Brexit Day 20: 'I was the future once'

I am not issuing a full bulletin today because Theresa May will become PM this evening and we expect her to start naming her cabinet in pretty short order. One of the first things she will have to do is learn the firing protocol for nation’s Trident missile system.

Our fantasy cabinet is a now an extremely scrappy piece of notepaper. The truth is that everyone is speculating and no one has a clue…but that won’t stop Pesto offering the following:

David Cameron enjoyed his last PMQs at lunchtime (it was his 147th). He finished by using the line he once wielded against Tony Blair: ‘I was the future once’. He has just given a speech on the steps of Number 10 and has been to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation. He has been PM for six years and leaves office before his 50th birthday. He will stay in Parliament and represent his constituency. He has changed his Twitter profile already.

Mrs May then jumped in her car and went the see the Queen too. Here’s a pic from one of my roving photographers outside the Palace of Westminster:

Labour leadership: through the looking glass

I am – as promised yesterday - including a summary of the latest Labour leadership shenanigans penned by Cicero’s newest team member, Mike Blakeney…And don’t worry if you don’t understand what the Labour membership voting eligibility rules are, nor do I.

Yesterday evening, after a marathon six-and-a-half-hour National Executive Committee meeting, Labour’s senior decision-making body set out the format of the party’s coming leadership contest. The moment of the evening was when the NEC voted to allow Jeremy Corbyn onto the ballot uncontested. So jubilant was Corbyn, that he apparently forgot to stay for the rest of the meeting, giving his opponents free reign to decide on the other key issues – and decide they did.

While Jeremy Corbyn was out celebrating with his supporters on Victoria Street, the NEC was still inside deciding on the nitty gritty of the conduct of the leadership election:

They voted that the cut-off point for voting in the leadership election would not be a month before voting closed like last time, but instead would be set six months before the date of yesterday’s meeting. This means anyone who has become a member since the 12th of January, will not be eligible to vote unless they pay again to become a registered supporter. 130,000 new Labour members, the vast majority of whom were joining to support Corbyn, will not be eligible to vote in the election.
It is still possible to register as a supporter and gain a vote in the election like last year. However the NEC decided that the price will be hiked from £3 to £25 and that registration will be open for only two days, reportedly from the 18-20 July. This would mean that Corbynistas have very little time to organise themselves. It also means that some of Corbyn’s supporters will have paid £47 to be members already, and will now have to spend a further £25 to have a vote.
Those who joined as registered supporters last summer will not automatically be eligible for another vote, they will have to reapply next week and pay £25. If they are a member of a trade union or one of Labour’s affiliated ‘socialist societies’ they do not automatically have a vote, and they will have to pay a fee.

Perhaps most importantly, none of this is very clear. It’s not obvious who is and isn’t eligible, and indeed when they will be able to register. Perhaps that’s the point: Corbyn’s Momentum machine is well oiled, but registering tens of thousands of supporters by Wednesday next week looks like a challenge.

This morning, Corbyn probably woke up regretting his decision to leave the NEC so early, but perhaps he won’t be losing sleep tonight. The real threat to his position was failing to get on the ballot, and that has now passed. The NEC has managed to tilt the playing field a little, but it might not change the result. Many of the Corbyn’s supporters who swept him to power last summer are still there, and it’s worth remembering that he received the votes of nearly half of all members back then, far ahead of his rival candidates. Corbyn’s rivals will be hoping that they have done enough to tip the balance, and that the anti-Corbyn vote will be much more solid this year than last.

It’s not clear what the result will be, but one thing is certain, the Labour Party is in for a bloody, acrimonious and difficult summer. If Corbyn hangs on, a schism in the PLP appears to be likely.

David Cameron’s Last Supper in Number 10

Dishes ordered included: KT Samosa, Rogan Josh, Nashili Ghosh, Sag Aloo and the KT Mixed Grill. Yum!

Cartoon of the day: German sense of humour edition

From Berliner Zeitung: "You just need to let the men have a go..." "... And in the end you take their job" (h/t Liz Ames)