Jeremy corbyn

Just when you thought the story of the Labour Party in the 21st century couldn’t get any more tragic, Jeremy Corbyn decided to issue a statement celebrating the life of a totalitarian leader who tortured and murdered his opponents. I wonder how many people will be ripping up their membership cards after Corbyn’s comments on Fidel Castro. Perhaps not many, because Castro’s Cuba acted for so long as a lodestar for those who still see the United States as the greater evil in the region: a predatory colonial force holding the poor of Central and South America as hostages to neo-liberalism. A country without adverts, but with a functioning health

On the morning after the European Union referendum, Britain looked like a country in crisis. The Prime Minister had resigned, Scotland’s first minister was talking about a second independence referendum and the FTSE was in free fall. In several EU capitals, there was an assumption that, when the Brexit talks began, Britain would be the new Greece: a country that could ill afford to reject any deal offered by the EU, no matter how humiliating. In the days following the vote, Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, declared that Britain had just ‘collapsed — politically, economically, monetarily and constitutionally’. Five months on, Britain is in a stronger position than Rutte

It’s a big day in the Commons with the Autumn Statement. Perhaps that’s why seat tensions ran so high at PMQs among Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet. After arriving in good time, Diane Abbott — dressed in a showstopping silver jacket — secured a prime seat next to the dear leader. Alas when Tom Watson arrived, Labour’s deputy leader thought that he should be the one who gets to sit next to Corbyn. The shadow home secretary was less than keen to give up her spot — leaving Watson awkwardly standing as a heated discussion ensued before everyone eventually agreed to budge up. ‘Taking a lady’s seat?! Labour really do have

People say Corbyn’s getting better. I wonder. He seemed out of touch today. Soaring employment, falling inflation, the booming stock-market, the Trump ascendancy, the implosion of Isis, the Aleppo siege? He ignored the lot. He brought up the exiled Chagos Islanders whose right to return has been denied for decades. Having mentioned them, and enjoyed a flush of reflected sanctity, he dropped the issue entirely. Poor old Chagos. Its scattered natives are used to being abandoned by false-friend statesmen but this seemed particularly cynical. Corbyn’s main brainwave today was to deploy all his rhetorical skill, all his mastery of the political arts, to lure Mrs May into accidentally disclosing her red-lines

Labour’s election then re-election of Jeremy Corbyn was the equivalent of a suicidal man who, when the noose snaps and gives him a second chance, decides to throw himself off a cliff instead. The Liberal Democrats are too small to get a hearing. The Scottish nationalists will speak only for Scotland. The only arguments that matter in England now are the arguments within the right. But what is the right today? What does it mean to say you are right-wing? You only have to look at the triumph of Donald Trump to guess the answer. He not only beat Hillary Clinton but the old Republican party, which looks like it

Although Jeremy Corbyn’s brother Piers is rooting for Donald Trump tonight, it’s widely thought that — out of the two — the Labour leader is Team Hillary. Alas in the event of a Hillary Clinton presidency, the future for UK Labour and the US doesn’t look so bright. Wikileaks have leaked a transcript of a speech by Bill Clinton in which the former American president takes aim at Corbyn. In the aftermath of Ed Miliband’s general election defeat, Hillary’s husband says Labour ‘practically got a guy off the street’ to replace him. ‘If you look all over the world – the British Labour Party disposed of its most [inaudible] leader, David Miliband,

What is Labour’s position on triggering Article 50? Four days on from the High Court’s ruling that Parliament must vote on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU and confusion reigns. First, Corbyn suggested Labour could oppose Theresa May’s attempts to trigger Article 50. He said the party would block Article 50 if key demands were not met. Given that these demands included access to the single market, it seemed unlikely the government would be able to meet them — and instead an early election could be on the cards. However, Tom Watson — Labour’s deputy leader — then appeared on the radio where he contradicted Corbyn. Watson

Once upon a time, ITV was the darling of the Corbynistas. In fact, it was Mr S who disclosed that Seumas Milne — Corbyn’s director of communications — had been overheard discussing the pros of the broadcaster over the Beeb, back in January. Alas, things have since taken a turn for the worse. The problem? An ITV reporter dared to ask the Labour leader whether he would be happy if Theresa May called an early election. After Libby Wiener asked the question at a conference organised by Class, Corbyn claimed he was being ‘harassed’. Jeremy Corbyn ducks question on general election; accuses @LibbyWienerITV of 'harrassment'https://t.co/6IPEIahDbj pic.twitter.com/ZUsiTrBbRX — ITV News (@itvnews) November 5, 2016 Now Richard Burgon

Early bloopers at PMQs. The session began with Theresa May offering Jeremy Corbyn her congratulations on becoming a grandfather. A mistake. The tribute was due elsewhere. But the improvised hilarities that accompanied this blunder burned up several minutes. Corbyn chose to attack on welfare. Over the last week Labour’s sound-bite factory has supplied their leader with some decent phrases. ‘Institutional barbarity’ is their name for giving a timetable to welfare claimants. Changes to invalidity payments are called ‘imposing poverty on the most vulnerable.’ But flabby Corbyn floundered with these potent weapons and failed to deploy them effectively. A bit like his tie. The sleek crimson knot was threaded correctly but

As the Parliamentary Labour Party manages to — uncharacteristically — stay out of the headlines for in-fighting, over on the left of Labour trouble is brewing. A bout of civil war has broken out in Momentum, the grassroots group set up to support Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. The issue? A disagreement over just how democratic the organisation ought to be. The group’s head Jon Lansman — a former Bennite and the brains behind Momentum — has been accused of behaving in an ‘autocratic’ manner after he gave his support to a plan to allow every Momentum member to vote on motions on the future of the party, rather than be decided through a delegate

Today it became clear why Corbyn is a lousy politician. He’s too interesting. The variety of life is simply too fascinating for him to prosper on the public stage. In a word, he’s not dull enough to be a statesman. A key attribute of leadership is the readiness to bore oneself, and everyone else, by repeating the same phrase over and over again. Successful politicians are happy to recite their favourite soundbites day in day out knowing that only at the thousandth repetition will the vital syllables grind their way into the public consciousness. Mr Corbyn has a great soundbite — shambolic Tory Brexit — which he needs to reiterate

A pattern is emerging in the Government’s statements on Brexit to the House of Commons. The initial statement, today by Theresa May on the European Council, says little. But then, in answer to questions, some information slips out. Today’s most interesting nugget was May’s response that staying in the customs union is not a yes or no question. This will add to the sense in Westminster that the Government is looking to stay in the customs union in certain sectors, for instance-car manufacturing, while leaving it in most areas. It is also worth noting when Gisela Stuart, the Labour co-chair of Vote Leave, asked about a 2020 deadline for being

There are some crushes that ought to be crushed. When I was about nine, I fancied our village vicar — he had a pleasant, boring face and would throw Mars bars into the congregation during sermons. Things came to a halt after I saw him by chance at a local swimming pool. Underneath his cassock was a lawn of hair so dark, you couldn’t see his skin. Even his arms were furred. I was, in the way of many nine-year-olds, ruthless in my judgement. I stopped fancying him at once and avoided him at church, calling him ‘Gorilla Priest’ in my head. Years on, I find myself contending with another