Summary
- Tony Blair has said it is “possible” the UK could stay in the EU if public opinion changes. (See 2.37am.)
- Ed Balls, the Labour former shadow chancellor, has said it would be “disastrous” for Labour MPs opposed to Jeremy Corbyn to form their own group in the Commons if Corbyn wins the Labour leadership. (See 9.26am.)
That’s all from me for today. I need to wrap up early this afternoon.
Tomorrow I will be blogging from the Green party conference.
Blair says it is 'possible' UK could stay in EU if public opinion changes
Some Westminster politicians want to ignore or overturn the results of the referendum and keep the UK in the EU. But they are reluctant to say so explicitly - because for a democrat to ignore the results of a popular vote is problematic, to put it mildly - and instead pro-Europeans are mostly focusing on demanding a second referendum.
The former prime minister Tony Blair is as keen on staying in the EU as anyone and, in an interview with the French radio station Europe 1, he has explicitly said that Britain could stay in the EU. Public opinion could change, he argued. It is hard to think of any British pro-European politician who has been this explicit, although Lord O’Donnell, the former cabinet secretary, has said something similar.
You can read the Europe 1 account of the interview here. And you can watch the video here too. Blair conducted the interview in French. I’ve taken the quotes from the Press Association account.
- Blair said it was “possible” that the UK could remain in the EU if public opinion shifted. This was not likely, he conceded. But he said there were several factors that might shift opinions, pointing to the fall in the value of sterling, damage to the financial services industry and car manufacturing and an expected reduction in foreign investment in the UK. Asked whether it was possible for opinion to shift enough to avoid Brexit he replied:
At the moment, today, it is not probable, but the debate continues and I believe it is possible.
- He rejected claims that Remain supporters simply had to accept the result of the referendum. The British people “have the right” to change their minds, he said.
Who made a rule that we have to stop the debate now?
He said Theresa May had to adopt the “Brexit means Brexit” position for the sake of Conservative party unity. But he went on:
For the rest of us, we are free to have a debate.
- He said at the moment there was “confusion” as to what Brexit actually involved.
We have done something rather bizarre with Brexit. It’s like moving house without having seen the new house. We have made an agreement to exchange, but we don’t yet know the terms of Brexit, we don’t know the costs and the consequences.
There will come a moment when we have had the negotiations and we can see the terms we are being offered by the rest of Europe and we will be able to say that it is a good idea or perhaps that it is a bad idea with major consequences.
Here is more from the Corbyn rally in Stoke.
From the Telegraph’s Michael Deacon
Corbyn rally in Stoke. Complete with two young men playing Don't Stop Believing by Journey on the trumpet pic.twitter.com/6D5WZVtxDX
— Michael Deacon (@MichaelPDeacon) September 1, 2016
At Corbyn rally. Left: "Unity in strength." Right: "Kick out the Blairites" pic.twitter.com/ulqmaCusgE
— Michael Deacon (@MichaelPDeacon) September 1, 2016
Pro-Corbyn speaker: "If people say his ideas are lunatic ideas...we should all be proud lunatics!" Cheers, applause pic.twitter.com/udQR8uXQLa
— Michael Deacon (@MichaelPDeacon) September 1, 2016
And from the @JeremyCorbyn4PM account
#JeremyForLabour Stoke rally: UNISON AGS @unionroger says Labour MPs should be fighting the Tories not Jeremy Corbyn pic.twitter.com/utXR70WcFv
— Jeremy Corbyn for PM (@JeremyCorbyn4PM) September 1, 2016
Corbyn is addressing a rally in Stoke. He has attracted a huge audience. This is from the Telegraph’s Michael Deacon.
A sea of Corbyn fans in Stoke, waving their arms and placards along to the trumpets pic.twitter.com/XYwKzwcCP8
— Michael Deacon (@MichaelPDeacon) September 1, 2016
And this is from @JeremyCorbyn4PM, an unofficial but widely-followed pro-Corbyn account.
