Chuka Umunna "might pull out of Labour leadership again in the future"

From the BBC:

Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna has not ruled pulling out of the running to lead the Labour Party again in the future - but says he hopes a vacancy does not arise.

Mr Umunna, who is backing Liz Kendall to replace Ed Miliband, said he had withdrawn from the last contest because his "heart wasn't in it". He previously cited the "pressure and scrutiny" that came with the role.

The Streatham MP told BBC Newsnight there were "no skeletons", adding: "By next time I will have worked up some smoother sounding but vacuous excuses like 'pulling together - not pulling apart' or 'passing the baton to the next generation' after being touted as a front runner for several weeks."

Discussing his future plans, he hinted that if he were ever elevated to the House of Lords, he would probably pull out of the running to be the next to lead the Labour peers.

Reader's Letter Of The Day

From The Evening Standard (8 August 2013, page 53):

BY campaigning against the proliferation of betting shops in his constituency, Shadow Business Secretary Chukka Umunna has probably been acting in Gala Coral's best interests.

According to your article, Coral already has two betting shops in Umunna's Streatham constituency, so its former chairman Neil Goulden presumably has every interest in ensuring that no further licences are granted to ensure it market share is not diluted.

Mark Wadsworth, Buckhurst Hill.

Sometimes you get what you pay for

From The Evening Standard:

Labour's rising star Chuka Umunna was accused of hypocrisy today for accepting a £20,000 donation from a gambling tycoon while publicly attacking the number of betting shops [in his own constituency]...

Conservatives claimed the shadow business secretary was guilty of double standards for accepting the sum from Neil Goulden, chairman emeritus of the Gala Coral Group, one of Britain's biggest bookmaker and leisure chains.

There are no double standards here. From the point of view of the donor, this is actually entirely consistent and coherent and Chucky was at all times acting in Gala Coral's best interests.

According to the article, Gala Coral already has two betting shops in Chucky's constituency, so Gala Coral has every interest in ensuring that no further licences are granted, thus ensuring that its market share is not diluted by new, competing businesses.

"Labour MP: Bankers show criminal zeal"

From the BBC:

Bankers show "criminal instinct" which could be channelled into illegitimate business, the shadow business secretary will argue.

In a speech, Chuka Umunna will say the skills used by the banks to organise and brand themselves could be used to start successful criminal rackets. He will argue redirecting the energies of the financial services sector could provide them with "a useful sideline".

Mr Umunna is chair of the London Business Forum. The Labour MP, who sees crime as central to Labour's approach to increasing social mobility, will focus on the London area of Lambeth, where his constituency of Streatham is. He is expected to say what most bankers do is "completely unacceptable anyway" and many financiers could achieve success in racketeering if their energies were redirected.

'Legitimate means'

He will say: "If one studies what Lambeth's financial services industry do in more detail, it is both shocking and frustrating - they put a lot of effort into building up their bank's brand. You can find the annoying adverts they produce to promote their activities on YouTube. This brand building is shocking because it glamorises what they do.

"What frustrates me is many of these young people are using skills that if channelled in the right way, would provide them with an alternative route to success. Their venality, used in an illegitimate business setting, could provide them with a useful sideline.

Mr Umunna will say that hedge fund managers view their involvement and activities as a way of "getting out and getting on". Mortgage salesmen seek "to make money first through legitimate means, with a view to building up enough finance to run a money laundering operation later".

"We must make the shadow economy a more feasible avenue through which our young people can realise their dreams even when they have bled aspiring homeowners dry," he will say.