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MPs Vote in Favour of a Brexit Extension

MPs in the House of Commons today have voted with a majority of just one in favour of an extension to Brexit. The bill, which is still subject to Lords approval, was put forwards by Yvette Cooper, the Labour MP for Normanton, although it will also require the support of the European Commission.

The decision of the Commons will now mean that if Theresa May, the Prime Minister, is unable to secure agreement in the House next week for her Brexit deal then Parliament will require her to seek a longer extension to Article 50.

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Clive Lewis, Norwich South Labour MP, Apologises for Inappropriate Comments

Clive Lewis, the Labour MP for Norwich South, has apologised after video footage appeared of him telling an individual “to get on your knees, bitch”. The Labour Party apologised for Lewis’s behaviour and said that “his behaviour was completely unacceptable and falls far short of the standard we expect”.

Harriet Harman, the former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, said on Twitter:

“Inexplicable. Inexcusable. Dismayed”.

Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, said on Twitter:

“Just seen the Clive Lewis video. Obviously I am appalled, just listened to 7 teenage girls speak up about gender inequality. Perhaps I’ll bring them to work on Monday”.

Yvette Cooper, the former Shadow Home Secretary, said on Twitter:

“Agree w Jess. No excuse for saying this, whatever context”.

Stella Creasey, the Labour MP for Walthamstow said:

“Its not OK. Even if meant as joke, reinforces menace that men have the physical power to force compliance- time for http://labourtoo.org.uk”.

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Boris Johnson Condemned for Comments Comparing EU to Hitler

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Boris Johnson, the former Mayor of London, has been criticised by members across political parties and by German politicians following his comments about Hitler and the EU.

Johnson had written in the Telegraph that:

“Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically. The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods”.

Yvette Cooper, the Labour leadership contender last year, said:

“The more he flails around with this kind of hysterical claim, the more he exposes his shameful lack of judgement, his willingness to play the most divisive cynical politics, and the emptiness of his arguments”.

Hilary Benn, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said:

“After the horror of the Second World War, the EU helped to bring an end to centuries of conflict in Europe and for Boris Johnson to make this comparison is both offensive and desperate”.

Jürgen Hardt, the Foreign Affairs Spokesman for the CDU party in Germany, said:

“If we look at the cultural life and the way business is done on the continent, it is clear that Europe has never been more British than it is now. We want things to remain that way – with Britain inside the EU”.

Axel Schäfer, a spokesman for the SPD party in Germany, said:

“The European Union is a club which 28 member states have joined voluntarily, not by force, and which is made up of them, and not of Brussels. It is also a club in which Britain plays a leading role, and which would be unimaginable without British leadership”.

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory Leader and Work and Pensions Secretary, defended Johnson saying:

“It’s a historical fact of life that if you go through Napoleon, Hitler, everyone else, I think the whole process of trying to drive Europe together by force or by bureaucracy ultimately makes problem”.

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Andy Burnham Admits that Labour Has Been Slow to Deal With Antisemitism

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Andy Burnham, the Shadow Home Secretary, has said on BBC’s Question Time that the Labour Party has been slow to tackle recent cases of antisemitism within the party.

Burnham said:

“These allegations, when they are surfacing, are not being dealt with properly and quickly enough. They need to be dealt with much more speedily in the future”.

Burnham’s comments come after criticism was made over how the party dealt with Naz Shah and Ken Livingstone.

Yvette Cooper, the former Shadow Home Secretary, also said last night:

“The Labour party needs to do more than simply to have suspensions of people who have been saying antisemitic things”.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Opposition, rejected a question that the Labour Party was now in crisis, saying:

“It’s not a crisis. There’s no crisis. Where there is any racism in the party it will be dealt with, it will be rooted out”.

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Boris Johnson Plunges Conservative Party Into Racism Row

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Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has embroiled the Conservative Party into allegations of racism after referring to Barack Obama, the President of the United States, as “part-Kenyan” whilst criticising his input into the EU debate.

Johnson said in an article for The Sun newspaper, said:

“Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan President’s ancestral dislike of the British empire – of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender”.

Nicholas Soames, a Conservative MP and grandson of Winston Churchill, said:

“Appalling article by Boris Johnson in The Sun, totally wrong on almost everything”.

John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, said:

“The mask has slipped again. Boris Johnson’s part-Kenyan comment about Barack Obama is yet another example of dog whistle racism from senior Tories. He should withdraw it immediately”.

Yvette Cooper, a contender for the Labour leadership in 2015, said:

“As ever, it’s more bad judgment from Boris Johnson. Is this really how a man who wants to be prime minister should be talking about the president of the United States?”

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Corbyn hit by early series of Labour resignations

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Within just hours of Jeremy Corbyn being elected as the new Labour Party leader there have been numerous resignations from the party’s Ministerial spokespeople.

