IN OUR DARKEST HOUR......HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

I know I asked for ambient lighting....but thanks to an over-enthusiastic lighting engineer a positively Stygian gloom pervaded the proceedings at yesterday's LRC meeting in Hebden Bridge. Thankfully, the mood in the room was not quite as sombre. Expecting lefties to spend five hours in debate is , in these difficult times, a pretty tall order. But the room was full and party members came from all over Yorkshire to discuss the way forward for Labour's left. I will be writing a more considered piece for the LRC and the next article of Labour Briefing . In the meantime, my special thanks to Brian Caton of the POA for turning up at very short notice and giving a splendid speech which cheered the hearts of those present. John Wiseman of AMICUS, who is PPC for Westmorland and Lonsdale, also spoke with real conviction and, if there is an election, I will be up in the Lake District to help him out. Another unexpected speaker was Dave Wetzel , of GLC fame, who spoke about his Labour Land Tax campaign. Halifax MP Linda Riordan and the wonderful Alice Mahon were also on the platform . For three hours we had an absolutely honest and open debate led by John McDonnell who pulled no punches,urging us to work "within and without" the Labour Party to re-engage people and, on an issue by issue basis, re-appraise our strategies on how we go forward now democracy has been closed down within the Party. The trade union leaders, as this week showed, are not going to re-claim the Party for us. We have to do it our selves.......Comrades, have courage.

AIRBRUSHING HISTORY......

Laughed out loud at the row over the unctuous Culture Minister James Purnell apparently airbrushing himself into a photocall when he hadn't, er, turned up. Thought the age of spin was over.......

IS THE PARTY OVER FOR US?

I wasn't going to blog on this again but I'm going to as I've just read the comments from yesterday's CiF piece by John McDonnell as they make particularly depressing reading. I didn't catch the article originally as I was so late getting back from Bournemouth. Had I done so, I would have tried to be a bit more positive than the majority who urged John to quit/resign and form a new party. Let me say firstly that at the current time that view is perfectly understandable.This week's conference has been a major - and I mean major - blow for the Left.There's no point in false bravado.
If there's a snap election, there will probably be a rump of 20 Left MPs. We won't get a chance to somehow stand left candidates and stop the relentless march of New Labour Second Wave as candidates will be imposed right across the land. Things could not be more bleak. But people who are urging John to quit forget one thing. The PLP may be beyond redemption at the moment. But in the heartlands, there are still hundreds of councillors whose views are very different from those of Gordon "big tent" Brown and branches and constituencies who do not slavishly follow the New Labour agenda which will now go unquestioned at Conference and the NPF.
At this Conference, a delegate from Manchester Gorton proudly boasted that her CLP no longer had resolutions but went out "campaigning." No doubt equipped with lots of shiny leaflets from Central Office full of vacuous nonsense....
Things are pretty different where I live. But yes, we're campaigning all right.
Tomorrow, John McDonnell is coming to Hebden Bridge to head up an LRC conference on the theme of Re-building the Labour Left. And I hope he will be able to give us some positives at the end of a very bad week for Party democracy. When we planned this three months ago, the notion that CLPs would willingly give up their right to vote at Party Conference seemed unthinkable. But that's where we are. Pretty isolated.
People say John McDonnell should resign but why exactly? That would firstly be letting down his constituents in Hayes and Harlington, who have consistently increased his majority at each General Election, and letting down all those of us who are hanging on in there by our fingernails and who probably would go if he and his few remaining colleagues went too. That is EXACTLY what New Labour want.
There are still battles to be had outside the cosy confines of Party Conferences, ie the brave fight of the Gate Gourmet workers (pictured) campaigns to engage in and people to persuade and engage with. That's where we have to go if things are ever to change. But we stay in the Party. For now.

SALMOND V BROWN ?

Wonderful bit of nonsense over at Iain Dale who speculates the SNP might stand Alex Salmond against Gordon Brown in Kirkcaldy in a snap election. I'm sure it's a load or rubbish but I enjoyed the thought of Gordon frothing with rage at the audacity of it.It would certainly be intriguing.....

SEND IN THE CLONES?

Quote: "It has been a fantastic Conference week which has shown our party to be more confident, more determined and more united than ever before."

Source is the Labour Party website. Indeed, the mood is so exuberant the Guardian today predicts a snap election. I tend to agree. Good news, personally, as I will be covering the Manchester results for ITN and PA and get paid lots of money. Bad news - dozens more of uber New Labourites imposed on constituencies , including my own, therefore depriving decent , hard-working local candidates of any chance at all.

Well I've got this message to the Party if it does that. If our candidate is imposed then I will NOT campaign in this constituency but in neighbouring ones where there are MPs I respect and support politically. Two of them, Mike Wood and Linda Riordan, will be in Hebden Bridge tomorrow to speak at the LRC conference on Re-building The Labour Left. I will be frank, If there IS a snap election, our chances of doing any such thing are whittled away even further than they have been this week at the "Conference."