Stoke: Amazing crowds to hear @jeremycorbyn on his vision to #RebuildAndTransform Britain incl our industrial policy pic.twitter.com/YxHuhYOYmW
— Jeremy Corbyn for PM (@JeremyCorbyn4PM) September 1, 2016
Several Labour MPs who resigned from the shadow cabinet or the front bench because they lost confidence in Jeremy Corbyn have given details accounts of what drove them to quit and now Kerry McCarthy, the former shadow environment secretary, has added her contribution to the genre. She has written a long article for Huffington Post about the experience of serving in his shadow cabinet.
It does not contain any shock, horror revelations. But McCarthy provides a string of anecdotes that call into question Corbyn’s efficiency or competence, and collectively their impact is quite strong.
Here are some of the key points.
- McCarthy says Corbyn failed to show leadership in shadow cabinet.
My concern steadily grew over what I was hearing from colleagues, such as Heidi, Thangam and Lilian, and what I was seeing at shadow cabinet meetings, where Jeremy tended to read from a prepared script, didn’t respond to our questions, and didn’t convey any sense of strategic direction or leadership.
- She says Corbyn could not admit that he backed big business.
Again at PLP, Emma Reynolds asked Jeremy if he “supported big businesses like Jaguar Land Rover who employ thousands of people in my constituency”. His answer was “of course I’m aware that big businesses exist and I’m also aware that many of them don’t pay their taxes”. He simply couldn’t bring himself to express support.
- She says that Corbyn had a “lack of grasp” when it came to detail and sometimes said the wrong thing. She cites at least three examples. Here is one on badgers:
Jeremy also accused the government of “gassing badgers”. Months earlier I’d asked him to reaffirm Labour’s opposition to the cull when he got a chance, as people had, somewhat unfairly, been accusing him of going quiet on what he’d said during the 2015 leadership campaign. We hadn’t heard anything since, and were a little surprised to hear him bring it up during the EU campaign. The cull is actually about shooting badgers, not gassing them - gassing was outlawed in 1982 - so that was a bit of a ‘head in hands’ moment in my office, but no-one else seemed to notice.
Here is another.
At one PLP meeting Jeremy started talking about how vulnerable people “were being forced to borrow money from hedge funds”. Angela Eagle and I caught each other’s eye. Did he really not know the difference between loan sharks and hedge funds?
But McCarthy seems particularly concerned by Corbyn’s errors over Brexit.
Jeremy came in for a lot of criticism for saying on June 24th that Article 50 should be triggered “now”. At the PLP hustings a few weeks later he showed he still hadn’t got his head round the process, responding to a question from Meg Hillier by saying “we have two years in which to trigger Article 50”. But the two years comes after Article 50 is triggered. It’s how long we have before we actually have to leave the EU. That lack of grasp, when he’d presumably been prepping for such a question, bothers me.
- She says that the shadow environment team had just one meeting with Corbyn in her nine months in the job. At the meeting she raised various issues, but Corbyn had just two requests; that she look at agricultural colleges and market gardens. Otherwise she was not given any “steer” as to what she should do, she says.
- She says Corbyn’s office did not consult her when they did intervene on environment issues.
When the leader’s office did venture into Defra territory, they didn’t talk to the shadow team. We weren’t consulted before Jeremy made his call for the pumps in Bridgwater, Somerset to be moved up to the flood-hit areas of the North, which he later had to backtrack on. And we weren’t asked for our input before Jeremy led on air pollution at PMQs: an issue we’d been doing a lot of work on, challenging government complacency and inaction in the context of the Client Earth court case and the Volkswagen scandal.
- She says Corbyn’s office was disorganised. On one occasion she tried unsuccessfully for months to get Corbyn’s office to commit to a visit that Corbyn said he wanted to make. She also spent months trying to set up a meeting with Corbyn with environmental groups. And in some cases it took months for letters to be passed on that needed a reply.
His office was clearly under-staffed and in a bit of a muddle.
Updated
Working-class applicants 'missing out on City jobs because of dress code'
The social mobility commission has published a report (pdf) today saying young people who do not come from privileged backgrounds are being excluded from City jobs because they don’t conform. According to Alan Miliburn, the former Labour cabinet minister who chairs the commission, good candidates can be penalised for wearing brown shoes with a suit. He said:
Bright working-class kids are being systematically locked out of top jobs in investment banking because they may not attend a small handful of elite universities or understand arcane culture rules.
