quote:

Smiley optimism was once their calling card, but the one-time disciples of New Labour must be looking into the new year with deep dread: 2015 was bad; 2016 could be worse. But what to do, beyond moaning?

Tony Blair recently pronounced his old party’s current position a “tragedy”. Now Peter Mandelson has advised that the time for hand-wringing is over, and his former Labour colleagues ought to “fight for the party’s future” against a leader who is apparently an “intentionally divisive figure”, using “very unconventional means” to strengthen his grip (some of this may sound familiar).

Meanwhile, as evidenced by all that speculation about a looming shadow cabinet reshuffle, Jeremy Corbyn is clearly digging in.

The makeup of what might be called the coalition of the unwilling is pretty clear: a mixture of Blairites, Brownites, the inheritors of the part of the old Labour right once rooted in some of the unions, and that great swath of Labour MPs who have no great factional loyalties but are deeply unsettled by their party’s sudden left turn. Their pain, it seems, is shared by a reasonable number of activists, some of whom have decided to quit the party altogether. But so far, most of these people have displayed a remarkable lack of willingness to even understand their own predicament, let alone do anything meaningful about it.

Their script goes something like this. Never mind 50 years of deindustrialisation, a deepening Europe-wide crisis of social democracy, or the downsides of the Blair and Brown years, to quote the Labour-aligned thinktank Policy Network: this year’s election defeat could be reduced to two key factors – Labour’s failure to pay enough attention to “economic competence”, and the fact that “the public did not perceive Ed Miliband as a credible prime minister”.

As and when the Corbyn project implodes, goes the apparent argument, a new leader with the right plan will finally be summoned, and Labour will be back in the game. Despite his protestations, the prince across the water used to be Alan Johnson. Now that dubious honour seems to have fallen to the soldier-turned-politician Dan Jarvis. If he isn’t up for it, there’s always that unlikely recent success story, Hilary Benn. Or maybe the Birmingham MP Jess Phillips: a good egg, it seems, but so far lionised chiefly because she has the fairly ordinary talent of speaking her mind, and has an obvious sense of humour.

While the self-styled moderates – many of whom, it has to be said, are not moderate at all – pick their latest favourite, those who once gave them their lead occasionally pipe up. Blair’s latest contribution to the Labour debate was a flatly strange article in the Spectator, sprinkled with the usual gnomic formulations (eg “true progressives are always the modernisers”). That piece was followed by a slightly better one by his former speechwriter and strategist Peter Hyman, now the headteacher of a free school. He proposed a left-right split, and offered a watery vision of what latter-day “modernisers” should be all about : a “renewed sense of moral purpose”, reducible to the hoary New Labour emphasis on social mobility, and a politics that would “be seen to be grappling seriously with the big questions of the day: migration, globalisation, terrorism, the environment, welfare, housing, our place in the world”.

If that sounded rather vapid, it was as nothing compared with Mandelson’s intervention on these pages: an extended hyperventilation about Corbyn and his allies using comparable methods to the ones that clinched Blair and co’s grip on the party all those years ago. (It is for, example, no use getting in a lather about activists demanding deselections when you have been an integral part of a machine that specialised in the parachuting-in of chosen insiders to safe Labour seats). Worse still, beyond vague allusions to Labour’s supposed “centre ground”, it offered no hint of what a substantial alternative to the current leadership might actually entail.

I am not exactly what some people call a Corbynista, but the realities such analyses evade seem simple enough. Whatever his suitability for the job, Corbyn is where he is for one reason above all others: the fact that Britain’s post-1979 journey into a new reality of a shrunken welfare state, marketised public services, rising inequality and an impossible job market had reached a watershed with the deepening of austerity, and there was a need for a clear moral response, without which Labour was in danger of shrinking into meaninglessness. On that score, over the summer of 2015, the heirs to the New Labour project were deservedly found wanting; indeed, their very philosophy was fatally exposed.

