Political blog, June 2: Jacqui Smith to quit - is Labour in freefall?
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It may be stretching it to suggest that the Labour
government is disintegrating before our very eyes but it is hard to
avoid the sense that an awful lot of rats are preparing to
disembark from a rapidly sinking ship and that while Gordon Brown
might still be at the helm he is listing horribly in choppy
political waters.
The news that Jacqui Smith is to resign as Home
Secretary is hardly unexpected but it's not common for ministers to
announce their intentions before an election and an anticipated
cabinet reshuffle.
A further two ministers have also signalled their intention to
stand down - Beverely Hughes and Patricia Hewitt.
Ann Widdecombe has told Sky News that there is
a similar mood to the one that surrounded John Major's government
when it was in its death throes.
"Everyone believes the administration is doomed," she said. It's
uncanny - sleaze brought down John Major in 1997 and exactly the
same thing looks like doing it for Gordon Brown, if not until
2010.
I think Ms Smith was never going to recover after the rather
lurid details of some of her expenses claims - or rather her
husband's - were leaked. She was already damaged goods after the
Damian Green debacle but that really holed her beneath the
water line.
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Elections do funny
things to politicians and political parties as they strain every
sinew to secure whatever advanatge they can before polling day.
This commonly results in press releases being issued that are i) of
the most trivial nature or ii) seek to suggest that one or other of
the parties are ahead in the polls.
I've had a couple of gems in the last 24 hours: the first from
the office of Green MEP Caroline Lucas, in which
we are told - wait for it - that Ms Lucas was once asked to leave a
council meeting for breastfeeding in public.
The less than startling revelation came during a live
online web chat, where the MEP told other parents how she wanted
more support for women who choose to breastfeed. "I'm anxious that
women who don't or can't aren't made to feel bad about the
decisions they make".
I suppose there is a serious point in all this and I wouldn't
want to underplay the issue but it just shows how much effort goes
into securing every last vote.
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Meanwhile, could the row over MPs' allowances here trigger a
higher than usual turnout in the European election this
Thursday? That appears to be the conclusion of a poll conducted by
You Gov, which sugggests that that 50% of the electorate have
definite plans to vote - much higher than previous polls have
suggested.
If this is replicated on Thursday, turnout will be highest ever
for a European Parliament election in the UK. Last time
around, 38% who voted in the last European Parliament election
in 2004 - the previous high watermark.
The survey was commissioned by http://www.votematch.co.uk/europe/#
If you want to see our special guide to the Euro elections,
go here.
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Tuesday, June 02 2009
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