Peers with EU pensions

Daily Mail 20th Feb 2017

The peers in the pocket of Europe: Mandy, Kinnock and Co are told to declare their lavish EU pensions before they try to derail Brexit in the Lords

• More than 20 peers who worked in Brussels built up lavish EU pensions  
• They include Labour’s Lord Mandelson who will receive almost £35,000 a year  
• Yesterday he urged fellow peers not to ‘throw in the towel’ on Brexit despite clear Commons vote in favour of Bill allowing Theresa May to trigger Article 50

Peers with generous EU retirement packages were last night urged to declare them publicly before intervening in this week’s Lords debate on the Brexit Bill. More than 20 peers who worked in Brussels built up lavish EU pensions.

They include Labour’s Lord Mandelson who will receive almost £35,000 a year thanks to his former job as trade commissioner. Yesterday he urged his fellow peers not to ‘throw in the towel’ on Brexit despite the clear Commons vote in favour of the Bill allowing Theresa May to trigger Article 50 – the formal mechanism for leaving the EU.

The former Cabinet minister suggested that he hoped the Lords would inflict a series of defeats on the Government as the Bill passes through the Upper House. But campaigners said peers with EU pensions should publicly declare an interest. They claim many in the Lords fear they could lose their entitlements if Britain goes for a ‘hard Brexit’ and fails to agree an amicable deal with the EU.

The pro-Brexit group Change Britain said the combined pension pots of former MEPs and EU commissioners in the Lords added up to £10.2million, giving payouts worth more than £500,000 a year in total.

Ex-Tory minister Dominic Raab said these peers had a vested interest in thwarting Brexit and should be honest about their intentions. Peers will debate the Bill today and tomorrow before amendments are considered next week. The Bill was passed overwhelmingly by MPs without any amendments. But the Lords, where the Government lacks a majority, are considered much more likely to pass two main amendments. One would require a ‘meaningful’ parliamentary vote on the final Brexit deal. Mrs May has said there will be a ‘take it or leave it’ vote – if Parliament votes against, the UK would leave the EU without any deal at all.

Full story here.

Brexit white paper holiday error

Fullfact.org reported a mistake in the White Paper,

MPs seem to get far more than 14 weeks off, so they would have no reason to query it.

Source.

Farage jape

Yesterday's DPols discussed Labour MEP Seb Dance's five minutes of fame when he held up a page of A4 with a very neatly printed "HE'S LYING TO YOU" behind Nigel Farage holding forth on the failings of the EU parliament. Matthew Parris, the wee scamp, guesting on the show, made his own sign for Andrew Neil, not nearly as neat, inscribed, "HE'S ALWAYS RIGHT".

Analysis of Labour A50 rebels

I have spent the day charting an analysis of the Labour MPs who voted against Article 50. The factors listed are:

• Referendum result. Note that not all the results were reported to constituency level and so in some cases (marked with an *), the area for the containing area is shown.
• The percentage vote for Leave (* ibid).
• Majority at the last election.
• Loyalty rating.

Date sources:
Wikipedia brexit results
Wikipedia list of constituences
LabourList Loyalty rankings

Comments to follow.

The Brexit White Paper

77 pages, available here.

Here's Mrs. May's foreward,

We do not approach these negotiations expecting failure, but anticipating success. Because we are a great, global nation with so much to offer Europe and so much to offer the world. One of the world’s largest and strongest economies. With the finest intelligence services, the bravest armed forces, the most effective hard and soft power, and friendships, partnerships and alliances in every continent. And another thing that’s important. The essential ingredient of our success. The strength and support of 65 million people willing us to make it happen. Because after all the division and discord, the country is coming together. The referendum was divisive at times. And those divisions have taken time to heal. But one of the reasons that Britain’s democracy has been such a success for so many years is that the strength of our identity as one nation, the respect we show to one another as fellow citizens, and the importance we attach to our institutions means that when a vote has been held we all respect the result. The victors have the responsibility to act magnanimously. The losers have the responsibility to respect the legitimacy of the outcome. And the country comes together. And that is what we are seeing today. Business isn’t calling to reverse the result, but planning to make a success of it. The House of Commons has voted overwhelmingly for us to get on with it. And the overwhelming majority of people – however they voted – want us to get on with it too. So that is what we will do. Not merely forming a new partnership with Europe, but building a stronger, fairer, more Global Britain too. And let that be the legacy of our time. The prize towards which we work. The destination at which we arrive once the negotiation is done. And let us do it not for ourselves, but for those who follow. For the country’s children and grandchildren too. So that when future generations look back at this time, they will judge us not only by the decision that we made, but by what we made of that decision. They will see that we shaped them a brighter future. They will know that we built them a better Britain.”

