Change UK: Chuka Umunna resigns from Labour party and launches Independent Group

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Which of the topics of Environmental Risks, Social policies or corporate governance is Chukka claiming to be an expert in, exactly? What in his career as a failed politician is supposedly giving him this experience?

The access to other, equally inept but still serving politicians who are able to shape policy in JP Morgan's favour, those ESG topics.

 

[kabbes]

The access to other, equally inept but still serving politicians who are able to shape policy in JP Morgan's favour, those ESG topics.

I’m as cynical as the next man but the reason that investors are interested in ESG policies is simply because companies with strong ESG tend to do better in the long run. It’s not about some kind of legal requirement, it’s just a useful tool for sifting good prospects from bad. What would be the point in whitewashing that if you are the fund manager doing the investing? You want somebody that knows good ESG when they see it, not somebody who knows people that will fake the metrics for you.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

I’m as cynical as the next man but the reason that investors are interested in ESG policies is simply because companies with strong ESG tend to do better in the long run. It’s not about some kind of legal requirement, it’s just a useful tool for sifting good prospects from bad. What would be the point in whitewashing that if you are the fund manager doing the investing? You want somebody that knows good ESG when they see it, not somebody who knows people that will fake the metrics for you.

I'm guessing in his case ESG is just a convenient title, JP will not be expecting ole Chucks to roll up at 9 each morning and put in a solid 8 hours ESG-ing, it'll be a non-meeting once a month and a large slab of dough to buy access to Westminster. I believe that in Johnny Forrin's lands it is called corruption.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

A link from Chukie's article: Former UK Chancellor George Osborne to become full-time banker

What possible advice could he give? How to bankrupt a newspaper? How to live off mummy and daddy's cash? A direct line to The Treasury?

 

[kebabking]

he's still got his job

No, a real job - not some bizarre hobby reading endless letters in green ink from mad people and meeting groups of terribly earnest people with BO and sandals.

 

[DaveCinzano]

reading endless letters in green ink from mad people and meeting groups of terribly earnest people with BO and sandals.

I don't know, that sounds not unadjacent to an average day at work for me, and I'm not in politics.

 

[ska invita]

No, a real job - not some bizarre hobby reading endless letters in green ink from mad people and meeting groups of terribly earnest people with BO and sandals.

Name a better constituency MP

 

[kebabking]

Name a better constituency MP

Who cares?

 

[ska invita]

Who cares?

the people of islington north for whom he tirelessly works
who do you work for the good of?

 

[kebabking]

the people of islington north for whom he tirelessly works
who do you work for the good of?

I recall that Ian Paisley was supposed to be an excellent constituency MP...

I don't work tirelessly for anyone, Laura.

 

[GarveyLives]

There is some background to this turn of events here:

October 2020: Chuka Umunna exclusive: Why getting ESG right matters for everyone

December 2020: Chuka Umunna on how he can make a bigger difference in the City than in politics

 

[MickiQ]

There is some background to this turn of events here:

October 2020: Chuka Umunna exclusive: Why getting ESG right matters for everyone

December 2020: Chuka Umunna on how he can make a bigger difference in the City than in politics

TBF to the man making more of a difference in the City than he did in Politics is a very low bar indeed.

 

[teqniq]

Only for himself anyway, i suspect.

 

[Hyperdark]

'I knew soon after I joined the House of Commons I was never going to be a lifer,' says Umunna

This self obsessed scrote gives a new meaning to the word opportunist

 

[DaveCinzano]

He might not be with JP Morgan long if he hears the siren call from over the ocean:

Dozens of former Republican officials in talks to form anti-Trump party

Breakaway group would run on ‘principled conservatism’ platform, say those involved in discussions

www.theguardian.com

 

[Wilf]

The access to other, equally inept but still serving politicians who are able to shape policy in JP Morgan's favour, those ESG topics.

'I mean, who would fail to take a call from Nick Clegg...'

 

[PR1Berske]

That ChangeUK came and went like a cheap firework still makes me shake my head in disbelief. Not that I supported them, just the insane narrative of it all, from the clumsy launch through "unfortunate" language to the slow collapse like a soufflé in a cupboard: it's not a Netflix documentary in the making, it's perhaps a one-off BBC Four drama with passable lookalike actors.

I do wonder about the sliding doors moment in UK political history, mind. There are clearly strains within the PLP after December 2019 which appear to be pushing against each other at the same level of intensity as they were when CUK launched. The disaster of them really must have stopped MPs from wanting to jump ship or split or defect, so what to do? The distance between the SDP defecting from the Labour Party of Michael Foot and ChUK from the Labour Party of Jeremy Corbyn was nigh-on 40 years. It might, possibly, be less than that next time...but there's no guarantee of there being a next time.

 

[ska invita]

Tinge UK were libdems
Starmerites are libdems
Some Tories are libdems
Plus there's the real libdems

If only they'd all join their correct party.
Without proportional representation they never will

 

[brogdale]

Tinge UK were libdems
Starmerites are libdems
Some Tories are libdems
Plus there's the real libdems

If only they'd all join their correct party.
Without proportional representation they never will

& the yellow streak of piss are themselves tories, so in a Commons of 650, what are there...30 opposition MPs?

