Eamonn Holmes Criticised for Bizarre Corbyn Interview

Wednesday, September 30, 2015 0 comments

Sky News anchor Eamonn Holmes interviewed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn this morning, and has since been criticised for asking 'inane' questions. A particularly unpopular part of the discussion involved Holmes using a football analogy to describe how important a strong leadership figure is, an analogy which Corbyn immediately dismissed with the claim that running a political party isn't the same as running a football team: Holmes responded with "it so is!"


Holmes also claimed that Corbyn's values of being caring and respectful can't happen on TV due to the risk of people accusing him of "sucking up to" the Labour leader, while forcefully insisting that Corbyn himself doesn't believe in those views and secretly hates the Conservatives. Corbyn denied those claims.
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Related: Labour Conference 2015 - Jeremy Corbyn's Speech
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The clip below from Sky News official YouTube channel shows almost all of the interview, although interestingly cuts off just before Corbyn pleads to Holmes, "Stop trying to pick a fight with me. I'm trying to be respectful and caring I hope you felt it was a respectful and caring interview in a new era of politics, and a new era between you and I."



The interview has been ridiculed on social media and Eamonn Holmes has been a trending topic for most of the day.

What are your thoughts on Holmes' interviewing techniques? Let us know in the comments section below!

Labour Conference 2015: Jeremy Corbyn's Speech

Tuesday, September 29, 2015 0 comments

It's the moment Labour supporters had been waiting for, Jeremy Corbyn's leader's speech at the party's annual conference. Ahead of the controversial politician making the speech, it had been expected that Corbyn would be stressing that he loves his country; an act of patriotism many deemed necessary after the Labour leader made headlines for not singing the national anthem at a ceremony commemorating the Battle of Britain about two weeks ago.

There was thunderous applause as Corbyn walked on stage at the convention centre in Brighton, an applause so long that the politician jokingly asked, "Any chance we can start the speech?", before thanking his supporters for the warm welcome.

The jokes continued in the beginning of the speech, as Corbyn made light of the headlines he'd generated over the last few weeks including reports he would welcome an asteroid wiping out humanity, and that a distant relative of his owned a workhouse.

He then once again thanked all those in attendance, particularly the supporters in his own constituency of North Islington. He revealed that the Labour party has received 50,000 new members since his election as leader, and plans to start the resurgence of the party with the upcoming local government elections. Corbyn even thanked Ed Miliband, the leader of the party during Labour's disastrous general election in 2015, commending him for withstanding "tawdry" media attacks during his campaign.

Then came the reinforcement of ideas Corbyn has discussed in the media as of late; the idea of open debate in the Labour party, something not all have been comfortable with but the leader insists is a good thing explaining that he, "doesn't believe anyone has a monopoly on wisdom." The idea of 'kinder', 'honest' and 'straight-talking' politics, terms which many of Corbyn's supporters have used to describe the party under his leadership.

A big fear that some of Corbyn's supporters have had as of late, is that he would sacrifice his more radical views thanks to his new position in the party. Likely as a result of this Corbyn made a point of saying that he's not going to stop standing up for human rights, opposing oppressive regimes and being an individual activist in his new role as leader. Whether this will be enough to comfort those alarmed to see Corbyn's change in views on the European Union, and his likely defeat on the issue of Trident remains to be seen.

Next came a direct request to Prime Minister David Cameron to intervene in Saudi Arabia and stop the beheading and crucifixion of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, an issue that he recently wrote an open letter to Cameron about. He would later also urge the PM to save the SSI steel plant in Redcar.

Corbyn went on to discuss the economy, and criticised the Conservatives for building a "feeble" economic recovery on "house price inflation, asset inflation, and more private debt." He calls for more investment in the UK infrastructure, as well as for a national investment bank and a Green New Deal.

After, Corbyn moved onto education and said that Labour would make every school accountable to local government education authorities, while also promising not to bring back selection claiming to have aspirations for all children not just a few.


Things turned topical when Corbyn addressed the current refugee crisis, saying he was proud to speak at the "refugees welcome" event and proud of those raising money for refugees in Calais. He decried the government's response as not good enough, referencing David Cameron's controversial plan to transport 20,000 refugees to the UK directly from camps in Syria over the next several years.

