Lawyer
The Spectator
Thursday
Why Ed Miliband should stop paying his union dues
Ed Miliband’s relationship with Len McCluskey was defined in a brief camera shot at the Labour party conference in 2010. After praising trade unions, Miliband added that he would have no patience with ‘waves of irresponsible strikes’. Several rows back, McCluskey, who three days earlier had helped Ed defeat his brother David in the leadership election, was filmed shaking his head and shouting ‘Rubbish!’ Given that McCluskey’s Unite union pays most of Labour’s bills, his word was seen as a veto. This was the new deal. McCluskey and his colleagues bestowed their patronage upon Ed not because they thought he would be a strong leader, but for rather the opposite reason: they expected acquiescence. In many ways, Ed has justified their faith.
Letters: MPs’ salaries, Ruby the Heartstealer, and how to avoid washing up
Tax breaks for families Sir: Hugo Rifkind is wrong to imply (6 July) that the current income tax system is indifferent to family structure, and thus the Conservative party’s attempt to give tax breaks to married couples is ‘a blatant attempt at social engineering’. Is it not social engineering when the current system demands more tax from a single-earner family than a dual-earner family, even if the total income is the same? Milton Friedman once said: ‘We tend to talk about an individualist society, but it really isn’t, it’s a family society.’ Hugo makes the mistake of seeing society as a collection of individuals, but in the real world most important financial decisions are taken by families or households.
Barometer | 11 July 2013
Family games Andy Murray said that as a child he lived in the shadow of his elder brother Jamie, who was then thought the better tennis player. Some other sporting brothers: — As a teenager Wayne Lineker was thought to be more talented than his elder brother Gary. While Gary went on to captain England, and score 48 goals for the national team, Wayne dropped out of football and opened several bars in Spain. His latest venture is an appearance on ITV2 show The Only Way is Essex. — While Bobby Charlton was given an apprenticeship, his elder brother Jack sought work in a coal mine before a talent scout for Leeds United spotted him in an amateur match. He went on to join Bobby in England’s World Cup winning team and later succeeded as a manager.
Portrait of the week | 11 July 2013
Home There was a fine game of hunt-the-issue over the process to find a replacement, as parliamentary candidate in Falkirk, for the Labour MP Eric Joyce (who had decided not to stand again after being convicted of assaulting a Labour whip in the Strangers’ Bar). The union Unite was accused by Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour party, of signing up its members to the Falkirk constituency Labour party without their knowledge. Unite’s chosen candidate Karie Murphy had been the officer manager of Tom Watson MP. Mr Watson resigned as Labour’s national election co-ordinator. The next day, Mr Miliband referred the imbroglio at Falkirk to the Scottish police, but not before a Tory MP, Henry Smith, had written to the Chief Constable alleging fraud.
Tuesday
Ed Miliband’s speech on reforming Labour’s relationship with trade unions: full text
Let me start by saying how pleased I am to be here at the St Bride’s Foundation. Only a few hundred yards from where the Labour Party was founded over a century ago. And especially to be here with so many community organisers and Labour Party members from right across the country. I am here today to talk about how we can build a different kind of politics. A politics which is truly rooted in every community of the country. And reaches out to people across every walk of life. That is what I mean by One Nation. A country where everyone plays their part. And a politics where they can. It is about a politics that is open. Transparent. And trusted. Exactly the opposite of the politics we’ve recently seen in Falkirk. A politics that was closed.
Friday
The best books section in the world
Many guests at the Spectator’s summer party on Wednesday night expressed their admiration for the magazine’s books section, which is edited by Mark Amory and Clare Asquith. Consistently strong, they said. What a cracking section, said an excited Australian gentleman. It's a tremendous honour to have such support, and we're grateful to all our readers.
