The Tory press hopes to shove the Labour party to the Right
Not content with telling people how to vote in the election, the Tory press is now looking to ensure the Labour party chooses a candidate it likes.
Thus we’ve seen positive coverage of so-called Blairite contenders such as Liz Kendall and Chuka Umunna (who has dropped out of the race and endorsed Kendall) and hostile coverage of the supposedly ‘Left’ contenders such as Andy Burnham.
The Times and the Telegraph ran cheerful profiles about the ‘refreshing’ Ms Kendall. Even the Sun gave the ‘bold’ MP for Leicester the sort of warm coverage usually reserved for the Conservatives, as she ‘trashed most of Ed Miliband’s policies’ and backed free schools and more defence spending.
Meanwhile, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham, who has secured the backing of more Labour MPs, is bloodied in the familiar style of the general election coverage.
Today’s Sun is an exaggerated form of the general trope:
“Andy Burnham today makes a desperate bid to prove he is not a union puppet.”
That’s not from an editorial column. It’s the first line of a news story.
Despite the facts being much the same – criticism of Ed Miliband and Labour’s past, pro-business talk – the contrast with the Kendall coverage is striking. The paper pulls Burnham apart for ‘aiming to woo business’ after ‘speculation Mr Burnham is Unite union chief Len McCluskey‘s choice as leader’.
The Sun says column lays it out:
“The hasty U-turn by top Labour MPs since their election disaster is jaw-dropping.
Who knows now what Andy Burnham actually stands for? One minute he’s Ed Miliband’s class-war henchman. The next he claims ‘the entrepreneur will be as much our hero as the nurse’ and admits Labour DID spend too much.
Pull the other one. And let’s see him say it to Red Len McCluskey’s face.”
(The U-turn point is interesting. If MPs had stuck to their previous positions, the same papers would be saying they are ignoring the verdict of the electorate, and had learned nothing from past mistakes.)
The piece goes on to praise Caroline Flint, who is running for deputy leader:
“Caroline Flint was another Miliband front-bencher. But there’s a difference between her and Burnham when she says she wants to appeal to Sun readers. She sounds genuine.”
What has Caroline Flint done to please the Sun? Under the Burnham news story, a piece on Ms Flint begins:
“Labour needs to start attacking benefits scroungers as much as bankers if it wants to regain power, says shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint.
The party’s deputy-leader hopeful said it must speak to Sun readers and aspirational voters once more.
She added the party should be comfortable giving a ‘kick up the backside’ to those choosing to live on benefits.”
Note the contrast here. Flint is praised for sounding ‘genuinely’ more conservative than Burnham.
Meanwhile, I’ve not seen any coverage of another ‘deputy leader hopeful’: the high profile Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy, who received an increased majority on a joint Labour and Co-operative Party ticket in the general election.
Ms Creasy is thought to be on the Left of the party, and is probably best known for taking on payday loan scammers Wonga.
She ‘sounds genuine’ too, though I won’t hold my breath about Sun coverage.
Because what we see is the right-wing press hoping to move the Labour party to the right, and influence the terms not just of the leadership election debate but of future general elections.
Adam Barnett is a staff writer at Left Foot Forward. Follow MediaWatch on Twitter
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62 Responses to “Never mind the unions. What about the Sun’s influence on the Labour leadership contest?”
Patrick Lilley
Just read her (Liz Kendall’s) stuff and then dig a bit deeper. Read what Andy has to say and Yvette etc. In the course of the last 5 years (acutally 10 years) has either of them offered one single new idea for the Labour Party?
They both got their career opportunities under Blair!
Blair who introduced the Min Wage. Blair who passed both the Freedom of Information and Human Rights Acts. Blair who pushed for LGBT equality (yes with snide innuendo around politicians who are un married so rife we still have a long way to go). Blair who over saw the most positive satisfaction ratings and reduced waiting times in the NHS.
But as some candidates have said: its the poor and working class who suffer most if public serviices fail thier users.
Life does not divide equally between privatisation and nationalisation. There are so many ways for Govt to work with the people who provide those services (schools, hospitals, surgeries, local authorities, housing associatation) than 1945 style top down instructions of centrally planned commands OR letting profiteers cherry pick the profitable bits of NHS (or schooling). Public service is not about (soley) the happiness of the staff. It needs to include some of all of those things but most importantly it needs to be about the quality and efficiency of the PUBLIC services as measure by its publics: the parents, the kids, the patients, the clients seeking work.
`When I see my doctor or go to hospital its about the quality of my experience and wellness based on that.
