Never let it be said that Guido doesn’t keep his word. His bet against Trump had to be settled. Lunch was no PFL – only a two bottler of a reasonable premier grand cru – Guido had to catch a flight and Nigel is doing Question Time tonight. In the circumstances Nige’ picked up the tab…
Bobby Gillespie is better known as the front man of nineties rockers Primal Scream. The band are big fans of Jeremy Corbyn, Gillespie says Jezza is “a good man” and the Labour leader even thanked him for his support with a tweet during his leadership campaign. Unfortunately Gillespie got a bit excited at a gig last night and according to the Bristol Post told the crowd:
“I’m no comedian but should I tell a joke? What do you call a Conservative MP that’s been stabbed to death? A beautiful f**king thing.”
Sad.
Lord Mance: “Withdrawal is the last thing on your mind when getting married”
another justice: “Speak for yourself” pic.twitter.com/zMxfHu2URb— Esther Webber (@estwebber) December 8, 2016
A rude moment over at the Supreme Court as Lord Mance cannot resist a “withdrawal” pun. Filth.
The shamed far-left lawyer Phil Shiner is before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for his role in the vexatious claims against British soldiers who served in Iraq. An old CND comrade of Jeremy Corbyn, Shiner’s firm Public Interest Lawyers has already been closed down in disgrace and now Shiner faces 24 charges of his own. He has today admitted 18 of those charges, including that he acted recklessly and without integrity. The Law Society Gazette reports:
“Shiner admitted encouraging and authorising unsolicited direct approaches to potential clients arising out of the Battle of Danny Boy in southern Iraq in 2004. He also admitted authorising, procuring and approving payment of prohibited referral fees in September 2007.”
Often celebrated by the Guardian and the Indy, not to mention many in the Labour Party, Shiner made a career out of undermining British values and causes through the courts in the name of human rights. He has now been exposed as an ambulance chaser of the lowest form and it is inevitable he will be struck off. Justice…
No photo of herself a la Dave, instead Theresa May has gone with a safe but sweet choice of three cards drawn by children in her constituency. First is Isabelle Milnes, aged 5:
Then 11 year old Sophie Brazil:
And Jade Windsor, also aged 11:
Not a goose in sight…
Surreal moment in the Commons as Vaz congratulates Bercow on his and Sally’s anniversary, before asking if had a “party” last night. Remember, the Speaker and Vaz are close…
Theresa May’s spokesman has issued a public slap down of Boris Johnson after he was caught on tape by the Guardian criticising Saudi Arabia. It’s a shame that the Guardian and the BBC think calling out a warmongering human rights abusing dictatorship is a “gaffe“. Now Downing Street has shot him down for telling the truth: “Those are the Foreign Secretary’s views. They’re not the government’s views”. Which is about a brutal a dressing down as a Number 10 spokesman can give. As Iain Martin points out, criticising the Saudis for fighting brutal proxy wars should not be remotely controversial. Boris was never likely to go native like Hammond did at the FCO, fair play to him for telling the truth even if Theresa May wants to butter up the world’s wrong uns. The government castigated Corbyn for his Castro guff. Slapping down Boris today is the height of hypocrisy from Number 10…
These are the names of the brave MPs with Leave constituencies who voted against triggering Article 50:
Labour
Graham Allen (Nottingham North) Nottingham voted Leave (50.8%)
Chris Evans (Islwyn) Caerphilly voted Leave (57.6%)
Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-Under-Lyme) Newcastle-Under-Lyme voted Leave (63%)
Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) Kirklees voted Leave (55%)
Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) Sheffield voted Leave (51%)
Plaid
Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) Carmarthenshire voted Leave (53.7%)
Mostly in Wales and the North of England. Ripe UKIP territory…
In August Owen Jones blasted Tom Watson for saying Momentum is ridden with Trots:
“The political significance of British Trotskyism is minimal… in the grand scheme of things, they are just irrelevant… There are too few Trotskyist activists to have any decisive impact on a party as big as Labour now is.”
Then in September Owen attacked Channel 4 for their exposé on Momentum Trots, saying the group have been:
“demonised by the media as a sinister rabble of Trotskyist infiltrators… Rather than being led by revolutionary disciples of Leon Trotsky, most of Momentum’s leaders aren’t really ideologues of any sort”
Today Owen says – wait for it – Momentum is ridden with Trotskyist entryists!
“Momentum is currently facing a takeover bid by Trotskyist sectarians. If they succeed, Momentum will be destroyed. The most prominent sectarian figures are embittered veterans of struggles from the 1970s and 80s, people who have only experienced defeat, and who won’t let an unexpected opportunity afforded by the seismic political developments of the last two years slip through their fingers. This is their last chance. They jump from organisation to organisation, and are adept at manipulating internal structures for their own advantage: sitting out long boring meetings, coordinating interventions, playing victim when it suits. They’re not interested in say, door-to-door campaigning, but rather in debating their obscure pet issues with long-winded interventions at meetings on a Thursday evening.”
