-:Undertaker:-
02-09-2010, 08:17 PM
Labour Party leadership and release of Blair book
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/7963184/Labour-leadership-contest-David-Miliband-turns-fire-on-brother-Ed.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/tony-blair/7976472/Tony-Blairs-revenge-on-Gordon-Brown-puts-Labour-on-brink-of-civil-war.html
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01706/blairbrown_1706773c.jpg
Published on the day Labour members received their leadership ballot papers, the former prime minister's detailed and sustained criticism of Mr Brown in his memoir was greeted with dismay and astonishment by senior figures in the party. They said it risked reopening the wounds that scarred the New Labour era and could be "very, very damaging" as the party tried to move on from a general election defeat. Figures close to Mr Brown accused Mr Blair of being "delusional" and warned that the book could unleash a course of "mutual destruction" and dominate the current leadership election.
The row threatens to intensify the rift between the two front-runners for the leadership, the brothers David and Ed Miliband, who are widely seen to represent the Blairite and Brownite wings of the party. Mr Blair uses his memoir to give tacit support to David Miliband's candidacy and offers a scathing criticism of Ed Balls, another candidate and a close ally of Mr Brown. Mr Brown spent Wednesday at his Scottish home and is yet to respond to the accusations that he effectively sought to blackmail his predecessor. One former Cabinet minister has urged Mr Brown to write his own memoir to give his version of events. In A Journey, Mr Blair discloses how he always feared Mr Brown's premiership would be a "disaster" because of his successor's lack of political instinct and "emotional intelligence". He reveals dozens of rows and disagreements during which Mr Brown and his supporters sought to derail the New Labour project.
But Lord Prescott, the former deputy prime minister who often acted as a go-between between the two men, said the book presented a "one-sided version" of the relationship. He warned of the "real danger" of Labour drifting into the wilderness for years if the leadership contest descended into a civil war between Blairite and Brownite factions. "The dangers are – as we saw with the Tories [after 1997] – that if the divisions continue and there is a suggestion that one [candidate] won't follow if the other is elected, that would be very, very damaging for us," he said. "It damaged Labour for 18 years, it damaged the Tories for 13 years.
"We have a fight now between 'Is it Left, is it Right, is it New, is it Labour?' Forget all that. Let's all be Labour and get behind the new leader." Mr Balls has called for an end to the "recriminations". "Tony Blair was Labour's most successful prime minister and Gordon Brown the most successful chancellor," he said. "And for all the tensions, difficulties and arguments which undoubtedly happened, they achieved great things together." Mr Balls hit back at Mr Blair's claim that he was "anti-aspiration". He said Mr Blair did not "get it". He also dismissed the former prime minister's claim that he could have won a fourth term, adding: "Tony had become out of touch, I am afraid."
Andy Burnham, who is also running for the party leadership, said he was "saddened" that Mr Blair had chosen to publish his book at such an important time. He said the "battles of the past" should not enter into the election.
He said: "It really does sadden me that Tony has chosen this day to publish this book." Ed Miliband, who is caught in the crossfire between the Blair and Brown camps, also urged Labour to "move on" from the past.The candidates up for the Leadership are; Diane Abbott, Andy Burnham, David Miliband, Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. The Leadership ballots have already been sent out to members and trade unionists and will be announced on the 25th September 2010 ahead of the Labour Party annual conference. The post of leader is occupied at the moment by interim Leader Harriet Harman following the resignation of Gordon Brown on 10th May 2010.
UKIP leadership change amid annual party conference
http://www.ukip.org/content/latest-news/1835-titford-steps-up-as-interim-leader
http://www.jeffreytitfordmep.co.uk/images/05_Pershore_butcher_2r.jpg
Following the resignation of Lord Pearson of Rannoch as UKIP leader on the 17th August 2010, the NEC of the party has met during the annual party conference taking place now and has positioned former leader (of 2000-2002) Jeffrey Titford (also former UKIP MEP) as the interim leader who will take up the role until a new leader is elected by party members later this year in a fully-fledged election. The role he has taken on will be similar to the role we have seen Harriet Harman of Labour take following the resignation of Gordon Brown.