Corbyn is a well-known opposer of military action and so it was hardly surprising to see him talk of the need for a strong military to work on humanitarian missions, possibly with the UN. He still doesn't believe inn spending #100 billion on renewing Trident, however that decision may well be taken out of his hands in the interest of saving jobs. He praised President Obama for reaching a deal with Iran and showing the other ways in which conflicts can be resolved, while agreeing with Paddy Ashdown that the government lacks a diplomatic strategy on Syria.

Corbyn then talked of the Labour party itself, describing his election as a political eartquake - similar to the language we heard Nigel Farage use to describe UKIP's surge in the time before the general election. The leader of the party then said that Labour must embrace a modern left movement to build a society for the majority, before using a well-received analogy to highlight the media's coverage of the party which he would argue was distorted. He said that if Labour was a football club, sports reporters would be asking how it can survive with 160,000 new young and optimistic fans.

He continued to pick apart the media's arguably quite hostile reaction to Corbyn's appointment as leader, saying political commentaries are failing to understand the new type of politics that he's pioneering. What has been perceived as splits in the party as adult disagreements that can be resolved through discussion: he described it as "grown-up politics." Along with that comes the previously discussed concept of "kinder politics" as Corbyn expressed his beliefs in treating people with respect rather than abusing them.

Corbyn announced his first big campaign as leader to be stopping the Conservatives plan to remove up to two million people from the electoral register, a move he believes is an attempt to gerrymander 2016's mayoral election. He said that Labour must act to ensure these people keep their right to vote. Corbyn then continued to criticise the Conservative party, highlighting that Prime Minister David Cameron has broken his promise not to cut tax credits while finding the money to reduce the inheritance tax.

It was at this point that the long-speculated patriotic language came out, as Corbyn stressed how proud he is of the United Kingdom - particularly the NHS and the BBC, two organisations that have come under difficult times under the Conservative government.

Corbyn returned to policy next, saying Labour would consider opening up maternity pay to the self-employed and confirming that the party is committed to a fully integrated, publicly owned railway. Corbyn also argued the case for an extensive new housebuilding program, after describing the idea of owning their own house as a distant fantasy for most young people. He then reinforced his views on mental health, stressing that he would make it a real priority for the party as it's something that could affect as all.

Corbyn wrapped up by promising that all policy work will be underpinned by Labour's values, explaining that Labour came into existence to challenge the idea that the poor should be grateful for what they get and not aspire for more: "Labour says you may be born poor, but you don't have to stay poor."

Corbyn ended his speech with a rallying cry to put the people's values back into politics, and received a standing ovation from the packed conference hall.

What did you think of Corbyn's first speech as Labour leader? Please let us know in the comments section below:

Week in Review: UKIP & Green Party Conferences

Sunday, September 27, 2015 0 comments

This week saw the UK Independence Party hold their annual party conference in Doncaster, where the focus appeared to once again be on convincing the general public to vote the UK out of the European Union in the upcoming referendum. UKIP leader Nigel Farage said that the referendum was the time to put country before party, and praised the unity shown by anti-EU groups who have formed the group leave.eu to campaign together for a UK exit. This once again raised the question whether or not UKIP is indeed a political party or rather a pressure group campaigning on a single issue. While unity was the idea that UKIP tried to promote during their conference, it seemed that perhaps it was lacking within the party as UKIP’s only MP Douglas Carswell was involved in a heated exchange with party donor Arron Banks; this was after Banks suggested that Carswell could be deselected if he supported Business For Britain, a group which has refused to commit to the idea of a UK exit until the conclusion of David Cameron’s negotiations with Europe.

The Green Party also held their party conference this week in Bournemouth, where they expressed their desire to change the electoral system used for general elections in the UK, after the party received over 1.1 million votes but due to the nature of the first past the post system only secured one seat in the House of Commons. Green Party leader Natalie Bennett also stressed that climate change must be at the centre of every policy made, holding true to the beliefs on which the party was founded.


This was a brief summary of the week's events surrounding this week's party conferences. It was taken from the TEN: Politics YouTube show, Week in Review.

