British Elections: Boris Johnson could lose his seat, and this young Labour candidate hopes he'll be the one to take it

 As campaigning begins for the Dec. 12 U.K. election, Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a young Labour Party opponent determined to knock him out of his seat and stop his Brexit plans at the same time.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-k-election-boris-johnson-brexit-1.5350716

Britain-Brexit : Corbyn backs referendum on Brexit deal after EU election exodus

Corbyn backs referendum on Brexit deal after EU election exodus

Read more at: 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/27/jeremy-corbyn-signals-more-support-for-second-referendum-after-voter-exodus?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Britain: Jeremy Corbyn backs permanent customs union after Brexit

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has backed the UK being in a permanent customs union with the EU in a speech setting out his approach to Brexit.

He said this would avoid the need for a "hard border" in Northern Ireland and ensure free-flowing trade for business.

The policy shift could lead to Labour siding with Tory rebels to defeat Theresa May on her Brexit strategy.

The Tories said it was "a cynical attempt" to frustrate Brexit "and play politics with our country's future".

Mr Corbyn insisted in an interview with BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg that his speech was a "firming up" of Labour's existing policy and that he did not want the UK to follow the Norway model, ending up bound by EU rules but having very little say in them.

Read More: Jeremy Corbyn backs permanent customs union after Brexit - BBC News

Brexit - "eat their cake and have it too?" Jeremy Corbyn urged to shift on single market membership - Matt Withers

The Labour leader said he wanted to ensure that British firms and universities continued to have "close relationships" with the European Union.

Labour wants a "tariff-free trade relationship" and "a form of customs union", Mr Corbyn said.

But he was urged to go further and put "clear red water" between his position and prime minister Theresa May's by backing the UK staying in both the single market and customs union.

Labour MP Chuka Umunna said the party's supporters could not understand why its official position "continues to cling so closely to that of the Conservative government".

A commitment to stay in the single market and customs union, which would see only minor post-Brexit change and would maintain free movement of people, could risk alienating Leave-backing voters in some of the party's heartlands.

Instead the Labour leader said: "What we plan is a tariff-free trade relationship with Europe, a form of customs union, and a trade relationship that guarantees our manufacturing industry and our service industries can continue to trade with Europe and they can continue to trade with us.

"Every major company has very close relationships with Europe. Every university has close relationships with Europe.

"We intend to maintain those relationships and ensure that they are part of our negotiations.

"And that is the case that we have put all the way through the debate in Parliament and we will continue to do so."

Streatham MP Mr Umunna, a leading supporter of the Open Britain campaign, said: "The overwhelming majority of Labour members and voters want the party to speak out clearly and unambiguously against the government's plans for a hard and destructive Brexit.

Read more: Jeremy Corbyn urged to shift on single market membership | Latest Brexit news and top stories - The New European

Britain: 10 Questions for the Labour Party - by David Held

Following a largely unexpected election defeat, David Held poses 10 questions for the Labour Party with significance far beyond Britain. 

The UK general election was tumultuous and the results, particularly for Labour and the Liberal Democrats, disastrous. Of course, the position of Labour is better than that of the Liberal Democrats, but the combined fate of their decline is disheartening and disorienting for anyone on the centre- left.

The surprise and shock of the outcome to many was, of course, fuelled by the false trail of expectations led by the polls. But when all is said and done the results were seismic.

Into the chasm of failure have stepped would-be leaders with manifestos and numerous commentators, nearly all offering instant solutions that would push the party further to the left, centre or right. I have read countless attempts to tell the Labour party where they went wrong. The enemies of the party bask in the glow of these fragilities while everyone else seems to rush in with ready-made solutions.

The rush to provide instant solutions to tomorrow’s problems is mistaken and will not help rebuild the crumbled edifice of Labour. Instead, I think the failure of Labour raises some very important questions, which need to be thought through carefully.

This is a moment for deliberation about the key questions ahead; not a moment for false closure which will produce the semblance of a new direction without the foundations of one. The questions have to be right before answers sought.

For complete report click here: 10 Questions for the Labour Party | Global Policy Journal - Practitioner, Academic, Global Governance, International Law, Economics, Security, Institutions, Comment & Opinion, Media, Events, Journal

British Elections: British Politicians Woo 'Muslim Vote' With Pledges

The leader of Britain's Labour Party, Ed Miliband, has vowed, if he becomes the next prime minister in general elections on May 7, to outlaw "Islamophobia."

