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Jeremy Corbyn faces Labour MPs for first time since losing the election – live news
Jeremy Corbyn apologises to Labour MPs for defeat 'for which I take responsibility' – live news
(32 minutes later)
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the parliamentary Labour party meeting for the first time since the general election
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the parliamentary Labour party meeting for the first time since the general election
In some non-Labour news, the Conservatives have announced their long-promised review into discrimination in the party. As expected, it does not focus just on Islamophobia - even though during the leadership contest Boris Johnson appeared to sign up to the idea of an Islamophobia-specific inquiry when Sajid Javid bounced him and other candidates into agreeing the proposal during a TV debate.
Jeremy Corbyn’s comments about being sorry and taking responsibility for Labour’s defeat are significant because, when he spoke at his election count in the early hours of Friday morning, and when he gave a TV interview later in the day, he expressed little contrition over what had happened. But
In an open letter in the Sunday Mirror he said he was sorry for what happened at the election. But in a separate article for the Observer, he did not use the word “sorry” or “apologise”, and just said he regretted what had happened.
These are from my colleague Kate Proctor.
I didn’t see the Labour peer Stewart Wood go in for the PLP meeting (it’s for peers as well as MPs), but here are his thoughts, in an article for HuffPost, on what Labour needs to do to recover. Wood worked as an adviser to Gordon Brown when he was PM, and then as an adviser to Ed Miliband.
The door opens as a peer leaves the room. While it’s open we can hear a woman (I did not recognise her voice) say:
We have heard quite a few complaints in recent days that Corbyn’s office has not been in touch with MPs who lost their seats.
When she finished she got a round of applause.
More from HuffPost’s Paul Waugh, who is ahead of everyone else when it comes to getting updates from inside the room.
In some non-Labour news, the Conservatives have announced their long-promised review into discrimination in the party. As expected, it does not focus just on Islamophobia, even though during the leadership contest Boris Johnson appeared to sign up to the idea of an Islamophobia-specific inquiry when Sajid Javid bounced him and other candidates into agreeing to the proposal during a TV debate.
Here is an extract from the Conservative party news release.
Here is an extract from the Conservative party news release.
Good use of the word “smattering” here from Paul Waugh ...
Good use of the word “smattering” here from Paul Waugh ...
There was some applause for Lavery, but it was relatively short and half-hearted.
There was some applause for Lavery, but it was relatively short and half-hearted.
From my colleague Kate Proctor
From my colleague Kate Proctor
She’s right. It is Ian Lavery speaking. I am on a bench on the other side of the corridor (colleagues are nearer the door), but even from here I can tell it’s Lavery. But I can’t make out what he’s saying.
She’s right. It is Ian Lavery speaking. I am on a bench on the other side of the corridor (colleagues are nearer the door), but even from here I can tell it’s Lavery. But I can’t make out what he’s saying.
That seems a good excuse, while we wait, to flag up this recording of Neil Kinnock telling a PLP meeting 2016 why he thought Jeremy Corbyn should go. This story contains the text of what he said, plus audio.
That seems a good excuse, while we wait, to flag up this recording of Neil Kinnock telling a PLP meeting in 2016 why he thought Jeremy Corbyn should go. This story contains the text of what he said, plus audio.
From the Telegraph’s Harry Yorke earlier
Another, rather muffled, round of applause ...
From HuffPost’s Paul Waugh (who has a source inside, I presume, rather than excellent hearing)
Journalists in the corridor are whispering in the hope of being able to hear better. But we can’t hear what is being said inside. The doors are quite thick, and the doorkeeper is being quite strict about not letting reporters stand too close to them.
Now a burst of laughter from inside ...
One of the Commons doorkeepers has just come past asking journalists to stand “away from the door”.
The meeting has started. From the corridor we cannot hear what is being said, but we can hear applause. We’ve had two bursts of applause so far.
I’m outside committee room 14 in the House of Commons, where the PLP (parliamentary Labour party) is holding its first meeting since the general election. The meeting is due to start, and it seems to be standing room only inside. Jeremy Corbyn has already gone in.
Outside there are around two dozen journalists.
Here is the substance of what Boris Johnson told MPs earlier. It was only a very short speech, but it was his first as prime minister to the House of Commons, and he used it to deliver a message about his agenda. He told MPs:
During the election campaign Johnson claimed to learnt that “popty ping” was the Welsh for microwave, even though this is apparently a myth. Johnson went on:
Downing Street has announced some new government appointments.
Mike Freer and Iain Stewart, who were both government whips, remain as whips but both get promotions within the whips’ office. Freer moves up to Comptroller HM Household, and Stewart moves up to Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury.
Nusrat Ghani becomes a full junior transport minister. Previously she had a paid job as a whip which she combined with an unpaid job as transport minister. Now she gets a salary for her transport post. (There is a legal limit to how many paid ministers a PM can have in government.)
Douglas Ross becomes an unpaid Scotland Office minister, combining that with being an unpaid whip.
Maria Caulfield becomes a government whip.
On the subject of the Tories and anti-elitism, the polling company YouGov has published some research today looking at which groups voted for which parties. It suggests that, at least on the basis of where their support comes from, the Conservatives can now claim to be more of a working class party than a middle class party. It says:
Lord Ashcroft published some separate polling on Friday that came to much the same conclusion.
For much of the 20th century Labour was the party of the working class and the Conservatives were the party of the middle class. In recent years class stopped being the main determinant of voting behaviour (age and education are now the key factors), but even in 2017 Labour was still doing better, proportionally, amongst working class voters than amongst middle class voters. The fact that it is the Conservatives who are now doing better, proportionally, with this demographic potentially has huge implications, and it helps to explain why Boris Johnson has been so keen to argue that he is no longer leading “the Tory party of the old days” and that instead it’s a “totally different party”.
