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| This is a coalition shadow cabinet | Will Straw By appointing the allies of his brother and Ed Balls to senior posts, Ed Miliband is prioritising party unity over powerDavid Miliband lives. Today's shadow cabinet reshuffle represents a consolidation of power for the team around the now departed elder Miliband.His brother Ed seems to have decided that a conciliatory approach is the best way to secure party unity. This is the paradox of post-factionalism for a leader who wants to leave the TB-GBs behind. He will only be able to do so if, after counting heads from the old tribes, everyone thinks he has acted fairly. The leader will hope that this now offers him the launch pad for his feted "new generation" politics.The appointment of Johnson as shadow chancellor, which has taken most of Westminster by surprise, both avoids a choice between Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper while reinforcing Ed Miliband's assurance at conference that "I am serious about reducing our deficit". Both Balls (stridently) and Cooper (quietly) had been pushing for more flexibility than Alistair Darling's approach allowed. That march has been halted and the key question now is which cuts will be accepted and which opposed by Labour. As this week's row over child benefit has shown, the welfare budget will be critical, and much of that responsibility will lie with Douglas Alexander, who has been promoted to shadow work and pensions after co-chairing David Miliband's campaign.Also significant are the portfolios given to Liam Byrne and Andy Burnham. Alongside writing private notes to his successor, Byrne spent May bashing out a pamphlet titled "Why did Labour lose?". He concluded that lost C2 voters were critical and will now be given an opportunity to flesh out these ideas in a floating role at the Cabinet Office. Meanwhile, Burnham – a longstanding friend and political ally of David Miliband – has been made election coordinator alongside a move to education.While Ed M is reluctant to play politics with Ken Clarke's proposed penal reform, Ed Balls will be asked to respond to the public's concern over immigration, reflecting the leaders' analysis that it is "a class issue". Balls may also play bad cop to Sadiq Khan's good cop on criminal justice. Khan rebelled against Labour's extension of detention without trial and said at a recent Fabian Society event that he would consider supporting the government if they made an evidence-based case for reducing the period to 14 days.Alongside Khan, the other big winner is John Healey. Unknown to most of the public, Healey worked for nine years as a government minister and is widely respected for mastering the housing brief, which he held for a year before election defeat. He is seen as a safe pair of hands who is capable of picking apart Andrew Lansley's reckless healthcare reforms.One common strand that brings together MPs from left and right is Ed Miliband's focus on the "squeezed middle". Both Healey and Byrne claim to have coined the phrase, while Jon Trickett, a soft left MP who has been asked to attend shadow cabinet meetings, has written about Labour's failure to "defend living standards amongst the middle and lower income earners".Earlier this week, some suggested that David Cameron's speech was similar to Stanley Baldwin's message from the 1920s. It turns out "Safety first" is the philosophy of Ed Miliband.Ed MilibandLabourWill Strawguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Winning by a nose: Dogs train for 2012 As London prepares to host the Olympic games in 2012, extra police sniffer dogs are being recruited to increase security. bbc.co.uk |
MP's wife to face trial over kitten theft claims The wife of the Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming has appeared before magistrates charged with burgling the house of her husband's lover and stealing a kitten. telegraph.co.uk |
US embassy cables: Syrian shows 'ignorance' over Prince Charles Thursday, 19 February 2004, 20:55S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001288 SIPDIS EO 12958 DECL: 02/19/2014 TAGS PREL, PGOV, PTER, IZ, KU, SY, JO SUBJECT: MUASHER ON PRODUCTIVE KUWAIT MEETING, PERSISTENT PROBLEMS WITH SYRIAREF: KUWAIT 539Classified By: Amb. Edward W. Gnehm for reasons 1.5 (b) (d)-------SUMMARY-------1. (S) FonMin Muasher told the Ambassador February 18 that the Iraq neighbors Foreign Ministers meeting in Kuwait had been frank and productive, with the neighbors arguing strongly for guarantees of Iraqi unity and the rights of Iraqi minorities. Iraqi FonMin Zebari responded that Kurds do not want a separate state, but will seek to preserve some of the independence they