied child refugees. (See 9.48am.) He said the Home Office had given a commitment to negotiate with the EU on this issue. And he said the Tory manifesto even included a commitment on this, on page 23.
He was referring to this line in the manifesto.
The results of the ballot for private members’ bills have been announced. Twenty MPs have been selected, which means they will be given a chance to introduce a private member’s bill, but it is only the MPs at the top of the ballot – Mike Amesbury, Darren Jones, Anna McMorrin, Laura Trott, Chris Loder, Paula Barker – who can be confident that they have a decent chance of getting their bill through because they should get a full Friday for it to be debated.
To pass a private member’s bill, an MP needs to choose legislation that will secure government backing. In the 2017-19 session of parliament nine of these bills became law.
This is from the SNP MP Tommy Sheppard commenting on the Clive Lewis article. (See 9.18am.)
Scottish government representatives will tell their UK counterparts that Scotland had “the right to choose an alternative future” at a meeting of the joint ministerial committee EU negotiations in London today.
The first meeting of the committee this year comes the day after the Scottish parliament voted decisively to reject Boris Johnson’s withdrawal bill. On Wednesday evening, 92 MSPs backed the Scottish government’s memorandum withholding legislative consent from the latest withdrawal agreement, while only 29 voted against it.
Both the Scottish and Welsh parliaments have voted against giving legislative consent to the withdrawal agreement previously although, because they cannot prevent any UK legislation from becoming law, this has been a largely symbolic exercise.
Ahead of the meeting, the Scottish government’s Brexit secretary Michael Russell said:
In the Commons on Wednesday afternoon MPs rejected an amendment to the withdrawal agreement bill tabled by Plaid Cymru that sought to give the Welsh and Scottish parliaments, as well as the Northern Ireland assembly, the right to approve the UK government’s negotiating objectives when it came to the future relationship between the EU and UK.
Plaid Cymru’s Westminster Leader, Liz Saville Roberts, said that Wales had been “at best an afterthought” in the negotiations so far, and that it was “imperative” that Wales’s voice be heard in the phase two discussions.
In the Commons Nick Thomas-Symonds, a shadow Home Office minister, has just challenged Barclay to commit to ensuring that the EU would never have stronger employment rights than the UK after Brexit. Barclay refused to give that commitment, but he said the government would stick to the promise in the Conservative manifesto to maintain high standards. He said in many respects, like maternity rights, UK standards were already much higher than the EU minimum.
In the Commons Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, has just said that the UK has a “proud record” of taking unaccompanied child refugees. Speaking during Brexit questions, and responding to a question about the government’s decision to remove child refugee protections from the EU (withdrawal agreement) bill, he said the UK took 15% of the EU total of unaccompanied child refugees. He said MPs should not be talking down the UK’s record.
According to the well-regarded @CLPNominations Twitter feed, Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, is doing almost as badly as Clive Lewis when it comes to collecting nominations from MPs. Like Lewis, she too might be out of the contest by Monday afternoon.
On the Today programme this morning, in an interview mostly about Iran, Thornberry said she had not given up hope of getting the 22 nominations that she needs. But she didn’t sound confident, and she was reduced to making the argument that someone with her foreign policy background should be “in the mix” in the contest to add to the debate. She said:
In 2010 and again in 2015 some MPs nominated candidates they did not want as Labour leader just to ensure a wider debate. Diane Abbott was the beneficiary in 2010, and of course Jeremy Corbyn made it onto the ballot through this route in 2015. But the decision to nominate Corbyn did not work out quite in the way many people expected, and this time around there is no evidence that any MPs are planning to nominate a candidate they don’t really support just in the hope of widening the debate.
Good morning. So far the Labour leadership contest has not generated much of a debate about the constitution, and the future of the UK, but this morning Clive Lewis has pitched in with an article for the National, the pro-independence paper in Scotland, saying the Scottish Labour party should be totally independent of the party in England, and that it should be free to back Scottish independence. Lewis says:
Lewis says he thinks a second independence referendum is inevitable.
But he says his preference is for the UK to adopt a federal model.
Lewis is a rank outsider in the Labour leadership contest, and it is very possible that he will be out of the contest by Monday afternoon next week, when nominations from MPs close. He needs 22, but currently he just has two. However, he is doing more than other candidates to open up a debate on pluralism and on political reform. In some respect his campaign is similar to Rory Stewart’s in the Tory leadership contest.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9am: A ballot is held in the Commons for MPs who want to get a slot to table a private member’s bill.
9.30am: Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
After 10.30am: Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, makes a statement on forthcoming business in the Commons.
After 11.30am: Heather Wheeler, a Foreign Office minister, makes a statement in the Commons about the Australian bushfires.
After 12.30am: MPs debate the third reading of the EU (withdrawal agreement) bill.
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 plan to 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.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.
If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter.
