UK Party Leadership contests

[Eternal_Freedom]

The national security part is less disagreeable than the other two, since Corbyn does advocate unilateral nuclear disarmament. If you subscribe to the idea that nuclear weapons are a vital part of our nation's defences, then the new Labour leader saying "we should chuck them all" could be seen as such.

[Thanas]

So does that mean that both government and opposition are now lead by Euroskeptics?

[Vendetta]

So does that mean that both government and opposition are now lead by Euroskeptics?

They're both led by people who want to reform Europe (in different and probably opposite ways) but will probably campaign (seperately and for different reasons) to stay in.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Corbyn would have us live in a world where France has nuclear weapons but we don't

[Zaune]

That's one of the areas where I disagree with him, actually. Although I'm more worried about the US than the French.

[jwl]

So does that mean that both government and opposition are now lead by Euroskeptics?

Neither Cameron or Corbyn want to leave the EU.

[jwl]

Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.

Leader of the opposition and leader of the Labour party
Jeremy Corbyn, 66, MP for Islington North since 1983

Jeremy Corbyn MP.
The Shropshire-raised, privately educated son of peace campaigner parents, Corbyn has spent most of his 32 years in parliament as a serial rebel on the left edge of the Labour party. Persuaded to stand for leader, and only scraping on to the ballot at the last minute, his is one of the most sudden and unlikely ascendancies in British political history.

Deputy leader of the Labour party, party chair and shadow minister for the Cabinet Office
Tom Watson MP, 48, MP for West Bromwich East since 2001

Tom Watson MP.
Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian
While far from a Blairite, Watson’s politics are notably more pragmatic than those of Corbyn and his own direct mandate in the parallel deputy leader election could see him act as an ideological counterweight. Watson, from Kidderminster, has been a Labour activist since his teens and until now was probably best known for his high-profile role in the phone-hacking investigation.

Shadow first secretary of state, shadow secretary of state for business, innovation and skills
Angela Eagle, 54, MP for Wallasey since 1992

Angela Eagle MP.
Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
The vastly experienced Eagle, whose frontbench career dates back to 1997, had been heavily tipped to become shadow chancellor and, as something of a consolation prize, will deputise for Corbyn in parliament. The Yorkshire-born former junior chess champion was once told by David Cameron in parliament to “Calm down, dear,” something she saw as a sign of how much she had rattled him. Eagle did not nominate anyone in the leadership campaign.

Shadow chancellor of the exchequer
John McDonnell, 64, MP for Hayes and Harlington since 1997

John McDonnell MP.
Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA
A London MP on the left of Labour and known mainly for his rebellious nature, McDonnell has many parallels to his new boss, whom he backed in the leadership election. McDonnell himself tried and failed twice to stand for Labour leader as the representative of the left. If anything, McDonnell tends to be less conciliatory and more outspoken than Corbyn, having previously called for the “bravery and sacrifice” of the IRA to be honoured.

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury
Seema Malhotra, 42, MP for Feltham and Heston since 2011

Seema Malhotra MP.
Photograph: Frantzesco Kangaris for the Guardian
A former management consultant who won her Commons seat in a byelection less than four years ago, Malhotra backed Yvette Cooper for the leadership. Under Ed Miliband, she took the newly created post of shadow Home Office minister for preventing violence against women and girls.

Shadow home secretary
Andy Burnham, 45, MP for Leigh since 2001

Andy Burnham MP.
Photograph: Lynda Bowyer/Demotix/Corbis
Despite being the early favourite this time around, he is now a twice-defeated leadership contender. Burnham has more governing experience than most of his new colleagues, having held three ministerial jobs from 2007 to 2010, including health secretary. Raised in Cheshire by a phone engineer father and receptionist mother, Burnham won praise for helping to secure a new inquiry into the Hillsborough disaster.

Shadow foreign secretary
Hilary Benn, 61, MP for Leeds Central since 1999

Hilary Benn MP.
Photograph: Lynne Cameron/PA
Almost a veteran in the job compared with some of his shadow cabinet colleagues – Benn was made shadow foreign secretary in May – he is also something of a ministerial old hand, having spent seven years running government departments before 2010. He is the son of the late Tony Benn, whose left-edge Labour views Corbyn echoes, but the younger Benn is ideologically quite different to both his father and his new leader, and supported Burnham in the leadership election.