Week in Review: Pope Francis Tours USA

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Pope Francis has been in the United States this week, where he began his tour with a speech at the White House in which he called for urgent action on climate change and supported Barack Obama’s plan to reduce carbon emissions in the process. He later became the first pope to address the US Congress, where in a fifty minute speech he told politicians to embrace immigrants and lend a helping hand to the refugees currently travelling through Europe, while the head of the Catholic Church also took time to condemn the death penalty and reinforce his views on climate change. Generally, it seemed the Democrats in the house gave a warmer reception to the Pope’s words than the Republicans, but all seemed to revere him – he is after all, perhaps one of the most popular religious leaders of our time. And that popularity was strongly represented this week as thousands lined the streets just to get a glimpse of Pope Francis in his famous Fiat 500.


This was a brief summary of the week's events surrounding the Pope's visit to the United States. It was taken from the TEN: Politics YouTube show, Week in Review.

Week in Review: Hajj Stampede Kills 769

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The President of Iran Hassan Rouhani is calling for an investigation after a stampede at the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca led to the deaths of nearly 800 people. The crush took place after two large crowds of pilgrims converged at an intersection. The King of Saudi Arabia has ordered a safety review into the disaster, but the country’s most senior cleric has said that the incident was ‘beyond human control’. This is an explanation that many have refused to accept though as this is just the latest in a number of events to take place during the Hajj, including in 2006 when 360 people were killed in a stampede which took place in Mina. Additionally, this stampede occurred only a week after a crane collapsed on a Mosque in Mecca, an incident which killed over 100 people. In the wake of these disasters many are demanding Saudi Arabia take more safety measures in order to prevent such tragedies from happening again, but after billions of dollars were spent expanding Mecca’s Grand Mosque in preparation for this year’s Hajj, Saudi authorities may be wondering what more they can do to keep people safe when the pilgrimage takes place again next year.


This was a brief summary of the week's events surrounding the stampede at this year's Hajj. It was taken from the TEN: Politics YouTube show, Week in Review.

Week in Review: EU Leaders Meet, Talk Refugees

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While the refugee crisis continues to grip Europe, this week EU leaders met for an emergency summit in Brussels to discuss how best to manage the issue. During talks European countries agreed to donate an extra one billion euros to the UN refugee agency and the World Food programme, and to strengthen border controls and allow more funding for border security forces, while also giving more help to Syria’s neighbouring countries Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Ultimately though there was a generally mixed reception to the summit, as while EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker described the talks as ‘excellent’, there was great division when it came to the mandatory refugee quotas passed on Tuesday. Slovakia was one of four European countries to vote against the plan to relocate 120,000 refugees from Greece and Italy across the European Union, and in protest to the plan has filed a legal challenge with Prime Minister Robert Fico saying on Tuesday that the system would not be imposed on Slovakia so long as he’s in office. This case really serves to clarify that the European Union are far from unified on the subject of refugees, and it will be some time before the situation is truly under control – if nothing else though, this meeting was as Angela Merkel described it “a first step” towards ending this crisis.


This was a brief summary of the week's events surrounding the refugee crisis. It was taken from the TEN: Politics YouTube show, Week in Review.

Week in Review: Volkswagen Emissions Scandal

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German car manufacturer Volkswagen found themselves at the centre of a scandal this week, when it was revealed that they had cheated emissions tests through the use of a defeat device to get their diesel cars on the road in the United States; the real results show that the cars were emitting nitrogen oxide pollutants up to forty times above what is legally allowed there. The truth came to light following an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency. At the time of writing this report only cars in the United States are being recalled, however news broke yesterday that it’s quite likely up to 1.5 million cars could be recalled or modified in the United Kingdom as well. Indeed, government ministers in the UK are now facing questions over just how much they knew about the details currently making headlines, as it came to light that the Department for Transport received a 60-page report last October which presented strong evidence that Diesel cars on the road were producing far more harmful gas than tests had suggested. After VW’s value decreased by 23 billion euros at the beginning of the week, share prices have since begun to recover no doubt as a result of several high-ranking executives losing their positions in the company, and the appointment of a  new chief executive in the form of Matthias Mueller who had previously been the CEO of Porsche. About eleven million cars and trucks were cheated through emissions tests in total.


This was a brief summary of the week's events surrounding the VW scandal. It was taken from TEN: Politics YouTube show, the Week in Review.

 
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