ANDREW PIERCE: Is Jeremy Corbyn set to axe Tom Watson?

Commerce union bruiser and a grasp of the backroom deal, Labour deputy Tom Watson can also be a formidable campaigner.

Not that Comrade Corbyn, his chief, appears to know or care. In a five-page interview in GQ journal, Watson admits that he has been completely marginalised by the person who sits subsequent to him on the Opposition entrance bench.

Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's communications chief, performed the frank interview, asking Watson how typically he talked technique with Corbyn. 'I'm not on his technique committee,' replied Watson.

In a five-page interview in GQ journal, Watson admits that he has been completely marginalised by the person who sits subsequent to him on the Opposition entrance bench

Campbell: 'Who's, then?' Watson: 'I don't know.' Campbell: 'What? That's unimaginable.'

Insisting that Labour can nonetheless win a Basic Election, Watson added: 'A few of our greatest persons are not on the entrance bench, however they're contributing to the talk, too.' Campbell: 'Does he need all of them to be concerned?' Watson: 'I don't know who he has supplied jobs to.'

Campbell: 'He didn't talk about the Shadow Cupboard with you?'

Watson: 'No. he mentioned my job with me, not the others.'

Requested if it was irritating to be saved out of the loop Watson replied: 'It may simply be . . .'

No marvel the phrase within the corridors of Westminster is that Corbyn needs to axe his deputy.

The prospect of Proper-winger Francois Fillon changing into the subsequent President of France has delighted John Humphrys, Radio four's Welsh acerbic interviewer.

Fillon's 60-year-old spouse, Penelope, can also be Welsh. 'I relish the thought she'll put laverbread [a Welsh delicacy made of seaweed] on the Elysee Palace menu,' Humphrys tells Waitrose Weekend journal. 

'If that doesn't carry Europe's leaders to heel, nothing will.'

Nigel, a prophet with out borders 

Requested why two obscure MPs had been knighted within the New Yr Honours, and he was neglected, Ukip's Nigel Farage replied breezily: 'The Institution hate me and can by no means forgive me for Brexit.' 

Requested why two obscure MPs had been knighted within the New Yr Honours, and he was neglected, Ukip's Nigel Farage replied breezily: 'The Institution hate me and can by no means forgive me for Brexit'

Institution lackey Simon Walker, former head of the Institute Of Administrators and an ardent Remainer, was made a CBE whereas there was nothing for any of the Brexiteers within the New Yr Honours.

Assist is disintegrating for former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who was suspended from Labour in April over allegedly anti-Semitic remarks.

Jon Lansman, founding father of the Momentum grassroots group backing Jeremy Corbyn's management, advised Jewish Information — the UK's hottest Jewish newspaper — there ought to be a decision to the inquiry into whether or not Livingstone can return.

He mentioned: 'I don't see why it's taking so lengthy,' including that he 'trusts' the ultimate judgment will finish Livingstone's typically controversial political profession.

Assist is disintegrating for former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who was suspended from Labour in April over allegedly anti-Semitic remarks

Stony silence from Labour over the New Yr prepare strikes. Now Unite, Britain's greatest union, could set off motion at Penguin Random Home, the UK's greatest publishers.

What's going to firm chair Baroness Rebuck make of it? Not solely is she a Labour peer, however her late husband, Philip Gould, was an architect of New Labour together with Tony Blair, whose memoirs had been revealed by Rebuck.

In the meantime, there's a New Yr message from ASLEF chief Mick Whelan, who says: 'It's the time of yr once we historically take inventory. Once we replicate on the place we've been, the place we're and the place we need to go.'

Within the case of 300,000 long-suffering commuters on Southern Rail, that's exactly nowhere due to Whelan's vindictive strikes within the winter vacation season.

Redwood has a pipe dream 

Smart phrases from the Conservative MP John Redwood in his New Yr weblog . . .

'One of the crucial mad issues within the UK public sector is the continued putting of pipes and cables underneath principal roads, typically underneath the center of the highway,' he writes.

'Each time a restore or substitute is required, the highway needs to be dug up. It both needs to be closed utterly, or a lane taken out to do the work.

'Pipes and cables will be positioned in conduits or bigger pipes which may then be positioned underneath pavements or verges, away from the principle carriageway.

'This ought to be obligatory for all new housing estates, industrial developments and roads being put in.' 

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