Tag: Jeremy Corbyn

John McDonnell has called on Labour members to join Momentum on its first direct action campaign, as a senior organiser for the group called it a move from party politics to movement politics. Forty local Momentum groups across England and Wales, from Exeter to Redcar, will take action outside branches of Barclays on Saturday to raise awareness of the bank’s financing of fossil fuel companies. Last week, a report by BankTrack revealed that Barclays provides more funding for fossil fuel projects than any other bank in Europe, lending $85bn to companies involved in fossil fuels between 2016 and 2018. Parker said that while the campaign was a new tactic for Momentum, it was “completely consistent with the way that we’ve said that we want to do politics, which is finding interesting ways of engaging people directly with issues”. UK environmentalists target Barclays in fossil fuels campaign Read more She said: “This is the way forward, this is the massive difference between the Labour party and any other political party in Britain. The Tories couldn’t do this if they spent the next 12 months trying to organise it. “This is too big to be left to narrow party politics. But there is a massive role for the Labour party to play as the biggest progressive political force probably not just in the UK, but really in western Europe.” The action is inspired by a wave of environmental campaigning over the past few months, most recently the school climate strikes, which brought thousands of young people on to the streets. It is likely to be less provocative than Extinction Rebellion protests, when dozens were arrested for spraypainting government departments and locking themselves together to block streets, Parker insisted. “We are a pro-worker, pro-union organisation so the one thing I’m absolutely certain about is that everybody is going to be totally respectful of all the staff that work in the banks – these are our comrades,” she said.

Decisive rejection of the UK-EU withdrawal agreement in the House of Commons for a third time, following hot on the heels of the House’s rejection of eight alternative approaches, raises uncomfortable questions about the quality of the UK’s decision-making process. But why is this system so apparently helpless, and can anything be done to resolve the UK’s ambitions for a new relationship with the EU? The constitution First, reliance on an “unwritten” constitution is an impressive achievement – if it can be pulled off. It could spell out the currently ambiguous relationship between government and parliament. The opposition “opposes”, biding its time until the mercurial electoral system brings it back to power. But it can be corrosive when (as in Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1972) there is no such alternation, or when (as in the case of Brexit) the stakes are very high. Geopolitical perspectives Third, the criticism that many leading Brexiteers are insufficiently familiar with EU structures and procedures carries weight, but it may be that they also misperceive Britain’s place in the contemporary world. Put differently, when negotiators on behalf of the EU27 face their British counterparts, they speak for a bloc that is six to seven times more substantial than the UK in these areas. Recognising that there is nothing sacrosanct about a consultative referendum, that government and opposition need not be deadly enemies and that the UK is by far the weaker player in the Brexit negotiations may be a big cultural challenge. Might it not also facilitate a more productive outcome to the UK’s negotiations with the EU?

Jeremy Corbyn will whip Labour MPs to support a Brexit referendum in the indicative votes – but could face a wave of resignations from frontbenchers determined not to back it. One shadow minister warned Labour would face “a very significant rebellion” if it tried to force MPs to back the motion, and another said: “If we whip for it, we won’t have a shadow cabinet by the end of the day.” The motion, tabled by Dame Margaret Beckett, suggests parliament should not ratify any Brexit deal “unless and until” it has been approved in a “confirmatory public vote”. Gardiner also suggested Labour was concerned that the motion could suggest the party would allow Theresa May’s deal to pass if it led to a referendum. “To put that up as the only alternative in a public vote and say we will let it go through looks as though you believe that, at the end of it, remain would be the result. “Our policy is clearly that we would support a public vote to stop no deal or to stop a bad deal, but not that we would allow a bad deal as long as the public had the opportunity to reject Brexit altogether.” He said Labour could not be portrayed as a party that wanted remain at any price. “The Labour party is not a remain party now. Beckett said she had been led to believe Labour would support plans for a confirmatory referendum; and the Guardian understands scores of MPs met in parliament later, to demand that the party whip for it. Read more McDonnell said Gardiner’s comments were “exactly in line with party policy” and that the decision would be made on whether to whip the Beckett motion after the Speaker, John Bercow, has selected the motions for debate. Asked whether he agreed with Gardiner that Labour was not a remain party, he said: “We had to accept in our manifesto respect for the referendum result. On the floor of the House of Commons there could be a coalition around that.” Corbyn’s spokesman later confirmed the party would whip for Beckett’s “confirmatory public vote” option – as well as the one put forward by Gareth Snell and Ken Clarke, calling for a customs union, and the one setting out Labour’s own Brexit policy.