TOP BLOGGERS...

Who says the Left can't win? I am number 33 in Iain Dale's list of 100 top Labour bloggers.Bubbling under, and hoping to make Top 10 next time.....

HOME AT LAST......

Took nine hours to get back from Bournemouth due to unreliable vehicles which have a habit of breaking down.... So what to make of this week? As Tony Benn said at a fringe meeting the other night, it was basically a pre-election rally. But it still managed to be seriously bad news for the Labour Left .Not only, thanks to the unions, did we lose the vote on contemporary resolutions. No Centre Left Grassroots Alliance candidates were elected to the NPF so even if our "issues" get referred back they will of course be thrown out such is the make-up now of the Policy Forum. The only hope as far as that goesn now is possibly OMOV, which manages to consistently elect 4 centre-left candidates. I will now pause while the right-wingers have a laugh. But as they gloat they should ask themselves exactly what have they achieved ? The Labour Party has been shut down as a policy-making body in any real sense. No wonder less and less constituencies are sending delegates. Is there any point in us going next year? In may ways, possibly not. But the fringe remains a source of interesting debate and it's always great to meet like-minded people etc etc. For now, I wil refer you to 2 events which WILL allow our voices to be heard. One is on Saturday here in Hebden Bridge .
Details of 21st century Socialism are on John McDonnell's blog . On Saturday November 17 there is the annual LRC conference in London . There are awful struggles ahead. Let no-one underesimate how bad this week has been. But on an issue by issue basis, we will continue to fight for the values we believe in.
PS:The serious lack of posting was down to computer traumas which I won't bore anyone with.......

IS THE PARTY OVER?

I could be inthe Conference Hall watching an anodyne tea and sympathy session between Gordon and Mariella Frostrup, but here I am blogging instead at the fag-end of a week which has been an unmitigated disaster for Party democrascy. Last night union leaders got a roasting at the LRC rally - they deserved it. Was it really asking too mucgh for them to stand firm,Almost forgave Tony Woodley for the quote he gave re Brown's standing ovation:"Frankly, I would have given a two-headed martian an ovation after that warmongering *******.
Otherwise , forgive lack of inspired thought. Did not get to bed last night till 5am and am profoundly tired and hungover.

DON'T EXPECT A SNAP ELECTION......

Apologies for lack of posting. Computer hell would be putting it mildly. So what to make of Gordon's speech? I gave my views to the BBC........ some welcome stuff. Increases to maternity leave, more council housing, money for tuition . Rousing stuff to cheer the troops..unles they are in Iraq. No electioneering, no obvious call to arms. Don't expect an election any time soon.. Gordon's far too canny to risk that one. The computer hell continmues.... bloggers area set to close and my laptopo STILL isn't working

How Grim Is This

absent from blogosphere due to intricacies of wi- fi.........of Kafkaesque proportions -Las i post Conference as we knew it finally dead. The clones out in force with speeches pre-prepared . Good speech from Michael Meacher but not enough to stop lemming -like march away from democracy. Best moment was Ed miliband name check for Ralph .........Labour Conference RIP

JOHN McDONNELL SPEAKS UP FOR THE GRASSROOTS

Peter Hain wrote a disingenuous piece in yesterday's Guardian Comment Is Free. John McDonnell has an excellent riposte today. Follow this link and VOTE NO!!!!!

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/john_mcdonnell/2007/09/remember_the_members.html

ANOTHER DEAL FOR GORDON ?

Hope Shiraz Socialist will forgive me quoting direct but this has to go as far as it can in the left blogosphere and beyond ..........The “Big Four” unions (Unite, Unison, GMB and CWU) apparently voted in favour of a “compromise” deal at this week’s Labour National Executive Committee because Brown’s people told them that the alternative was no legislation on agency workers’ rights. What's more, they had not even SEEN the submissions from CLPs, most of which were allegedly against the move. So idiots like you and me basically filled in Gordon's consultation, said our bit, and hoped it would be listened to. So much for "Extending and Renewing Party democracy." It stinks. And it must be exposed.....

IS BLUE PETER CAT METAPHOR FOR CONFERENCE

It suddenly occurred to me this morning that the tale of the Blue Peter Cat could be analagous to Sunday's vote on contemporary resolutions at Labour Conference. You set up a consultation, people tell you what they want . And then ...... you completely ignore what they say and do what you wanted to do anyway. Or maybe in the tradition of famous socialist and footballer Brian Clough, who said he had a style of management as follows : "I say what I want, they say what they want, and then we agree I was right all along and do what I was going to do in the first place." Am I going mad? Possibly.......

