FlyTheNest

Lord Mandelson told the meeting: "30,000 long term members have left the Labour party, real members, tens of thousands. There are now two Labour parties..."

TobyLatimer wrote:Panto season, that time of year when Baron Not-so-Hardup makes an appearance. He's behind you ! On no he isn't, etc

Neil Kinnock And Peter Mandelson Warn Jeremy Corbyn Over Future Direction Of Labour Party

Lord Mandelson told the meeting: "30,000 long term members have left the Labour party, real members, tens of thousands. There are now two Labour parties..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12 ... mg00000067" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Barry Gardiner ‏@BarryGardiner 16m16 minutes ago
Gov U Turn in just 5 days
1. Announce historic Paris Agreement @COP21
2. Announce Fracking in National Parks
3. Announce 64% cut to solar

StephenDolan wrote:Muzzling the Lords, shackling the right to strike, electoral boundary and registration changes, slashing of opposition parties short money funding, deliberately conflating the lobbying problem.

How are MSM political commentators and dare I say it, MSM political journalists not constantly shouting from the rooftops over this tyrannical behaviour?

Morning all btw!

StephenDolan wrote:

TobyLatimer wrote:Panto season, that time of year when Baron Not-so-Hardup makes an appearance. He's behind you ! On no he isn't, etc

Neil Kinnock And Peter Mandelson Warn Jeremy Corbyn Over Future Direction Of Labour Party

Lord Mandelson told the meeting: "30,000 long term members have left the Labour party, real members, tens of thousands. There are now two Labour parties..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12 ... mg00000067" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Mandy, in all seriousness, what does he want to achieve saying this type of thing?

The government has scrapped plans to stop funding apprenticeship frameworks after 2017/18.
The cut-off, that would ensure providers were only delivering new Trailblazer standards come 2018/19, was first announced in October 2013, but speculation has been mounting in recent months as to whether ministers were looking to step back from the date.

Fuelling such speculation has been frustration in the sector at the supply of new standards, while there has also been a low take-up for those already available. But it was revealed in the government’s 2020 vision document (pictured), published on December 7, that the 2017/18 end of frameworks has now been dropped.

StephenDolan wrote:

TobyLatimer wrote:Panto season, that time of year when Baron Not-so-Hardup makes an appearance. He's behind you ! On no he isn't, etc

Neil Kinnock And Peter Mandelson Warn Jeremy Corbyn Over Future Direction Of Labour Party

Lord Mandelson told the meeting: "30,000 long term members have left the Labour party, real members, tens of thousands. There are now two Labour parties..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12 ... mg00000067" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ScreenShot01300.jpg

Mandy, in all seriousness, what does he want to achieve saying this type of thing?

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:

StephenDolan wrote:

TobyLatimer wrote:Panto season, that time of year when Baron Not-so-Hardup makes an appearance. He's behind you ! On no he isn't, etc

Neil Kinnock And Peter Mandelson Warn Jeremy Corbyn Over Future Direction Of Labour Party


http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12 ... mg00000067" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ScreenShot01300.jpg

Mandy, in all seriousness, what does he want to achieve saying this type of thing?

Only things he can achieve is to remind us he is still here, something I have personally tried so hard to forget.

Mandelson is yesterday's man, an irrelevance even more so that Blair. But I guess it suits the Fourth Estate's agenda to keep digging him up for the odd quote.

TobyLatimer wrote:I've been trying to find some official figures regarding the actual number of Labour members. Difficult to find unless I'm probably looking in the wrong places. I've not seen that '30,000 have left' which Mandy claims anywhere else though.

Ian Lavery: The Chancellor stood up and said that he was proud to have these targets set in stone. He tried to set a trap for the Labour party on this issue, but he wanted the benefits cap set in stone. The Minister is now explaining that, for the next two or three years, there is no chance of meeting those targets. Please tell us that you are slightly embarrassed or concerned.

Madam Deputy Speaker (Natascha Engel): Order. I am not embarrassed or concerned. The Minister might be, but I am not.

Mr Vara: If we are talking about embarrassment, perhaps it is the hon. Member for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery), along with those on the Opposition Front Bench, who ought to be embarrassed. They ought to be embarrassed about the millions of people who lived in misery because they were forced to become unemployed. They ought to be embarrassed because, under Labour, the welfare cap was out of control. They ought to be pleased that this Government have the guts to take the difficult decisions to bring the welfare cap back under control.

TobyLatimer wrote:I've been trying to find some official figures regarding the actual number of Labour members. Difficult to find unless I'm probably looking in the wrong places. I've not seen that '30,000 have left' which Mandy claims anywhere else though.

rebeccariots2 wrote:Does anyone know if Willow is OK? I'm aware she hasn't been around for a bit.

... The special affection that Labour colleagues hold for Simon Danczuk, the MP for Tory Press Central, may be gauged from the positive responses to an email request for sponsorship for a charity fun run. “He would raise a fortune,” a Labour shadow minister messaged me, “if Simon simply promised to keep on running and never come back.” At five miles a day, he would be 35 miles from Westminster after the first week alone...

External support
The Loxford Trust continues to provide support for academy teachers and leaders. This support has been more sharply focused on areas of most need since the last inspection report. For example, the directors of science and of special educational needs work with academy colleagues to improve practice. Lead teachers from other academies in the Loxford Trust continue to carry out effective work in the academy, both where there is weakness in teaching and where there is an absence of a teacher.

