COME BACK CLARE!

Interesting news from Clare Short, who today is hinting at wishing to be allowed back into the fold of the PLP. I cannot say I am surprised. Short is a volatile politician who had made some huge errors because of her emotional ups and downs. Leaving the PLP was one of them. Not resigning over Iraq was her biggest mistake. But if she wants to come back then of course she must be welcomed. We need all the left-wingers we can get. We also allow right-wing Tories like Quentin Davies into the fold so why on earth wouldn't she be taken in. As far as I know, she is still a member of the Labour Party. When Clare Short resigned the Whip, I wrote to her asking her to stay in and fight .In these times of right-wing hegemony, that's really our duty as committed socialists.

MY CABINET

Chris Paul has challenged me to come up with an alternative Cabinet so I will have a go. I think most Labour Party members might agree this broad church is rather more appealing than Brown's ultra-right groupies......
Chancellor - John McDonnell
Home Secretary - John Denham
Foreign Secretary - Hilary Benn
Education - Angela Eagle
Health - Katy Clark
Housing - Jon Cruddas
DFID - Jeremy Corbyn
Northern Ireland - Tony Lloyd
Culture - Nick Browne
Environment - Alan Simpson
Defence - Peter Hain
Communities - Yvette Cooper
Industry - Alan Johnson
DWP - Kelvin Hopkins
Leader of the House of Commons -Tony Wright
Minister for Olympics - Kate Hoey

SHAUN OF THE DEAD RIGHT WING

Worst news today ( and there's plenty) is Shaun Woodward in Northern Ireland.This obscenely rich former Tory is one of the most unpleasant people I have ever met. A mate of Mandelson, with not a socialist bone in his body. If you had asked me to compose a Nightmare cabinet, most of these people would be in it .

THINGS CAN ONLY GET WORSE

I don't believe it. Jacqui Smith as Home Secretary. slimy James Purnell as Culture Minister and, worst of all, ultra-right John Hutton as Industry Minister. An utterly vile cabal of uber-Blairites, every one. And where's poor old Hilary Benn......oh God this is seriously depressing.
UPDATE: Benn has Environment,Yvette Cooper Housing. Would it not have been a brilliant gesture for Brown to have given Cruddas that job? I knew he wouldn't. But it's a lost opportunity. So, the centre-left is utterly out in the cold yet again. Quelle surprise....

GANG OF ONE MAKES COMEBACK

Got to hand it to Gordon. Full of surprises. Now it seems the erstwhile Labour turncoat Shirley Williams is to join his team of "all the talents." Baroness Shirley, who left Labour over its stance on nuclear disaramament amongst other things, will be advising him on nuclear proliferation. As anything else I write would not be particularly edifying I will leave it there and go to the Co-op......
PS: For those of you who won't remember,the SDP were pretty instrumental in consigning Labour to electoral defeat in 1983 and 1987. others to watch out for in Brown's Govt. David Owen, Chris Patten, Michael Portillo.....

MILIBAND REWARDED - BENN LOSES JOB

First news trickling in for Brown's cabinet. Miliband Major is to be Foreign Secretary. Fair reward for not standing against Brown but is he really up to it? Would not have thought he had the gravitas but we'll see.
Doesn't exactly gladden the heart and actually feel bit sorry for Margaret Beckett - however she should have stood up a bit more for her anti-Trident principles because the outcome would have been the same ie the sack. And Douglas Alexander gets Hilary Benn's job, which doesn't bode particularly well for the Deputy Leadership candidate. Hewitt has already resigned so looks as though this cabinet will be more or less alpha male only. Daresay Yvette Cooper and Dawn Primarolo will get something but that, as Blair (missing him already) said yesterday, is probably that. Harman's been shunted aside and will be v surprised if Blears gets a look-in. Frankly, feel utterly disengaged. Brown's Labour is going to be even further removed from Real Labour. So probably best to numb the senses.
PS: Talking of which last night shared the champagne had got in store for Blair's departure. It tasted pretty flat.

BLUE LABOUR?

What a great day it must have been for Gordon Brown. Imagine waiting 10 years to become Prime Minister - and getting there. For many in the Labour Party, this will also be a great day. Not me. My primary mood is one of apprehension. There are worrying sounds from Brown about governing "in a new way" beyond party politics. Is it me or does that sound like a coalition? And why does the thought of Sir Alan Sugar being one of Brown's advisors scare me witless? Who else is going to be hired- and fired?? One thing's for sure. There will be no room in his Govt of "all the talents" for socialists who desire an alternative way of doing things which is not in the interests of global capitalism. The "talents" Brown will be calling on will not include his comrades on the left.Welcome to Blue Labour.

A LESS THAN GRACIOUS GOODBYE

She just couldn't let it lie......Cherie Blair had to have the last word as she said goodbye to Downing Street. And how spiteful it was. Turning to the media , she petulantly said "Goodbye, we're not going to miss you." Cherie, on my part at least, the feeling is entirely mutual.But your very last attempt to upstage Gordon just isn't going to work......

SO FAREWELL THEN TONY.......

Not a day to be ungracious . But nevertheless a day to take stock. Blair's performance today at PMQs was typical in its panache. What a performer the man has been.

But its "highlights " also served as a reminder why this most seductive of politicians has also been one of the most dangerous in modern times. A bit like Kaa, the hypnotic snake in the Jungle Book.

