Six of the best
Tim Loughton: MaoDonnell’s long march consigns Labour to the wilderness
Chris McGovern: France still knows who it is. We have grievously lost our way
Laura Keynes: The Conservative government offers little to socially conservative women
Cerberus: Paris rewrites Osborne’s spending plans
Laura Perrins: I will tell you what Isis don’t want. Overwhelming western military force
Reader’s Comment of the Week
In response to Jane Kelly: Bog standard London comprehensive creates its very own Islamist ghetto on our doorsteps, morbidfascination wrote:
I heard this on the Today Programme too and was increasingly enraged the longer it went on. I was left wondering if it was just me reacting that way, but I am glad to see that my reaction wasn’t solely down to my (increasingly cranky) nature. You would also be wasting your time complaining to the Department for Education, given that it has a supposedly Christian Secretary of State, who displayed no apparent hesitation in closing down a Christian school which had some genuine grounds for grievance about the way in which it had been treated by Ofsted, but who seems to have left the “Trojan Horse” schools in place.
TCW Hero of the Week
Whilst the Shadow Cabinet is in disarray over airstrikes in Syria, an unusual hero arises from the melee – Hilary Benn. His principled stance on airstrikes shows Corbyn’s inner circle for what they really are, declaring on Friday morning: “I’m not going to resign because I am doing my job as shadow foreign secretary”.
Corbyn either whips his MPs to vote against strikes on Monday, sparking resignations en masse, or he concedes a free vote. If Labour can’t decide whether to go to war or not, they forfeit any right to govern. Well done Hillary for standing firm.
TCW Villain of the Week
Yes, you guessed it. It’s John ‘MaoDonnell’ McDonnell. Well, it couldn’t really be anyone else could it? His truly baffling response to the Chancellor’s Spending Review consisted of a storytime session from Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book.
This was both offensive – given that Mao is responsible for killing at least 45 million people – and a desperate response to a Spending Review that had shot Labour’s fox over tax credits and police funding. However, John’s Mao moment is yet another sign that the Jez and John show is continuing to lead Labour into the political wilderness, as Tim Loughton MP pointed out on TCW this week.
Best of the rest
Jane Kelly: Bog standard London comprehensive creates its very own Islamist ghetto on our doorsteps
