Author Archives 
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Follow Labour in London
The London Labour party is now on Facebook and Twitter. Follow the party in the capital here on Twitter and catch up with news from Labour in London here on Facebook.
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Support UpRise
UpRise is the grassroots movement dedicated to bringing back the Rise anti-racist festival. Rise – in its original form, Respect – was initiated by the trade unions and then revived under Ken Livingstone’s mayoralty. It became Europe’s largest anti-racist festival and London’s biggest free gig, standing firmly in the tradition of Rock Against Racism.
Anti-racism isn’t a luxury for a city as diverse as London, it’s a necessity, built on the importance of keeping the city together and promoting understanding and [...] -
Cameron’s poor judgement on Irish peace process
This evening’s BBC News at Ten coverage of the historic Stormont vote on policing and justice was striking for the absence of voices from the very community whose confidence in policing has been lacking for so long. Unless I blinked and missed it not a single nationalist or republican voice was to be heard during the top story on the BBC’s flagship news bulletin.
Despite this limitation one thing came through crystal clear. The alliance the Tories have formed in the [...] -
Standard City Hall editor’s blog is back
The Evening Standard’s City Hall editor Pippa Crerar recently returned from maternity, and now her Standard blog is back.
It’s a welcome return, adding an extra dimension to online City Hall-watching. Here’s her take this week on the confirmation hearing for Kit Malthouse’s appointment, and possible future directions for the MPA.
Read Pippa’s blog here. -
NS: One third of Tory PPCs cite Thatcher as their political hero
This week’s New Statesman includes an exclusive ComRes poll that shows the Thatcherite character of the new breed of Tories standing for Parliament under David Cameron’s leadership.
“Three-quarters of Conservative prospective parliamentary candidates want to renegotiate the UK’s relationship with the EU as a matter of priority and 91 per cent back a cap on immigration,” says the NS, adding: “The survey shows that the shadow of Margaret Thatcher still looms large over the Tories only weeks before a general election.”
The [...] -
Malthouse appointment = broken Boris promise
Dave Hill has a preview of today’s confirmation hearing for Kit Malthouse to become chair of the police authority – a clear cut broken promise by Boris Johnson who pledged to do the job himself.
Dave looks at the recent resignation of Bob Purkiss from the race and faith inquiry, amid questions over Malthouse’s role in that affair.
Meanwhile in the Standard Pippa Crerar reports that the incoming chair has a poor attendance record at MPA meetings, despite being the mayor’s lead on [...] -
Cameron – trying to browbeat attention from the real choice
Gordon Brown’s opponents are desperate not to fight the election on the real choices on offer and instead want to talk about process and personal attacks.
(For different reasons – largely because it’s easier to explain and more personally dramatic – much of the media prefer that terrain too. And some of it’s just cynical).
That’s the real context of the frenzy over the last forty-eight hours: endless coverage of personalised claims instead of say, discussion of the economy or the cancer [...] -
Bad right wing art
Iain Dale has been getting himself tangled up in the world of political art, having published two pieces of ‘art’ by Louis Sidoli caricaturing Gordon Brown, one as Hitler. Defending their publication, he says “The left will no doubt go apoplectic with rage, but they should calm down and remember the hideous political art of the 1980s featuring Margaret Thatcher. This is mild by comparison.”
It’s mildly rubbish, unfortunately.
In case we haven’t got what he’s trying to say, the artist helpfully [...] -
More Shed Seven than Morning Glory
Clifford Singer’s mydavidcameron spoofs of Tory poster campaigns have been brilliantly effective at insidiously undermining Cameron’s expensive ads. But he’s now quit while he’s ahead, saying he’s got other ideas up his sleeve. “Shortly after we spoofed the first Tory election poster, I acknowledged that this project had a limited shelf-life,” he writes.
I caught Clifford’s excellent talk in the new media session at the Progressive London where he warned there was a danger of overstaying the welcome. “Drag it out [...] -
Irish unity on the agenda
Recent massive strides forward over policing in the north of Ireland are a tangible example of how the dynamic of the peace process continues to unfold.
The greatest force in delivering a peace process must ultimately be the people and parties on the ground – but the commitment that has been shown by the British government to bringing lasting peace to the north of Ireland over the last thirteen years is one of the best examples of what a Labour government can [...]