While there are some banks that are doing excellent work in reducing these barriers, there are still too many that need to wake up and realise that it makes sound business sense to recruit people from all backgrounds.
It is shocking, for example, that some investment bank managers still judge candidates on whether they wear brown shoes with a suit, rather on than their skills and potential.
Here is the commission’s news release, and here is an extract.
In the life science sector, it found that employers attract and appoint new graduates from across the breadth of the higher education sector, including internationally. But in a competitive labour market, there can be a tendency towards giving preference to graduates from particularly well-known or prestigious courses or institutions.
The researchers, who carried out in-depth interviews across both sectors, add that life science and investment banking employers do not do enough to monitor the backgrounds of new and existing employees and so lack the data to understand and tackle this issue ...
Key findings include:
- in the UK 82% of children attend a non-selective state school, 14% attend a selective state school, while 7% attend fee-paying schools. In comparison, the Sutton Trust found in 2014 that 34% of new investment bankers had attended a fee-paying school
- young people who do not attend ‘target’ universities, such as the London School of Economics (LSE), the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Imperial College London, University College London and the University of Warwick, are less likely to get a front-office role in investment banking, irrespective of prior attainment
- those who do attend these elite universities may be more likely to self-select out of the application process if they feel they may not fit in or that employers do not welcome diversity on the basis of social background
The commission says investment banks and life sciences employers should collect more data on the background of applicants, show more flexibility when considering the academic background of applicants and give more regard to vocational learning in life sciences.
My colleague Patrick Wintour says that in the past “brown shoe prejudice” even extended into Downing Street.
A Cameron close aide once told me that DC deeply disapproved of those in brown shoes. Now emerges a wider snobbery. https://t.co/LvMi2s7t1f
— Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) September 1, 2016
Scottish Labour proposes abolishing charges for exam appeals
Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader, has this morning published a five-page “alternative programme for government” (pdf), listing 13 bills that Labour would pass if it were in power in Scotland.
The highlight is an education bill that would abolish charges for exam appeals “which too often penalise working class children and young people”, Dugdale said. It would also establish breakfast clubs in every primary school as a move towards flexible, all-age childcare.
In a speech announcing her plans Dugdale also reiterated her belief that the Scottish government should use its powers to raise taxes. She said:
The next Scottish budget will be the first to make use of the full income tax powers delivered by the Scotland Act.
The powers of the parliament give us the ability to make different choices.
The Scottish government should use them.
We will outline our detailed plans for the Scottish budget in the coming months.
But let me be clear – the Labour party I lead cannot and will not vote for a budget that passes on more Tory austerity to Scotland, whilst not asking even the richest in our society to pay a penny more.
There are extracts from her speech on the Scottish Labour website here.
Theresa May will take her message that Britain is “open for business” to China at the weekend, but she may receive a frosty reception because of her decision to delay the decision to go ahead with the new Hinkley Point power station, in which China has a large stake. The future of the project is still under review.
Today Liu Xiaoming, China’s ambassador to London, has used an article in the state-run China Daily to urge May to make “wise” decisions for the future. Liu wrote:
In times of change, wise strategic choices and strong, far-sighted leadership are needed more than anything. China always takes a strategic and long-term perspective toward its relationship with the UK. I hope the UK will do the same and our two countries will join hands to write a new chapter for China-UK relations.
My colleague Tom Phillips has the full story here.
After yesterday’s cabinet meeting at Chequers Number 10 said the government wanted to ensure that Britain remains “one of the great trading nations in the world” after Brexit. This morning Theresa May and her chancellor, Philip Hammond, are staging visits in the West Midlands intended to underline this message. They are touring research facilities at Warwick University and the Jaguar Land Rover plant to highlight Britain’s exporting potential.
