UKOK: Gordon Brown warns that the union is at risk if Boris becomes PM
Former Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has warned that Boris Johnson might be the last UK prime minister. Brown argued that Johnson’s anti-Europe Conservatism was largely perceived as being anti Scottish and that “no matter what he says now two decades of anti-Scottish invective will come back to haunt him.”
Spreadsheet Phil to resign if Boris becomes Prime Minister
Philip Hamond, Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that he will tender his resignation if Boris Johnson wins the Conservative Party leadership. Hammond, who has often spoken about the serious ramifications of a no deal Brexit will have on Britain’s economy said “a prime minister must have a chancellor who is aligned with his policy agenda and Boris has made it clear that a condition for serving in his government will be to accept the possibility of a no deal Brexit which I cannot do.”
Pursuing ideological purity at any price will be costly, Theresa May warns.
In her final speech as Prime Minister, Theresa May took aim at the absolutism of politicians like Boris Johnson. In a speech to the Chatham House think tank, Ms May said” An inability to combine principles with pragmatism and make a compromise when required seems to have driven our whole political discourse down the wrong path. It has led to what is, in effect, a form of absolutism. One which believes that if you simply assert your view loud enough and long enough you will get your way in the end.”
Peer pressure: Labour peers tell Jeremy Corbyn he has failed the test of leadership
More than sixty Labour Party peers took an advert out in the Guardian accusing Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party of “failing the test of leadership.” The advert said “The Labour party welcomes everyone* irrespective of race, creed, age, gender identity, or sexual orientation. (*except, it seems, Jews). This is your legacy, Mr Corbyn.”
The advert was taken out following revelations from the BBC Panorama documentary in which eight former Labour Party staff members accused the Labour Party of failing to address complaints of antisemitism properly and interference from the leader’s office in disputes. The direct message to Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour peer’s said “It’s the style of your office and your followers to deny the truth of the message and shoot the messengers, whether they are party members or whistle-blowers from Labour’s head office. But we cannot stay silent while younger, braver party workers and members speak out. You have failed to defend our party’s anti-racist values. You have therefore failed the test of leadership.”
Gloria De Piero quits Labour Party front bench
Gloria De Piero announced that she was stepping down from the Labour Party front bench and won’t be standing as a Labour candidate in the next election. De Piero who was the party’s shadow Justice Minister said” lack of tolerance for different viewpoints in the Labour party frankly worries me”. We have to have respect for each other, even if we disagree, because we are all part of this party,” she added. This party is about a set of values not any individual and we would all do well to remember that. And while I’m at it, and it doesn’t happen in Ashfield, but when I hear people being called right wing in the Labour party, I find it utterly offensive.”