At one point, Blair expressed "solidarity" with the workers at Longbridge who had lost their jobs. Almost fell off my chair. The point was, of course, that it was an opportunity to get a cheap laugh from his fellow MPs out of waving his P45. Hilarious......

As we know, unlike most of the car workers who lost their jobs, TB is going to an extremely lucrative job as Middle East peace envoy complete with high life, security guards, limos and other trappings of high office .I wish him well and hope he can achieve as much there as he has done in Northern Ireland. For his family, today's resignation will probably come as a blessed relief from the horrors of being in the public eye. But let's not forget that For the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, the nightmare continues due to Blair's wretched foreign policy mistakes. And, as he also said today, he won't "and never will" apologise for that.

BROWN PREMIERSHIP MUST MEAN END TO SLEAZE

As Tony rides off into the sunset and prepares to become a Catholic, I hope he's going to invest in a couple of kneepads for his First Confession. Because the number of Hail Marys which will be required to absolve HIS sins will be very great indeed.

One little bit of unfinished business from the Blair era is of course the scandal over BAe Systems, which is to be probed by the US Department of Justice over the 1985 Al-Yamamah arms deal - secret payments of £120 million a year for 10 years to Saudi prince Bandar bin Sultan, who negotiated the contract.
A Serious Fraud Office investigation into the payments was halted last December on the orders of Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, who also stands down today. Today's Morning Star leads on calls by Labour MP John McDonnell forBrown to address this issue immediately. He says: "The US inquiry completely confirms that there should be an open and public inquiry here and I will be calling upon Gordon Brown to start this public inquiry when he takes over the premiership today."

THE EVE OF DESTRUCTION?

Funny how life turns out. If someone had told me a couple of years back that I would be depressed on the eve of Tony Blair's departure I would not have believed it. Well, here we are only hours before Blair goes and guess what? Brown is defying the laws of political gravity and I am seriously pissed off.
]All he had to do to win the trust and respect of people like me on the left of the Party was concede a little room, give a little space, re-instate in some way the modest coalition of social democracy which Labour used to stand for. And, in this week of concern over climate change, maybe give a Govt job to talented left and eco-friendly MPs like Alan Simpson (pictured) Nah, turns out Gordon has a very different notion of the broad church recently called for by Alan's Campaign Group comrade John McDonnell .
Brown's big tent includes Liberal Democrats ( but they turned him down) and no-mark , right-wing Tories with plenty of form when it comes to being homophobic and anti trade union. People like this are embraced with open arms. Socialists with core Labour values are told there is no "going back" and, just to rub our noses in it, Brown even brings back the New Labour brand. This is pretty disappointing stuff for me. And I had no illusions. It must be horrific for the many I know who had hopes that Brown was a closet "Old Labour" socialist. So now let's get real.
Brown would love nothing better than for the Left to throw its collective hands up in horror and walk away from the Party. So, tempting though it is, let's not rise to the bait. Time for action, comrades.

QUOTE FROM QUENTIN

Hansard- March 15 2005 "The Chancellor is becoming so cut off that he is beginning to underestimate the intelligence of the electorate. I trust and believe that something nasty will happen to the Chancellor in electoral terms before too long. He will have no one but himself to blame."

LOWER THAN VERMIN

It appears that QD has joined a Party I have never heard of.......Brown's letter to MPs:
"Quentin Davies is a senior parliamentarian and he commands respect on all sides for his expertise and his dedication to public service, and I welcome him to the New Labour party. "On Sunday, I said I was determined to reach out to those who share our values and who would like to be part of building a more just society. "I said we had to reach out to people who want to change from the old politics, who yearn for a public life founded on principles, who are inspired by what we as a nation can achieve together - and asked them to join us. I am delighted that Quentin Davies has done so today."
See here for more information on this right-wing, pro fox-hunting, anti trade union creep.

OH NO, ANOTHER BLOODY TORY!

Oh joy. Some Tory I've never heard of is defecting to Labour. IDS supporter Quentin Davies (who,he?) is crossing the floor and will be no doubt a loyal supporter of PM Broon.

Oldham MP Phil Woolas is beside himself with glee and says this is the "most significant defection since 1945" or some crap like that. Why do some Labour MPs think it's great when Tories join them? Does that not suggest to their wildly beating hearts that maybe there could be something amiss with their policies and that they might be a tad too right-wing? More bad news for the left. More voting fodder for Gordon. No doubt QD will soon find himself in the "government of all the talents." Like Shaun Woodward. Who I once met late at night at Labour Party Conference and let's just say he's one of the most deeply unpleasant individuals I have ever come across.

TERMINATOR AT NUMBER 10

So Arnold Schwarzenegger is Tony Blair's last official guest at Downing Street. The final confirmation ( if we needed any) that Blair loves nothing better than hanging out with rich Republicans. Well, he'll have plenty of time to do so now he has been forced out early by Terminator Brown

BROWN "BOUNCE" FAILS TO MATERIALISE

A poll in today's Independent puts the Tories five points ahead. So much for the Brown "bounce." Personally, am feeling utterly deflated ( not that I had any illusions) . I have many good friends who still hang onto absurd notions Brown is a closet socialist.They, too, are about to be cruelly disappointed.And am already regretting voting for Harman as my second preference.Even Polly Toynbee was fooled by her anti-Iraq rhetoric.