So Owen was completely wrong all along, not that he’s going to admit that to readers of his Guardian column. Will he be apologising to Tom Watson and Channel 4?
One Tory, Ken Clarke, and 23 Labour MPs voted against triggering Article 50, as well as the LibDems and Scots Nats. Gavin Williamson, David Davis and Number 10 have played a blinder – a timetable for notification has been successfully agreed and those opposing have been flushed out. Below is the list of who voted to deny the will of the British people:
Ahmed-Sheikh, Ms Tasmina
Ali, Rushanara
Allen, Mr Graham
Bardell, Hannah
Black, Mhairi
Blackford, Ian
Blackman, Kirsty
Boswell, Philip
Bradshaw, rh Mr Ben
Brock, Deidre
Brown, Alan
Cameron, Dr Lisa
Carmichael, rh Mr Alistair
Chapman, Douglas
Cherry, Joanna
Clarke, rh Mr Kenneth
Clegg, rh Mr Nick
Coffey, Ann
Cowan, Ronnie
Coyle, Neil
Crawley, Angela
Creasy, Stella
Davies, Geraint
Day, Martyn
Docherty-Hughes, Martin
Donaldson, Stuart Blair
Dowd, Jim
Durkan, Mark
Edwards, Jonathan
Ellman, Mrs Louise
Evans, Chris
Farrelly, Paul
Farron, Tim
Fellows, Marion
Ferrier, Margaret
Gapes, Mike
Gethins, Stephen
Gibson, Patricia
Grady, Patrick
Grant, Peter
Gray, Neil
Hayes, Helen
Hendry, Drew
Hillier, Meg
Hosie, Stewart
Kerevan, George
Kerr, Calum
Kyle, Peter
Lammy, rh Mr David
Law, Chris
Leslie, Chris
Lucas, Caroline
MacNeil, Mr Angus Brendan
Mc Nally, John
McCaig, Callum
McDonald, Stuart C.
McDonnell, Dr Alasdair
McGarry, Natalie
McLaughlin, Anne
Monaghan, Carol
Monaghan, Dr Paul
Mullin, Roger
Murray, Ian
Newlands, Gavin
Nicolson, John
O’Hara, Brendan
Oswald, Kirsten
Paterson, Steven
Ritchie, Ms Margaret
Robertson, rh Angus
Salmond, rh Alex
Saville Roberts, Liz
Sheerman, Mr Barry
Sheppard, Tommy
Siddiq, Tulip
Smith, Angela
Stephens, Chris
Thewliss, Alison
Thomson, Michelle
Weir, Mike
West, Catherine
Whiteford, Dr Eilidh
Whitford, Dr Philippa
Williams, Hywel
Williams, Mr Mark
Wilson, Corri
Wishart, Pete
Zeichner, Daniel
To those in Leave constituencies, good luck. You’re going to need it…
The government amendment to trigger Article 50 by March wins by 461-89. Names of the 89 who voted against on the site tomorrow morning…
“We’re leaving. We’re leaving the single market and the customs union. We’re going to have control over our own migration. If you want that it implies that you’re leaving the single market. We’re going to be able to negotiate our own free trade deals with the rest of the world. If you want that you have to leave the customs union. That’s all pretty clear.”
Simples…
Anna Soubry is 60 today, an age when many of us would be thinking of retiring. And Guido thinks she should really consider it. Anyway, we baked you a Brexit cake. You can have it, and eat it…
Theresa May sat out PMQs today as she’s far away in Bahrain bowing to our Gulf overlords (peace be upon them). It turns out that fawning deference comes easy when in the presence of the assorted head-choppers, slave-drivers and anti-Semites that comprise the Gulf Cooperation Council. If only she could muster the same diplomatic humility when Time’s Person of the Year kindly requests a new ambassador…
Of course the far greater crime is that the PM’s absence means we have to sit through half an hour of Emily Thornberry. Lady Nugee knows she effortlessly radiates sneering contempt for the lower orders and thus does her damned best to hide it. It was all going well today too, with her starting by commemorating the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbour: “where thousands of American service personnel and civilians died”. Or as Corbyn would frame it: “Where brave Japanese fighter pilots made the ultimate sacrifice in the struggle against American imperialism in the Pacific”.
A report out this morning from the National Centre for Social Research gives weight to the theory that Labour’s core vote is there for UKIP’s taking. 70% of voters in local authority rented homes voted Leave, as did 68% of those in housing association accommodation.
66% of those earning less than £1,200 per month backed Brexit, as well as 53% in Wales, 58% in Yorkshire, 54% in the North West and 58% in the North East.
70% of people who said their financial situation was a struggle backed Brexit, as did 59% of those identifying as working class.
Even 40% of ‘young working class Labour voters’ backed Brexit. The report asks:
“Could there be a re-alignment of party politics along the cleavages identified? Can the Labour Party remain a strong force in working class and low income communities?”
With numbers like these Paul Nuttall will be rubbing his hands…
Heidi Alexander sums up Labour’s approach to aspiration:
“Babies grow up to become taxpayers.”