The move — which one observer has called "utterly frightening" because of its implications for free speech in Britain — is part of an effort by Miliband to pander to Muslim voters in a race that he has described as "the tightest general election for a generation."

With the ruling Conservatives and the opposition Labour running neck and neck in the polls just days before voters cast their ballots, British Muslims — who voted overwhelmingly for Labour in the 2010 general election — could indeed determine who will be the next prime minister.
In an interview with The Muslim News, Miliband said:

"We are going to make it [Islamophobia] an aggravated crime. We are going to make sure it is marked on people's records with the police to make sure they root out Islamophobia as a hate crime.

"We are going to change the law on this so we make it absolutely clear of our abhorrence of hate crime and Islamophobia. It will be the first time that the police will record Islamophobic attacks right across the country."

Read more: British Politicians Woo 'Muslim Vote' With Pledges

Britain - Elections Miliband leads ‘new generation taking charge of Labour’

Edward Samuel Miliband, aged 45, leads a party of waning fortunes since Tony Blair held power. He is on record as saying he believes he is the best person …“to move us on from New Labour… to get back in touch with the concerns of working people.”

Some of course call him ‘Red Ed’, given his Marxist father and his left-wing mother.
Their Oxford and London School of Economics-educated son, however, won the support of the unions while sticking up for middle income earners, vowing tax cuts and better services with accountability.

In a rousing speech, he said: “Everything in this manifesto is funded. The deficit will be cut every year. And I offer this manifesto as proof — a better plan, for a better future for our country.”

Ed Miliband’s older brother David, policy chief for Blair and then foreign minister under Brown, eased out of politics when Ed won the Labour leadership in 2010. Ed had left a journalist career behind him and now became head of the Opposition, record young, at 40. David seemed not to bear him any hard feelings.

Miliband was favourable to devolving authority to lower levels of government, although critics on the left complained he was too far right, yet slowly the party began performing better. Labour also won more seats in the European elections, ahead of the conservatives though behind UKIP.

Read more: Miliband leads ‘new generation taking charge of Labour’ | euronews, world news

British Labour Leader Ed Miliband's Easter message highlights persecuted Christians in Syria and Iraq - by Ruth Gledhill

Ed Miliband

British Labour leader Ed Miliband has used his Easter message to express his concerns for the fate of persecuted Christians around the world.

The brief and to-the-point seasonal message of Miliband, an atheist, contrasts with the overtly Christian offerings from Conservative politicians such as David Cameron and Michael Gove.

Miliband says he is looking forward to sharing the weekend with his family in Doncaster, where he was MP for Doncaster North until Parliament was dissolved at the end of March.

"In the midst of the Easter celebrations our hearts goes out to those who face difficult times both overseas and closer to home. My thoughts are particularly with Christians in Syria, Iraq and other countries where the church suffers terrible persecution," he wrote.

Miliband cites statistics from the International Society for Human Rights which state that Christians are the victims of 80 per cent of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today.

"We must all do everything we can to speak out against this evil and work to alleviate the suffering of those who are persecuted simply for their creed," he says.

"But we don't need to travel far to find families facing fear and uncertainty. Over two million children are now living in poverty in the UK. I have admiration for those church members and Christian charities that provide support and hope to those in need."

Noting that over the Easter weekend millions of Christians will attend Easter services and events up and down the country, he acknowledges that through such gatherings, the church shares the story of the resurrection, and spreads the good news of Easter.

"In the months to come I hope that we will all stand up for justice, serve the most vulnerable and work to positively transform our communities together."
 
Read more: Ed Miliband's Easter message highlights persecuted Christians in Syria and Iraq | Christian News on Christian Today

Britain - Economy: GDP grows but current account deficit near record high ahead of UK election

With the British election hurtling towards us the latest economic figures appear to offer ammunition for both of the two main parties.

The ruling Conservatives can point to faster than expected growth at the end of last year on the back of a mini export boom, and rising household incomes as proof their policies are working.

