Deputy Leadership: Alan Johnson Hit From All Sides

Has Alan Johnson MP (above with stunt baby) got all his ducks in a row?

Iain Dale is suggesting that it is Alan Johnson's people who "leaked" some decade-old information on Hilary Benn to the lazy Telegraph who would, left to themselves, be unable to search the RMI at the HoP website.

Action Without Theory, possibly coming from a different place to young Master Dale, outed Johnson for having sat down at a fund raising dinner next to a local Labour grandee who happens to be very unpopular with Trade Unionists at the College he bosses.

There was a bigger story I thought on the night. As well as bigging up his Trade Union and lefty roots - such that he once said he wanted to reduce the TU vote at Conference from 50% to 15% - Mr Johnson also talked at great length about Britain's magnificent trading links with India.

We hear he did this because he knew there were some journalists at the do from Jammu/Kashmir - which is officially a state of India (apolitical Wiki page with one small para on the status quo). In fact the comrades were from an Urdu paper and while they would no doubt prefer an Independent state they would be rather more likely prefer Pakistan or even perhaps China to an undue association with India.

Map right. Click to enlarge. Jammu is one of the 13 states of Jammu and Kashmir and among the smallest of them. It is also unique in having a Hindu majority while J&K as a whole is the only state in partitioned India to have a strong Muslim Majority. 95% in the Kashmir Valley itself.

Overall I suppose Johnson's gaffe would be rather like trying to curry favour with Irish republicans in Boston by bigging up America's role in supplying the British Army. In fact recent supplies to India have included 60 or so Hawk Jet Fighters.