Sulking Michael Shrimpton who, angered by the Labour leadership skulked off to the Tories at the Uxbridge byelection, had been snubbed by the left many years before. As West Sussex Euro-PPC in 1989, he made an unsuccessful 120 mile round trip to gatecrash a County Party meeting in Chichester to whip up support. Eventually, chair Dave Stevens grudgingly introduced the ingratiating interloper: "Comrades, Michael Shrimpton," he spat, "tells me he's just dropped in to say hello." Shrimpton rose and began, "Well, hello..." Stevens swiftly snapped "Thank you for that contribution, now on to our next agenda item..."
If you run "Dearing" through some computer spellcheckers one suggested alternative is "Derange". Makes sense.
In their desperate search for "workers' organisations" to defend their jobs, the hunting fraternity tried to put a scare on Labour MPs out to ban hunting. Nothing to do with cruelty of course, but the need to defend rural jobs. Outflanked by the TGWU's Rural Allied Workers Section (the only union representing rural workers, policy to ban hunting since 1957), the hunters' mag Horse and Hound came up with a union demonstration in favour of hunting by... the Union of Democratic Mineworkers! Let's hope the UDM do for the hunting fraternity what they did for the mining industry.
Soon after Arnold Garney, editor of Horse & Hound rallied the hunting fraternity with "It's time for the gloves to come off", a death threat was sent to Michael Foster. Michael Foster, Labour MP for Worcester, is introducing a bill into Parliament to ban hunting with hounds. True to their powers of logic, the hunt supporters sent the threat to... Michael Foster, Labour MP for Hastings and Rye.
One thing forgotten in the Sir David Simon affair is that he isn't even a member of the Labour Party. Soon Party membership will be a severe block to a career in the Party.
Labour's hard-right modernisers' magazine, with as much access to government ministers as it wants, has financed its latest issue on defence through sponsorship by Short Brothers... and GEC Marconi... and Thomson CSF Radars... and Bombardier... and Hughes... and, well most of Britain's arms manufacturers and related industries. The CIA's friend, John Spellar MP, has a two-page spread, alongside fellow Defence Minister John Reid and Secretary of State George Robertson. Can no one see a conflict of interest here?
Did you enjoy your last copy of Progress, sent free to all Party members courtesy of the arms industry? Now your New Labour Party is offering you the chance to get up to £5,000 personal accident insurance - from a company which has refused to offer recognition or recruitment facilities to MSF. This has got up the nose of the normally loyal Blairite MSF General Secretary Roger Lyons, who has written in protest to Tom Sawyer, Labour's General Secretary. So before you fall off your ladder, check your insurance company out.
The Independent featured Cambridge University students in July in an attempt to portray student hardship. They came across one who, apart from his gap year, had "never had any full or part-time work." He has a low rent, a one thousand five hundred pounds loan and a "monthly allowance of £300" from his parents, which he finds "perfectly adequate". He isn't planning to work over the summer either, because he will be "writing a play". And where was this overpriviledged example of the country's elite on the July 11th? In Bournemouth, at the Young Labour Conference of course.
At a time when the European Union is keeping pressure on Turkey over its human rights abuses, it is nice to know it's got some friends. While the rest of the world keeps up a non-recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, seized by invasion in 1974, Richard Balfe MEP managed not only a visit to the occupied territory, but to address its leader formally as "President Denktash".
In its summer newsletter, Labour Friends of Israel make the claim that "It was LFI wot won it" - the General Election - and that it had been campaigning across the country for what it claimed were "LFI candidates". The euphoria of the election is dampened, however, by the fact that they have "lost many friends from the House of Commons" as older Zionist MPs are replaced by younger ones with more commitment to justice for the Palestinians.
The front page of the issue carries a letter of congratulations to Prime Minister Blair from beleaguered right-wing Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu. The key MP profiled is New Right Stephen Twigg who "hopes to assist" LFI during his short spell in Parliament. Who chaired LFI's first meeting at the House of Commons of the new Parliament? Barbara Follett.