Sorry to here of the end of Labour Outlook and hope whatever the reasons they will be able to come back soon. Elected representatives who have the courage to post regularly on Labourhome  with their identity known are a priceless asset to the site- with the notable  exception of Tom Watson of course.

Lesley Griffiths, AM for Wrexham, wrote the following for Labour Outlook

One thing we can’t accuse David Cameron’s Tories of is inconsistency. Month after month, they consistently refuse to reveal any of their policies in any detail, in a concerted effort to postpone the day when they have to put pound signs next to their pledges.

The Conservatives make much of their professed aim to devolve powers down from Whitehall - supposedly in stark contrast to Labour's 'statist' tendancies.

Leaving aside the fact that the stereotype of a statist Labour government is full of holes, the Tories' claims to be the great decentralisers looks more shakey as time goes on.

Labour Matters reports that Tory MP for Monmouth David Davies has said that he will lead a ‘No’ campaign in any future referendum on whether or not the Welsh National Assembly for Wales should be granted primary law-making powers.

Additionally, the ongoing delay of the publication of Lord Robert's report on Welsh devolution - commissioned by Cameron in March and completed for the summer recess - is fuelling rumours that that the paper is being supressed by the Tory leader.

And with Ken Clarke's 'solution' to the West Lothian question being roundly ridiculed the Tory's 'devolution agenda' is a self-contradicting mess.

A YouGov poll for today's Telegraph gives the following figures:

Conservatives 45% (-3)
Labour 26% (nc)
Lib Dems 16% (nc)

 

 

Labour Outlook

An ICM poll in tomorrow’s Guardian give the following figures:

Conservatives: 44% (+1)
Labour: 29% (+1)
Liberal Democrats 19% (nc)

More on the other questions asked at Labour Outlook

Iain Dale & Total Politics are running their yearly poll to decide the rankings of their the Top 100 UK Political blogs list

I've put together a quick voting form over at Labour Outlook that will allow you to vote for Labour sites without having to fiddle around with emails.

By simply filling in your name, email address and top 10 blogs and hitting submit, your votes will be automatically sent to Total Politics for counting.

Remember all the blogs you vote for must appear on the Total Politics blog list)

Make sure Labour blogs get a good vote this year by filling in the form below before the end of the 8th August.

Click here to vote

A Populus poll in tomorrow's Times gives the following figures:

Conservatives: 43% (+2)
Labour: 27% (-1)
Liberal Democrats: 18% (-1)

 

Details of the other questions asked at Labour Outlook

 

Yet to be confirmed, but my understanding is that the following people were elected to the NEC constituency section:

 

Ann Black
Peter Kenyon
Ellie Reeves
Christine Shawcroft
Peter Wheeler
Peter Willsman

Ellie Reeves topped the poll

Kevin Maguire is reporting that the various Trade Unions involved in Labour's Nation Policy Forum have dropped their call for a return for secondary action.

More on the deal at Labour Outlook > > >

Amongst the reaction to yesterday's welfare reform paper, there was little discussion about quite how badly Conservative Shadow Work & Pensions Minister Chris Grayling did.

His Commons performance was dire - implying that people on welfare in Glasgow can't be bothered to work by stating that he wouldn't have wanted to release this report while fighting a by-election in an area of high welfare dependency. Purnell pointed this out in his reply, saying that Grayling "betrays a deep misunderstanding which still pervades the Tory party about the parts of this country that they simply do not understand" and that "people will not say that they do not want that support. When I was there recently, people were asking for extra powers and extra support"

More on this at Labour Outlook > > >

An ICM poll in tomorrow's Guardian gives the following figures:

Conservatives: 43% (-2)
Labour: 28% (+3)
Liberal Democrats: 19% (-1)
Other: 9% (-1)

More on the specific questions asked at Labour Outlook

A poll in tomorrow's Times gives the following figures:

Labour: 28 (+3)
Conservatives: 41 (-4)
Liberal Democrats: 19 (-1)

 

A summary of the other specific questions asked are available at Labour Outlook

Phil Hope MP, Labour's Minister for the Third Sector, responding to David Cameron's speech on the third sector, said:

"For all his warm words today, David Cameron's pledges on the Third sector show he's prepared to say anything to win support. In yet another example of the Tory leader's shallow salesmanship, more than half of the pledges in the document today are already Labour government policies that are popular with charities, but his other promises show his true colours.

"The Tory attitude towards the third sector is patronising and dangerous. Their plans show they would leave charities to deal with some of society's most difficult problems without the money needed to do it, hoping for hand-outs rather than being funded properly to do their important work. David Cameron's real agenda is about delivering services "more cheaply" by placing the burden on the voluntary sector.

"In the last ten years, funding for the third sector has doubled, but the Tories have still not committed to match Labour's funding for the third sector. In fact, David Cameron's plan for £10 billion of tax cuts would put at risk all Labour's extra support for charities.

"The third sector has been able to flourish and expand because of what the Labour government has done. The Tories would prefer the third sector to stay small silent and grateful while Labour is building it into a strong and powerful force for social change. The Tories say they'll get behind the voluntary sector. But that's only so they can slope off leaving the sector without the funding and support it needs to thrive."

It is vital that party responds properly to Cameron's musings on the Third Sector as, beneath the froth, that is where the Conservatives are most threatening to Labour. I'm glad this statement takes it seriously.

Oppositions may gain support through the unpopularity of the an incumbent government, but they only gain credibility through presenting a 'big idea'. Cameron's Third sector-based agenda may be flaky but it has elements that appeal across the political spectrum while employing language ("There is such a thing as society, it's just not the same thing as the state") that seeks of define the contest between Labour and Conservatives as 'centralising, bureaucratic state control of everything Labour' versus 'devolved, liberal, innovative civil society Conservatives'. In a debate framed that way, it is difficult to see how Labour can move forward and it's vital that the party doesn't allow the Tories to define the contest as such.

The first details of a ComRes poll for tommorrow's Independent are coming through.

A YouGov poll in Friday's Telegraph gives the following figures:

Conservatives: 47
Labour: 23
Lib Dems: 18

 

More details on the specifics and other questions asked over at Labour Outlook 

Today's newslinks are now up at Labour Outlook

An ICM poll in tomorrow's Guardian gives the following numbers:

Conservatives: 41 (+2)
Labour: 27 (-7)
Lib Dems: 22 (+3)

 

More details on the specific questions at Labour Outlook

Nationally:

Conservatives: 45
Labour: 25
Lib Dems: 18

Today's newslinks are now up at Labour Outlook