Inside Politics: Keir Starmer books his place on the Labour leadership ballot

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Tuesday 21 January 2020 08:52 GMT

Who are the Labour leadership contenders?

Never get back with an ex. That’s what they say isn’t it? But after those awards ceremony photos of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, the world is aching for Brennifer to break the golden rule and get together again. Having become the first candidate to make it onto the leadership ballot, Sir Keir Starmer wants to rekindle the flame with ex-Labour voters in the north – the ones who dumped the party for a pre-Christmas romp with Boris Johnson. The PM, meanwhile, has spurned the chance to hook up with his old pal Donald Trump at today’s Davos summit. No time for bromance when he has all those salt-of-the-earth northerners to woo. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Inside the bubble

Our chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for in SW1 today:

The main action is in the House of Lords today, as peers try to amend the withdrawal agreement bill again. Today is the turn of Alf Dubs’ amendment to protect unaccompanied child refugees. Three amendments succeeded yesterday; that means the bill will have to return to the Commons next week, and Boris Johnson will have to decide whether to try to reverse any of the changes made by the upper house. In the Commons today MPs get to ask questions of the business secretary (congratulations if you said Andrea Leadsom), and to debate the Grenfell Tower inquiry.

Daily briefing

USDAWNING OF THE AGE OF AQUARIUS: Is it possible to look and sound prime ministerial, when you’re running for the leadership of a defeated, faction-frantic Labour party? The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) thinks so. It has endorsed Keir Starmer as “someone who can persuade voters that they have what it takes to be a prime minister”, making him the first candidate to get their name on the ballot. It’s a big blow for Jess Phillips, who – despite vowing to act less prime ministerial – had been counting on the Usdaw nod. Phillips offered some context for her weekend claim it would be an “embarrassment” if a bloke won the contest. She told Mumsnet that “if [Starmer] is the best person for the job, he should get it. I really believe that”. Gordon Brown, dispensing some of his big thoughts on the future, said he worries Labour has become a “grievance machine”. Asked about whether the party would ever choose a female leader, the former PM said: “I don’t think it will be long – I can’t say it will be at this election, but it won’t be long.”

LIES, DAMN LIES AND DETECTORS: Davos 2020 begins today. But rather than hobnobbing with the haut monde in the Swiss Alps, Boris Johnson wants to stay at home and show the hoi polloi how tough he is on terror. The government is unveiling plans to scrap the automatic early release from prison for terrorists and bring in a minimum jail term of 14 years for the most serious crimes. Home secretary Priti Patel – revealing a bill would be introduced in mid-March – said the government had faced up to “hard truths” since November’s London Bridge attack. Here’s the kicker. The government also wants probation officers to use lie detector tests with terror offenders to prove they’re fully reformed. I’m sure there won’t be any problems with this at all. Presumably offenders will be asked, “Are you still a terrorist?” And if they’re able to answer, “No, definitely not”, then everything will be absolutely fine.

THREE TIMES A LOSER: The prime minister was seen repeatedly leaping up and down at the UK-Africa Investment Summit (he was testing out a kit converting footsteps into energy). It looks like Johnson has a few more hoops to jump through after his government lost three votes in the House of Lords over his Brexit bill. Three defeats in one evening! It was almost like the good old days of 2019. Peers voted for two amendments related to government plans to allow British judges at lower courts to overturn European Court of Justice rulings, and one that would ensure EU nationals get given a physical document as proof they have the right to live in the UK after Brexit. Is it all for naught? Almost certainly, I’m afraid. Boasting that big majority of 80 in the Commons, Johnson will be confident of reversing the amendments when the bill comes back to the Commons.

PEER PRESSURE: If John Bercow wants to put in his order, order for some ermine robes, he might have to join the Labour party. Downing Street hinted Johnson may block any attempt by Jeremy Corbyn to push the ex-speaker forward for a peerage, with the PM’s spokesman claiming convention dictates that the leader of the opposition could only nominate members of his own party. So will the former Tory MP stick on a flat cap, memorise The Red Flag and develop a sudden attachment to South American socialism? Bercow could still try to nominate himself – self-aggrandisement would be the most Bercow thing to do – but Johnson would still hold the power to veto his old foe. Meanwhile, inside the Lords, peers have been moaning about plans to boot them up north to York. Labour’s Baroness Smith claimed Johnson was as scared of the upper house scrutiny as he was of Andrew Neil.

YOUNG BLOOD: We haven’t heard much from Dominic Cummings since he placed that job ad seeking young “weirdos” who have read William Gibson novels to come work for him at No 10. But we have heard from William Gibson. The legendary sci-fi writer said his “eyebrows shot up” when he read the British PM’s most senior aide was looking to employ people like Cayce Pollard, a character from his 2003 book Pattern Recognition. “He must almost certainly, if perhaps subconsciously, be likening himself to Hubertus Bigend, the quasi-evil genius who employs Cayce,” Gibson said. The quasi-evil genius – the one in the book, not the one at No 10 – is described as someone who “looks like Tom Cruise on a diet of virgins’ blood”.

On the record

“By putting people before passports we will be able to attract the best talent from around the world, wherever they may be.”

Boris Johnson pledges to create a “fairer” immigration system.

From the Twitterati

“Johnson claims he’ll put “people before passports”. The government talk about people as “low-skilled” or “high-skilled” and decide what rights they can access ... doesn’t look like putting people first to me.”

Author Maya Goodfellow is not convinced about the PM’s immigration claims at the UK-Africa conference...

“I for one am totally confident that the best person to form a strong partnership with African leaders is a man who once referred to Africans as “piccaninnies… with watermelon smiles”.”

...while David Schneider isn’t convinced by Johnson’s appeal to Africa either.