I have some training scheduled for the rest of the afternoon, so that’s it for today’s blog. Thanks as always for all your contributions - have a good weekend.
A local council update from AnatolyKasparov.
Here is an afternoon reading list. Thanks for all your suggestions.
- John Mills, Labour’s biggest individual donor, has written for Labour List about being used as ammunition against the party.
In my view it is so very, very important that we all hold our nerve; that we continue to talk and debate, express our own opinions. There must always be healthy debate within political parties and amongst genuine supporters. Just because we don’t always agree on the finer detail doesn’t mean that we don’t agree on the vision, direction and essential principles of fairness, social justice, decency, strong community and values.
- All eyes are on Scotland, after Lord Ashcroft’s poll earlier this week suggesting a heavy swing to the SNP, with heavy casualties for Labour in particular. Gerry Hassan has written for the New Statesman on the big questions for Scottish Labour.
Labour still has a slender chance of turning things around before May. The SNP faces such an electoral uphill task that it could easily win the vote, while Labour march off with the most seats. If that happens, it would be a hollow victory, and only offer at best a breathing space for the party to confront the big questions it has failed to throughout most of the last 30 years. Namely, what actually is the point of Scottish Labour? What Scotland does it speak for? And what kind of Scotland does it want to champion and bring about?
- Even if Labour gets fewer seats, it might still win the election, writes Ian Dunt on politics.co.uk.
- There was a slightly off-topic suggestion that we link to xkcd. Go on then. It is Friday, after all.
Updated
Another poll: Populus’ latest shows Labour with a 3 point lead.
Latest Populus VI: Lab 34 (-), Con 31 (-), LD 8 (-), UKIP 16 (+2), Others 11 (-2). Tables here: http://t.co/83LRpQEL9c
— Populus (@PopulusPolls) February 6, 2015
It’s slightly later than usual, but it’s time for our weekly politics quiz. How closely have you been paying attention?
There’s plenty of debate below the line about last night’s BBC Question Time, which was a notably fractious affair, as the Independent reports.
The programme is available to watch online, but here is a summary of the debate via the show’s Twitter account.
.@TristramHuntMP says Labour are unashamedly pro-business and pro-wealth creation. #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/poUZySXvYl
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) February 5, 2015
.@NickyMorgan01 says the UK must live within its means in education policy as in every other policy #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/1nEdVg6zMi
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) February 5, 2015
.@CristinaOhq says it is time to 'clean up capitalism' - including banks and tax-avoiding companies: #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/rSDbszjiDZ
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) February 5, 2015
.@GeorgeGalloway is unhappy with business people who live abroad telling people how to vote in #GE2015. #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/07WtAq8MyG
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) February 5, 2015
.@Freedland says there are certain businesses that Labour shouldn't be 'mates' with: #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/z9xgZO7WoN
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) February 5, 2015
streakyradio has flagged up this analysis from New Statesman’s election site, looking at polling trends over the past few months. Polling Observatory writes:
So far, there is little evidence of any decisive impact on the overall balance of power. Labour support has been stable for the past two months – our February 1st estimate of 32.2 per cent is exactly the same as our estimate for December 1st.
There has been a great deal written in the media about an alleged slump in Labour fortunes, but this story seems to be behind the curve. Labour did lose substantial support in the early autumn, but they have been stable since.
As is traditional, we’ll start with the latest poll.
Good morning. Labour lead at 1 point on Yougov:
Latest YouGov / The Sun results 5th February -
Con 32%, (-2)
Lab 33%, (nc)
LD 9%, (+3)
UKIP 15%, (+2)
GRN 5%; (-2)
APP -19 (nc)
Update: Lab lead at 1 - Latest YouGov / The Sun results 5th Feb - Con 32%, Lab 33%, LD 9%, UKIP 15%, GRN 5%; APP -19 http://t.co/XwrHc6J75e
— YouGov (@YouGov) February 6, 2015
Updated
Andrew is not writing his usual Politics Live blog today 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.
As we’re now in a general election year, there’s plenty to talk about. With this in mind, we are going to update the readers’ edition throughout the day, with polls, talking points and material flagged up by readers.
All today’s Guardian politics stories are here, and all the politics stories filed yesterday, including some in today’s paper, are here.
Just one local council vacancy to report today:
Derbyshire CC - Labour hold a safe division with over 60% of the vote, though this was down slightly on the two thirds share they had in 2013, largely due to the intervention of a UKIP candidate who came an albeit distant second with 18% in their first contest at this level. Third place was taken by an Independent who was a LibDem councillor for Chesterfield DC until 2011 (and CC candidate here in 2009) beating narrowly the official LibDem whose vote declined further in an area where they regularly won district seats in the days they controlled Chesterfield with a big majority. Though they still did better than the Tories, who saw their share roughly halved as they dropped from an admittedly very token runners up spot last time to 5th and last now.
Three contests next week.