Chuka Umunna withdraws as candidate for Labour leadership

After just three days Mr Umunna has withdrawn form the race to be the next labour party leader citing the pressure of scutiny,excuse me but it was bound to come with that.Hmmm.

Chuka Umunna has withdrawn from the Labour leadership race after just three days, saying he cannot cope with the pressure of the "scrutiny".

The shadow business secretary said he was not "comfortable" with the "attention" on his private life.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/11607623/Chuka-Umunna-pulls-out-of-Labour-leadership-contest.html

Also.

Labour leadership frontrunner Chuka Umunna this morning dramatically withdrew from the race to succeed Ed Miliband - blaming the 'scrutiny' he faced in the 72 hours since launching his campaign.

The 36-year-old MP for Streatham in south London - once described as 'Britain's Barack Obama' - said he could not cope with the 'pressure that comes with being a leadership candidate'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3083054/Chuka-Umunna-withdraws-Labour-leadership-battle-days-saying-win-2020-election.html

In the Independent it says it might be because there is gossip about his mother buying a £1 million pound house from monies secreted in a tax haven. Or it could be that he has a girlfriend rather than a wife.

On PM on Radio 4 this evening Bill Grimsey (ex-CEO of Iceland & Wickes) said Umunna is a charming speaker but is weak and naive. Also :-

"Bill Grimsey a former business adviser to Labour during the last parliament has cast doubt on Chuka Umunna's leadership qualities in an interview with BBC Radio 4's PM programme.

Mr Grimsey said he been tasked by the party to find out what businesses thought of Labour and he offered to speak to the CEOs of FTSE 100 companies.

Mr Grimsey told the BBC: "His [Chuka Umunna's] reply was 'no we don't need to do that, I know all these people very very well, I'm on good terms with them, I know exactly what they think'. "

"And I said to Chuka - 'that's not real, grow up, they're telling you what you want to hear'. He wasn't interested - and I call that naive."

It was also queried by Eddie Mair that the Sunday papers may have been planning an expose of him, so he got out quickly before they had a chance to publish.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/05/after-ed-whos-next-six-candidates-vying-lead-labour-party

I think Yvette Cooper is the best out of that lot.

I will delete Mimi, as it is not in print anywhere and just someone's words we have to take as fact, which it may not be. Best to be safe.

Mimi wrote:http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/05/after-ed-whos-next-six-candidates-vying-lead-labour-party

I think Yvette Cooper is the best out of that lot.

I don't like the look of any of them. They look like the line up for the next Big Brother house. Maybe somebody could lock the door and then conveniently "lose" the key.

Mimi wrote:I will delete Mimi, as it is not in print anywhere and just someone's words we have to take as fact, which it may not be. Best to be safe.

Fair enough

I have to admit that, until a day or two ago, I had never heard of Mr Umunna.

Would being unmarried really be a problem nowadays? Ed Miliband wasn't when he became leader of the Labour Party though he subsequently married his partner; they already had two children.

Some google links say that Mr U was married but his wife died in 2010. I can't find an actual mention of that in a story though.

I hadn`t heard of him either, though I do remember seeing him on TV - I remembered him because of his smooth looks and his smooth talk.

Not keen on Smooth men, don`t know why - Cameron is another Smooth man. Got skin like a baby`s bottom - bit like a doll and/or puppet !

Surely the picture on this link captioned "Shared grief...." was not taken at his father's funeral!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180339/Bennett-Umunna-death-Labour-MPs-father-killed-mysterious-car-crash-refusing-pay-bribes.html

P.S. Clearly it wasn't as Mr U was only 13 at the time. Good old Daily Mail.

Just on ITV news at 1. There are 4 contenders at the hustings. Yvette Cooper, Mary Creary, Liz Kendall, Andy Burnham. Tristram Hunt was not there but says he will give a statement in a few days (whatever that means!)

Mimi wrote:I hadn`t heard of him either, though I do remember seeing him on TV - I remembered him because of his smooth looks and his smooth talk.  

Not keen on Smooth men, don`t know why - Cameron is another Smooth man.  Got skin like a baby`s bottom - bit like a doll and/or puppet !

I think he belongs more to the Tories than Labour.
Job to know what labour actually stands for these days.

To my mind Labour have always been more humanitarian and stood up for the underclass that suffer because of the upper class`s greed. It may be different now.

Mimi wrote:It was also queried by Eddie Mair that the Sunday papers may have been planning an expose of him, so he got out quickly before they had a chance to publish.

Reading today's Sun article about him bowing out of the leadership race, I think this is most likely. The article is toying with the guy and they even have a "5 reasons" sidebar of why he bowed out, number 1 of which suggests him having it off with Bercow!

