The Latest Update From The Waugh Zone Is Titled `LABOURING THE POINT'

* Paul WAUGH

by Paul Waugh | Politics

Life ain’t easy for Jeremy Corbyn right now and David Cameron has plenty of PMQs ammo if he reads accounts of Monday’s latest PLP meeting (there’s a rather good one here, in case you missed it). Damian McBride also had his first day as Emily Thornberry’s media adviser yesterday, and the PM may pick up on Corbyn’s ITV Agenda line about the ‘sinner’ having ‘repented’. 

But with Labour facing a real prospect of going backwards in May’s elections (everywhere apart from London), its MPs are mightily unimpressed with Jon Trickett’s campaign plans so far. PolHome reports that the slogan for the local elections will be ‘Standing Up, Not Standing By’. One Labour ‘moderate’ jokes this morning that the football chant in marginal seats could be ‘Stand up, if you hate Jezza’.

The one area where Labour is expected to do well is London, so it’s no wonder Michael Fallon deployed the ‘danger to the nation’ card he used to such great effect against Ed Miliband last year. Sadiq Khan says Fallon has demeaned his office by claiming he was “a Labour lackey who speaks alongside extremists”. 

Speaking of extremists, the claim and counter-claim over anti-semitism within Labour’s youth ranks is looking uglier by the day. Jan Royall is investigating the allegations but Unite wants an independent inquiry. And yesterday the union tried to stop newly elected youth rep Jasmin Beckett from attending the NEC- it took Dennis Skinner to intervene to protect her.

At 10am today, Labour will be a bit more united, and united with the Lib Dems, as the Lords select committee on the Trade Union bill is expected to say it should be delayed until cross party talks get properly underway over party funding. Here’s my seatwarmer from yesterday.

* Paul Waugh is the Executive Editor, Politics, HuffPost UK.