David Cameron is presumably now regretting telling Angela Eagle “Calm down, dear” during heated exchanges on the NHS. Her shadow treasury team colleague Ed Balls was certainly not impressed, repeatedly calling upon the prime minister to apologise. In a transparent attempt to “win back the wimmin”, Cameron then claimed that Tory MP Sarah Wollaston was [...]
Scrapbook is always hearing how the music and comedy scenes in Britain are so much better when the Tories are in power. Despite this, the current number one single in Britain is Simon Cowell’s newest characterless throwaway singing doll and the current biggest selling stand up DVD is, er, John Bishop. Whether this bucking of [...]
It’s been doing the rounds for 24 hours now but this video of Ed Balls on the drums with guitarist David Evans makes for strangely compelling viewing. Growing in confidence throughout the rendition of “A Thing Called Love” by The Darkness, after the minute mark Balls starts showing off with drum rolls and a switch [...]
Following on from Scrapbook’s earlier post about the runners and riders for the post of Shadow Scottish Secretary we thought we’d take a look at the contenders for the Wales job. Unlike its Scottish counterpart which has seen holders of the post propelled to lofty positions like Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, or tipped as [...]
Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson has declared he is to run for the Shadow Cabinet in the forthcoming elections. It had previously been thought that Mr. Johnson would follow top-cabinet colleagues like Alastair Darling and Jack Straw in stepping back from the political front line. Johnson’s decision could potentially scupper the Shadow Cabinet plans of [...]
Those that haven’t signed up to party emails and/or checked LabourList may have missed the belated arrival of Ed Balls’ leadership campaign website, edballs4labour.org. It’s Corrie-esque masthead gives a less corporate feel than the Milibands’ offerings and there is plenty of issues/policy content. But you needn’t discriminate – pay the competition a visit here: Andy Burnham / andy4leader.com David Miliband / davidmiliband.net Ed [...]
With silly season looming on the horizon and the emergence of a spoof candidate, commentary on the Labour leadership contest had already begun to take a turn for the surreal before the release of a funk-rock track in support of Ed Balls. No, seriously. Falkirk-based group The Solar Dogs started to write the song with the [...]
The schools secretary embarrasses his opposite number in the clip below by turning Michael Gove’s trick of reading out GCSE exam questions in parliament – “these questions are sooo easy! standards have slipped! it’s a disgrace!” – on its head. Do you know how a fluoride atom changes into a fluoride ion? Neither did Michael Gove. 0/3 – see me after class. Hat-tip: Liberal [...]
