“He must have been under enormous pressure (to apologise) since he became shadow chancellor, he’s far more high profile than he’s ever been before, obviously the past comes back to haunt you when your political position changes”.
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David Cameron is expected to call a vote in parliament next month.
“Although it’s an honour it is not something I am seeking at this point as I have lots of irons in many fires and I want to continue pursuing those”.
Alistair Darling, the former Labour Chancellor and leader of the Better Together campaign, spoke on the Today programme about Scotland, but it was the remarks on his own party that were the most striking.
Despite thousands allegedly signing up to the Labour party to vote for Mr Corbyn, he has a dire personal rating, with 42 per cent of voters deeming him “unfavourable” and just 24 per cent think he is “favourable”, making him the least popular shadow cabinet member.
In a swipe at Mr Corbyn’s hard first week as Labour leader, Mr Darling said he must recognise the importance of first impressions.
New Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn can boost the party’s prospects in May’s assembly election, AMs have said.
“I am sure these are not the views of Jeremy Corbyn but it is time he distanced himself from some of the more extreme elements of the anti-war coalition”, he said.
The move was branded as “bizarre” by the SNP, which claimed it was proof Mr Corbyn was “scrambling around” to find people to fill the frontbench roles.
Mr McDonnell said he had spoken to his party leader about the row following Mr Corbyn’s decision not to sing the national anthem at a Battle of Britain memorial service.
Speaking about Mr Corbyn’s quick rise to power, he said: “That shows he is good at mobilising people in large numbers”.
The disgraced peer was thrown out of the Labour Party after admitting two counts of attempted fire-raising when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, but was readmitted in 2012, with fellow Labour peer George Foulkes saying Watson had “served his time”.
The Rotherham MP, who was one of the 35 who nominated Mr Corbyn for the leadership, told the paper the new leader has been so busy she still has not met him.
Their argument is: London should be a “Labour city”, is the new leader’s base and the party has a Left-leaning candidate in Sadiq Khan (who defeated the Blairite Dame Tessa Jowell for the Labour nomination).
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He now says his choice of words was wrong, adding: “What I tried to do for both sides is to give them a way out with some form of dignity otherwise they wouldn’t lay their arms down”.