RMT STANDS FIRM AGAINST BROWN

Gordon Brown may be good at quashing dissent within Labour ranks. One man he's never going to silence is RMT leader Bob Crow. The union has its conference this week and is solidly at the forefront of the ongoing battle to rescue Britain's railways from the privateers and go down the re-nationalisation road called for time and time again by Labour Party members. The RMT is also battling against privatisation and cuts in London, with a proposed scheme to privatise the Underground's East London Line and plans to axe 40 ticket offices. Fighting, too, to increase wages paid to cleaners on £5/£6 an hour and help bus workers who are increasingly mobilising and calling for a return to public ownership (shamefully, more than 40 per cent of bus workers work over 46 hours a week and almost half earn less than £300 a week before tax)
Earlier this year, the RMT scored a major success when the Scottish Executive ditched attempts to privatise the Caledonian MacBrayne Highlands and Islands ferry service and the union is now campaigning to prevent the new SNP executive from restarting the tendering process.
Crow, unsurprisingly, makes it clear he won't toe Brown's New New labour line and got it right on the deputy leadership too. "To be honest, all six of them supported the war and there's not a lot of difference between any of them. The reality is that whoever gets elected will distance themselves from the trade union movement straight away because Gordon Brown said: 'There's no going back.' A Brown government will be a government of more privatisation, wars and keeping trade unionists restricted."
Crow confesses to being "amazed" that most of the trade union leaders backed Brown to the hilt -"They're getting mugged, but they're paying to get mugged as well," he says with typical bluntness. I rather suspect Tony Woodley is realiisng already he's made a huge, huge mistake.

HARMAN BACKTRACKS ALREADY

Yes, HH has been spinning like mad that she didn't say the Govt should apologise for the war. Er, she did, on Newsnight in front of several million viewers . But Gord must be obeyed and, clearly, Gordon isn't impressed with the views expressed by her and Cruddas. So HH is already descending into the dark side of fudging and evading the issue. "Some are saying I am too right-wing, others are saying I am too left-wing... they haven't really got it sorted out. I just am what I am." As the song by Shirley Bassey says, no excuses Hat........and I'm sorry but you're fibbing.

BROWN AIMS TO BLOCK TRADE UNION CONFERENCE VOTE

Well, it didn't take long. Less than 24 hours into his Labour leadership, Brown is already on the warpath against the trade unions. Last year, Dave Prentis (pictured) had his mike switched off by New Labour stooge Gary Titley MEP in a heated debate on NHS privatisation. Now Brown wants to go the whole hog and end the block vote at Labour conference - and the unions' right to put forward contemporary and emergency motions. Instead, there will be "general debates" by members.

Now to the naive, this may sound perfectly reasonable.Indeed, it will be spun as an extension of democracy. Be warned. It is anything but.

CLPs can already choose four key issues of their own they want to debate ( the bar was raised from 2 in 2003 with help from the UNIONS) to debate at Conference. Yes it should be more but were it not for the unions in the past few years, none of the following issues would have been debated: Iraq, social housing and the fourth option, NHS privatisation, the plight of agency workers. railway re-nationalisation. And, because the unions do vote in blocks, all these issues have a) got through the right-wing gerrymandering of the Conference Arrangements Committee and b) been passed by Conference with support from the CLPs. Some of you may recall a similar idea on weakening the unions' clout was once floated by Jon cruddas. It will be interesting to see where he stands now. One thing is clear. The NEC MUST oppose this move . And so must the Party.See John McDonnell's blog for more details.

John says: " This is the first step by the new Leader towards breaking the link between the party and the trade unions. This is a real kick in the teeth for all those trade unions who loyally nominated Brown to the leadership of the party. Many will now be wondering what hope there is of exercising any influence on the key issues of privatisation, public sector pay cuts, and trade union rights.
"We are launching a campaign within the Party and the trade unions to save the rights of trade unions within the Labour Party."

THE CASE FOR JOHN McDONNELL

Bit late spotting it, but this piece by Ronan Bennett published yesterday is really EXCELLENT.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2110202,00.html

DIMINISHING RETURNS FOR THE FAR LEFT

One of the saddest footnotes to yesterday in Manchester was the miniscule size of the demonstration called by the Stop The War Coaliton. It was a rag, tag and bobtail of RESPECT, the CPGB, Socialist Party and a few assembled anarchists. My estimate was 2000 maximum. Some magnificent people have been involved over the past four years and still are but The STWC now has to seriously think about where next. And more demonstrations just isn't the answer.

Blair is now gone so much of the raison d'etre in taking to the streets has gone too. Unlike my comrades in the local SWP, I was not one bit surprised at the turn-out.

Brown, for all his faults, is not identified with Iraq in the same way as Blair and most people will now be looking to Labour to start planning an exit strategy. I think it's time people in RESPECT and other tiny sects acknowledged they have no long-term future, or support, outside the mainstream labour movement. It would be enormously helpful to the labour left if socialists who share our values got their hands dirty and joined Labour. With an election maybe as early as next year, there will be a lot of work to be done. We've made a start in defeating New Labour but there's still much to do. Let's re-build and re-claim the Party together.

NO DPM JOB FOR HARMAN

Blame the Stubbing Wharf cider festival for a fuzzy tinge to my original thoughts on yesterday's events. But some things are now clear.
Firstly, the turn-out was absolutely terrible. Only 50 percent of the Party and an unbelievably bad eight per cent of the unions voted. Harman isn't going to be DPM after all but Party Chair ( another anti-democratic master-stroke by Gordon) therefore her soft left mood music won't matter that much. Many ( particularly women ) will feel cheated as another white middle-aged man (Jack Straw?) is rewarded with the DPM job.
Cruddas , of course, ruled himself out of that one all along. You could read that as honourable "man of the people " stuff. Maybe. Whatever.The seven weeks of this campaign have been long, long, long. In the end, boring, boring, boring. Harman got my second preference just to keep Johnson out. No illusions. It was the least interesting, least inspiring, Labour election ever. I hope next time we get a real choice.

