What a difference the whips make…

US Tory adviser boasts about wages boom in America as British wages hit slowest growth on record

Jim Messina, the former Obama adviser hired by the Conservatives’ to help run their election campaign next year, enjoys tweeting about the successes of the American President – despite his unpopularity with fellow Democrats for taking a job working with Cameron. He won’t be endearing himself to the Tories either if he carries on with tweets like this: While cheering on US wage growth may be a good idea for Democrats in the run-up to the mid-terms this November, the […]

Miliband promises “biggest reforms of the railways since privatisation”

Ed Miliband pledged that Labour would introduce the “biggest reforms of the railways since privatisation”, during a visit to Hastings today. During a Q&A, Mliband told the audience that if the Tories were re-elected then commuters in the town could see their rail fares rise by £265 to almost £5,000 a year. He promised that a Labour Government would take tough action to ensure that this would not happen: “A Labour government would cap annual fares on every route and […]

Despite the government’s claims of recovery, the foodbank crisis isn’t going away

By Jamie Hanley

This week, following on from my work with Leeds West foodbank and the Yorkshire Evening Post’s (YEP) excellent campaign raising awareness of the issue, I attended the launch of a new foodbank in Horsforth, one of the wards in my constituency, to show my support for the valuable work they do. Our current MP, a Tory, has been completely silent on the issue, while members of his own government have refused to meet representatives of the Trussell Trust to discuss […]

David Lammy latest MP to call for all-minority ethnic shortlists

David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, has become the latest Labour MP to suggest applying all-minority ethnic shortlists to future parliamentary selections in order to increase representation for black and minority ethnic (BME) people in Westminster. Responding to research carried out by former Labour minister Parmjit Dhanda and the Insight Public Affairs group on the lack of representation in the House of Commons, Lammy said: “Clearly none of the parties have any room for complacency when it comes to BME representation. […]

Even the hecklers get soaked in this old style political tour

By Jim Murphy

In the first of a new weekly Scottish Referendum column for LabourList, Labour’s Shadow International Development Secretary Jim Murphy, writes from the Western Isles and seaside towns leg of his #100Streets tour. When I started my #100Streets in 100 days speaking tour a couple of weeks ago I thought the biggest threat would be Scotland’s summer. Despite the weather you’ve seen on television at Glasgow’s brilliant Commonwealth games it has taken until yesterday for me to get properly drenched by […]