The commentators                    01-09-15

...on politics

With 10 days to go of this leadership contest, I believe it has come down to a straight choice between Jeremy Corbyn and myself. Whoever wins, one thing that is clear: this contest must bring change
- Andy Burnham (pictured), The Independent
While Mr Cameron’s impressive election victory has elevated him to the pantheon of proper leaders, and the Labour party is giving him the temporary bonus of an unelectable opponent, it certainly will not be a breeze. The Tories have a small majority. Tricky times lie ahead
- Iain  Martin, Financial Times
Melissa Benn
There’s no doubt that a Corbyn win would pose an enormous challenge for the centre-right of the party, but the many MPs who oppose him can surely sit on their hands or plot, or both, for only so long. The task is even greater for the member for Islington North, borne in on a wave of popular feeling. If his leadership were to succeed, it would need to be exceptionally generous, imaginative and inclusive. It would have to forge fresh alliances, take surprising positions and make unexpected compromises
- Melissa Benn, The Guardian
One of the paradoxes of the last few weeks is how, to Corbyn’s supporters, the worst things have got, the better they have become. The association with Holocaust deniers, the speaking engagements alongside those cheering the death of British soldiers. They have strengthened, not weakened, the resolve of the faithful. “Look at everything they’re throwing at him, and still he’s standing tall!”
- Dan Hodges, Daily Telegraph
Although many seek to do so, it is impossible to make a definitive judgement on Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. He has not yet won, and no one knows for sure what will follow if he does. But we are in a position to make a judgement about Corbyn’s impact on Labour’s leadership contest, for that contest is almost over
- Steve Richards, The Independent
Rachel Sylvester
Like civilisations, political parties rise and fall. Just as the Vikings and the Mayans brought about their own extinction by destroying the environment on which their cultures depended, so the Labour party is threatening its survival by abandoning electoral victory as a definition of success. If Labour chooses Jeremy Corbyn — a man who will never be elected prime minister — as leader next week, its end could be as brutal and sudden as those other once great tribes - Rachel Sylvester, The Times
Look at today’s Labour leadership candidates. All of them are in a race to the left, vowing to borrow, tax and spend more — all the things that failed in the last century and were rejected at the last election. Listening to some of the anti-Nato, anti-American, profoundly anti-business and anti-enterprise debates is like Groundhog Day. Labour aren’t learning
- David Cameron, The Times
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What would have happened had the shootings taken place not in America, but in Norwich? What if the victims had been a local TV crew known to two or three hundred thousand people?  Would our London-based newspaper executives have thought "We've never heard of them, so we'll use lots of gory pictures" or "They're British. We'll show some restraint"?
What if the victims had been a Newsnight reporter and cameraman, people we were used to seeing in our living rooms, people known all over the country? 
Would the photographic coverage have been muted - in deference to our familiarity and their families - or even more excessive? 
Editor's blog: Murder on camera

Comment archive, 2015

June 5 Fifa
June 4 Politics
June 3 Charles Kennedy
June 2 British politics
June 1 Fifa
labour leadership contenders
May 22 UK politics
May 21 UK politics
May 20 The Labour party
May 19 The NHS
May 18 UK politics
ballot box
May 8 General election
May 7 General election
May 6 General election
May 5 General election
Sturgeon and Salmond
April 24 General election
April 23 General election
April 22 General election
April 21 Drowned refugees
April 20 Scottish National Party
Westminster
April 10 General election
April 9 General election
April 8 General election
April 7 General election
Ed Miliband
March 27 Prince Charles's letters
March 26 UK politics
March 25 Cameron's exit strategy
March 24 Lee Kwan Yew
March 23 UK politics
Jim Murphy, Scottish Labour party conference
March 13 UK politics
March 12 Jeremy Clarkson
March 11 UK politics
March 10 UK politics
March 9 UK politics
Rifkind and Straw
February 27 UK politics
February 26 Minor party leaders
February 25 Natalie Bennett
February 24 Rifkind and Straw
February 23 World affairs
Merkel and Putin
February 13 UK politics
February 12 UK politics
February 11 UK politics
February 10 UK politics
February 9 Politics
Alexis Tsipras
January 30 Rape law
January 29 UK politics
January 28 UK politics
January 27 Greece
January 26 UK politics
Hebdo demo
January 16 World politics
January 15 Election debates
January 14 Charlie Hebdo
January 13 Charlie Hebdo
January 12 Charlie Hebdo
Picture
May 29 Fifa
May 28 The Queen's Speech
May 27 Europe
May 26 UK politics
New Tory MPs
May 15 Ukip and Labour
May 14 The Labour party
May 13 The Labour party
May 12 UK politics
May 11 Scotland
Picture
May 1 General election
April 30 General election
April 29 General election
April 28 General election
April 27 General election
manifestos
April 17 General election
April 16 General election
April 15 General election
April 14 General election
April 13 General election
dissolution parliament
April 2 General election
April 1 General election
March 31 General election
March 30 Depression 
George Osborne
March 20 UK politics
March 19 The Budget
March 18 UK politics
March 17 Race in Britain
March 16 UK politics
Boris Nemtsov
March 6 Scotland and the election
March 5 Isis
March 4 UK politics
March 3 Radicalisation
March 2 Russia
Copenhagen
February 20 UK politics
February 19 Chelsea and racism
February 18  UK politics
February 17 UK politics
February 16 Copenhagen 
education
February 6 UK politics
February 5 Isis atrocity
February 4 UK politics
February 3 UK politics
February 2 UK politics
Pope Francis
January 23 UK politics
January 22 Chilcot inquiry
January 21 Page Three
January 20 Anti-semitism 
January 19 Religion and freedom
Charb
January 9 Charlie Hebdo
January 8 Charlie Hebdo
January 7 UK politics
January 6 UK politics
January 5 UK politics
For EI daily digests from June to December 2014 please click here
Comment digest courtesy of
Editorial Intelligence
Kings College Cambridge
August 28
Virginia TV shootings
August 27
Jeremy Corbyn
August 26
Politics
August 25
Politics
August 24
Labour leadership
Labour leadership candidates
August 21
Politics
August 20
Student debt
August 19
Labour leadership
August 18
Labour leadership
August 17
Labour leadership
Jeremy Corbyn
August 14
Labour leadership
August 13
Politics
August 12
Politics
August 11
Politics
August 10
Labour leadership
Camila Batmanghelidjh
August 7
Kids Company
August 6
Kids Company
August 5
Labour leadership
August 4
Labour leadership
August 3
Calais
Calais
July 31
Calais
July 30
Calais
July 29
Labour leadership
July 28
Lord Sewel
July 27
Labour leadership
Jeremy Corbyn
July 24
Labour leadership
July 23
Labour leadership
July 22
Labour leadership
July 21
Counter-terrorism
July 20
Boris Johnson, Greece
Picture
July 17
UK politics
July 16
UK politics
July 15
Iran
July 14
Greece
July 13
Greece
Picture
July 10
Budget
July 9
Budget
July 8
The Budget
July 7
Greece
July 6
Taxation
Greek debt
July 3
Grexit
July 2
Heathrow
July 1
Grexit
June 30
Grexit
June 29
Tunisian massacre
Alexis Tsipras
June 26
Monarchy and Brexit
June 25
UK politics
June 24
UK politics
June 23
Greece
June 22
Greece
Labour hustings
June 19
Greece and Europe
June 18
UK politics
June 17
Politics
June 16
Social mobility
June 15
Politics
Merkel, Obama G7
June 12
Politics
June 11
Politics
June 10
Politics
June 9
Europe
June 8
Politics
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