GDP grew by 2.8% in 2014, but this may not last as the dominant service sector is expected to slow in 2015. And the Labour opposition will point the higher current account deficit.

“The overall picture and the economic outlook for the UK still looks relatively rosy.

Unemployment falling,wages rising.that should keep consumer confidence quite strong for the foreseeable few months,” says FX Pro’s Angus Campbell.

David Cameron faces another uncertain election outcome when a new coalition may be needed, while Labour’s Ed Milliband may also be forced into partnership in the most unpredictable vote in decades.

Read more: GDP grows but current account deficit near record high ahead of UK election

Dutch Elections: PM Rutte's Liberals slightly ahead in exit poll but Samson's PVDA can still win.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Liberals are one seat ahead of the opposition Labour Party in a closely contested election, an exit poll after Wednesday's vote showed.

The two pro-European parties, Liberals and Labour, had 41 and 40 seats respectively out of a total of 150 seats in parliament, the exit poll by Dutch broadcaster NOS/RTL showed.

It seems however that the Labour party of Diederik Samson could still win if the predicted results in the Netherland's  large cities hold true. 

EU-Digest

The Netherlands: Dutch Labour leader Samson seen as new PM and "would be every mothers favorite son in law"

Diederik Samson

Dutch Labour leader Diederik Samson handed out roses and promised a new Europe as he campaigned Saturday to achieve what seemed impossible just weeks ago: become the Netherlands' next prime minister.

"The Netherlands needs a party that understands that it's only with a properly functioning Europe that the Netherlands can function, only with a Europe that grows can the Netherlands have growth," Samson told voters on the canal-lined streets of Utrecht ahead of Wednesday's election.

Red-clad activists from Samson's centre-left Labour (PvdA) party and shoppers applauded the call to redefine the European Union's role.

Samson, has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the polls that has surprised voters and analysts in the eurozone's fifth largest economy.

With his broad grin and shaved head and wearing a shirt without a tie, Samson tells his followers to believe in "the strength of the Netherlands".

"We have to build the future, we have to build a more social Netherlands, it's still possible!" said the politician dubbed the "comeback-kid" of Dutch politics.

While the Dutch economy grew by 0.2 percent in the second quarter compared to the first, the country's Central Statistics Bureau warned that "the Netherlands still finds itself in a period of poor economic conditions."

Samson, 41, only took over the Labour party in March, a month before the ruling coalition led by the Liberal VVD collapsed.

He has risen steadily in the polls over the last two weeks and is now seriously being seen as a contender for the prime minister's post.

He has positioned his leftist party towards the centre to battle the sovereign debt crisis shaking the eurozone, arguing for targetted stimulus measures to kick-start growth. "Just making savings will not solve the crisis and investing without thinking will only make it worse," Samson said in Utrecht.

Instead, he offered a middle-of-the road alternative to austerity-driven VDD leader and current Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the one hand, and the hard-left Socialist Party leader Emile Roemer on the other.
Latest opinion polls suggest Samson's PvdA will win 32 seats in the 150-seat lower house, and the VDD 33.

Whichever party wins most votes gets the prime minister's job and the right to form a ruling coalition. On Saturday night, Dutch public broadcaster NOS, on its website, put both parties at 35 seats in their "political barometer". When voters were asked "who do you want to be prime minister if you can choose between right winger Mark Rutte and Diederik Samson?" 42 percent of respondents chose Rutte, while 47 percent chose Samson.

The party that wins Wednesday's elections will be in charge of forming a new coalition government in the 150-seat lower house, and a new prime minister is chosen from its ranks -- usually the party leader.

The intelligent and personable Diederik Samson who has served in parliament since 2003, and his ability to perform well on television should not have come as a surprise, as he has been a serial victor on celebrity television quiz programs. In 2005 and 2006 he won "The National News Quiz," in 2008 he won "The National IQ Test" and the same year he won "The Big History Quiz." His wife reportedly told him he had proved his point and should stop competing.

Samson may also be benefiting from what voters don't know about him. He studied Nuclear Physics at the prestigious Dutch Delft University. Is married and has two children. Before entering politics, he worked for Greenpeace, where he was arrested several times, though he does not have a criminal record. An elderly lady who watched him on TV said about Samson, "he would be every mothers favorite son in law".

EU-Digest