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Tuesday 17 January 2012

Verity Murphy | 14:30 UK time, Tuesday, 17 January 2012

Tonight we start with the latest attack on Ed Miliband's Labour party leadership, this time from the head of Britain's biggest union, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, who said that Mr Miliband has set Labour on a path towards "destruction" and "certain election defeat".

How much of a threat to Mr Miliband's leadership does this pose, and is there any substance to what Mr McCluskey said? David Grossman reports and we debate in the studio.

Also we look at whether proposed plans to replace the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) with a new Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which the Lords are voting on today, should be shelved.

Ministers say the allowance is "20 years out of date" and 拢600m a year is going to those no longer eligible, but critics argue that the changes are being "rushed through" to meet Treasury targets.

Tim Whewell has today travelled with Arab League monitors to a town outside of the Syrian capital Damascus and will have a film on what they found.

Plus, we debate online encyclopaedia Wikipedia's plans to join other websites in going offline for 24 hours in protest against plans for new US anti-piracy laws.

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    LIMITED ED AND DODGY DAVE AND THE CAUSES OF BOTH 'LEADERS'

    While we have pernicious ADVERSARIAL party-politics (the politics of the cock-fight, bull-ring, and bitter male) we shall always have nasty, stupid politicians. Individuals of integrity and decency, cannot breath the Westminster miasma. That 650 ciphers can breathe in the place, defines their nature.

    SPOIL PARTY-GAMES

  • Comment number 2.

    MIGHT TIM W SHOW SOME SYRIAN'S DAVE'S ELECTION POSTER FOR COMMENT?



    Ask the Syrians if they would like Devious Dave in place of Assad.

  • Comment number 3.

    Surely this is a barmy idea, with europe in recession, (along with us) surely hundreds of thousands will now troop into England, to live the high life at our expense, this is just not possible. We really are a crazy country.

  • Comment number 4.

  • Comment number 5.

  • Comment number 6.

    #4 Ah Nolly what I don't understand is what is the point of these "smart" meters anyway?

    Yes I can see how much power I'm using, but I'm not going to sit here freezing, or starve because I shouldn't cook. But what will happen is everyone will get in a right tizz about how much money they are spending on keeping warm and eating.

    Does anyone go around their house turning on appliance that are not necessary, a meter is a complete waste of money. The only thing anyone can turn off is something like a lightbulb, or fill the kettle less full.

  • Comment number 7.

    Ed Milibrand says that 'Labour must be trusted on the economy'.

    But there is no chance of that happening whilst Ed Balls, co-chief architect along with Gordon Brown of the additional 拢400Bn that the previous Labour Government added to the National Debt, is sitting alongside him.

    I know it is a nuisance that recent history just cannot be magicked away, but there it is and if Labour had an ounce of humility, they would shut up, pray that the coalition falls apart, reappear six months before the next election and hope that the memory of their previous adminstration had been forgotten, although that is unlikely as the country will probably still be drowning in debt.

  • Comment number 8.

    HUMILTY AND ED BALLS!? (#7)

    Nuff sed

    In passing: The next election should be 'interesting'. The Coalition (in part consisting of the Conservative party, 10 of whose members are sitting subsequent to distribution of a False Instrument) IS ILLEGITIMATE. How will the public view Westminster's connivance at such iniquity - when they are finally awoken?

  • Comment number 9.

    Ed Miliband, like his father Ralph, is a Trotskyist, and Trotskyists ARE Libertarians (see the history of the Neocon movement). Ed is simply taking over the reins from the likes of Blair, Mandelson and Brown who are also Libertarians.



    Ed Miliband's function, along with New Labour generally over the past 13 years, is (and has been) to bury Old Labour as a statist party, and to facilitate grass-roots democracy (Trotskyism/anarchism/Neo-conservativism) instead. The New Left always has been Trotskyite not Stalinist. The state must wither away. Stalin modelled socialist Russia on the Fabian concept of socialism (Fabianism - see the Webbs' on Russia) and Wall Street and the USA regards Fabianism as anathema to free-market Libertarianism, aka consumerism.

    Why is anybody surprised by Ed's comments today?

  • Comment number 10.

    Tory welfare reforms a key plank in being the " greenest government ever " ?

  • Comment number 11.

    Even Len McCluskey can now see through Ed's congenital neocon "pedigree"...

    Ed Miliband's leadership is threatened by this Blairite policy coup


    鈥淭he political elite that was united in promoting the City-first deregulation policies that led to the crash is now united in asserting that ordinary people must pick up the tab for it. It leaves the country with something like a "national government" consensus where, as in 1931, the leaders of the three main parties agree on a common agenda of austerity to get capitalism 鈥 be it "good" or "bad" 鈥 back on its feet鈥

    Ed must have crossed a union red line to have wrought this ire from the unions. Will they bring him "to heel"?

    Don't hold your breath.

  • Comment number 12.

    I'm appalled at Ed Miliband's comment of cutting public sector wages. Not only do we have to suffer a pay freeze while the cost of inflation rises and VAT is now at 20%, but if he really looked at the pay of the public sector up and down the country, he would see that most people are not paid enough for the job they are currently responsible for compared to the private sector.

    I cannot believe a leader of the labour party would be prepared to make such a decision when the public sector have already been given a tough enough time during this recession. Does he not realise that the people who's lives he proposes playing with are the police, fire service and the NHS? Do the staff of these services or any service for that matter, need the added stress of now wondering if they can afford their next mortgage payment while dealing with such important jobs as saving peoples lives.

