This week has rightly been dominated by the debate over whether to conduct air strikes in Syria. Following a ten-hour debate in Parliament the go-ahead was given. But the decision itself was almost a microcosm of what was happening to the Labour Party – a leader against the air strikes, members of his Shadow Cabinet including his Foreign Secretary in favour, and backbench MPs in favour of action being targeted on social media for abuse. With a large number of Labour MPs voting for action, and having had to agree to a free vote, Corbyn looked like a leader struggling to lead.
But far from Corbyn being down and out, the result in the Oldham West and Royston by-election has provided a timely boost. An increased share of the vote has been taken as proof of Labour’s new appeal. UKIP meanwhile, who many thought would challenge Labour for the seat, are alleging electoral fraud through postal ballots or in the words of a tweet from Nigel Farage ‘today’s postal voting was bent’.
So what can we learn from the political news this week?
- Hilary is not just the son of Tony – despite having held some high Ministerial offices, Hilary has never quite eluded the ‘son of Tony Benn’ tag. His speech in the House of Commons on Wednesday night during the debate on Syria showed that he is not just a great politician in his own right but, according to the bookmakers, a future leader of the Labour Party as well. Who would have thought 30 years ago that a Benn might one day lead the party…
- Tory bullying allegations – claims of bullying in the youth wing of the party seem to get worse despite the resignation of the former party chairman, Grant Shapps. Whether Lord Feldman, current chairman, can survive much longer has to be questioned. The more allegations come forward, the more difficult it will be for him to stay. Despite his close friendship with the Prime Minister.
- Zac comes out of hiding. In stark contrast with recent weeks, Conservative Mayoral hopeful, Zac Goldsmith has this week been making comments and promises on a range of issues. It was thought that ‘election campaign guru’ (copyright post General Election 2015), Lynton Crosby, was telling him to keep his head down but with rival candidate Sadiq Khan busy on the campaign trail and leading in the polls, it appears that Zac has woken up.
- An airport decision? Every week speculation is rife that the Government will make a decision over airports capacity and whether to give Heathrow or Gatwick the go-ahead. This week has a habit of becoming next week but with a decision having been promised by the end of the year and only around two weeks left before Parliament rises for the Christmas recess, the Government is running out of time.
- Junior doctors stay at work – the BMA agreed to suspend industrial action following a breakthrough at Acas talks. Whilst this may be considered good news, the detail of the agreement will be studied carefully once it is finalised by many workers across the public sector. With public sector pay and conditions continuing to be held down by the Government as part of its squeeze on public spending, any hint of a very special deal for junior doctors may have more damaging implications.