Trevor Phillips

Trevor Phillips Whilst the Patel issue was dying this has taken it off the front pages and I suspect the Phillips issue is going to run and run for some time It may well be a diversionary tactic in advance of EHRC Report >accusing many people and organisations of islamophobia with Labour’s change of definition broadening the range of accusations they are able to make The people running the Party are experienced political operators and obviously they were going to engage in mitigation tactics in advance of the report Strange that they should do it now at an important time in the Leadership election! Perhaps they think that if Sir K wins he will use the Report to clear out the Marxist left so they have to get their defence in now. Having launched it Sir K may find it difficult to stop! And who do you attack but one of the most respected anti-racist experts in the country whose opinions are considered pragmatic and common sense on race issues irrespective of your political allegiance I do not know if Phillips is popular with Members of the Labour Party and perhaps there is more to this than meets the eye>will Sir K be put on the spot? Will he be asked if he supports the new definition of islamophobia and the suspension? >hard to imagine that Sir K thinks Philips is a bad guy nor Landy but the likes of RLB and Burgon will just say they support the democratic decision of the Party and the investigation must take its course Am I reading too much conspiracy into this strange action!....there has to be a political dimension in this decision and it is certainly not to make Labour more popular with the electorate and Red Wall voters!

Rutnam and All That

Rutnam and All That

The story broke on Saturday with Rutman standing under an umbrella in the rain making his political point prompting a cynical comment that it was ‘a wet avoid the wet ‘!!

3 days in and it appears to be dying and coronavirus is more important to the public than a civil service tiff >not sure the public ever had much sympathy with Rutman

Anti Boris MSM are trying hard to make it run but Corbyn and his MPs did not give any impetus to that in Parliament>watching it was quite boring and very repetitious and Labour MPs did not look as though their heart was in trying to get a scalp! Actually it could be that the current runt of Labour MPs are not very inspiring or capable of making a contest out of issues such as this

The probability is that the fall out was six of one and half a dozen of the other with both sides briefing on each other but the general consensus is that the Home Office [not the Minister] is not fit for purpose, has been that way for some time, and Patel was sent in to sort it out

If so then flack was expected by the Government hence the complete laid back approach. In due course we will be told that whilst the Minister was inpolite she was not in breach of the code. Rutman is paid out and on we go!

Basically, who cares about a civil servant who doesn’t like the government policy which the electorate has soundly endorsed!

A cynic may say that Boris has been lucky again as coronavirus has taken everything off the front pages and the minds of the electorate

Some of the commentators I follow, who have been Boris Bashers and have not yet recovered from his landslide victory which they thought impossible , have had a last fling on this and hopefully they will also move on ! Normally, which is why I follow them, their views are interesting and relatively objective

So Rutnam has not even be a seven day wonder!