Manchester less than united.......

OK, it could have been far, far worse. For the moment,I can live with HH for DPM and GB for PM. Only for the moment, mind. We dispatched Blears, we dispatched Johnson. Cruddas, as I always said, was not going to do it.Irony, maybe,that Harman picked up maybe more left votes cos Cruddas didn't back John McD. His loss. No-one's gain.But the Blairites are at least, toast.........

PS:Manchester was singularly lacking in atmosphere.Sad to report the anti-war demo wasl less than 2,000.About time the ultra-left joined Labour.

SAD FOOTNOTE ON BLAIR YEARS

Just been watching Andrew Rawnsley's documentary on Blair. Don't know why, really, as all it did was predictably fuel anger and sense of useless waste of human life. But some interesting observations from those closest to the PM. Brown was pretty much against the War but ultimately went along with it. Blair was going to quit in 2004 ( he should have done). And Campbell ( as most of us knew) was sacked.Good quote too from Lord Kinnock:"What the hell is a labour Prime Minister doing with George Bush." Part 2, if you can face it, Monday night.

CORONATION STREET

Off to Manchester ( 25 mile train ride) in the morning to meet old friend for lunch and imbibe the frisson of excitement which will be buzzing on the streets as Labour's new Leader and deputy take the stage. Obviously, I lie. Mildly interested to see who ends up as Deputy but otherwise it's a case of being around to observe the mood and maybe chat to one or two people. There is an anti-war demo too. All a far cry from the high Deputy Leadership drama of Brighton in 1981 - when I got embroiled in a stand-up row with Salford Tribune MP Stan Orme for joining Neil Kinnock in not backing Tony Benn and betraying the left. Sounds depressingly familiar, doesn't it?

PARTY DEMOCRACY TO BE FURTHER ERODED?

Can't quite believe this but if true it's absolutely TERRIBLE news for Party democracy. Good news. Brown to get rid of appinted Party Chair. Bad news. he's apparently going to appoint FOUR Vice-Chairs. The even worse news from Mirror hack Kevin Maguire is that Brown plans to abolish Contemporary and Emergency resolutions at Labour Conference, ie currently the last vestige of democratic debate left in the annual rally. So much for him wanting to improve Party democracy. Unbelievable.
PS:I think it's time the inimitable Pete Willsman of the NEC got his finger out. Had a brief look @Labour Party rule book last night and Gordon's "government of all the talents" has to be breaking a few.

MESSAGE TO GORDON

Feel free to be inspired............

This Branch condemns the actions of Gordon Brown, (leader-elect of the Labour Party) who has compromised the position of and brought into disrepute the credibility of the Labour Party, by inviting members of the Liberal Democrat Party into the Labour Government.
This Branch has raised money to fight and has campaigned successfully against the Liberal Democrats. Electorally, the Liberal Democrats are our main opposition in this area.
This campaigning is undermined by the actions of our appointed leader, who has given tacit support to the Liberal Democrat Party.
We call upon the CLP to express this view forcefully to the NEC and demand that this policy is condemned as being against the interests of the Labour Party.
We further note that should an individual member of the Labour Party endorse or campaign in favour of a candidate from another Party they are considered to be in breach of the rules. We therefore call for Gordon Brown to publicly apologise for his actions, which clearly undermine the hard work of Party members across the UK

UPDATE: This resolution is supported by former Campaign Group MP Harry Barnes !

Gordon's Own Goal

"Underhand", "toxic" , not exactly the nicest of adjectives for a PM in waiting but there you have it. The verdict from the Lib Dems. And, I daresay, many angry Labour back-benchers. And if the best they can do is drag on the unctuous James Purnell onto Channel 4 News to defend Brown's atrociously backdoor double-dealing as a master-stroke of political genius then it really is ( excuse my language) bollocks. I must confess to a slight tinge of Schadenfreude at the dismay this must be causing amid the supine PLP. A strange reward for unquestioning loyalty. On the whole, though, I think it's a disgraceful betrayal of the Party 's loyal foot soldiers (again) . With a majority of over 60, why in God's name would we need a Lib-Lab deal. Welcome to the era of Ramsay McBrown. Next thing we know he will be ushering in the Tories.

Last word on the Deputy Leadership.......

Went to local Labour club last night to find a box of deputy leadership ballot papers left unopened and unspotted by anyone. When I tackled them about it, said they couldn't afford and couldn't be bothered to send out the ballot papers to their 1000 members.I could have walked off with the box and posted them all myself of course had I been motivated towards any of the candidates. What price democracy? A sad irony and sad end to this farce of a contest.

LIB DEMS AND LABOUR IN A PADDY

So now we know. Paddy Ashdown was offered a job in Gordon Brown's Cabinet. Northern Ireland Secretary, to be precise. How that must have cheered the cockles of the heart of another erstwhile Liberal, Peter Hain . And what a nice slap in the face to all the talented people in his own Party.Word now is that Brown is to appoint non-Labour people to Cabinet jobs via the House of Lords in a bid to appeal to the centre ground and Middle England. Once that pesky Sunday's Deputy leadership is wound up , there will be no more talk of "lurching to the left." Brown's coup against his own supporters has left many on his own side pretty aghast. Personally, I just can't understand how a man this clever can start his premiership by already geting it so utterly wrong. Both left and right in the Labour Party share a tribal contempt for their Liberal opponents. To publicly court them, as Brown has done, is a recipe for disaster.And a gross insult to his own Party.