Opposition chief whip
Rosie Winterton, 57, MP for Doncaster Central since 1997

Rosie Winterton MP.
Photograph: Ian Nicholson/PA
Another experienced Labour hand, the former assistant to John Prescott held a series of shadow ministerial jobs between 2008 and 2010, including a brief stint as shadow leader of the Commons. She is now tasked with the difficult job of persuading Labour MPs to back a leader who was himself a serial rebel. Perhaps usefully, Winterton did not nominate anyone for the leader’s role.

Shadow secretary of state for health
Heidi Alexander, 40, MP for Lewisham East since 2010

Heidi Alexander MP.
Photograph: John Stilwell/PA
Another MP who nominated Burnham for the leadership, Alexander has never previously been on the Labour frontbench. The Swindon-born daughter of an electrician, Alexander says she was the first person in her family to go to university. Her political career began as a researcher for the MP Joan Ruddock before becoming a councillor in Lewisham.

Shadow secretary of state for education
Lucy Powell, 40, MP for Manchester Central since 2012

Lucy Powell MP.
Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
Another big leap in the meteoric rise of an MP who has only been in parliament for less than three years. A supporter of Burnham for the leadership, the former Labour HQ staffer is tasked with overseeing an education policy where her new leader has said he wants to return all academies to local authority control.

Shadow secretary of state for work and pensions
Owen Smith, 45, MP for Pontypridd since 2010

Owen Smith MP.
Photograph: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
Another promotion for a relative newcomer who spent just over a year as shadow Wales secretary. Another backer of Burnham for the leadership, Smith was a BBC journalist then worked in the biotech industry before entering parliament.

Shadow secretary of state for defence
Maria Eagle, 54, MP for Gartson and Halewood since 1997

Maria Eagle MP.
Photograph: Russell Hart/Alamy Stock Photo
Entering parliament five years after her twin sister, Angela, the new shadow defence secretary is an experienced Labour hand, holding a string of frontbench posts since 2001. A former solicitor, she backed Yvette Cooper for the leadership. Unlike Corbyn, Eagle has previously voted in favour of replacing the Trident nuclear missile system.

Shadow lord chancellor, shadow secretary of state for justice
Lord Falconer, 63, peer since 1997

Lord Falconer.
Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
Known as Charlie to his friends – among them his former flatmate Tony Blair – he was briefly the first secretary of state for justice when the new department was created in 2007. The barrister from Edinburgh had tried and failed to become a Labour parliamentary candidate before Blair made him a peer and a minister and he had a decade-long off-and-on frontbench career in government.

Shadow secretary of state for communities and local government, shadow minister for the constitutional convention
Jon Trickett, 65, MP for Hemsworth since 1996

Jon Trickett MP.
Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
While he was among the MPs who nominated Corbyn for the leadership, Trickett is seen as slightly more on the mainstream left of the party, previously chairing the Compass group of Labour MPs. Formerly parliamentary private secretary to Gordon Brown he has, nonetheless, disagreed with party policy on a number of issues, for example the Iraq war and tuition fees.

Shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change
Lisa Nandy, 36, MP for Wigan, since 2010

Lisa Nandy MP.
Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
This is a more senior frontbench role for the Burnham-backing MP, who previously worked in the charity and voluntary sector and was a councillor in west London before becoming junior cabinet minister covering civil society issues. Her maternal grandfather was Frank Byers, a Liberal MP and later a senior peer for the party.

Shadow leader of the House of Commons
Chris Bryant, 53, MP for Rhondda since 2001

Chris Bryant MP.
Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian
Until now the shadow culture secretary, Bryant turned down the defence role under Corbyn, telling the BBC he differed with his new leader on issues including Nato and Russia. Bryant, who backed Cooper in the leadership election, became a Labour activist after a brief post-university career as an Anglican priest. In the Commons, he has taken a series of ministerial and shadow roles since 2008.

