A few lunchtime links for you.
- We have a story up revealing 260 members of rival parties asked to vote in the Labour leadership election, but were rejected. From the piece:
Labour party officials believe 150 people who stood as candidates for the Green party, 92 members and candidates with the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (Tusc) and 18 senior figures in Left Unity have applied to be given a ballot paper in return for paying £3 to become a “registered supporter”.
- Dawn Foster, a journalist specialising in housing, has written a column in support of Jeremy Corbyn’s housing policies.
On housing, Corbyn’s policies align with the wish list of almost anyone hit by the housing crisis: lift the housing revenue account cap to allow councils to build council and social housing (a manifesto pledge also endorsed by Andy Burnham), longer tenancies, private landlord registration, rent regulation and private rents linked to average local earnings.
- This piece from the latest issue of The Economist isn’t too impressed with Corbyn, sighing that he is “boring” and “unelectable.” Philip Stevens, a Financial Times columnist, is similarly unimpressed.
- Conservative election strategy guru Lynton Crosby thinks Nigel Farage should quit politics and become a talk show host.
Updated
A few views from below the line on the state of the Labour leadership election.
I think it'll be Corbyn/Burnham, or Corbyn/Cooper. Never thought that would be the case at the start of this.
I'm an Anyone But Burnham voter - I don't believe Corbyn is electable, but he's a different, better sort of unelectable than Burnham.
I have a feeling he might win - I'll probably vote for him and I started this contest as a Kendallite, mainly because a Corbyn leadership will address some of the issues that are killing Labour whereas a Burnham leadership won't.
It's worth remembering the party can't fly on one wing alone - the right have crushed the life out of the left for three decades, to the point that a large contingent no longer see any real difference between Labour and Conservative rule. Despite all the talk of splits and wars, I think the greater threat to the party is if - after all this - corbyn loses.
It'll give Labour's rivals on the left, right and centre a great deal of ammunition.Once the Labour party has rejected out of hand the core beliefs of the larger part of its constituency there is very little advocates like me can say to convince those who hold those beliefs that Labour is on their side.
The 1980s split was about the left forcing a showdown with the right and led to the 'gang of four' and the SDP. The right forced this showdown with the left by giving Corbyn pity-nominations, to be put up, indulged and defeated.
If the left are thwarted, they'll split this time - despite the bellyaching from the Blairites they have nowhere else to go. Their brand of weak-beer centrism is out of favour and the LibDems have been smashed - what they going to do, start another SDP and compete with the Farronites and Osbornites for the pin-head sized middle ground?
I'm an Anyone But Burnham voter - I don't believe Corbyn is electable, but he's a different, better sort of unelectable than Burnham.
I reget to say that I think all the Labour potential leaders bar Corbyn are left-overs from a period in our history that I hope we never have to endure again.
I am more optimistic about Corbyn's chances at the next GE. I think he will elected leader of the Labour Party and will go on to inspire a majority in 2020.
Corbyn has held his political views all his political life and now many in Labour and outside of it are coming round to his way of thinking. It is early days, of course, but if Corbyn is anything he is an experienced, consummate politician. If he wins the leadership he has just under 5 years to persuade doubters as to the effectiveness of his policies and political standpoint for this country.
He will be 'damned to hell' by all on the right and they will do anything and everything to undermine his political integrity and the policies he espouses. But, in my view they will come up against the support he is gathering from a wide range of people who see in him something different, something better.
There is, of course, another aspect to the Labour leadership election that has been receiving less media attention: the race to become deputy leader. Could Stella Creasy win? This LabourList survey suggests so.
Stella Creasy takes the lead in the deputy leadership race, according to latest LabourList survey http://t.co/HqzCqRKfVV
— LabourList (@LabourList) August 7, 2015
Updated
Andrew is not writing his usual Politics Live blog during summer recess but, as an alternative, here’s Politics Live: readers’ edition. It’s intended to be a place where you can catch up with the latest news and find links to good politics blogs and articles on the web.
Please feel free to use this as somewhere you can comment on any of the day’s political stories - just as you do during the daily blog. It would be particularly useful for readers to flag up new material in the comments - breaking news or blogposts or tweets that are worth passing on because someone is going to find them interesting.
All is reasonably quiet on the political front. The fall-out over the collapse of Kids Company continues, and Labour leadership candidate Yvette Cooper has torn into David Cameron, claiming his Conservative party won May’s election on a series of lies.
Angles on this or on any of today’s breaking politics news? Share them, along with links and arguments below the line. As it’s the end of the week, let’s also choose a topic for general discussion. An obvious one: who has most impressed you so far out of the Labour leadership candidates?
All today’s Guardian politics stories are here and all the politics stories filed yesterday, including some in today’s paper, are here.
In spite of the fervour around Jeremy Corbyn, I think the contest for leader of the Labour Party is close between him and Burnham. I hope Corbyn wins, This country needs the spirit and conviction of someone like him.
As for his policies they appear to be attracting many erstwhile non-voters from the young, (18-24) and those over 50; and from many Labour voters who couldn't bring themselves to vote for Labour in May and are swinging back in their droves, which I think is frightening the hell out of the rightwing in this country.
These onetime disillusioned voters see something in Corbyn that encourages them to express an interest in politics and, who knows, maybe actually vote when the time comes.