LIB-LAB GOVERNMENT?

When Gordon Brown talked recently of a "government of all the talents," some may have harboured hopes that would mean a more inclusive approach and maybe one or two centre-left MPs in the Cabinet.Maybe that will still happen. But, ominously, the Guardian reports today that Brown and Sir Menzies Campbell have held "private discussions" in recent days about a plan for one or two senior Lib Dems to join Mr Brown's first cabinet for a possible all-party initiative on the future of the British constitution. Brown and Ming are old friends , which is fine. Paraxchuting Lib dems into the Cabinet would not, I wager, be well-received by the Party.Let's hope this is just speculation.

UPDATE: Ming now denying this. So Gawd knows what Gord is up to.

DIRTY LINEN

Looks like the phoney war is over. Eight days before Brown takes over, "friends of Blair" are on the front page of the Guardian again giving it large about Brown's "obsessive" behaviour and personality flaws. It's the usual suspects. Clarke, Cherie, Milburn and advisors splashed all over the front page bitching relentlessly.So while Party members are being urged to show solidarity with Brown the top-brass are yet again washing their dirty linen in public and on the TV. Nice timing...... so let's be clear.

Whatever issues the Left will have with Brown will be based on policy. And there will be plenty of them.Yesterday, Brown was barracked at a union conference over public sector pay. He will continue to be challenged as long as he refuses to change tack.

On another issue, the media is now being briefed that Brown will appoint Jack Straw as Deputy Prime Minister in the event of none of the Deputy Leader candidates having ( as looks increasingly likely) an overwhelming mandate from the electoral college. A fair reward for Straw's spectacular success as Brown's Campaign Manager in the PLP but hardly fair on the six candidates who have spent the last six weeks on the hustings. For Cruddas, it won't be an issue. But Cruddas isn't likely to win, though I woildexpect him to come third ormaybe even a good second.

My prediction is that Johnson ( who I didn't vote for on any preference) is looking a likely winner and that doesn't sit well with Gordon. So he will just impose his favoured choice as DPM . Expect howls of anguish from the Right of the Party, and more anti-Brown tittle-tattle, if that happens. All in all, not a great recipe for harmony. And what a gift to the Tories......

THE FINAL STRAW.........

Just when I thought it was no longer possible to get wound up by the Deputy leadership/leadership issue, up pops an e-mail from Peter Watt, General Secretary of the Labour Party. Citing Gordon Brown as the "only validly nominated" candidate, praising the "huge show of support for said Dear Leader from CLPs , Trade unions etc etc etc. How many times do these people need to be told. Brown is NOT, was not elected by anyone other than the PLP. We never HAD a choice. Many CLPs nominated him because , hello, there wasn't ANYONE ELSE. My CLP as it happens is I'm glad to say one of over 200 which did not join in the Albanian non-election. If we had been allowed, we would have nominated John McDonnell anyway. Oh, the other point of the e-mail was to ask the Deputy Leadership candidates virtual questions. The only question I would ask ( and I can't be bothered) is this;why have all my friends in the Labour Party found it utterly impossible to feel positive about any of you and why didn't any of you have the guts to try and challenge Brown? THE END.

SALFORD STAR

Would like to follow on from yesterday's post re Peter Hook and Gordon's coronation. "Hooky" ( as he's known in Manchester) is apparently one of the major backers of the Salford Star, a left community magazine which celebrates its first birthday ina coupleof weeks' time. One of its journalists is Nigel Pivaro, a former actor ( pictured as Coronation Street's Terry Duckworth) who switched careers in mid-life. Now both these men are working-class lads made good but for some reason, unlike many, they have not become part of the Establishment.Their roots are still in the communities which made them and, like it or not, they clearly have no time for New Labour.

Interestingly, Hazel Blears, who makes much of her working-class origins and "inside knowledge " of the local Salford community, got a fair amount of gyp from the Manchester Evening News readers following her recent disgraceful pronouncements about immigrants in her constituency.

The Salford Star ( other writers include Peggy Seeger, wife of Ewan MacColl) is raising serious issues like lack of social housing, the scandal of Academies backed by hard-core Christians and to be commended for that. Frankly, so is Peter Hook for backing it. And it's no good slagging off ( as some posters did) the Stop The War Coalition.They are NOT all Respect members and ultra-lefts, most would once have been our core supporters and many Labour Party members. And there's no point pretending now that Blair's (almost) gone that Iraq is not an issue. Civiliams and soldiers are dying EVERY DAY.

Sadly, I sense another mood of denial in the air now Brown is about to take over. Trade union leaders and MPs have already mesmerised themselves into believing things will change. So have influential groups like Compass and even people with "left" credentials like Jon Cruddas . Sorry to be a Party pooper, but under Brown, it will be New Labour business as usual. And we have to start campaigning accordingly.