Shadow secretary of state for transport
Lilian Greenwood, 49, MP for Nottingham South since 2010

Lilian Greenwood MP.
Photograph: News Pictures/REX Shutterstock
A direct promotion for the Nottingham MP who also backed Burnham for the leadership. Under Ed Miliband, Greenwood held junior transport briefs from 2011, firstly for local transport and then for rail. Before being elected to parliament, she spent a number of years working for the trade union Unison.

Shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland
Vernon Coaker, 62, MP for Gedling since 1997

Vernon Coaker MP.
Photograph: Flying Colours/Getty Images
This is a return to familiar turf for the longstanding Labour figure, who filled the role for Ed Miliband from 2011 to 2013 before Miliband made him shadow defence secretary. Another Cooper supporter, Coaker is a former history teacher who was junior education minister under Gordon Brown.

Shadow secretary of state for international development
Diane Abbott, 61, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987

Diane Abbott MP.
Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
A fellow veteran leftwinger and sometime refusenik in Labour, Abbott was among the 36 MPs who nominated Corbyn for the leadership. Once a journalist and press officer, Abbott has previously been a prominent backbencher, with a three-year stint as shadow public health minister under Ed Miliband.

Shadow secretary of state for Scotland
Ian Murray, 39, MP for Edinburgh South since 2010

Ian Murray MP.
Photograph: REX Shutterstock
Not one of the more difficult decisions for Corbyn and his team: since Labour’s 2015 election wipeout in Scotland, Murray has been the party’s sole MP north of the border and was duly given the job under interim leader Harriet Harman. Formerly in the internet and TV industry, Murray backed Cooper for the leadership.

Shadow secretary of state for Wales
Nia Griffith, 58, MP for Llanelli since 2005

Nia Griffith MP.
Photograph: John Stilwell/PA
Another relatively straightforward upward move – Griffith was junior shadow minister for Wales under Owen Smith and takes over the main job now he has become shadow secretary of state for work and pensions. Born in Ireland to Welsh parents, Griffith spent 20 years as a language teacher and schools inspector. She also supported Burnham for the leadership.

Shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs
Kerry McCarthy, 50, MP for Bristol East since 2005

Kerry McCarthy MP
Photograph: John Stilwell/ PA
A step up for the experienced Bristol MP following a series of more junior posts, most recently as shadow foreign office minister, with a remit covering human rights and migration. Formerly a solicitor who worked in both criminal and corporate law, McCarthy holds the niche title of being the first vegan to be elected to parliament.

Shadow minister for women and equalities
Kate Green, 55, MP for Stretford and Urmston since 2010

Kate Green MP.
Photograph: Chris Bull/Alamy Stock Photo
Familiar ground for Green, who held several senior charity sector jobs connected to children and single-parent families after an initial career in banking. In the previous shadow cabinet, she was spokeswoman for disabled people. A magistrate for 16 years, Green has an interest in the way the justice system treats women. She backed Cooper for the leadership.

Shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport
Michael Dugher, 40, MP for Barnsley East since 2010

Michael Dugher MP.
Photograph: REX
A sideways move for the previous shadow transport spokesman, and perhaps a less seemingly natural fit given the three generations of railwaymen in his ancestry. A campaigner for Burnham in the leadership competition, Dugher has a pugnacious and sometimes populist style, having kicked off his transport brief with an interview saying Labour should be more aware of the needs of drivers.

Shadow minister for young people and voter registration
Gloria De Piero, 42, MP for Ashfield since 2010

Gloria De Piero MP
Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian
A rare shadow cabinet spot for one of the MPs who nominated Liz Kendall for the leadership. De Piero was equalities minister under Miliband and is one of the better-known among Labour’s 2010 intake, in part due to her activism over equality issues and also because of her pre-politics role as political editor for GMTV.

Shadow minister for mental health
Luciana Berger, 34, MP for Liverpool Wavertree since 2010

Luciana Berger MP.
Photograph: Jonathan Goldberg/REX
Only 28 when she became an MP, Berger has already been a junior shadow minister for energy and for public health. Born in London, Berger faced accusations of being “parachuted in” by the Labour party when she was selected to fight her safe Liverpool seat. She nominated Burnham for the leadership.