have enjoyed for twelve years. Muasher complained to Zebari that IGC member Ahmed Chalabi had spoiled two Jordanian bank deals in Iraq. According to Muasher, Syrian FonMin Sharaa was the only negative voice at the Kuwait meeting, and is increasingly an irritant in inter-Arab relations. END SUMMARY-----------------------------------PRODUCTIVE FONMIN MEETING IN KUWAIT-----------------------------------2. (S) Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher described the Iraq neighboring states Foreign Ministers meeting to the Ambassador and PolCouns February 18 as "a good honest discussion." He said that for the first time, Iraqi FonMin Zebari had fully participated in the discussions. For their part, the neighboring states had told Zebari that, without a strong Iraqi commitment to unity, Iraqi federalism is a regional -- not only internal -- issue that affects the interests of neighboring states. Similarly, the lack of protection of minority rights in Iraq could cause instability and become a regional issue as well.3. (S) Zebari responded by saying that -- speaking as a Kurd -- there is no possibility of the creation of a separate Kurdistan, and that Kurds understand there is no support for the idea in the region. However, Kurds have been living a semi-independent existence for twelve years, and will not be willing to give up that status completely. Accordingly, Zebari reportedly argued, Kurds "need to be recognized as a special case." Zebari told the group that Iraqi Shia want not only to rule Shia areas of Iraq, but all of Iraq.4. (S) Muasher said that Zebari had underscored the desire of the Iraqi government to cooperate closely and cement good relations with Jordan, "regardless of the opposition of Ahmed Chalabi." Muasher said he told Zebari that Jordan, too, wanted close cooperation with Iraq, but blamed Chalabi for spoiling deals negotiated by Jordan's Arab Bank and Export and Finance Bank with Iraq banks. Muasher said he would be raising this issue with senior USG officials on his upcoming trip to Washington.---------------------SYRIA THE ODD MAN OUT---------------------5. (S) In this frank and productive discussion, Muasher commented, "the Syrians stood out like a sore thumb. Even the Iranians were positive." For example, Muasher said, Syrian FonMin Farouq Sharaa insisted that Syria would not agree to any document that referred to the November 15 agreement between the CPA and IGC, "since it was not approved by all members of the Governing Council." (Muasher said that Zebari shot back that he doubted that all policies of the Syrian government were approved by all segments of Syrian society.) During the meeting, Muasher said that Zebari had asserted -- without specifics -- that terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is "moving freely back and forth between Iraq and Syria," as are other al-Qaeda operatives. Muasher had the impression that Zebari might have been exaggerating a bit.------------------------SYRIAN "STARK IGNORANCE"------------------------6. (S) Sharaa's behavior in Kuwait, Muasher said, simply underscores Syria's "stark ignorance" of the U.S. and the rest of the outside world. Bashar al-Asad had told King Abdullah on his recent visit to Damascus that he was not worried about who would win the U.S. presidential elections, since even a Democrat could choose to keep on the senior civilian officials in the current administration. Similarly, Sharaa had told the Jordanians accompanying the King a tabloid-like story that showed how out of touch with reality he is: Sharaa told the group that British Prince Charles would soon be implicated in a Scottish judicial investigation into Princess Diana's death, and was consequently planning a trip to Iraq and Iran "to seek the support of the Muslim world." "They just don't get it," Muasher lamented.-------COMMENT-------7. (S) Muasher was enthusiastic about the frank and positive tone of the Kuwait neighboring states meeting. However, he is focusing more and more on Syria -- and Farouq Sharaa in particular -- as the cause of friction in inter-Arab relations and an impediment to progress.8. (U) CPA Baghdad minimize considered.Visit Embassy Amman's classified website athttp://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET home page. GNEHMPrince CharlesSyriaDiana, Princess of WalesMonarchyThe US embassy cablesUS foreign policyUnited StatesMiddle Eastguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
South African police face questions over handling of honeymoon murder Questions have been raised over the police handling of the honeymoon murder of Anni Dewani in Cape Town as three men suspected of involvement in the killing are due to appear in court. telegraph.co.uk |