Tag: Press Association

The former Treasury minister Denzil Davies, who has died aged 80, was a brilliant but mercurial politician for whom the promise of a glittering Westminster career was thwarted by the unfortunate combination of Labour’s long years in opposition after 1979 and his somewhat volatile character. The son of a colliery blacksmith from Carmarthenshire, Davies left the valleys of south-west Wales for Pembroke College, Oxford, where his outstanding intellect was confirmed by a first-class honours degree in law. Davies was a charming, popular and convivial man who throughout his 35 years in the Commons resisted aligning himself with the factions of either left or right in the Labour party and was driven, rather, by his own strongly held political convictions. He had tried to resist Kinnock reappointing him to defence after the general election in 1987 – having unsuccessfully sought instead to become foreign affairs spokesman – and was irritated by Kinnock’s style of leadership. At Westminster he became parliamentary private secretary to the Welsh secretary John Morris in 1974, until becoming a minister himself in 1975. He was switched to defence in 1982 and briefly to Welsh affairs when Kinnock first took over as leader in 1983, before then being moved back to defence and disarmament. In doing so, however, he thus guaranteed his place as a backbencher during the Blair government. He stood down as MP in 2005. The compensation of his latter years was to have found profound happiness in his second marriage, in 1989, to Ann Carlton, the journalist and author, who had previously worked as a member of the Labour party research staff. His first marriage, in 1963, to Mary Ann Finlay, ended in divorce in 1988.

The former Treasury minister Denzil Davies, who has died aged 80, was a brilliant but mercurial politician for whom the promise of a glittering Westminster career was thwarted by the unfortunate combination of Labour’s long years in opposition after 1979 and his somewhat volatile character. The son of a colliery blacksmith from Carmarthenshire, Davies left the valleys of south-west Wales for Pembroke College, Oxford, where his outstanding intellect was confirmed by a first-class honours degree in law. Davies was a charming, popular and convivial man who throughout his 35 years in the Commons resisted aligning himself with the factions of either left or right in the Labour party and was driven, rather, by his own strongly held political convictions. He had tried to resist Kinnock reappointing him to defence after the general election in 1987 – having unsuccessfully sought instead to become foreign affairs spokesman – and was irritated by Kinnock’s style of leadership. At Westminster he became parliamentary private secretary to the Welsh secretary John Morris in 1974, until becoming a minister himself in 1975. He was switched to defence in 1982 and briefly to Welsh affairs when Kinnock first took over as leader in 1983, before then being moved back to defence and disarmament. In doing so, however, he thus guaranteed his place as a backbencher during the Blair government. He stood down as MP in 2005. The compensation of his latter years was to have found profound happiness in his second marriage, in 1989, to Ann Carlton, the journalist and author, who had previously worked as a member of the Labour party research staff. His first marriage, in 1963, to Mary Ann Finlay, ended in divorce in 1988.

Theresa May has used her closing speech at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham to announce that she is getting rid of the cap on what councils can borrow to build homes. The amount of extra investment in housing could be around £1bn a year, but this is dependent on how many councils decide to borrow. May told the Tories: The Local Government Association described the move, which involves lifting a Labour policy, as “fantastic”. Stressing her opposition to a second referendum, she warned: She claimed that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party had rejected the “common values” that used to be shared by both main parties. Would Neil Kinnock, who stood up to the hard-left, have stood by while his own MPs faced deselection, and needed police protection at their party conference? Would Jim Callaghan, who served in the Royal Navy, have asked the Russian government to confirm the findings of our own intelligence agencies? Would Clement Attlee, Churchill’s trusted deputy during the second world war, have told British Jews they didn’t know the meaning of antisemitism? That is what Jeremy Corbyn has done to the Labour party. And here are verdicts on the speech from a Guardian panel: Matthew d’Ancona, Katy Balls, Dawn Foster and David Shariatmadari. That’s all from me for the day.

Jeremy Corbyn faced a double Commons rebellion and was warned against “flirting with anti-trade populism” after Labour abstained over two trade votes. As the Press Association reports, 18 Labour MPs ignored orders in two votes to have their say on parliamentary motions linked to the EU-Canada comprehensive economic and trade agreement (Ceta) and the EU-Japan economic partnership agreement. Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner told the Commons that Ceta did not offer enough protections. But the Labour former minister Chris Leslie advised his party’s front bench against slipping into a “rut” over trade matters and said decisions needed to be viewed against how they could benefit public services, particularly if they wanted to be seen as a government in waiting. As the Press Association reports, the 75,968 jobs created in 2017/18 was 1% up on the 75,226 figure for the previous year, but the number of jobs safeguarded in the UK by inward investment was cut by more than 50% from 32,672 in 2016/17 to 15,063. And today he gave a big speech on housing (pdf). In the speech he identifies four reasons why housing is in crisis. The planning system is compounding these problems. What is required is a dedicated, arm’s length, agency – non government and non profit – to take a key role in acquiring land at low cost at current use value. The new body – let us call it the British Housing Company – would be empowered by law to acquire land of low amenity and market value through compulsory acquisition.