The local authority provides appropriate challenge to the academy through regular visits and membership of the local governing body.

StephenDolan wrote:

TobyLatimer wrote:I've been trying to find some official figures regarding the actual number of Labour members. Difficult to find unless I'm probably looking in the wrong places. I've not seen that '30,000 have left' which Mandy claims anywhere else though.

From that HuffPo piece "Although upto date figures have not been released recently, Labour has around 200,000 more members now than it had at the time of the May general election. And around 60,000 are thought to have joined since Mr Corbyn's victory in September."
How many of these were previously affiliated via unions? 140,000 difference May to September (without including churn) is a heck of a lot.

Indeed, support for Corbyn may now be higher than at the time of his election in September. More than 100,000 members have joined the party since then, while around 30,000 others have departed in protest, with the net result that Labour’s activist base has moved further leftwards. Under the party’s new electoral system, it is the grass roots that are sovereign.

Baroness Smith of Basildon, Labour's leader in the Lords, said her party would examine Lord Strathclyde's report but said she was "still not convinced there was a problem there in the first place".

She added: "As most people at Parliament know, the government lost a vote on tax credits and in a massive over-reaction have decided to try and change the rules of the game.

"That looked churlish at the time and it feels no different now."

This is the last day I will be writing the blog this year.

Next week I will put up a readers’ edition blog on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. But then I am proposing to leave it until Monday 4 January, when I will be back writing my normal blog, on the grounds that all sensible people need a break from politics between Christmas and the New Year. But if there is very, very strong demand for a readers’ edition that week, I could reconsider. Let me know what you think BTL. For anyone desperate for a politics fix, I presume my friends at flythenest will be in action.

This is the last day I will be writing the blog this year.

Next week I will put up a readers’ edition blog on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. But then I am proposing to leave it until Monday 4 January, when I will be back writing my normal blog, on the grounds that all sensible people need a break from politics between Christmas and the New Year. But if there is very, very strong demand for a readers’ edition that week, I could reconsider. Let me know what you think BTL. For anyone desperate for a politics fix, I presume my friends at flythenest will be in action. (my emphasis)

Julie Burchill, who tips Phillips as a future Labour leader, has described the 34-year-old MP as an ‘overgrown schoolgirl’ and a ‘Mrs Pankhurst meets Tigger in Topshop’.

AnatolyKasparov wrote:...but what's the Kinnock reference in the above headline about?

Ruth Hayhurst ‏@ruthhayhurst 3 hrs3 hours ago

How MPs voted in yesterday’s #fracking ballot - full list now out http://wp.me/p3OyVh-3dt

Dr. Chris Jones ‏@dr_chris_jones 5 mins5 minutes ago

.@ruthhayhurst How come 39 Labour and Labour Co-op MPs didn't vote? That's more than government majority.

rebeccariots2 wrote:Why the hell are Womans Hour giving space to Katie Hopkins to spout her horrible views?

StephenDolan wrote:Milburn, you're giving cover a la Field. You do realise this?

" Other recommendations include a fund to test new ways of improving parenting skills, a zero-tolerance approach to schools and further education colleges that fail to meet minimum standards by requiring them to become parts of academy chains, and better employment incentives in universal credit. "

The Government Is Trying To 'Bury' A Lot Of 'Bad News' On Parliament's Last Day Before Christmas

A raft of written ministerial statements were this morning tabled on a series of controversial areas, including the Muslim Brotherhood, police spending, badger culling, and cuts to green energy funding.

Among the most embarrassing revelations is likely to be how much chauffeur-driven ministerial cars are costing the taxpayer - detail the Department has failed to publish in the last three years.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12 ... 1450352821

Finally, in order to mitigate against excessive use of the new process which I have proposed under option 3, I believe it would be appropriate for the government to take steps to ensure that bills contain an appropriate level of detail and that too much is not left for implementation by statutory instrument.

NonOxCol wrote:Good morning.

I am a bit out of the loop, and can't find a reference anywhere - are there to be 'Groan Awards' for 2015?

If so, can I nominate this? For some sort of all-time award.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... lfare-vote" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

NonOxCol wrote:Good morning.

I am a bit out of the loop, and can't find a reference anywhere - are there to be 'Groan Awards' for 2015?

If so, can I nominate this? For some sort of all-time award.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... lfare-vote" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A new bullying row hit the Conservative Party today after one of its MPs was accused of “vicious” verbal abuse against members of her own staff.

In phone calls heard by the Standard, Lucy Allan rants at a female staffer on sick leave — describing her absence as “pathetic”, telling her she “pissed around on my life” and accusing her of having an “alcohol problem”.

The MP for Telford threatens to sack the young woman if she takes four weeks off, as advised by her doctor.

She tells her: “I’m not paying you for that then. It’s ridiculous.”

A new bullying row hit the Conservative Party today after one of its MPs was accused of “vicious” verbal abuse against members of her own staff.

In phone calls heard by the Standard, Lucy Allan rants at a female staffer on sick leave — describing her absence as “pathetic”, telling her she “pissed around on my life” and accusing her of having an “alcohol problem”.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics ... 39526.html

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:Bless 'er, she is a shining example of compassionate conservatism at its best.

David Cameron has arrived in Brussels for the EU summit. (Politics Live, Guardian)

StephenDolan wrote:Sell out Shirl to retire. Mission accomplished.