    But then again what should we expect from a party who couldn't control their spending, sold our gold reserves at an all time low and lets face it as good as put us in this position to start!

  • Comment number 13.

    SELF ASSESSMENT

    Left to themselves, Westminster will never address its own nature, and the voters, likewise. Yet neither is competent for the role played. It follows that none of the issues identified above, whatever the degree of importance, will be tackled to advantage.

    DISMANTLE WESTMINSTER OR DECLINE

  • Comment number 14.

    A test of popularism?

    Ed Miliband goes to war on 'rip-off Britain'


    The desperate will say anything to cling to power.

  • Comment number 15.

    #5 We are pretty good at killing birds as well Nolly.



    I listened to a bird expert discussing this proposed airport, in fact one built anywhere in the Thames estuary.

    And what the builders and politicians and developers don't tell you is that hundreds of thousands of birds will have to be shot to avoid airstrike.

    These birds over winter in the marshes all around this estuary and along the Essex and Kent coasts. Hundreds of thousands will have to be shot, including, ducks, geese, and wading birds, all in decline, but hey the plane is more important, and getting to that all important holiday in the sun, b*gger the birds.

  • Comment number 16.

    Well at least Tim Whewell interviewed one of the Syrian Army leaders charged with trying to bring order back to the streets today.

    It was still biased 80:20 in favour of the "protesters" who were all very young. Could they be compared to the rioters in the UK last August?

    The Syrian commander said they belonged to gangs who didn't know what they were protesting for. The commander went on to say that it was the gangs that behind the sniper fire.

    Could it be that these gangs are receiving foreign sponsorship to "stir things up".

    Fomenting foreign civil unrest can be a very dirty business indeed.

  • Comment number 17.

    #12 sheaJane the labour party don't care about the workers anymore, Keir would be turning in his grave.

  • Comment number 18.

    This is worth a read imo

    Iran's nuclear scientists are not being assassinated. They are being murdered


    You find this sort of journalism from the 鈥榠mpartial鈥 大象传媒.

  • Comment number 19.

    The Myth of 鈥淚solated鈥 Iran
    Following the Money in the Iran Crisis

  • Comment number 20.

    So now we have it. The 2 Eds preparing the ground much earlier than Blair did to commit to spending plans which they 'do not agree with'. Nothing to choose between the 3 parties. Swift cuts in public sector spending, pay , benefits , pensions and jobs. No serious commitment to swift clamp down on tax evasion of the rich and corporates,which is estimated to be up to 拢100billion per annum. , tax allowances for expenses and enormous pensions,

    In contrast, no swift move to introduce a property tax not even on second homes, no urgent programme to bring up to a million empty homes back into use. No serious debate about the fact that the public deficit is low historically ( certainly until private debt of banks was socialized). No serious attempt to point out that the debt crisis is a private sector one of astronomic proportions and that the banks are basically bancrupt. No talk of the huge handouts and massive subsidies to homeowners in the form of record low interest rates which bails out those who over borrowed but penalizes those who saved or pensioners whose deposits were lent out and who then contribute again through the bail out and with reduced income from deposits.

    No reminder that Thatcher / the Tories were prepared to 'let housing benefit take the strain' as housebuilding for affordable rent and sale was slashed and millions of council homes were given away. Now rents and mortgages are sky high and housing benefit has rocketed guess who must take the strain.?

    As for Miliband being a Trotskyist - ludicrous. Sooner rather than later the trades unions must realize that they need to set up a new party of labour and leave PLP to join national government.

  • Comment number 21.

    18. At 23:45 17th Jan 2012, museV wrote:
    You find this sort of journalism from the 鈥榠mpartial鈥 大象传媒.


    What one finds from any 'source', poster, press or broadcaster, can rather vary according to that source's predetermination of how the 'story' gets portrayed. Things get shared. Other things left out. People get invited on, others are not deemed worthy of offering a counter view.

    All surely can apply, especially when looking at the same old phrases used in the intro:

    'David Grossman reports and we debate..

    Also we look at ...

    ... a film on what they found.

    Plus, we debate online...


    All fine, if one can be confident that the 'we' or 'they' 'reporting' or 'debating' represent accuracy and balance.

    I'll take all on board, but will also look elsewhere in case things have been missed, for whatever reason. Wikipedia excepted.

  • Comment number 22.

    '@大象传媒Newsnight 大象传媒 Newsnight Thankfully Twitter up and running - #Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales defends 24-hour shut down. Watch /news/world-us-canada-16605951%27

    Wikipedia first, twitter next in line. Much explained, little excused.

    Plus those two less than reliable sources are free, so the added cost to pass on their wisdom is.. unique, indeed.

  • Comment number 23.

    Another issue(s) within the remit of unrelentless perversity

    The misuse of the word 'interest' by the political class, legal system etc

    Public interest
    National interest
    Vested interest

    Isn't it time the UK had a partial written constitution whereby members of the public can challenge all govt on the the interpretation & use of these words as requiring a new parliamentary procedure and probably a new parliament as skews British politics/business/investment to be 'London centric'.

    Not only too many in H of P but also in H of L with about 7-800 of the part time wastrels - as can't agree on anything & fudge everything and slow down all UK law making, right down to a trickle - partly reason why next to nothing gets down as takes far too long to get new laws passed?

    Anyone 'interested'?

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