Shadow leader of the House of Lords
Lady Smith, 56, peer since 2010

Baroness Smith.
Photograph: Flying Colours Photography Ltd/Getty Images
Better known to observers of the Blair and Brown years as Angela Smith, she was MP for Basildon from 1997 until defeat in 2010, after which she was made a peer and later Labour’s deputy chief whip in the upper house. She became shadow Lords leader after May’s election and keeps the job under Corbyn.

Lords chief whip
Lord Bassam, 62, peer since 1997

Lord Bassam.
Photograph: Yui Mok/PA WIRE
Formerly, as Steve Bassam, the Labour leader of Brighton council, he stood unsuccessfully as a Commons candidate before becoming a peer. He was made Labour’s Lords chief whip after the 2010 election and retains the role under Corbyn.

Shadow attorney general
Catherine McKinnell, 39, MP for Newcastle North since 2010

Catherine McKinnell MP.
Photograph: Richard Gardner/REX Shutterstock
Newcastle-raised McKinnell is one of eight children and was an employment lawyer before entering parliament. Miliband made her shadow solicitor general, then shadow minister for children and then part of the Treasury shadow team. She backed Cooper for the leadership.

Shadow minister without portfolio
Jonathan Ashworth, 36, MP for Leicester South from 2011

Jonathan Ashworth MP.
Photograph: REX Shutterstock
A former aide to Brown and Miliand, Ashworth is a youthful veteran of Labour activism, going straight from student politics to a research job with the party. If that wasn’t sufficient immersion, Ashworth’s wife, Emilie Oldknow, is a senior Labour official and unsuccessfully stood in the 2010 election. He nominated Cooper for the leadership.

Shadow minister for housing and planning
John Healey, 55, MP for Wentworth and Dearne since 1997

John Healey MP.
Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian
In a shadow cabinet light on hands-on experience, Healey is notable for having done his job from the government benches; he served as housing minister under Brown from 2009-10, having been a junior minister since 2002. A backer of Cooper for the leadership, Healey initially threw his hat into the ring to become deputy leader but failed to get sufficient nominations from fellow MPs.

Other announcements:
Yvette Cooper will continue her work on bringing together councils, faith groups, and community groups to respond to the refugee crisis. She will chair Labour’s taskforce on refugees.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... et-in-full

[jwl]

Oh, and I might as well post the lib dem frontbench while I'm at it:

Tim Farron unveils his Lib Dem front bench team
29 July 2015
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has unveiled his team of spokespeople, with former leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg turning down a role.
Norman Lamb, who was defeated by Mr Farron in the leadership contest, takes the health brief.
Baroness Kramer, a member of the Lords, will speak on economic matters, while Tom Brake MP will be the chief whip and take charge of foreign affairs.
Mr Farron said the "excellent" team would lead the "Lib Dem fight back".
The former party president was elected as the new leader of the Liberal Democrats on 16 July, beating Mr Lamb with 56.5% of the votes cast.
The contest was sparked by Mr Clegg's resignation after the party's near wipe-out at the general election, which saw the Lib Dems reduced to just eight MPs.
Here is the full list of spokespeople appointed by Mr Farron:
Economics: Baroness Susan Kramer
Foreign Affairs/Chief Whip/Leader of the house: Tom Brake MP
Defence: Baroness Judith Jolly
Home Affairs: Alistair Carmichael MP
Health: Norman Lamb MP
Education: John Pugh MP
Work and Pensions: Baroness Zahida Manzoor
Business: Lorely Burt
Energy and Climate Change: Lynne Featherstone
Local Government: Mayor of Watford, Cllr Dorothy Thornhill
Transport: Baroness Jenny Randerson
Environment and Rural Affairs: Baroness Kate Parminter
International Development: Baroness Lindsay Northover
Culture Media and Sport: Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter
Equalities: Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece
Justice/Attorney General: Lord Jonathan Marks
Northern Ireland: Lord John Alderdice
Scotland: Willie Rennie MSP, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
Wales: Kirsty Williams AM, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats
Campaigns Chair: Greg Mullholland MP
Grassroots Campaigns: Cllr Tim Pickstone, Chair of the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors
In a statement, the Lib Dem leader said the new team "is the Liberal voice that Britain desperately needs".
"It features some of the best campaigners that the party has, balanced with the experience and economic credibility that our party has developed over the last five years in government.
"It was important to me to be able to call on the advice and experience of people at all levels of our party and I believe we have an excellent team to lead the Lib Dem fight back.
"Together, we will take our ideas, our values and our liberal messages to every corner of Britain. We will make the case for housing, immigration, Europe, environmentalism and human rights," he added.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33700930