NEW ORDER

Next Sunday, Gordon Brown will be crowned as Labour leader in Manchester. But he may live to Regret his choice of venue. The Stop The War Coalition, which is staging an anti-war demo at the same time as the ceremony, has lined up an interesting selection of speakers .They include one Peter Hook, of New Order, who according to my spies has been funding a Communist newspaper in Salford (fiefdom of Hazel Blears) . Members of the cast of Coronation Street are also going to be adding their anti-war three penn'orth to the proceedings - which if I know the media ( and I do ) ensures that their words of wisdom will probably get far more coverage than Gordon's speech. Comrades in other constituencies have also been e-mailing me with thoughts on how they plan to rain on Gordon's parade. Churlish? Maybe.But who can blame them when their democratic right to take part in the process of choosing a Party leader has been denied? I will be joining a friend and fellow refusenik from Salford CLP and observing the proceedings over lunch at the Slug And Lettuce, Albert Square.The demo, if you're interested, starts there at 1pm .

THE SCOTTISH QUESTION

One of the many headaches facing Gordon Brown when he takes over in 10 days time is what to do about the increasingly troublesome (for the Government) consequences of devolution and the SNP's decision to fulfil certain manifesto promises which make Labour look mean.

Much uproar in the right-wing press today over the fact that over the Border Scottish NHS patients will soon ( as they do in Wales) get their prescriptions free.Added to the free elderly care and free university education now available to people in Scotland, much wringing of hands and cries of "unfair." from English MPs. It's unfair all right. But the answer is not to penalise the Scots but make similar arangememts available to all. Universally free healthcare, universally free education.And, when we get old, an assurance from the Government that we will also be taken care of. Instead of bleating and whingeing, Labour MPs in Westminster should be lobbying Brown to take similar steps - and put clear red water between us and the Tories. Re-claim the billions lost every year in tax avoidance, tax the rich, and stop wasting billions of pounds of our money in Iraq and Afghanistan.

THE MARKET ECONOMY

Have just been asked by OXFAM to write a press release urging the good folk of Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd not to leave items outside the shop as people are nicking them and then apparently flogging off their booty at car boot sales.Nice one.....Amazing the lengths to which some people will stoop to make a fast buck.....

THE CROW ROAD.........

Tonight in my capacity as local councillor am going to the launch of Ted Hughes Festival in neighbouring village of Mytholmroyd. This area punches way above its weight in terms of arts events and this one is no exception with luminaries like Simon Armitage lined up.

Round here, the number of people who claim to have known Ted as a boy is frankly far in excess of reality but he was indeed a local lad who I have always thought to be unfairly demonised by many. Up the Valley, the Arvon Foundation at his former home , Lumb Bank, continues to be a beacon for encouraging writing talent. Just a 20-minute ( very strenuous ) walk from my home is Heptonstall and the grave of his troubled wife and fellow poet Sylvia Plath . And , more happily, a short stroll away is the Stubbing Wharf pub about which Ted wrote a poem. Might be an idea to get the new landlord to ask permission for said poem to be commemorated with plaque or something similar. And, given the rubbish weather which looks set for the next couple of days, a good excuse to meander there over the weekend.

SAVE JOBS AND STOP THE ASSET-STRIPPERS

Last night Tony Woodley was on Newsnight speaking out against private equity companies who are aiming to snap up Ford 's Jaguar and Land Rover operations .
Union leaders are now seeking urgent talks with the US-owned car-maker to warn against any takeover by "asset-stripping" private equity buyers. John McDonnell has just tabled a parliamentary EDM motion against the sale of the two marques to a private equity company. Woodley has disappointed many of us in the labour movement by not backing the Left in its bid to challenge the Brownite acceptance of global capitalism and all that goes with it. Jaguar has 10,000 workers in Coventry, Birmingham, and Liverpool, while Land Rover has 9,000 in Solihull, West Mids, Halewood, Merseyside, and Gaydon, Warks.These jobs are now at risk and the fight must continue.

As John McDonnell said in today's Daily Mirror: "Private equity business have no interest in the workforce and descend like locusts to asset-strip.I'm calling on the Government to intervene to prevent this sale, which could result in huge job losses."

IRAQ INQUIRY VOTE

The following MPs voted with the Opposition for an inquiry into the Iraq War.
Harry Cohen (Leyton / Wanstead)Jeremy Corbyn (Islington N)Mark Fisher (Stoke Central)Kelvin Hopkins (Luton N)Lynne Jones (Selly Oak)Bob Marshall-Andrews (Medway)John McDonnell (Hayes & Harlington)Alan Simpson (Nottingham S)Sir Peter Soulsby (Leicester S)Bob Wareing (Liverpool West Derby).
Looks like the PLP is even more pitifully supine than usual........

PS: Notable absentees: Michael Meacher, Jon Cruddas. Both of whom have been most vociferous in repenting their original decisions to vote in favour of going to war. And aiming for left votes accordingly.

PPS: Apparently, dozens of Labour MPs just absented themselves.Spineless......

DIFFERENT DOG, SAME KENNEL

High summer is now upon us and we seem to have reached another low on the political scene. If I cast my mind back a couple of years I imagined Blair's final exit as leading to unbridled joy and merriment in Labour ranks . Fresh start, new era, all that kind of stuff.

So I open my Guardian today and the Attorney General is in deep shit over the arms deal to Saudi Arabia, Tessa Jowell is busy defending the Olympic logo which causes attacks of epilepsy, and Gordon Brown is completely ignoring the wishes of everyone and discounting an exit strategy from Iraq. On the hustings, word has it the questions are all stage-managed as per usual. No, it is not the glad confident morning I had imagined........And still the relentless, pointless bandwagon of the Deputy Leadership election trundles on.