Those already announcing their departure include Tristram Hunt, Emma Reynolds, Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall, Chris Leslie, Chuka Umunna, Rachel Reeves and Jamie Reed with others expected to stand down later today. Ed Miliband, the former party leader, has also confirmed that he wouldn’t serve in a Corbyn-led Shadow Cabinet.

 

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Jeremy Corbyn is the new leader of the Labour Party

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The Labour Party have confirmed that Jeremy Corbyn has been elected as their new party leader.

Results 1st Stage Members Registered Supporters Affiliated Supporters Total % of Valid Vote
BURNHAM, Andy 55,698 6,160 18,604 80,462 19.0%
COOPER, Yvette 54,470 8,415 9,043 71,928 17.0%
CORBYN, Jeremy 121,751 88,449 41,217 251,417 59.5%
KENDALL, Liz 13,601 2,574 2,682 18,857 4.5%
TOTAL 245,520 105,598 71,546 422,664

 

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Three Labour leadership candidates reject Jeremy Corbyn’s call for all-women train carriages

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Yvette Cooper, one of the four candidates for leadership of the Labour Party, has rejected a proposal by Jeremy Corbyn, who is also standing, for all-women carriages to be introduced onto trains.

Cooper said on Twitter:

“Why should we [women] have to shut ourselves away to stay safe?”

She later said in a statement:

“The staff needed to enforce the segregated carriages should be keeping all the carriages safe instead. Transport bosses and police need to do far more to crack down on harassment and abuse – and that means we need more visible police and staff on tubes, trains and platforms, better lighting and CCTV, tough action to follow up abuse (which too often doesn’t happen), and a complete change in culture on buses, railways and tubes”.

Liz Kendall, also standing in the leadership contest, said:

“But I don’t believe that gender segregation is the answer. That’d be an admission of defeat, rather than a sustainable solution”.

Andy Burnham, the fourth candidate for the leadership, said:

“In this day and age we shouldn’t even considering the idea of segregated train travel. As a dad of two young girls, I want to see a proper society-wide strategy on tackling violence against women”.

Anber Raz from the Equality Now group also criticised the proposals saying:

“Having women-only carriages on public transport does not solve the fundamental problem of sexual harassment and hides women away. Instead, the focus should be on ending the harassment and teaching boys and men not to do it, rather than putting the onus on women to ‘stay safe’. The justice system should be held accountable too, to take this issue seriously and pursue prosecutions, thereby sending a strong message that the continued harassment of women and girls will not be tolerated”.

Corbyn’s campaign team said that he had raised the issue only to encourage debate on protecting women and that it was only for discussion at this stage.

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Alan Johnson appeals for calm after splits in Labour Party threatened if Corbyn wins leadership

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Alan Johnson, the former Home Secretary and Shadow Chancellor, has appealed for calm in the Labour party over further rumours of splits if Jeremy Corbyn is elected leader.

Fears of a split have increased in recent days as numerous Labour MPs have said they fear being deselected by members loyal to Jeremy Corbyn. Johnson has appealed for loyalty to whoever is elected leader of the party and confirmed that he would also remain loyal.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph Johnson said:

“This is an election. If Jeremy Corbyn emerges as the winner I would counsel anyone thinking of splitting or separating to think again”.

Johnson is supporting Yvette Cooper in the leadership contest and although he appealed for calm he also urged restraint from the left of the party. Johnson warned against repeating past mistakes and said:

“I certainly hope that Jeremy and his supporters, particularly the more finger-jabbing intolerant sections of them are not going to try to repeat the 1980s”.

There are four candidates for the Labour leadership who are Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn and Liz Kendall. The results will be announced at a special conference on Saturday 12 September 2015.

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Corbyn campaign team confirms assets may be seized from pension funds

John McDonnell, the campaign agent of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership bid for the Labour Party, has confirmed that assets may be seized as part of a programme of renationalisation.

Corbyn has pledged to start with nationalisation of the energy and railway industries and McDonnell confirmed that assets may be seized without compensation. Asset holders include pension funds and charities but Corbyn has yet to comment further on the potential seizure. McDonnell said:

“A future Corbyn-led Labour government will reserve the right to bring them back into public ownership with either no compensation or with any undervaluation deducted from any compensation for renationalisation”.

The comments drew criticism from Labour MPs including  Yvette Cooper, who is also standing for the leadership of the party. She said:

“You can’t confiscate assets and you can’t print money to pay for things because that has a much wider impact on the economy and confidence in the British economy”.

Chris Leslie, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, also expressed concern at the comments made by the Corbyn campaign team. He said:

“We have a right to know and, so far, I have not received an explanation”.