[His Divine Shadow]

Whats this I hear about your PM fucking a dead pig?

[The Romulan Republic]

The national security part is less disagreeable than the other two, since Corbyn does advocate unilateral nuclear disarmament. If you subscribe to the idea that nuclear weapons are a vital part of our nation's defences, then the new Labour leader saying "we should chuck them all" could be seen as such.

Let me ask you: Even if you support nuclear weapons in theory, in what conceivable situation would Britain be under threat by a power that required a nuclear deterrent to respond to and America's nuclear arsenal would not be available in Britain's defence?

[Crazedwraith]

Whats this I hear about your PM fucking a dead pig?

Oh that, well yes. According to big Tory backer who's jilted he didn't get a government position. He did back in university as an initiation ritual for a club. It's getting pretty much glossed over by the media though.

[Crazedwraith]

The national security part is less disagreeable than the other two, since Corbyn does advocate unilateral nuclear disarmament. If you subscribe to the idea that nuclear weapons are a vital part of our nation's defences, then the new Labour leader saying "we should chuck them all" could be seen as such.

Let me ask you: Even if you support nuclear weapons in theory, in what conceivable situation would Britain be under threat by a power that required a nuclear deterrent to respond to and America's nuclear arsenal would not be available in Britain's defence?

What if we have a disagreement with America?

[His Divine Shadow]

I keep reading reactions from people over the net and it's comedy gold.

[The Romulan Republic]

The national security part is less disagreeable than the other two, since Corbyn does advocate unilateral nuclear disarmament. If you subscribe to the idea that nuclear weapons are a vital part of our nation's defences, then the new Labour leader saying "we should chuck them all" could be seen as such.

Let me ask you: Even if you support nuclear weapons in theory, in what conceivable situation would Britain be under threat by a power that required a nuclear deterrent to respond to and America's nuclear arsenal would not be available in Britain's defence?

What if we have a disagreement with America?

Its hard to imagine a breach bad enough that the US wouldn't have Britain's back if, say, Russia attacked them. That would be "dismantling of NATO" serious. And no lesser situation than an attack by a major power would even begin to justify Britain using or threatening to use nuclear weapons.

And I fail to see why a nation must pay for weaponry for every conceivable eventuality, no matter how unlikely.

Also, while its not really a funny story (its quite disgusting, actually), "David Cameron, pig fucker" has a nice ring to it.

[jwl]

Whats this I hear about your PM fucking a dead pig?

It's something which has nothing to do with the labour/lib dem leadership contests.

Most likely not true, but Lord Ashcroft might have thought it was true.

[Zaune]

Its hard to imagine a breach bad enough that the US wouldn't have Britain's back if, say, Russia attacked them. That would be "dismantling of NATO" serious. And no lesser situation than an attack by a major power would even begin to justify Britain using or threatening to use nuclear weapons.

We discovered a shitload of oil a few months ago, and there's a non-negligible possibility of Donald Trump becoming President of the United States while our primary opposition party has just elected an actual proper socialist as its leader.

I don't think it's Russia we should be afraid of.

[The Romulan Republic]

Its hard to imagine a breach bad enough that the US wouldn't have Britain's back if, say, Russia attacked them. That would be "dismantling of NATO" serious. And no lesser situation than an attack by a major power would even begin to justify Britain using or threatening to use nuclear weapons.

We discovered a shitload of oil a few months ago, and there's a non-negligible possibility of Donald Trump becoming President of the United States while our primary opposition party has just elected an actual proper socialist as its leader.