A few non-Corbynites are beginning to understand what the moment might require of those who want to revive the parts of Labour beyond the radical left. The former shadow education minister Tristram Hunt had a decidedly mixed 2015, but he recently talked pretty powerfully at the Fabian Society about the politics of inequality, Labour’s frayed bond with working-class voters and the necessity of reinventing the party’s belief in redistribution. Chuka Umunna has recently made welcome noises about changing the voting system; some voices one would once have associated with 1997-era orthodoxy have lately been making the case for a citizen’s income; the idea of an unconditional payment granted to every individual as a right of citizenship..

Out in the real world, meanwhile, The Labour leaders of British cities are exploring the theory and practice of centre-left politics in unspeakably difficult times. What they do every working day contains profound lessons for their party, particularly for those who yearn for a revival of its old political centre. But as the supposed moderates protest, they barely seem to have a place in the conversation. Why not?

When exactly the party will even start to resolve the tensions that are going to swirl around it for the next four years – at least – is still a mystery. Whether it is still possible to meaningfully talk about a Labour mainstream connected to the bulk of its MPs is even more uncertain. But still, how depressing to find far too many Labour people who see themselves as the party’s custodians failing to do anything new, moping their way into the new year – and blaming anyone but themselves.

marktheando posted:

Can you imagine Cameron in a beer hall?

Cerv posted:

That's why we have the jury to decide. They've no incentive to go over the top like prosecutor & police can be.

Tesseraction posted:

Thanks for the reminder because this was hilarious, but a goon beat him to that discovery.

dispatch_async posted:

You forgot to include this for some reason:

Pissflaps posted:

Agreed. I'm also going to take my ball and go home with it.

Ludicro posted:

It amuses me when the papers use the whole [PERSON] BLASTS [PERSON] OVER [EVENT]. I always imagine it to be something like out of Dragonball Z.

OwlFancier posted:

OwlFancier posted:

Trap sprung.

quote:

Labour MP Simon Danczuk is facing a police investigation after a rape allegation was made against him.

A Lancashire police spokeswoman said on Monday: “We can confirm that we have today received a report of a rape against a 49-year-old man. Inquiries are ongoing.”

It is understood that the allegation is against Danczuk, who has been under mounting pressure after a series of revelations about his private life.

Danczuk declined to comment on the allegation after the statement was made by police. But speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Danczuk said he would cooperate with any police investigation. “I would always cooperate with the police in any regard in any investigation in relation to any issue,” he said.

Danczuk has been MP for Rochdale since 2010 and hit the headlines two years later after exposing Cyril Smith, the late Liberal MP, as a paedophile. He co-wrote a book on Smith and first named him as a child abuser in parliament, months before the police confirmed that the late MP should have been prosecuted over abuse claims.

He has been a prominent campaigner against child abuse in recent years and has also has been a fierce critic of the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, whom he said last October he would try to oust if the party did badly in this May’s devolved and local elections.

He has admitted to having a drink problem and his personal relationships have also hit the headlines in the past year.

At the weekend, Danczuk’s first wife accused him of being a sexual predator in an interview with the Mail on Sunday. Sonia Rossington, who was married to the MP for a decade, accused him of drug-taking and sexually abusive behaviour during their marriage.

Danczuk responded to Rossington’s claims, telling the Mail On Sunday: “She is consumed by bitterness, is susceptible to drinking too much and is telling lies.”

The Labour MP has been in the spotlight over the past few days after being suspended by the party, which is investigating his conduct over an entirely separate allegation, in which admitted sending explicit texts to a 17-year-old girl after she asked him for a job in his constituency office.


The MP apologised unreservedly and blamed a drink problem for the messages he sent to Sophena Houlihan when she was 17.

Houlihan, who is now 18, said Danczuk sent her numerous messages including one asking if she wanted a “spanking”.

Pressure on Danczuk to resign intensified on Monday night as Peter Saunders, the founder of one of Britain’s biggest child abuse charities, the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said the MP had “no excuses whatsoever” for his behaviour towards Houlihan.

“I want to register my disgust at not only his behaviour but his attempts to defend himself instead of doing the honourable thing, which is resigning immediately as a member of parliament,” said Saunders, who was last year appointed by Pope Francis to a special commission on child sexual abuse in the Catholic church.

