Plus: Don’t force MPs who are sick or shielding back to Parliament, Jacob. And: let’s divert aid money to seek a vaccine.
Former Health Secretary says Labour Government was ready for swine flu, with safety equipment set aside.
In his need, Labour’s leader is turning for inspiration to a predecessor who will scarcely be at the top of his list of role models.
The former Home Secretary agrees that the Labour Party is facing an existential crisis, and that Corbyn needs to “step up to the plate”.
Will Corbyn represent In? Could we have Ozza v Bozza? What happens to Farage?
By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter. There's always been something of the religious mantra about the Left's refusal to believe that the British private sector was capable of picking up the slack by creating jobs to replace those lost in the public sector. Perhaps it's a lack of imagination which leaves them unable to conceive of jobs […]
By Joseph Willits Follow Joseph on Twitter Over the past week, Ed Miliband has come under criticism from various figures in the Labour party – including from mentor and architect of 'Blue Labour', Lord Glasman, and other Labour MPs. Adding to this list today, both Alan Johnson and Alistair Darling have expressed their concerns. In Saturday's Guardian […]
By Joseph Willits Follow Joseph on Twitter According to today's Independent there are several rumours going around that Labour wish to ditch Ken Livingstone as the party's candidate for Mayor of London, replacing him with Alan Johnson. The rumours have most likely come about after a poll suggested that one in 5 Labour voters would prefer Boris Johnson as […]
Tim Montgomerie selects some of the blogosphere's reaction to Ed Balls' replacement of Alan Johnson as Shadow Chancellor. Matthew Hancock MP provides the official Tory line: "Ed Balls wrote the fiscal rules that brought Britain to the brink of bankruptcy. He was at the Treasury when they loaded PFI off balance sheet, and took a […]
by Paul Goodman "The appointment of Alan Johnson looks like a weak compromise. Balls has been dispatched as Shadow Home Secretary to bully Theresa May. Cooper has been sent out of the country altogether – for parts of year at least – to trot the globe as Shadow Foreign Secretary. It looks as though Miliband […]
By Jonathan Isaby The Labour Party would appear to be in a state of turmoil this evening as news is just breaking that Alan Johnson has resigned as Shdow Chancellor. Apparently it is for "personal reasons", whatever that may entail. Sky News is reporting that Ed Balls is to take the shadow Chancellor portfolio. More […]
by Paul Goodman I smelt fear in Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet appointments. The movement of the Balls/Cooper duo to non-economic posts, and the appointment of Alan Johnson as Shadow Chancellor, suggested anxiety – a dread of them grabbing Labour's steering wheel. According to a Labour List monthly poll, Miliband would be right to be wary. […]
By Paul Goodman Alan Johnson in the Daily Telegraph today on the 50p tax rate (Unready Eddie thinks it should be permanent, Johnson doesn't) – “We all come into this position having said what we said in a debate that has been going on since May. There will be differences of opinion that you can […]
by Paul Goodman Whatever one thinks of the Wikileaks saga, the American Embassy's view of Gordon Brown, his potential successors (the Embassy doesn't seem to have spotted Ed Miliband) and his aides is irresistable. Gordon Brown "The US embassy in London wrote off Gordon Brown within a year of his arrival in No 10 after […]