If you haven’t read Steve Reed and Liz Kendall’s pamphlet on the above you are talking about something you know nothing about.
Labout helped people as much as it could 1997-2010 by doing its best to enssure propserity. It achieved the longest consisten period of economic growth and entered govt and retained the publics confidence on that for 3 election wins.
During that time the Tories supported Labour spendind plans. During that time they could NOT repeal Hurman Rights Laws, accepted the changes for LGBT equality, accepted the Min Wage, etc etc.
Ed and Gordon frittered this all away by losing in 2010 and 2015.
Andy and Yyette were part of the leadership and endorsed Gordn and Ed to the max. They got it wrong. Badly.
Next generation please…
AlanGiles
Nobody offers anything new Patrick, because they are too scared of what The Mail or Sun will say if they did. All of them are over-cautious (renationalisation of British Rail, Royal Mail), and Kendall has learned the art of obfuscation, just like the rest of them.
As for “frittering away” – its a bit hard to blame Brown and Miliband as if they were the only culprits – I think Blears “rocking the boat” and the expenses scandal helped as well – especially as some (especially, Labour) MPs were so conceited and arrogant about it.
AlanGiles
Oh dear….. Owen Jones raised the possibility on radio and Tv and you don’t have to travel very far into Google land, but don’t do that because I’d hate you to get too upset. I repeat, Umunna wasn’t some naive young thing – he has been a politician for a few years he knows how intrusive the press are – his excuse to me sounded very poor and unbelievable. Perhaps his “clubbing” had something to do with it?. Who knows, who cares?, but I do not believe the excuse he gave, as he would know of the sometimes cruel press traducing of Miliband, and will have heard of that for Kinnock
I am afraid I don’t personally know any “hookers” and I have to confess I don’t know any Skruffers or Growlers, but then as a pensioner am I expected to?. Perhaps Labour worry too much about younger voters and not so much about older ones?.
You have to remember though, that the public at large will make the decision. By all means risk jumping a generation and get somebody new and untarnished, b ut if they don’t make a good enough impression on the electorate by 2020, like this year it might well be the case the public will choose the devil they know.
Patrick Lilley
New ideas seemed to be frowned on here.. Liz Kendall has a few… get get labelled Blairite! Or Pink Tories or Blue Labour.. its just silly. And to say the people in “googleand” and bless him little Owen Jones then he and you are joing the Tory lynch mob that demand marriage before a political career. Just to reiterate.. Deeply embedded in gay life in London including South London and in organising within black gay communities with people from all works of life nobody till May – after the election raised questions about Chuka. This reminds me of school and as a pensioner you should know better. I am not far off that age either.
YOu also seem to attach the “change” idea which makes me think like many alleged progessives they find change hard or frightening.
Andy and Yvette had their chance both in government and in opposition at the top of the head table and signed up to all the the major policies (many from 1970s like price control) that were foolish and Canute like. You cant stop the tide. It will go round you under you and over you.
Anyway main reason i took time on this is I saw many gay friends trying to claim Chuka was gay and not one had anything.
Ad regards those other hypocrites like Simon Hughes who career was based on a lie and was known to be gay/bi by many.
Then there is the Lib Dem would be leader with a fondness hookers and “brown”. – Mark Oaten. cf this story. So IF there had been a scandal in the offing would it not have finally emerged? On 21 January 2006, Oaten resigned from the Liberal Democrat front bench[5] when it was revealed by the News of the World that he had hired a 23-year-old male prostitute between the summer of 2004 and February 2005. The newspaper also alleged that Oaten had engaged in ‘three-in-a-bed’ sex sessions with two male prostitutes.[6] Further allegations surfaced in the media over the following days, including an accusation that he had asked one of the prostitutes to engage in an act of coprophilia.[7][8][9]
“Oaten gave an explanation for his actions in an essay in The Sunday Times[10] in which he claimed a “mid-life crisis” was partly responsible for his actions. This was partially contradicted by a 2009 Press Gazette interview Oaten gave, in which he said “Journalists … had my story for three years I think, but hung on to it and never did anything with it. They could have made that public interest argument at any point in the three years. I had always been a Member of Parliament, but they waited until it could sell most newspapers, at the point at which I became well-known and at my most famous.”[
I think Chuka had mae that grade that they would have printed it. Surely?
Patrick Lilley
Well here is the main article that got Liz Kendall noticed before the election. She put her head above the parapet . I suggest people just give this a read and think about it http://www.progressonline.org.uk/content//uploads/2015/01/PROJ2931_PRO_Mag_Jan_27.1.15_pamphletWEB_spreads.pdf