Jeremy Corbyn has urged Theresa May to “either listen and change course, or go” in a Brexit-dominated prime minister’s questions which appeared to lay down the most likely battle lines for a series of indicative Commons votes on seeking a consensus departure plan. Corbyn, in return, repeatedly urged May to embrace Labour’s idea of a customs union-based exit plan, and accused the prime minister of using intransigence as a means to force MPs into backing her deal in a likely third meaningful vote. “Why is she prepared to carry on risking jobs and industry in another attempt to, yet again, run down the clock and try to blackmail the MPs behind her in supporting a deal that’s already been twice rejected?” he asked. When May declined to say directly if she would back any plan that emerged from the series of indicative votes scheduled for later on Wednesday, Corbyn said: “I think the house, and perhaps more importantly the whole country, deserves to know the answer to that question.” He continued: “This country is on hold while the government is in complete paralysis. to knife crime, have been neglected. Instead she’s stoking further division, she’s unable to resolve the central issues facing Britain today, and she is frankly unable to govern. Corbyn set to whip MPs to back public vote as frontbench threatens revolt Read more “The prime minister faces a very clear choice, the one endorsed by the country and many of her party: either listen and change course, or go. Her Brexit plan, she also argued, would deliver “the benefits of the customs union while enabling us to have an independent free trade policy”. He said: “It’s a bit strange when a Conservative prime minister says she doesn’t want what the business community want. In the first PMQs question, Conservative Brexiter Andrew Bridgen said his constituents would “never trust the prime minister again”.

The Labour party’s general secretary has told colleagues she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and will start treatment this week. Jennie Formby said she would continue to work as much as possible. Formby said: “I have been diagnosed with breast cancer and will be starting my treatment this week. Before that she was a long-serving union official with Unite and its predecessor the TGWU. “Breast cancer has had so much investment that outcomes are really positive, but I know that other cancers have less funding for research and treatment and that access to such good cancer care isn’t the same all across the country,” Formby said. I will continue to work as much as I can. For those days when I can’t, the executive directors and my direct team will make sure everything carries on as usual.” Corbyn tweeted: “All my love to you Jennie … I know you will cope and deal with this in the admirable way you cope and deal with everything else.” Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) All my love to you Jennie, our wonderful General Secretary. My heart goes out to you. https://t.co/KkdNcOwdc7 March 25, 2019 A Labour spokesman said: “Jennie Formby has told colleagues today that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and will be starting treatment this week. Jennie will continue to work as much as she can, but is taking a realistic approach towards her treatment.

Brexit has convulsed the United Kingdom like no other political event in decades, but it can be hard to follow the day-to-day machinations. It is now clear that after two years of negotiating a Brexit withdrawal arrangement with the European Union, the United Kingdom is highly unlikely to leave on the planned exit date, March 29. How likely is it that the EU will approve an extension? She wants to bring back her zombie-like Brexit deal — which Parliament has already twice voted down by staggering margins — for another vote before a meeting of EU leaders on Thursday, March 21. If her deal fails, she will ask for a longer extension — which she has hinted could kill Brexit. If the longer extension is granted, what will happen during that extension period? Some in parliament want a second referendum. The most compelling issues driving Brexit are national identity, immigration, economic globalization and anger toward the political class. These are also central issues in the new politics of the United States and many countries in Western Europe. Well, both things can't be true and we've got to work out as Britain what are we about in the 21st century.

before the result of yesterday's vote on Theresa May's Brexit Deal was announced, one could be forgiven for thinking it was just an ordinary day in the British parliament. This time by 391 votes in favour to 241 against - a defeat by 149 votes. When the unimplementable promises made by the Leave campaigners before the referendum turned to dust, May's government still persevered in trying to make Brexit happen. Both parties are riven by splits on EU issues - 75 Conservatives refused to back May in yesterday's vote, with the majority of those opponents favouring a "no-deal" Brexit instead. On the Labour side, about half of the MPs do not back Corbyn's Brexit line and want the UK to hold a second referendum and stay in the EU. Meanwhile, three Conservative and eight Labour MPs have recently left their respective parties to form The Independent Group, a proto-party in the House of Commons, to try to force the idea of a second referendum onto the agenda. Throughout all of this, May and Corbyn, both of them steeped in party politics - they have each spent more than 40 years in their respective parties, refuse to seriously seek solutions collaboratively. So, the House of Commons cannot move forward. But lacking a solution, in the next fortnight the UK will crash out of the EU without a deal, with major economic and political consequences. While that idea might appeal to enough MPs, the EU side is not keen.

