| Ed Balls 'surprised' after Alan Johnson named shadow chancellor Admits new role as home affairs spokesman unexpected after he and wife Yvette Cooper are passed over for economics jobEd Balls, unexpectedly passed over for the position of shadow chancellor by Ed Miliband, today admitted he was "surprised" to have been handed the role of Labour's home affairs spokesman.Balls, who had made clear his enthusiasm for the shadow Treasury post during the Labour leadership campaign, privately hoped the new Labour leader would appoint him or his wife Yvette Cooper to the top economics job in the shadow cabinet.But in an unexpected move, Johnson was given the role, while Cooper was handed the post of shadow foreign secretary. She refused to say whether Miliband had discussed the appointments with her or Balls before today.Balls was asked on BBC news whether he surprised at his appointment. He replied "yes" before adding swiftly: "The most important thing is not who's doing what job, but winning the argument."As shadow home secretary, Balls will probably take a more populist line, and observers will watch closely to see if he can craft a policy on immigration and anti-social behaviour that can win back lost working class voters.Miliband's decision to appoint Johnson as his chief spokesman on the economy sent a signal that he intends to assert his own authority on Labour's economic policy, reducing the risk of the splits that marred the Brown-Blair era.It is also shows that the Labour leader does not intend to shift dramatically from the economic plan laid out before the election by the former chancellor, Alistair Darling, who proposed to halve the budget deficit over four years.Since then, Miliband has suggested that more of the deficit should be tackled through tax rises.Johnson said today: "Since his election as leader, Ed has demonstrated real strength of character and determination to unify and lead. Ed and I will work together to build a plan for growth and for jobs in our economy."We will offer a real and responsible alternative to the dangerous plans of this coalition government, which is damaging the economic future of millions of families."Balls and Cooper had argued that the threat of a world recession requires a radical rethink of Labour's plans, prompting the Tories to claim the former secretary of state for children, schools and families was a "deficit denier".He had made a series of speeches and interviews that came close to being seen as applications for the job of shadow chancellor. Johnson, by comparison, has not shown any great enthusiasm for the post in the past few weeks.Johnson's appointment offers an olive branch to supporters of the defeated leadership candidate David Miliband, for whom Johnson was the first MP to declare his support.In an interview today, Cooper was pressed on whether Miliband had discussed the role of shadow chancellor with her or Balls. She said: : "I've always refused to be drawn on any of these discussions, I think it would be deeply presumptuous of me to do so."It's for the leader of the Labour party, Ed Miliband, to decide his shadow cabinet."She said it was a "great honour" to be made shadow foreign secretary.In other appointments. John Healey, the relatively unknown MP who came second in the shadow cabinet election, was appointed shadow health secretary. Andy Burnham, another defeated leadership contender, switches from health to education.Peter Hain, who failed to make the frontbench, has been co-opted as shadow Welsh secretary, chair of the national policy forum and the leader's representative on the national executive committee.Liam Byrne joins the shadow cabinet as a policy development adviser – a similar role played by the Conservative Oliver Letwin while in opposition.Byrne has had a series of conversations with Ed Miliband on the need to look at the effects of economic policy on the middle classes, and has been studying US analysis overseen by Joe Biden, the US vice-president.Harriet Harman, who will remain deputy leader, has been appointed shadow international development secretary. Shaun Woodward is to remain shadow Northern Ireland secretary even though he was not elected to the shadow cabinet last night.Jim Murphy, David Miliband's campaign organiser, is to spearhead Labour's response to the strategic defence review as shadow defence secretary. Douglas Alexander gets the shadow work and pensions portfolio where he will have to craft a distinctive position on welfare reform.Caroline Flint, who famously said that women were treated as "window dressing" in politics, has been given the communities and local government brief, where she will shadow Eric Pickles.Sadiq Khan, one of Ed Miliband's first supporters and a barrister, has been appointed shadow justice secretary. His appointment will signal a more liberal view on counter-terrorism issues.Among the women elected for the first time, Meg Hillier has been appointed shadow climate change secretary, Maria Eagle shadow transport secretary and Mary Creagh shadow environment food and rural affairs secretary.Angela Eagle, a former Treasury minister, has been appointed shadow chief secretary working under Johnson. She will have a full workload as the Labour team struggles to produce a coherent economic policy ahead of the spending review on 20 October.Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron raised concerns over Cooper's appointment as shadow foreign secretary given her stance on Iraq.Farron, co-chairman of his party's parliamentary committee for international affairs, said: "The illegal invasion of Iraq was the worst foreign policy mistake for generations, yet Ed Miliband's new shadow foreign secretary was an enthusiastic supporter. Her leader now claims Iraq was a mistake, does Yvette Cooper feel the same way? Ed Miliband claimed to represent a 'new generation', but his shadow cabinet looks very much like the New Labour establishment that came before it."LabourAlan JohnsonEd BallsYvette CooperEd MilibandAndy BurnhamHarriet HarmanPatrick WintourMark Tranguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Police seize drugs worth £3.35m Drugs with an estimated street value of £3.35m are found in an industrial unit in the east end of Glasgow. bbc.co.uk |
MS sufferer confronts David Cameron and Nick Clegg A multiple sclerosis sufferer, Margaret Lynch, who pressed David Cameron and Nick Clegg over the effects of the cuts on the disabled said ''time will tell'' about whether she believed their reassurances. telegraph.co.uk |
Letters: Spy planes and second-class citizens It was with great interest that I read your report (Foreign fighters in the shadows, 25 November) on how spy planes have been patrolling British skies trying to pick up voice signatures of British citizens suspected of travelling to Afghanistan to fight against Nato forces, after Yorkshire and Birmingham accents were detected by RAF spy planes in Helmand.If this is true, it raises a number of serious questions. First, how often have these flights been taking place and under what authority? Second, which areas have these spy planes been operating over? One can only presume that they would be targeting Muslim majority areas in Yorkshire and Birmingham. If so, it makes a mockery of the apology offered by the West Midlands chief constable, Chris Simms, after a secret police operation to place thousands of Muslims in Birmingham under secret camera surveillance was uncovered (Report, 1 October). If spy planes are indeed also operating over Muslim areas in Britain, it once again highlights how little the government really cares about the dignity of its Muslim citizens.Third, how is the information gathered from such surveillance being used by the authorities? Is it being used as "secret evidence" against terror suspects brought before draconian Special Immigration Appeals Commission courts, where they are unable to see or challenge the allegations against them? One of the justifications often put forward in support of the use of "secret evidence" is that to disclose it to the accused would be to compromise the intelligence services and their methods and strategies. If this is indeed one of those methods, it is understandable why the government is fighting to keep it secret. For were it to become public knowledge, it would further underline the fact that Muslims in Britain are being deliberately targeted by the authorities as a suspect community and treated as second-class citizens.Fahad AnsariCageprisonersSurveillanceTerrorism policyIslamReligionHuman rightsGlobal terrorismUK security and terrorismguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Snow closes roads and schools across Britain The worst November snowfall for decades has brought travel chaos as forecasters warn temperatures could dip as low as minus 20C in the coming days. telegraph.co.uk |