The party conference season comes to an end this week. The SNP are last up, meeting in Aberdeen, fresh from their General Election demolition of Labour and looking forward to the Scottish Parliamentary election in May 2016. Jeremy Corbyn, however, in a recent visit to Scotland promised ‘hard work and dour activities‘ in the party’s efforts to close the gap on the SNP.
There is also widespread speculation that the PM has promised to deliver a ‘shopping list’ of demands to his EU counterparts to help move the renegotiation process forward. This could mean that 2016 is looking more likely than 2017 as a possible referendum date.
So what can we learn from the political news this week?
- When is a U-turn not a U-turn? John McDonnell’s shift in position on the Labour Party’s now non-support for the Government’s fiscal charter was ‘embarrassing’ according to the man himself (he repeated the word several times to make himself heard in Parliament above the noise of joyful Conservative MPs). It was also not a U-turn on policy but a change in tactics.
- Calm down or keep up? During the same debate McDonnell’s comment that ‘if she (Lucy Frazer MP, Conservative) could just keep up it would be really helpful’ brought to mind the Prime Minister’s call for Angela Eagle MP (Labour) to ‘calm down, dear’. The comment though seems to have been slightly lost in Labour’s internal discussion about the change in tactics.
- A one party state? With the start of the SNP conference, Nicola Sturgeon wasted no time in claiming she wouldn’t work with Jeremy Corbyn and made reassuring noises about when a future referendum on independence might take place. Despite having been in power in Scotland for eight years, they look likely to do even better again at the Scottish parliament elections in May 2016. The Conservatives are also hopeful that they will do well.
- First class asylum seeker travel? Whilst one group have travelled the country in a stretch limo, another was deported from the country in a private jet. Whilst the Daily Mail are having a field day, the Home Office is in defence mode. The stories also make Theresa May’s tough conference speech sound a little hollow which won’t do her leadership ambitions any good.
- Throwing his weight around? Boris Johnson on the other hand has used a trip to Japan to get in some practice for knocking down his opponents. He started though with a soft first target – an unfortunate ten-year old boy during a game of touch rugby. Presumably Johnson’s targets will move up in size over the coming months.