Mimi wrote:To my mind Labour have always been more humanitarian and stood up for the underclass that suffer because of the upper class`s greed.  It may be different now.  

When it comes to the Labour Party their greed holds no bounds.  Mr & Mrs Balls for example, swapping homes, so they could rake in ££££££, also Jacqui Smith -

Taken from Wikipedia:

Smith was investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards over accusations that she had inappropriately designated her sister's home in London as her main residence.[1] The arrangement had allowed Smith to claim over £116,000 on her family's Redditch home since becoming an MP.[42] Smith contended that she had done nothing wrong.

On 8 February 2009, it was revealed in the press that Smith had designated a house in London owned by her sister as her main residence in order to claim a parliamentary allowance for her house in Redditch as a secondary home, despite explicitly stating on her website that she "lives in Redditch".[43] When asked whether it was fair that she made claims believed to have been made for items such as a flat-screen TV and scatter cushions, she said that analyses of her receipts had been very particular. In response to criticisms over her housing allowances, she said it was the "nature of the job" that MPs had to furnish and run two properties.[44]

It was also reported that Smith had claimed expenses for a telecoms bill that contained two pornographic films and two other pay-per-view films. Smith said it was a mistake, and she would repay the amount. The reports made clear that the films had been viewed in the family home at a time when Smith was not present, and that she had given her husband, Richard Timney, a "real ear-bashing" over the incident.[45] This and other cases prompted calls for reform of the additional costs allowance and a new system of payments to be introduced.[46] Gordon Brown supported her and said she had done nothing wrong.[47]

In October 2009, it was reported that the Standards Commissioner, John Lyon, had looked into complaints over her expense claims. He concluded that, although her London home was a genuine home and she had spent more nights there than in her Redditch home, her constituency home was in fact her main home, and that she was in breach of Commons rules, despite "significant mitigating circumstances". The claims for pay-per-view films were also found to be in breach. Ms Smith was not asked to repay any money, but was told to "apologise to the House by means of a personal statement." Ms Smith reacted by saying that she was "disappointed that this process has not led to a fairer set of conclusions, based on objective and consistent application of the rules as they were at the time."

The Labour Party is awash with "Champagne socialists", they live like Kings but like to pretend they're the same as "Joe Blogs" who lives on a derelict council estate, except that most of the "leftie Champagne socialists" wouldn't set foot on any derelict council estate in the daylight let alone when it's dark.

ETA: When you think about £116,000 that is a year's salary for a person in a high position in a company, yet could be 4 years wages for someone on an average salary of say, £25,000 a year (a nurse for instance).

TheTruthWillOut wrote:

Mimi wrote:It was also queried by Eddie Mair that the Sunday papers may have been planning an expose of him, so he got out quickly before they had a chance to publish.

Reading today's Sun article about him bowing out of the leadership race, I think this is most likely. The article is toying with the guy and they even have a "5 reasons" sidebar of why he bowed out, number 1 of which suggests him having it off with Bercow!

Wot - John or Sally ?

Mimi wrote:

TheTruthWillOut wrote:

Mimi wrote:It was also queried by Eddie Mair that the Sunday papers may have been planning an expose of him, so he got out quickly before they had a chance to publish.

Reading today's Sun article about him bowing out of the leadership race, I think this is most likely. The article is toying with the guy and they even have a "5 reasons" sidebar of why he bowed out, number 1 of which suggests him having it off with Bercow!

Wot - John or Sally ?

Sally was number 1 and John number 2!

I wonder if they have stuff on him that means they know he isn't going to complain...

Wasn`t it Jacqui Smith who was claiming for her husband`s porno videos on expenses ?

Taken from Wikipedia:

It was also reported that Smith had claimed expenses for a telecoms bill that contained two pornographic films and two other pay-per-view films. Smith said it was a mistake, and she would repay the amount. The reports made clear that the films had been viewed in the family home at a time when Smith was not present, and that she had given her husband, Richard Timney, a "real ear-bashing" over the incident.[45] This and other cases prompted calls for reform of the additional costs allowance and a new system of payments to be introduced.[46] Gordon Brown supported her and said she had done nothing wrong.[47]


Yes, as in the para highlighted in blue.  How can you include any videos which have been viewed in a home environment in your MP expenses "by mistake"???  These Government people don't know where to stop when it comes to claiming back "expenses".  Although a lot of them are worth £millions they seem to be against having to paying anything out of their own pockets even when it comes down to sandwiches for their own lunch.  I think some have even put in claims for toothpaste etc if they've had to stay overnight somewhere.  The mind boggles as to what these so called MPs really think their job entails.  It just seems one big "snout in trough" to them all, and s*d the "joe blogs" of the country who need the real help.