Labour loses control of Broxtowe as 20 councillors leave the party

Twenty Labour members of Broxtowe District Council in Nottinghamshire have resigned from the party.

The Guardian report says:

In a statement, the councillors – who will now sit as part of a new Broxtowe Independents party – said: "It is with a heavy heart that we can no longer be in a party that has abandoned traditional Labour values under Keir Starmer's leadership."

They were particularly critical of the cut to the winter fuel allowance, the bus fare increase and Labour’s plans to scrap two-tier county and district councils, which are to be merged to create large unitary authorities.

Radulovic said: "I believe the concentration of power in the hands of fewer people, and the abolition of local democracy through the current proposals of super councils, is nothing short of a dictatorship, where local elected members, local people, local residents will have no say over the type and level of service provided in their area.

"I have therefore been left with no alternative. I cannot support and will not support another centrist government intent on destroying local democracy and dictating national policy from a high pedestal."

It may be significant that the person the Guardian found to speak in favour of the Labour Party was Anna Soubry, the former Conservative MP for Broxtowe. Readers may also recall her as a leading member of the failed centre party Change UK, even if they couldn't remember which of its several names that party ended up using.

I am pleased to see that Labour's proposals for local government are meeting with opposition, at least within the party itself. 

Five thoughts on The Independent Group and the Lib Dems

One
Something had to happen and I am glad that it did. The two main parties have both been captured by groups of extremists that have more in common with each other than they do with the political mainstream.

You only have to see the happy faces of The Independent Group MPs to see what a strain it has been to fight for mainstream values in the Conservative and Labour Parties.

The response from Corbyn loyalists, at least, has shown how broken our political system now is.

I have no idea what will happen next, but I have a feeling it will be more fun than the last few years have been,

Two
Tim Farron rushed to offer us as an army to help the TIGgers to power. But, pleased as I am by the turn events have taken, I believe we Liberal Democrats need to be more wary than that.

No doubt there have been talks between us and the new group, but are we certain that they wish us well? Already Anna Soubry has urged Lib Dems to join her instead.

Remembering the endless hours expended on seat negotiations by the Liberal Party and the SDP, I would be tempted to pursue a selfish strategy if I were in charge of TIG and it had grown into a national party

I would give the Lib Dems a clear run in the seats they hold and in another dozen where they had realistic chances of winning. After that, I would stand a candidate in every seat in the country and let the Lib Dems stand against me if they dared.

So low is the present Lib Dem support across much of the country, I would reason, that if we can’t supplant then we TIGgers have no future as a party anyway.

Three
Another worry about TIG is that it will all be a little vague. How could it be otherwise when they had to begin by attracting both Labour and Conservative MPs?

The question for TIG is whether it can move on from its launch Statement and become the driver of the reforms Britain needs.

Just for starters, we need to rebuild local democracy and our public services, reform our democracy and put the environment at the heart of our politics.

Is this really the group do it?

Four
So what should the Liberal Democrats do next?

Richard Kemp offers some characteristically sensible advice: we must concentrate on the May local elections and gain as many seats as possible and leave grand strategy on the back burner for a while.

The better we do in those elections, the stronger the hand we will have to play in whatever happens next.

Five
If we doubt that TIG has the coherence or intellectual heft to put forward the reforms Britain needs, then we Lib Dems are going to have to do some of the work.

Commentators used to accuse the Liberal Party of living off the intellectual capital of the Grimond years. Sometimes I wonder if the Lib Dems have any intellectual capital at all.

If that sounds harsh, think of how quickly we moved from being a party that wanted better-funded public services to one that supported George Osborne’s austerity.

We need some good internal rows over policy. We need to be a bit less of a family and a bit more of a political party.

Nottingham panel discussion on "Brexit - What Next?"

The European Movement is holding  a free 'Question Time' event in Nottingham city centre on the evening of 28 September.

On the panel will be:

Ken Clarke MP
Anna Soubry MP
Chris Leslie MP
Tom Brake MP
Femi Oluwole - Our Future Our Choice
Eloise Todd - Best for Britain

The moderator will be John Hess, the former BBC East Midlands political editor.

You can apply for tickets via the European Movement Leicestershire site.

The event will take place at the Nottingham Conference Centre, 30 Burton Street, Nottingham NG1 4BU (6.30-9.30pm).

Anna Soubry socks it to her colleagues on the Tory benches

Here’s what it looks like when a political party explodes. pic.twitter.com/k1kkysboT4

— Alan White (@aljwhite) July 16, 2018

Moderate Conservatives are called "Wets" for a reason, but here Anna Soubry summons up the passion Remainers have rarely shown.

I wish Theresa May had one thousandth of her courage.

Start Again? Lib Dems in talks about new party with moderate Labour and Tory MPs

Embed from Getty Images

From today's Sunday Times (behind its paywall):

Senior Labour MPs appalled by Jeremy Corbyn’s performance over the Salisbury poisoning have been in secret talks with the Liberal Democrats and at least one Conservative MP about forming a new political party called Start Again. 

Plans for a new pro-European centre party have been openly discussed as part of cross-party discussions on Brexit, according to sources present. 

One of those involved in the plotting — a former member of the shadow cabinet — told The Sunday Times that Corbyn’s refusal to blame Russia for the attack would cause MPs to abandon Labour. “This is a watershed moment,” the MP said. “It has caused a number of people to question why we are in this party.”

There are not many names named, but Chuka Umunna, Chris Leslie and Anna Soubry all get a mention.

There would be an irony in calling a new party Start Again unless it turned out to be devoted to something more than maintaining the status quo.

Nigel Farage angry at minister’s ‘finger up bottom slur’

The Metro wins our Headline of the Day Award.