It is , as Shakespeare put it, "a tale of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Which is possibly why the turn-out at the otherwise successful Compass conference was about half what they were expecting.

PS:Yes I know I said I wouldn't mention it again.

PPS: I have always been a great fan of Mutley and was a good excuse to use his picture

ANOTHER WORLD IS (STILL) POSSIBLE

In case anyone out there is wondering what has happened to John McDonnell well bob over to his blog www.john4leader.org.uk
Moves are now underway for the next stage of campaigning...... and all ideas and comments gratefully received.
I will be doing my best in this neck of the woods to carry on building the Labour Left and urge you all to do the same. Nil desperandum!

COMPASS CONFERENCE

The above headline slightly disingenuous as my train was very late getting to London and only attended couple of events in the end. Nice as ever to see Tony Benn on fighting form at a lunchtime meeting with John McDonnell and Chridtine Shawcroft from the NEC. It's REALLY important that the hard left attends events like this - we have to get out of the comfort zone of talking to ourselves. Less people there than I had anticipated. Neal Lawson droped in on the "Another World Is Possible" meeting. Maybe he's feeling a bit sensitive after getting lambasted for the Compass position on the leasdership. Maybe......

CALDERDALE CND LAUNCH

Over 70 people attended the Friday night launch of Calderdale CND.Which is good news given it was very hot and most people prefer to, er , enjoy themselves on a Friday night. Bad news was the average age was about 55 and 95 per cent white and middle-class. Work to be done............

BACK TO REAL POLITICS

The post below is the last I will ever write on the deputy leadership campaign. Congratulations to whoever wins but I'm bored senseless by the whole thing.
Hopefully, after June 24, we will get back to campaigning on real issues.In the interim, please sign this petition calling on the Govt to take steps towards a living wage.Thanks to Marsha Jane for alerting me to this.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/living-wage-2007/

STOP HAZEL!

Got my ballot papers today. To be honest, feel like chucking them in the bin but that would be a serious negation of democratic duty.Having been denied a vote in the leadership contest well I have to make the best of a very uninspiring bunch.

Priority Number 1 is to STOP HAZEL BLEARS. I voted against this woman becoming PPC in Salford but sadly I was in the minority.She posed then as a soft left candiate but has since morphed into the most uber of the uber-Blairites. She shares Margaret Hodge's views on social housing (endorsed by Nick Griffin) is a pro-privatisation zealot and even now refuses to apologise in any way for Iraq. Frankly, she's toast, but she is going down fighting.DON'T VOTE FOR HER. I quote:

" It's not a comfort zone, but unless you talk about terrorism, tackling crime and antisocial behaviour, we will be having a conversation almost in a parallel universe to where the vast majority of the general public is.
"I think the reason we've won the last three elections is because we were in touch and on the side of decent, hard-working families in this country, and we vacate that ground at our peril." "You're not telling me that we'll win those (marginal) seats with a 50p tax rate, an amnesty on illegal migration and a return to secondary picketing."

Bye Hazel. ......

Number 2 target is her fellow right-winger ALAN JOHNSON. He's just been ditched by his own union the CWU. He is also a deeply unimpressive and unconvincing speaker yet , amazingly got the most backing of MPs.Well, not amazingly I suppose, given the nature of the PLP.

After this, the waters get rather muddy.

Hilary Benn is clearly a nice and decent man with a left past but the downside is he has backed too many Blairite policies and makes no apologies for Iraq.

Harriet (Hattie) Harman has made some left noises recently but her backers include Patricia Hewitt.( and to be fair one of my local MPs, left-winger Linda Riordan) In 1998, she also supported cuts to child benefit which won't help her candidacy..

Peter Hain is backed by ASLEF and the GMB and has an impeccable past in the anti-apartheid movement. He did a good job in Northern Ireland but has not come across well in the hustings.

Jon Cruddas? Yes, his policies are sound. He's got the backing of much of the Left. But I just don't trust him as it just so happens that his past form includes acting as a Blair aide, stitching up Ken Livingstone in the Mayor of London contest and, most recently, nominating Gordon Brown and helping ensure Party members had no say on the leadership and were subject to six weeks' utter tedium while the various DL candidates toured the country.

I have thought about voting for Cruddas, I seriously have. But a man "passionate about Party democracy" who stitches up the left and helps subject us to Albanian-style leadership just can't get my vote. At the very least, he did not have to nominate Gordon Brown.But he did.

What an awful Hobsons choice ....... but after much deliberation here's my final verdict.

1. Hain ( he needs the votes) 2. Harman ( she has come across well in the hustings and has differentiated herself from the others on Iraq and immgration 3. Benn ( decent and around long before New Labour) .

But let me stress, NONE of them would get my vote if we had a real left choice.

AU REVOIR ALAN

Belated congrats to the CWU for chucking out the Executive 's decision to endorse its former boss Alan Johnson as Deputy Leader. At least somebody out there has the guts to stand up to the New Labour steamroller. I don't know what on earth Billy Hayes was thinking of. Still, the workers united have seen off right-winger Johnson. Quite right, too.

PS:The real danger is that the CWU will this year vote to disaffiliate from the Labour Party. Actions like this one won't exactly have helped.

DIY DISASTER

After a three-hour argument with a fax machine which I have lost I am giving up and heading into Manchester where I have to take some photographs.In far too bad a mood to commentate on anything.......every time I try to confound the sexist stereotypes I end up confirming them!

CHANNEL 4 TO BE PRIVATISED?