I don't think it's Russia we should be afraid of.

Please. If you think the US is seriously likely to attack Britain, or more likely to do so than Russia, over oil or anything else in the foreseeable future, you are, to put it bluntly, a moron. The US attacks third world dictatorships that pretty much no one here likes. They're not going to attack a western European country that's also a fucking NATO member.

Whatever anti-war slogans tell you, robbing other countries of their oil at gun point does not constitute the entirety of US foreign policy, and I am prepared to bet that if Trump's last shred of sanity vanished and he tried to declare war on Britain, he'd be voted out or impeached in short order.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Do you really think America is going to be willing to use it's nuclear arsenal as a deterrent when it isn't involved in a dispute betwen Britain and a hypothetical third power? I think you overrate how willing America would be to wield such weapons if it's someone else's conflict.

[The Romulan Republic]

I have a hard time imagining Britain being in a conflict with a major power that didn't involve the US. I mean, there's the whole NATO thing.

I suppose that could change in the future, but as it stands now... again, do you budget for every conceivable thing that could happen in the future?

I mean, I'm in Canada. Like Britain, we are a fairly small country (in every sense but geographical size) that is allied to the US. We don't have nukes. I feel no need for us to have nukes.

Edit: Despite the fact that we are geographically fairly close to Russia.

[K. A. Pital]

And I fail to see why a nation must pay for weaponry for every conceivable eventuality, no matter how unlikely.

It must not, but nuclear weapons are much cheaper than a conventional army and provide a greater guarantee of defense against a future attack of any kind. Could national politicians see beyond NATO, which is certainly not eternal and in fact has been turning into a pack of global developed vultures from what was a defensive alliance against a much more powerful Russia and its Warsaw Pact allies? Yes, and why not?

The US itself may cease to exist. Then what?

[The Romulan Republic]

If the US or NATO ceases to exist, we'll likely see it coming for a while (barring some sudden global catastrophe like Putin or, God forbid, President Trump going nuts and firing off all the nukes or a huge asteroid hitting Earth). We can cross that bridge if we come to it.

I also personally question the utility of nukes. If the threat doesn't work, then the only thing they're good for is massively escalating the conflict or taking everyone else with you in a final act of spite.

They may be cheaper than an army, but they sure as hell have less flexibility and utility. They're an all or nothing measure. A country that puts all its money into nukes will have three options: posture, capitulate, or an apocalypse. None are particularly appealing to me.

[K. A. Pital]

Yes, but any country dealing with it has to consider option three. And you forgot option four: a years-lasting bloodbath of invasion and occupation. But that cannot happen because nukes would escalate the matter quickly. You think proxy wars are bad - they are, but it is only a threat of total annihilation that prevents them from becoming massive regional wars and finally world wars. The industrial world had two world wars before the invention of nuclear weapons and none thereafter.

[The Romulan Republic]

The flip side is if that escalation happens, if the threat ever proves an insufficient deterrent, the destruction can surpass anything we've ever had before.

Like I said, nuclear weapons are an all or nothing sort of thing. Not terribly flexible. Sure, you could try to engage in limited nuking, but once things have gotten to that point, there's not much restraint left.

But I'm sure you know this well.

In any case, weather one feels that their is a place for nuclear weapons or not, I don't see a compelling argument for Britain having them in the world as it is today.

Edit: Essentially, should Britain spend its non-infinite resources on weapons it might conceivably need if the present global order suddenly falls apart, or should it use that money on any of the innumerable present, ongoing concerns Britain, like any country, has?

[K. A. Pital]

Maybe it shouldn't build giant aircraft carriers to bomb Arabs? Then it could find money to both support a deterrent and solve some of its problems.

[The Romulan Republic]

I do think it makes sense to have some ability to deploy forces overseas if necessary- their are conceivable situations where it might be warranted. And aircraft carriers do have more versatile uses than nukes, I think.

Although I'm not certain Britain needs them, strictly speaking. I certainly wouldn't be heartbroken if Britain cut them.

Edit: However, given an arbitrary choice between nukes and aircraft carriers, I honestly think I'd go for the latter, for the reasons I mentioned.