In a statement released by Number 10 May said:
This country has always been one of the greatest trading nations, and as we leave the European Union we will have the opportunity to embrace new markets and opportunities as we export British innovation and expertise to the world. I am determined to make the most of the opportunities Brexit presents – delivering the change that people want and striking the right deal for British businesses at home and abroad.
Number 10 said May intends to stress that Britain is “open for business” when she attends the G20 summit in China this weekend.
Theresa May is chairing the first meeting of the cabinet’s new social reform committee, Sky’s Jon Craig reports.
According to Number 10, she will highlight the progress made in recent years on issues such as school choice and employment, but make clear her new government plans to go much further.
Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, and Dr Mark Porter, chair of the BMA council, were both on the Today programme too talking about the next junior doctors’ strike. Hunt says it will be the worst doctors’ strike in NHS history. My colleague Matthew Weaver has written up their interviews here.
Eighteen months ago Ed Balls, the then shadow chancellor, was preparing for a general election in the expectation that he might soon become the second most powerful person in the government. But Labour was defeated, Balls lost his seat, and today his principal contribution to national life is as a contestant on Strictly. Still, on a relatively quiet day, he’s worth a mention on the Politics Live blog. He has got a memoir to plug, and extracts have already appeared in the Times. He had more to say this morning in an interview with Nick Robinson on the Today programme. Here are the key points.
- Balls said it was a “delusion” to think that Labour lost the 2015 general election because it was not leftwing enough. Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters have consistently argued that Labour lost because it was not radical enough. But Balls described this as “nonsense”.
I’m afraid it’s a great delusion, in a constituency like mine, to think that people who voted Liberal Democrat in 2010 and went to the Conservatives in 2015 did so because they thought Labour was not radical enough. In the end it was a matter of trust on the economy, and whether we would spend the money wisely ... The idea [Labour lost] because we weren’t leftwing enough I’m afraid is just a nonsense.
He was also asked to explain the claim in his memoir, Speaking Out, that Corbyn indulges in “leftist utopian fantasy”. Balls told Today”
I was making a broader point than just about Jeremy. I was talking about what we are seeing in America in Bernie Sanders, and with Donald Trump - an issue of left and right - and saying it is a complex, difficult world, in which populations are angry, incomes have not risen, people are worried about identity, the globalisation of labour, and there is a tendency for some to peddle a simple solution and say ‘We can just solve the problem, it’s all the fault of the bankers, or immigrants, or a neoliberal conspiracy, or welfare scroungers’. And I don’t think that’s enough.
- Balls said it would be “disastrous” for Labour MPs opposed to Corbyn to form an independent group in the House of Commons if Corbyn is re-elected leader. Some MPs have reportedly being considering this option, as an alternative to setting up a completely new party. But Balls said that would be a “terrible thing to do”.
My advice would be that would be a disastrous thing to do. I think one of the messages of my book is that to walk away from challenges is a mistake.
Setting up a separate group in the Commons would be a particular mistake because Labour could be facing an early election, he said.
- He suggested that his relationship with Ed Miliband during the 2015 general election was even worse than Tony Blair’s famously dysfunctional relationship with Gordon Brown. In his book, as the extracts published already have revealed, Balls says he only spoke to Miliband about twice during the election campaign. Asked about this he told Today:
I would have preferred it if it had been more. I would rather have been on the inside of that strategy ... In the era of Brown and Blair, even when their relationship had become difficult, when it came to elections, everybody came together and they were speaking once, more than once, a day. That was not the case in our election campaign.
- He said it was “pretty unlikely” that he would return to politics - but he did not rule it out. He also said it was a mistake for MPs who lost their seats to try to come “straight back” - implying that returning to the Commons after a break would be much wiser. When asked about his future, he said:
There are lots of politicians who lose and try and come straight back. But that’s not what I’ve decided to do .... I’m having a good time. We’ll see what happens in the future. But back to politics? I think it’s pretty unlikely.
Otherwise it is relatively quiet today. Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, is in Germany for a meeting of Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) foreign ministers. And Corbyn is holding a rally in Stoke at 1pm.
As usual, I will be covering the breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I will post a summary at lunchtime but may wrap up early after that.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m @AndrewSparrow.
I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.
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