I promise, pledge and vow that when Gordon Brown comes up with a policy I like, it shall be shouted from the rooftops of Grimmer Up North. But no plaudits I'm afraid for his alleged plans to privatise Channel 4. Don't say you weren't warned by the Labour Left. New Labour has privatised far more than the Tories ever did and the supine PLP has given Brown no reason to think more of the same will be a problem.
The move will apparently raise around £1billion for the Treasury but is obviously disastrous for those who like an independent-minded media. Channel 4 might do themselves a favour, though, by returning to cutting-edge drama and documentaries instead of churning out moronic reality TV shows and rubbish like Big Brother. Somehow I can't imagine those being on Brown's "must-see" list of programmes. Though, unsurprisingly in the light of recent events, he is apparently a big fan of The Sopranos according to a highly-placed source (Ed Balls)

NATIONAL DAY NO THANKS

It's a sign of the Brownite times that Ministers Liam Byrne and Ruth Kelly are today advocating plans for a National Day and celebrating "Britishness." Now this is the kind of right-wing, jingoistic rubbish which if I hear while semi-groggy as the alarm goes off ( which happened this morning) REALLY puts me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.I was brought up in an Irish Catholic family where English stuff like cricket, Guides and the monarchy never ever ventured. We celebrated St Patrick's Day, did not celebrate Bonfire Night, never ever had local Lancastrian delicacies like tripe or cowheel pie. Our staple diet was Irish stew, fish on a friday and cabbage and bacon. Because I went to a faith school, all my friends were Catholic intil I was 18 years old.

As I grew older, I got to know people who didn't share my cultural or religious background. It really wasn't a problem. Whatsmore, my grandparents and parents were happy here and had no thoughts of moving back to Ireland. They just kept their own traditions, too. A "National Day" for whom? And for what? Will it mean compulsory fish and chips and beer, marching round with Union Jacks, watching crap game shows? The whole concept just fills me with horror. It panders to the BNP, it's culturally inane and, frankly, offensive to millions of people in this country.

PARTY MEMBERS BACK LEFT POLICIES

Good news for the Labour Left in a YouGov poll published today by the Sunday Times. Around 1100 Party members and 833 trade union members were recently questioned about their voting intentions for the Labour leadership and deputy leadership.

With only a few days of proper media coverage, support for John McDonnell still doubled from the last YouGov verdict - from 9 to 18 per cent of Labour members and an even better 26 per cent of trade unionists said they would vote for a left candidate. Interestingly, Jon Cruddas, the much-hyped "soft left" alternative, is an unimpressive fifth out of six with only 10 per cent support among Party members and 12 percent of trade unionists. It's pointless now to indulge in endless "if onlys" but with six weeks of a proper debate ( not the Albanian nonsense we're having now) it seems to me John would have got about 30 per cent of the vote.Which, coming from nowhere, would have been pretty damn impressive.

But let's look at policy, which is where it really gets interesting in terms of where we are now. A majority of Party members clearly support the policy platform outlined by John McDonnell.

Only 37 per cent of Party members support keeping Trident. 58 per cent want to scrap Blairite reforms of the NHS and education, and 66 per cent of Party members are in favour of increasing the top rate of taxation. 58 per cent want to bring the railways back into public ownership. 57 per cent want to see tax also increased on car use and air travel.And 68 per cent were in favour of distancing ourselves from George Bush's policies.

Basically , almost EVERY key policy John stood on is supported by a majority of the members and even more of the trade unionists. Real hope for the future......which I will point out next time someone tells me I am "extreme left" and living in the past.

CHAIN REACTION

No politics today as there will be plenty next week with various meetings to attend .......Today I had a John Major moment with warm beer, cricket and the Hebden Bridge Archery and Cricket Club's annual fun day which I opened in capacity as Deputy Mayor! Things are obviously looking up as I won on the tombola......now off to review Chinese restaurant in Eccles. I'm sure the Sunday papers tomorrow will present more political blogging opportunities.......

BBC CALLING.......

I did an interview earlier on on Radio 5 Live......the transcript is here.............

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6712781.stm

APPARATCHIKS EXCEL THEMSELVES

Is there no end to Gordon Brown's control freakery.? Just had an e-mail saying that a Labour Party regional officer has been ringing up CLPs asking them to nominate Gordon. At time of writing there is one hour to go before the nominations deadline is reached. Sadly for the apparatchiks desperate to drum up support for the Dear Leader, we had our CLP meeting two weeks ago. As I explain in this e-mail to a Party official.

Our resolution from Hebden Royd BLP was to support John McDonnell and on my head count it would have gone through at the CLP two weeks ago had we been allowed a vote
We have now missed the deadline anyway but what's the point in nominating Brown? Most of us at the meeting were very angry we did not have the chance for a vote on the leadership. Most of us were going to vote for McDonnell because he reflected the views of our CLP on Trident and Iraq and other issues like PFI and privatisation.
We may well have taken a view on the Deputy but we've missed that deadline too which is regrettable. What is most regrettable however is that our democratic rights as Labour Party members have been taken away by a PLP which does not reflect the view at the grassroots.
To that end, Calder Valley CLP has passed a resolution lowering the leadership threshold to 7.5 per cent of the PLP. It will be on the agenda @ Conference in 2008
I hope this will ensure that we never get a situation again where we have an unelected Leader of the Labour Party. Whatever your point of view, this is not a desirable or democratic situation.
Coun Susan Press Calder Valley CLP (personal capacity)