From the BBC.

Votes against Article 50

From Huffington Post

Jeremy Corbyn suffered a significant rebellion against his order to vote for Brexit on Wednesday evening, as a quarter of Labour MPs voted against triggering Article 50.
The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, which will allow Theresa May to start the Brexit process, cleared its first parliamentary hurdle by a vote in the Commons of 498 to 114.
The Labour leader saw 47 of his MPs (full list here) rebel against a three-line whip and vote against triggering Article 50 - while 167 backed his position.
Ahead of the vote, two more of Corbyn’s frontbench team quit in order to allow them to freely defy the leadership.
Shadow environment secretary Rachael Maskell and shadow equalities minister Dawn Butler both resigned. Shadow Welsh secretary Jo Stevens had already quit, as had shadow minister for early years Tulip Siddiq.
Several other frontbenchers chose to oppose Brexit, taking the risk they will be sacked from their jobs.
The Labour leader’s team said any decision to sack rebels will be “taken at a later stage”.
Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary and close ally of Corbyn, missed the vote due to illness, her office said.
SNP MPs and seven of the nine Lib Dem MPs also voted against triggering Article 50.


Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East)
Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow)
Graham Allen (Nottingham North)
Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting)
Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree)
Ben Bradshaw (Exeter)
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West)
Lyn Brown (West Ham)
Chris Bryant (Rhondda)
Karen Buck (Westminster North)
Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth)
Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley)
Ann Coffey (Stockport)
Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Mary Creagh (Wakefield)
Stella Creasy (Walthamstow)
Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West)
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth)
Jim Dowd (Lewisham West and Penge)
Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood)
Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside)
Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford)
Mike Gapes (Ilford South)
Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South)
Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood)
Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton)
Peter Kyle (Hove)
David Lammy (Tottenham)
Rachael Maskell (York Central)
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East)
Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Madeleine Moon (Bridgend)
Ian Murray (Edinburgh South)
Stephen Pound (Ealing North)
Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall)
Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn)
Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith)
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington)
Owen Smith (Pontypridd)
Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central)
Stephen Timms (East Ham)
Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green)
Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test)
Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge)

Rhodes statue

Times 24th Jan 2017

Liddle Sunday Times, 29 Jan 17

Sunday Times, 29 Jan 17 

Shapps on foreign aid

Sunday Times, 29 Jan 17

Spectator cartoon

Analysis of Labour MPs' loyalty

In March 2016 a spreadsheet analysing where MPs stood in relation to Mr. Corbyn was "discovered".

Here's a Guardian article.

Labour’s chief whip, Rosie Winterton, and its London mayoral candidate, Sadiq Khan, have been labelled as “hostile” in a leaked document that appears to rank the party’s MPs by their loyalty to the leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
Members of parliament have been separated into five different sections ranging from a “core group” of loyalists, through “neutral but not hostile”, to a final “hostile” list that includes those believed to be most negative about the current leadership.
The document underlines unrest within the shadow cabinet with a number of frontbench MPs listed in the fourth “core negative group” including Lucy Powell at education and Maria Eagle, who was moved from her role in defence to culture.
They have been placed alongside Dan Jarvis – who is seen as a potential leadership candidate if MPs try to trigger a coup against Corbyn.
A spokesman for Corbyn categorically denied a claim by the Times, which was leaked the list, that it was drawn up by Katy Clark, Corbyn’s political secretary. They also pointed out that the list included Harry Harpham, who died of cancer last month and the late veteran MP Michael Meacher who died in October. He is listed in the core group with “RIP” before his name.
Some backbenchers speculated that the hand of Damian McBride, the combative spin doctor to Gordon Brown who recently joined the team of the shadow defence secretary, Emily Thornberry, may have been behind the release of the list. The suggestion is categorically denied by McBride.
A spokesman for Corbyn said: “It doesn’t come from this office and we have no knowledge of it.” He insisted that it did not represent the leader’s views either.
David Cameron seized on the list at prime minister’s questions, joking that he would put himself in the category of “core support” for Corbyn. “I thought I had problems,” he added.