Vote Match: Labour Leadership
http://www.votematch.org.uk/lab2010/index.php
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/files/2010/06/labour-leadership-debate.jpg
We haven't heard much on the Labour leadership (on this forum anyway) and Jordy found this vote match website you can use to see which of the candidates you are closest to in what they are proposing as policy. It only takes a few minutes and it'd be interesting more so to see what results Labour supporters on here come out with results-wise. The link is over the above photo, here are my results (as much as I disagree with them all [the candidates]);
Ed Balls: 59%
David Miliband: 57%
Ed Miliband: 57%
Diane Abbott: 49%
Andy Burnham: //not included in the questionare//
Thoughts on the Labour Leadership candidates? (would be interesting to hear thoughts of Labour supporters)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/7963184/Labour-leadership-contest-David-Miliband-turns-fire-on-brother-Ed.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/tony-blair/7976472/Tony-Blairs-revenge-on-Gordon-Brown-puts-Labour-on-brink-of-civil-war.html
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01706/blairbrown_1706773c.jpg
Published on the day Labour members received their leadership ballot papers, the former prime minister's detailed and sustained criticism of Mr Brown in his memoir was greeted with dismay and astonishment by senior figures in the party. They said it risked reopening the wounds that scarred the New Labour era and could be "very, very damaging" as the party tried to move on from a general election defeat. Figures close to Mr Brown accused Mr Blair of being "delusional" and warned that the book could unleash a course of "mutual destruction" and dominate the current leadership election.
The row threatens to intensify the rift between the two front-runners for the leadership, the brothers David and Ed Miliband, who are widely seen to represent the Blairite and Brownite wings of the party. Mr Blair uses his memoir to give tacit support to David Miliband's candidacy and offers a scathing criticism of Ed Balls, another candidate and a close ally of Mr Brown. Mr Brown spent Wednesday at his Scottish home and is yet to respond to the accusations that he effectively sought to blackmail his predecessor. One former Cabinet minister has urged Mr Brown to write his own memoir to give his version of events. In A Journey, Mr Blair discloses how he always feared Mr Brown's premiership would be a "disaster" because of his successor's lack of political instinct and "emotional intelligence". He reveals dozens of rows and disagreements during which Mr Brown and his supporters sought to derail the New Labour project.
But Lord Prescott, the former deputy prime minister who often acted as a go-between between the two men, said the book presented a "one-sided version" of the relationship. He warned of the "real danger" of Labour drifting into the wilderness for years if the leadership contest descended into a civil war between Blairite and Brownite factions. "The dangers are – as we saw with the Tories [after 1997] – that if the divisions continue and there is a suggestion that one [candidate] won't follow if the other is elected, that would be very, very damaging for us," he said. "It damaged Labour for 18 years, it damaged the Tories for 13 years.
"We have a fight now between 'Is it Left, is it Right, is it New, is it Labour?' Forget all that. Let's all be Labour and get behind the new leader." Mr Balls has called for an end to the "recriminations". "Tony Blair was Labour's most successful prime minister and Gordon Brown the most successful chancellor," he said. "And for all the tensions, difficulties and arguments which undoubtedly happened, they achieved great things together." Mr Balls hit back at Mr Blair's claim that he was "anti-aspiration". He said Mr Blair did not "get it". He also dismissed the former prime minister's claim that he could have won a fourth term, adding: "Tony had become out of touch, I am afraid."
Andy Burnham, who is also running for the party leadership, said he was "saddened" that Mr Blair had chosen to publish his book at such an important time. He said the "battles of the past" should not enter into the election.
He said: "It really does sadden me that Tony has chosen this day to publish this book." Ed Miliband, who is caught in the crossfire between the Blair and Brown camps, also urged Labour to "move on" from the past.The candidates up for the Leadership are; Diane Abbott, Andy Burnham, David Miliband, Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. The Leadership ballots have already been sent out to members and trade unionists and will be announced on the 25th September 2010 ahead of the Labour Party annual conference. The post of leader is occupied at the moment by interim Leader Harriet Harman following the resignation of Gordon Brown on 10th May 2010.
UKIP leadership change amid annual party conference
http://www.ukip.org/content/latest-news/1835-titford-steps-up-as-interim-leader
http://www.jeffreytitfordmep.co.uk/images/05_Pershore_butcher_2r.jpg
Following the resignation of Lord Pearson of Rannoch as UKIP leader on the 17th August 2010, the NEC of the party has met during the annual party conference taking place now and has positioned former leader (of 2000-2002) Jeffrey Titford (also former UKIP MEP) as the interim leader who will take up the role until a new leader is elected by party members later this year in a fully-fledged election. The role he has taken on will be similar to the role we have seen Harriet Harman of Labour take following the resignation of Gordon Brown.
Vote Match: Labour Leadership
http://www.votematch.org.uk/lab2010/index.php
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/files/2010/06/labour-leadership-debate.jpg
We haven't heard much on the Labour leadership (on this forum anyway) and Jordy found this vote match website you can use to see which of the candidates you are closest to in what they are proposing as policy. It only takes a few minutes and it'd be interesting more so to see what results Labour supporters on here come out with results-wise. The link is over the above photo, here are my results (as much as I disagree with them all [the candidates]);
Ed Balls: 59%
David Miliband: 57%
Ed Miliband: 57%
Diane Abbott: 49%
Andy Burnham: //not included in the questionare//
Thoughts on the Labour Leadership candidates? (would be interesting to hear thoughts of Labour supporters)