Jeremy Corbyn has downplayed the Brexit crisis by claiming that poverty and climate change are far greater priorities for Labour and the country. Addressing Scottish Labour’s annual conference, Corbyn said his party was not “obsessed by constitutional questions, like the others are. And fundamentally, the destruction of our climate is a class issue,” he said. “We believe that the real divide in our society is not between people who voted yes or no for [Scottish] independence. It’s not between people who voted to remain or to leave the EU,” he told party members in Dundee. [There] is no such thing as a Labour Brexit or a jobs-first Brexit”. The Scottish party has been beset by bitter rows over Europe after a conference statement by its two MEPs, David Martin and Catherine Stihler, was allegedly edited to remove remarks in support of a people’s vote. Corbyn said Labour would commit his party to a target of reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, a goal many climate experts and campaigners say is not fast or ambitious enough to halt runaway climate change. It’s not just an ecological priority – it’s a socialist priority too.” Corbyn also addressed the antisemitism problems engulfing Labour, saying he was “utterly determined” to rid the party of the scourge. “The only thing that can hold us back is if we were to turn our fire on each other rather than on the Tory government and the wealthy establishment interests they represent,” he told delegates.

Formby accused Watson of “completely unacceptable” behaviour after he asked for antisemitism complaints to be forwarded to him. They said that during and soon after the period in question, Formby overhauled the process she inherited, to cut out the leader’s office and her team. In response, Murray called for an investigation without a suspension. “I was asked by party staff a year ago to give advice on 13 individual cases relating to alleged antisemitism, to assist in getting through the backlog,” he said. In April, Formby’s official opposed a recommendation to suspend a member who claimed that a Labour Jewish group had links to the Freemasons, instead backing an investigation with no suspension. Play Video 0:41 In another April case, a recommendation to suspend a member who had already been given a warning was opposed by Formby’s official, who instead backed an investigation. In each of the cases, Labour staff dropped their recommendation in favour of the action backed by the official or, in the mural case, Murray. The Observer has also seen cases in which the pair agreed with the recommendation from Labour staff. Members can be suspended while further investigations are carried out. Staff in the investigations team have always led on investigations and recommendations on individual cases.

The government has bowed to MPs’ pressure over the post-Brexit rights of EU citizens and reaffirmed pledges to give the Commons a veto on a no-deal departure after the latest parliamentary wrangling over Theresa May’s deadlocked plans. The concessions meant that the set of votes on the government’s latest Brexit motion, tabled in lieu of a still-elusive revised departure plan, was the first without a defeat for May. In a statement afterwards Jeremy Corbyn said Labour would back a public vote while also pushing for “other available options”, including a general election and Labour’s own Brexit plan. May to offer workers' rights pledges to gain Labour Brexit support Read more The key government climbdown was on an amendment tabled by the Conservative MP Alberto Costa, which called on ministers to secure the rights and status of EU nationals in the UK even in the event of no deal. It was adopted by the government without a vote, but only after Costa was sacked as a government aide and the home secretary, Sajid Javid, said he backed the plan before May had herself done so. Ministers unofficially accepted another amendment, from Labour’s Yvette Cooper, reiterating May’s commitment on Tuesday that she will allow MPs a vote on extending the Brexit deadline by mid-March if no departure deal has been agreed by then. Ministers also agreed to a parallel amendment by the Conservative MP Caroline Spelman on the same subject, which was passed without a vote, as was the plan tabled by Costa. The main government concession was announced in the debate’s opening speech by the cabinet office minister David Lidington, May’s de facto deputy. He said the government would back Costa’s amendment, which had been signed by 135 MPs, among them many Conservatives – a clear sign it would pass anyway. It’s about the rights of five million people “If I had to resign for that - so be it” says ??@AlbertoCostaMP? pic.twitter.com/Wz6UcyO5dM February 27, 2019 Adding to the confusion, the home secretary Sajid Javid seemed to pre-empt Lidington’s concession before the debate, using an earlier appearance before the home affairs select committee to say he had no objection to the amendment.