Saunders’ comments came hours after a small demonstration outside Danczuk’s constituency office in Rochdale ended in ugly scenes when two men confronted the MP in the town centre, shouting: “Resign, you scumbag,” as he retreated to his office. Danczuk later said he had reported one of the men to police.

A group of around two dozen protesters – many of whom were political opponents of Danczuk – had earlier gathered outside his constituency office before marching through Rochdale demanding his resignation.

Speaking after the protest had finished, Danczuk described the demonstrators as a “ragtag of political opponents” and “malcontents” and said he had been “humbled” by the reaction of his constituents, who he said were sticking by him.

The MP also suggested he was the victim of an establishment class war, saying he had been lambasted for his “working-class colourful personal life” while people acting with similar colourful lives from upper class backgrounds were not vilified.

The MP’s personal life has repeatedly made headlines over the past year, following the collapse of his marriage to his second wife, Karen, who was dubbed the “selfie queen” after posting numerous photographs of herself on social media.

Greater Manchester police have previously confirmed that they had looked into a report that Danczuk had been “communicating inappropriately with a teenage girl” after a complaint was made to them on 29 December 2015. “This matter was looked into and it has been determined that no offences have been committed,” they said in a statement.

It is understood that Labour is considering dropping Ken Livingstone from any inquiry into Danczuk after the former mayor of London criticised the MP for Rochdale last week. Danczuk claimed Livingstone has prejudged any inquiry.

quote:

AN ARTIST’S pledge not to leave Scotland’s largest city for one year as part of a research project has prompted a backlash on social media.

Ellie Harrison was awarded £15,000 by Creative Scotland to fund The Glasgow Effect, which aims to challenge the “demand for travel” facing artists and academics.

The 36-year-old, a lecturer in contemporary art practices at Duncan of Jordanstone College in Dundee, said the experiment would enable her “to cut her carbon footprint and increase her sense of belonging, by encouraging her to seek out and create local opportunities.”

Harrison will not leave the Greater Glasgow area until 2017, except in the event of the ill-health or death of a close relative or friend.

But critics soon took to the project’s Facebook page to question the project’s objectives, with its title attracting particular concern.

The Glasgow Effect is a term regularly used to describe the city’s poor public health record when compared to other places in the UK and Western Europe with similar recent histories of economic deprivation and desindustrialisation.

“I know literally hundreds of people who’ve been creating art of all descriptions in Glasgow for years and funding it from our day jobs or from hosting fundraisers,” said Kenny Leckie in a post on the project’s Facebook page.

“Doesn’t this disrespect everyone who doesn’t have that luxury of being funded to create art and who lives here because they can’t afford to move away?”

Cara Connolly said: “There are undoubtedly many people who will never have left Glasgow due to long term unemployment and poverty, and surely they themselves could better tell their experiences instead of some artist?”

Others supported the project. Lesley Cunningham said: “I think it’s an immersive, expansive and interesting idea and personally can’t wait to see the results.”

Harrison’s previous projects include Eat 22, in which she photographed everything she eat for one year. She is also responsible for the Bring Back British Rail campaign, which calls for the renationalisation of rail services in the UK.

A Creative Scotland spokesperson said: “Ellie’s project met the criteria for Open Project Funding to develop her practice and we await with interest, the outcome of her project.”

Harrison told The Scotsman she had been “overwhelmed” by the reaction to the project. She added she would explain it in more detail via a series of blog posts planned for later in the week.

Soylent Green posted:

Ellie's a good egg who's a climate change + rail nationalization campaigner which will almost certainly end up being a big part of the point of this project. A project that has recieved 0.14% of the OPF budget.

I'm unironically interested to see what she does and I'm sorely disappointed by the reactions so far. People are jumping to conclusions that I'm fairly certain won't be accurate at all.

Guavanaut posted:

There was also a thread a while back with a fair few of us in support of the utility of rough shooting, which is explicitly not grouse shooting on a huge private estate, while also saying that it wouldn't be practical for every single person short on food to go out into the countryside for woodpigeon. I think it was started by some Tory op-ed suggesting that the urban poor go out to the countryside to forage for food.

