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Archives for June 2010

Andy Burnham scrapes into Labour leadership race

Arif Ansari | 11:20 UK time, Thursday, 10 June 2010

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Andy Burnham

So the shadow Health Secretary and MP for Leigh, , has scraped the nominations and is through to the .

He will be a distinctive voice.

Many of his Parliamentary supporters are from the North West. His presence will ensure issues affecting the region will be debated on the campaign trail.

But he told me today that he would not have stood if another MP had stepped forward.

Alan Johnson

That man is , the Shadow Home Secretary. Mr Johnson is from a similar working class background and also has a natural gift for communicating with voters.

Apparently Mr Burnham feared splitting the articulate, working class vote.

But of course Alan Johnson decided not to stand and Mr Burnham seized the opportunity instead.

That late start might help explain why he has struggled to gain momentum in this race.

But does it also mean Andy Burnham thinks Alan Johnson would have made a better leader?

He says not, though he could hardly say anything else.

I wonder if Alan Johnson knows of this support and respect? It doesn't seem to have made a huge impression - he is backing .

Oldham East and Saddleworth - back to the ballot box?

Arif Ansari | 09:38 UK time, Friday, 4 June 2010

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Elwyn Watkins

Could voters in be asked to go back to the ballot box?

It would be an extraordinary political development based on what happened in the last few days of the general election campaign.

To be fair, it's a constituency well used to dirty politics, and one the were expecting to take.

Labour's fought strenuously to hold the seat. And he won an impressive victory, albeit by just 103 votes.

But were the tactics too vicious?

In the last few days of the campaign, put out a small newspaper which was predominantly an attack on their Liberal Democrat opponent, .

Mr Watkins believes the leaflet falsely portrayed him as a politician courting votes from militant Muslims; not a group known to be particularly supportive of British democracy.

Phil Woolas

"Why are the extremists urging a vote for Watkins?" asked Labour.

Still-undecided voters had the option to read the backpage which moved onto financial matters.

This reported Mr Watkins to be personal assistant to Saudi Arabian billionaire, Sheikh Abdullah Ali Alhamrani.

It helpfully pointed out: "Political donations from overseas are illegal. Even the Ashcroft money can't match a Sheikh."

It was not entirely clear what Sheikh Abdulah's interest would have been in Oldham East and Saddleworth. But putting that to one side, the clear impression was that Middle East money was oiling the Lib Dem campaign.

Such an arrangement would have been illegal.

Presumably Labour has some evidence for these serious allegations. But I haven't seen it and Mr Watkins denies being anything other than a full UK taxpayer.

Partly this has arisen because of suspicions about the extensive Lib Dem campaign which put out about half a million leaflets.

Labour believes their opponents must have spent about £200 thousand, far higher than the legal limit. The Lib Dems deny that and say they printed their own leaflets.

During the campaign Mr Watkins was questioned by ´óÏó´«Ã½ Newsnight, after a Lib Dem party worker, Rebecca McGladdery, claimed she was being paid less than the minimum wage and in cash.

But since then HM Revenue and Customs has decided there is no case to answer.

These allegations may well have killed the Lib Dem campaign. But Mr Watkins is hoping they will also resurrect it.

He has petitioned the Royal Courts of Justice, asking for a rarely convened Election Court to sit and judge whether there should be a second ballot.

He argues not only that the allegations were serious and false but that Mr Woolas knew that to be the case.

In legal language, the Liberal Democrats are claiming that Labour breached Section 106 of the Representation of the People Act, 1983.

In ordinary language, the Liberal Democrats are claiming that Labour lied to the electorate.

The last time an Election Court ordered the rerun of a Parliamentary election was in Winchester in 1997. But that was due to a technicality. The last time there was a rerun due to corruption was in 1911 in Ireland. So this will be a difficult case for the Lib Dems to win.

Interestingly the only party to substantially gain votes at this election was the Conservative party which did not appear to indulge in negative campaigning.

The Tory candidate, Kashif Ali, who perhaps handily is a barrister himself, gained an extra 9% of the vote and has effectively turned the constituency into a three-way marginal.

He was unhappy with the behaviour of both his opponents and has described this latest legal move as: "Mr Pot suing Mr Kettle."

But Mr Kettle has much more to lose.

Oldham East and Saddleworth 2010 election results

Government spending - green or amber lights?

Arif Ansari | 11:44 UK time, Tuesday, 1 June 2010

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Traffic lights

Everyone knows government spending will soon reduce. What's less well known is that projects already given the green light are now back on amber.

All major projects approved this year have had to be resubmitted to the .

Will plans to rebuild the or still go ahead? What about extending the Greater Manchester tram system? Or creating the Heysham bypass?

Two are particularly significant. Did events in Blackpool in March encourage this review?

There was an unseasonal warmth in the town as was given money to buy the famous Tower and other attractions. But unknown at the time, Peter Housden, the permanent secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government opposed the investment.

He apparently did not believe it was good value for taxpayers and was overruled by the Labour government.

Reversing the decision would be highly unpopular. A number of organisations backed the plan. And there's another problem too - most of the money has already been spent.

Hazard lights are also flashing at motors in Ellesmere Port. They were given a £270m loan guarantee, provided by Peter Mandelson when he was Business Secretary.

This is not direct funding. Rather it is a national guarantee designed to encourage financiers to lend money. The cash is needed to continue producing and developing the new Astra model.

I am told the "due diligence" was very thorough. Nevertheless it was pretty clear during the election the had doubts.

made this point on a campaign visit to the region, though party press officers subsequently insisted he was not referring to Ellesmere Port. Well, it seems pretty clear he was.

is playing down the significance of this review. But privately the company is said to be deeply concerned.

, now under Vince Cable, tells me it stands by every one of its decisions. Will the ?

The reviews were being fast tracked with answers expected in a few weeks. The new Chief Secretary may have a lot of very quick reading to do.

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