 

[Argonia]

Change UK still make me laugh

 

[PR1Berske]

Tinge UK were libdems
Starmerites are libdems
Some Tories are libdems
Plus there's the real libdems

If only they'd all join their correct party.
Without proportional representation they never will

That's the thing, too. The ghost of the SDP/Liberal Alliance gaining 25% of the vote and almost no seats must be in the minds. FPTP across 650 constituencies does not reflect how people actually vote. PR does, broadly speaking. But the Commons is more likely to vote for replacing the door-knobs in Portcullis House than they would ever introduce voting reform.

As long as FPTP is used, and as long as ChUK's year of Mr Bean-like farce rings loudly in the memory, there will be no defections.

 

[ska invita]

& the yellow streak of piss are themselves tories, so in a Commons of 650, what are there...30 opposition MPs?

Tories are now UKIP

 

[danny la rouge]

Change UK still make me laugh

It was hilarious. I really enjoyed the whole thing. The ending was fab too. Someone else should do another one like it. I could do with a laugh.

 

[brogdale]

It was hilarious. I really enjoyed the whole thing. The ending was fab too. Someone else should do another one like it. I could do with a laugh.

 

[PR1Berske]

It was hilarious. I really enjoyed the whole thing. The ending was fab too. Someone else should do another one like it. I could do with a laugh.

It's never the same when it's little micro-parties and grouplets on the fringes. It has to be high profile. We've been spoiled, maybe, because anything less than long-standing MPs falling onto their faces in public won't impress.

 

[danny la rouge]

It's never the same when it's little micro-parties and grouplets on the fringes. It has to be high profile. We've been spoiled, maybe, because anything less than long-standing MPs falling onto their faces in public won't impress.

True. But there’s not exactly a short supply of monster egos in Westminster who think they’ve got the clout just from sheer force of personality to break the mould of politics. There’s probably someone in one of the main parties right now having their engorged ego stroked by fawning admirers.

 

[PR1Berske]

True. But there’s not exactly a short supply of monster egos in Westminster who think they’ve got the clout just from sheer force of personality to break the mould of politics. There’s probably someone in one of the main parties right now having their engorged ego stroked by fawning admirers.

"You too could be the next Mike Gapes!"

 

[hitmouse]

"You too could be the next Mike Gapes!"

Speaking of which, I can't believe I'm the first person to discuss this massive news story:

Story of the Independent Group is far from over

Two years ago, eight Labour and three Conservative MPs resigned from their parties in a brave, ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stop extremism and reshape British politics. Five have now set the record straight in Change — The Independent Group, edited by Peter McNab. It is a frank account by five

www.thetimes.co.uk

Times article is paywalled, here's a bit of non-paywalled churn from the Indy:

Change UK are releasing a book about their ‘journey’

Remember the Independent Group for Change?Who?Change UK?…The politicians that went to Nando’s.Oh yes.The politicians that went to Nando’s are releasing a book, they have revealed.Writing in The Times, Mike Gapes, who defected from the Labour Party to join Change UK and promptly lost his seat in...

www.indy100.com

Writing in The Times, Mike Gapes, who defected from the Labour Party to join Change UK and promptly lost his seat in the 2019 general election, said the book is entitled “Change - The Independent Group”, showing that there were indeed combinations of the words ‘change’, ‘group’ and ‘independent’ that were yet to be explored by the politicians.

He said the book is “a frank account” of “the dramatic events of February 2019”. (Dramatic events being the launch of Change UK).

He said: “We describe how the initial euphoria and high hopes were dashed as we hit the reality of trying to create a new political party.

“This is the inside story of highs and lows, and the process by which The Independent Group became Change UK, and then split in two”.

 

[NoXion]

They're still freaking the fuck out over Corbyn. Calling him an "extremist", Jesus fucking Christ. If Corbyn puts the shits up them, then just imagine what their reaction would have been to someone more ruthless.

 

[oryx]

Speaking of which, I can't believe I'm the first person to discuss this massive news story:

Story of the Independent Group is far from over

Two years ago, eight Labour and three Conservative MPs resigned from their parties in a brave, ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stop extremism and reshape British politics. Five have now set the record straight in Change — The Independent Group, edited by Peter McNab. It is a frank account by five

www.thetimes.co.uk

Times article is paywalled, here's a bit of non-paywalled churn from the Indy:

Change UK are releasing a book about their ‘journey’

Remember the Independent Group for Change?Who?Change UK?…The politicians that went to Nando’s.Oh yes.The politicians that went to Nando’s are releasing a book, they have revealed.Writing in The Times, Mike Gapes, who defected from the Labour Party to join Change UK and promptly lost his seat in...

www.indy100.com

From The Times article:

There are insights into the difficult dilemma faced by mainstream politicians in our tribal party system when the party to which you have dedicated your life has been captured by extremists.