And a chart

Here's the full list from LabourList:

CORE GROUP	CORE GROUP PLUS	NEUTRAL BUT NOT HOSTILE	CORE GROUP NEGATIVE	HOSTILE GROUP
Andy McDonald	Andy Slaughter	Alan Whitehead	Alan Johnon	Alan Campbell
Catherine Smith	Angela Rayner	Adrian Bailey	Alan Meale	Alison McGovern
Dennis Skinner	Alex Cunningham	Andrew Gwynne	Angela Smith	Ann Coffey
Diane Abbott	Albert Owen	Andy Burnham	Anna Turley	Barry Sheerman
Grahame Morris	Catherine West	Andrew Smith	Ed Miliband	Caroline Flint
Ian Lavery	Margaret Greenwood	Angela Eagle	Ben Bradshaw	Chris Evans
Ian Mearns	Carolyn Harris	Ann Clwyd	Bridget Phillipson	Chris Leslie
Imran Hussain	Chinyelu Onwurah	Barbara Keeley	Diana Johnson	Chuka Umunna
Jeremy Corbyn	Christina Rees	Barry Gardiner	Daniel Zeichner	Elizabeth Kendall
John McDonnell	Dave Anderson	Bill Esterson	Dan Jarvis	Emma Reynolds
Jon Trickett	Dawn Butler	Catherin McKinnell	Derek Twigg	Fiona Mactaggart
Kate Osamor	David Winnick	Chris Bryant	Frank Field	Graham Jones
Kelvin Hopkins	Debbie Abrahams	Chris Matheson	Gareth Thomas	Harriet Harman
RIP Michael Meacher	Emily Thornberry	Clive Betts	George Howarth	Ian Austin
Rebecca Long-Bailer	Emma Lewell-Buck	Clive Efford	Geoffrey Robinson	Ivan Lewis
Ronnie Campbell	Vicky Foxcroft	Colleen Fletcher	Gloria de Piero	Jamie Reed
Richard Burgon	Harry Harpham	David Crausby	Graham Allen	John Woodcock
Clive Lewis	Helen Goodman	David Hanson	Hilary Benn	Luciana Berger
Rachael Maskell	Holly Lynch	Derek Twigg	Ian Murray	Margaret Hodge
	Ian Lucas	Gavin Shuker	Jo Cox	Mark Tami
	Jo Stevens	Geraint Davies	Jenny Chapman	Mary Creagh
	Kate Hollern	Gerald Jones	Joan Ryan	Melanie Onn
	Karen Buck	Gerald Kaufman	John Mann	Michael Dugher
	Karl Turner	Gisela Stuart	John Spellar	Pat McFadden
	Keir Starmer	Gordon Marsden	Jon Ashworth	Phil Wilson
	Kevin Brennan	Graham Stringer	Julie Elliott	Rachel Reeves
	Khalid Mahmood	Heidi Alexander	Kate Green	Simon Danczuk
	Liz McInnes	Helen Hayes	Keith Vaz	Rosie Winterton
	Lilian Greenwood	Helen Jones	Kerry McCarthy	Tom Blenkinsop
	Lindsay Hoyle	Huw Irrance-Davies	Kevan Jones	Sadiq Khan
	Louise Haigh	Iain Wright	Liam Byrne	Stephen Twigg
	Lisa Nandy	Jack Dromey	Louise Ellman	Siobhain McDonagh
	Marie Rimmer	Jeff Smith	Lucy Powell	Stella Creasy
	Mary Glindon	Jessica Morden	Lyn Brown	Toby Perkins
	Nick Thomas-Symonds	Jim Cunningham	Margaret Beckett	Tristram Hunt
	Owen Smith	Jim Dowd	Maria Eagle	Yvette Cooper
	Pat Glass	Jim Fitzpatrick	Meg Hillier
	Paula Sheriff	John Healey	Natascha Engel
	Rob Marris	David Lammy	Neil Coyle
	Rosie Cooper	Jon Cruddas	Richard Burden
	Rupa Huq	Judith Cummins	Ruth Smeeth
	Roberta Blackman-Woods	Julie Cooper	Rob Flello
	Sarah Champion	Kate Green	Shabana Mahmood
	Sharon Hodgson	Karin Smyth	Stephen Doughty
	Steve Rotheram	Kate Hoey	Stephen Kinnock
	Stephen Hepburn	Kevin Barron	Jess Phillips
	Sue Hayman	Madeleine Moon	Jonathan Reynolds
	Susan Elan Jones	Mark Hendrick	Steve Reed
	Teresa Pearce	Matthew Pennycook	Stephen Pound
	Tom Watson	Mike Gapes
	Valerie Vaz	Mike Kane
	Vernon Coaker	Naseem Shah
	Virenda Sharma	Nia Giffith
	Wayne David	Nic Dakin
	Yasmin Qureshi	Nick Brown
	John Cryer	Nick Smith
		Paul Blomfield
		Paul Farrelly
		Paul Flynn
		Peter Dowd
		Peter Kyle
		Ruth Cadbury
		Rushanara Ali
		Roger Godsiff
		Seema Malhotra
		Steve McCabe
		Stephen Timms
		Tulip Siddiq
		Thangham Debbonaire
		Wes Streeting
		Yvonne Fovargue