Campaigns Archive 2020
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Johnson Back At Work Soon - A Promise Or A Threat?
April 22, 2020
Boris Johnson will soon be back full time as Prime Minister, we are told. How long will it be before Downing Street get him to do what he does best – a stunt? Maybe driving a bulldozer through a polystyrene wall with a slogan “Get Covid Gone.” Sadly, the JCB factory where Johnson performed that General Election stunt has its workers on furlough.
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Boris Johnson’s First Big Decision When He Returns To No 10 Won’t Be On Coronavirus But His Obsession - Brexit
April 20, 2020
As he savoured his moment of glory after his triumph in the polls in December, followed by Britain leaving the EU Treaty in January, Boris Johnson thought he had Europe at his feet and rushed into law an act stipulating that the UK would terminate all negotiations by December 2020.
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A Plague On All Your Cults
April 16, 2020
“We are a strong team”, declared Keir Starmer at the end of an hour long webinar conducted by his deputy Angela Rayner and himself. They were answering questions emailed in by party members. It was an impressive outing for the leadership duo, demonstrating their radicalism and commitment to a better future. There will be more webinars over the coming week.
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Matt Hancock Employs The 'Dead Cat' Strategy
April 09, 2020
The dead cat strategy was invented by the Tories’ election guru Lynton Crosby, but it was explained most clearly by one beneficiary of his dark arts, the then Telegraph columnist Boris Johnson, in one of his typical rants against the EU.
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The Time To Start The Blame Game Is Now
April 01, 2020
Labour wasted a year after the election defeat in 2010 failing to rebut the Tory claim that the 2008 financial crisis was “Labour’s mess”. Labour mustn’t make the same mistake again with the COVID-19 crisis.
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When It’s Over
March 19, 2020
It is possible that the economic and social chaos inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic will overwhelm us and that questions about the ‘big issues of yesterday’ will then appear wholly irrelevant or painfully trivial. But all that aside, we face three Brexit scenarios.
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We Need A Kinnock, Not A Blair
March 15, 2020
Did you know that between 1997 and 2010 Labour lost over 5 million votes - most of them under Tony Blair? When I included that fact in an online article a senior figure in Progress riposted “They were Blair’s to lose.” No so, I replied. 1997 was a team triumph. Blair was a brilliant communicator, but he inherited from John Smith a party in great nick. He was supported by a formidable team, including Becket, Brown, Blunkett, Cook, Mowlam, and Prescott. Most importantly, post-1983, the heavy lifting had been done by former Labour leader and now Honorary President of the LME, Neil Kinnock.
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The UK-EU Talks Are Not About Trade, But Ideology
March 15, 2020
The negotiations between London and Brussels are not about trade but the totality of how the British state is organized. Reporting on the BBC and in the London media once again is letting down British citizens by discussing the negotiations simply as aiming for a free trade deal. Ideology lies at the heart of the British approach.
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The Reign of Experts Did Not Last Long
March 15, 2020
As far as I can see, the Government has binned last week’s policy. Matt Hancock has just said on Marr “herd immunity” is not government policy. The reign of experts did not last long. Johnson and ministers do not know what to do.
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Beating Boris Johnson: Tackle The Man And The Ball
March 03, 2020
“If Johnson self-isolates, how will we know?” Thanks for that joke goes to Tim Walker, the gallant Lib Dem, who stood down in Canterbury to help Rosie Duffield. He defied then party leader Jo Swinson. Happily, Duffield won while Swinson lost her seat.