Or maybe it was a lib-dem op-ed, I can't imagine the Tories too keen on a wave of city people descending on their hedgerows of an evening.

Soylent Green posted:

Can the two not coexist? You do an incredibly important job that is horrendously underfunded and under appreciated but I can also guarantee this is a paycut for her to make a point about inherent hypocrisy in the way the art world functions. I'd argue that the arts budget is a fraction of what it should be as well. I'm 100% biased given that I work in the arts but I think it's a bit disingenuous to label her as just a tumblr blogger.

Guavanaut posted:

This has come up on my facebook a couple of times today. At least I know what it's about now, but I don't know how much is accurate and how much is internet outrage machine.

Renaissance Robot posted:

"Why can't I see the end results of this project before the project has started?"

Fans posted:

Ellie Harrison already lives in Glasgow. The funding is for a project about if an Artist can make a living without traveling.

The answer is "Yes, obviously they can. That's a stupid question" and feel free to criticize the waste of money spent on that, but it isn't like she's a lost Englander doing some kind of Endurance challenge amongst the fearsome North Tribes. She already lives in the city.

quote:

Reuters – European officials are puzzled over why Britain has not applied for cash from the European Union Solidarity Fund to help cope with catastrophic flooding.

Even Germany, the EU’s wealthiest member state, tapped the then newly created fund for tens of millions of euro after it suffered a flooding disaster in 2002, along with several other central European countries.

But so far, Brussels hasn’t received any application from London, where the idea of going cap-in-hand to Europe at a time of tension over Britain’s future in the bloc is bound to make any such request politically sensitive.

Prime Minister David Cameron declared that money would be no object to fighting the floods. His government, under fire from critics for what ministers have acknowledged was a slow initial response, has deployed the armed forces to evacuate residents and shore up river defenses.

Asked whether Britain would ask for EU money, Cameron’s official spokesman told reporters on 23 December that the government was looking at every source of possible funding, playing down the idea that there was anything political behind it.

Under EU rules, a country has 10 weeks from the first damage caused by a natural disaster to request aid.

A person close to Cameron said there were technical grounds to do with spending thresholds that determined when to apply for a grant. Britain had no desire to get into a war of words with Brussels on the matter, he said.

The solidarity fund – which Britain pays into via its contribution to the EU budget — has disbursed €3.5 billion to 23 countries. It has helped fight forest fires in Portugal and Greece as well as the impact of earthquakes and drought.

The leader of the UK Independence Party, which campaigns for Britain to leave the EU, said if money was available from the fund, the government should take it.

“It’s our money anyway,” Nigel Farage told Reuters, noting that Britain was a net contributor to the union’s budget.

“All I have said… is that if an application is to be made, I don’t think it should be made by me,” he joked.

Apraxin posted:

Isn't that the picture that got Emily Thornberry booted from the shadow cabinet for 'elitism' a year or two back? What point is he trying to make with it?

Prince John posted:

The Tory thing has been mentioned, but also he's not a privately educated or a born to wealth politician either (I don't know about his porcine tastes).

He was born in a mining town, his family of 6 lived in a 3 bed house, he went to a local state primary and to a local state secondary, before going to Nottingham uni.

He's got a decent reputation as a local politician, grew up in his constituency, and had some interesting things to say in the aftermath of the general election, before Corbyn was on the scene:

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/05/too-many-pointy-heads-and-too-few-street-fighters-labours-michael-dugher-what-went

He's definitely a more credible voice of the Northern working class than many London-based politicians.

Edit:

vv I once went to https://www.bbc.co.uk by mistake and wondered why I couldn't see anything interesting. Never again. You're not alone! (_{Also, the BBC search box is poo poo and never finds articles that I can see right in front of me.} )

Prince John posted:

Looks like the high ground of "there is no reshuffle" is officially not the position then.

Also thanks Gonzo, that is a crazy vid!

Pissflaps posted:

It's going to be hard for anyone to reverse the damage done by the Corbyn exercise in time for 2020. It's damage limitation at this point.

Pissflaps posted:

I got that several posts ago. He's wrong.

Cerv posted:

I don't accept the premise of your question

Cerv posted:

Cos it's poo poo