“David Cameron is looking to ignore opposition from new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and push for parliamentary assent next month for British military strikes against jihadi targets in Syria. Speaking on a visit to Jordan and Lebanon, Mr Cameron indicated that the election of the anti-war Mr Corbyn was not an insuperable barrier to winning cross-party support for RAF action in Syria. Mr Cameron said: ‘That would depend on parliament; it does not necessarily depend on the views of one person’” – Financial Times
>Today:
>Yesterday:
“A universe of opportunity opened up for the Conservatives on Saturday, when the Labour Party elected the oddest leader in its history. Jeremy Corbyn, and the stain of extremism that will stick to the Labour name long after he has gone, presents the Tories with the opposite of a dilemma: a choice of two attractive courses of action, both of which assure at least one more victory in 2020. They can hold the middle ground that Labour has evacuated, or they can govern some way to the right” – Janan Ganesh, Financial Times
>Today:
>Yesterday:
“It has been a long march indeed from Islington to the Labour front bench. At 3.25pm yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn shuffled into the Commons chamber… looking like an intern who has been allowed to sit in at a board meeting. He appeared nervous, but also chuffed to bits to be there. He had even put on a tie” – Patrick Kidd, The Times (£)
“Lifelong republican Jeremy Corbyn will kiss the Queen’s hand on bended knee in a humiliating personal climbdown. Labour’s new leader last night agreed to be one of Her Majesty’s Privy Councillors so he can get his hands on £6.2million of state cash. His U-turn came as it was revealed he once said he wants to live in ‘a republic rather than a monarchy’” – The Sun (£)
“Jeremy Corbyn faced a backlash from his union supporters and Labour MPs yesterday after handing the post of shadow chancellor to the hard-left veteran John McDonnell… He is likely to be given a warm welcome when he speaks today at the Trades Union Congress, but the appointment of his long-time ally Mr McDonnell has strained relations. One senior trade union source described the appointment as mad” – The Times (£)
“Jeremy Corbyn appointed a vegan to oversee countryside policies and handed a key post to the next potential leader of Labour’s left. In a move that immediately alarmed countryside campaigners, the new leader made Kerry McCarthy, a vocal opponent of hunting, badger culls and methods of mass food production, his shadow environment secretary. Lisa Nandy, the Wigan MP who is already seen as the rising star of Labour’s left flank, was appointed shadow energy and climate change secretary. Some have already suggested she has the charisma to take over from Mr Corbyn” – The Times (£)
“Late-night negotiations, overheard through a door, reveal the fraught nature of the formation of Jeremy Corbyn’s first shadow cabinet… Rosie Winterton [Labour chief whip] was heard on the phone to an unknown person, and said: ‘Now, this might be a bit of an outside idea, how do you feel about being shadow defence secretary?’ She reportedly paused before adding: ‘Just what are your views on Trident?’” – The Times (£)
“Business has reacted warily to Labour’s radical new leadership and its proposals to ‘reshape the economy’ and increase taxes on the wealthy and big corporations… Stephen Herring, head of tax policy at the Institute of Directors, said: ‘What we are trying to do is focus on official announcements rather than focus too much on what people have said in the past’” – Financial Times
“Scottish Labour must not be dragged to the left following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as UK party leader, Alistair Darling has warned… In an interview with the Herald, he urged Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale to remain rooted in the political centre ground, saying it would pay a ‘heavy price’ if it attempted to challenged the SNP from a platform far to the left of Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP” – Herald
“Labour attacked the government’s Trade Union Bill as draconian as MPs erupted in fury during its first debate in the Commons… Labour MPs roared in anger and repeatedly intervened across the House, as Jeremy Corbyn looked on from the opposition front bench during his first day in parliament as party leader. The government was also issued a stark warning by David Davis, the backbench Tory MP, that Conservative parliamentarians could rebel against the bill at its next reading if illiberal measures in it were not dropped” – The Times (£)
“Here lies the significance of the Chancellor’s National Living Wage strategy. It hasn’t just blown the whistle on a fifty year welfare programme of subsidising low wages… The National Living Wage is potentially far more revolutionary because it turns upside down established welfare thinking” – Frank Field, Spectator