TONY BENN ISSUES LAST-MINUTE PLEA TO SAVE PARTY CONFEREMCE

I would urge anyone wondering why the move by Gordon Brown to stop voting at Party Conference is such a bad idea to read today's Guardian Comment Is Free. No time to blog or comment but it speaks for itself. here's an extract....

"In short, party members will only have one campaigning function - to get councillors and a government elected with policies which they have played no part whatsoever in formulating. If this divorce happens, policy campaigning will revert to those outside the party and parliament. This would be a tragedy, but it would indicate clearly that the New Labour leadership's attitude to the party and the movement is not only that they don't want certain policies passed but also that they don't want any decisions reached they do not control."

CRUDDAS TEAMS UP WITH McDONNELL TO BACK TRADE UNION RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS BILL

I am very glad to note that Jon Cruddas is venturing out once more beyond the comfort zone of COMPASS. Since almost getting the deputy leadership ( and OK OK on reflection I should have voted for him) Cruddas has been very quiet. He went up in my estimation when he apparently turned down a minor job in the Government to paddle his own , very individual canoe. Once Conference is over, he will be speaking at the next big event of the political season.
A National Parliamentary Rally in support of the Trade Union Rights And Freedoms Bill proposed by John McDonnell will be held on Thursday October 18. First introduced to the House last year and with an EDM signed by over 187MPs, this has every chance of being passed - if enough of us speak out in support and lobby our MPs . More info . http://www.unitedcampaign.org.uk/ Other speakers on the day will include Tony Woodley, Bob Crow, Paul Kenny and Katy Clark MP. My union, the NUJ, is one of around 20 ( including UNISON and UNITE) backing the campaign .

SHALL WE STAY OR SHALL WE GO?

The mood is bleak on the Left of the Labour Party. Some messages from (I think) younger comrades saying the latest news from the NEC gives them reason to believe there is no point in staying around.
Bob Wareing's blatant de-selection in Liverpool West Derby ( whatever the rights and wrongs of it) looks like turning into another farrago and all around us voices are saying, friendly voices from comrades and frankly hostile ones from enemies, just pack it in. So why shouldn't we? Let's face it. 2007 has been a car crash for our hopes of serious change and the Labour Right would love nothing more than for all of us to quit and spend the rest of our political days on street corners selling Socialist Worker and boasting about how we got 200 votes in Parliamentary elections and how it's a "great step for socialism."
An even worse scenario is for the remaining Left MPs to quit the Party, stand as Independents and get roasted alive ( with one or two exceptions, like John McDonnell, who would probably survive ). The reality is that we have to carry on campaigning from within because if we don't then it's handed over for ever to the corporate sponsors, the money men, the neo-Tories and New Labour apparatchiks who are currently running the show. The ones who will be out in force at Bournemouth.
Last night, I watched bits of the Liberal Democrat conference and I have to say most of their policies are far more "left" than anything I've heard in years from this Govt.
More tax for the rich, asylum for illegal immigrants, anti Trident. Hey, they are even able to vote at their Conference. So why don't I just sod off, cut my losses and tear up my Party card?
Because, unlike the Liberal Democrats, Labour gets into power. It also has a federal structure and trade unions who affiliate, and a grassroots still largely remain committed to the socialist values which made me join the Labour Party.
Gordon Brown has spent a lifetime in the labour movement and believes utterly in the policies he is taking forward. I do not doubt his abilities or his intellect. But there are different voices in the Labour Party , voices less strident in defending capitalism, voices who would better defend the poor and vulnerable against the interests of the private equity fat cats and greedy mortgage lenders, voices who are for peace and against the obscenity of weapons of mass destruction. Voices who do not believe they have to be kept as some bogus "deterrent." Most of those voices are still in the Labour and trade union movement. At the moment, they are not being listened to. But that cannot last for ever.

DEATH OF LABOUR CONFERENCE?

My mole earlier today was right, then. The union representatives on the NEC ( for it must be they) have agreed to let Gordon Brown's proposals to scrap contemporary motions through.
Breaking news just in from the BBC says this was accepted by 23 votes to four ( presumably oposed by the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance) . Apparently, the "big concession " is that the process will be reviewed after two years. And then, no doubt, rubber-stamped again after a few late-night sessions in smoke-filled rooms. Will someone please therefpre explain what was the point of Gordon Brown's "consultation" and will they be publishing the results of it? I submitted my thoughts, so did many hundreds of other ondividuals and dozens of CLPs. To what end ? We've been stitched up like kippers . Again. There only remain the formalities.Unless of course there is a last-minute rebellion.I will stil be going to my CLP on Thursday and fighting this tooth and nail.Odd, isn't it, how Gordon hates the union vote when it conspires against him. But we have a situation where four out of 6 CLP reps ( I'm assuming here) vote against these profoundly anti-democratic proposals and it counts for diddly squat......

CONFERENCE CREDENTIALS

Here we go again....three days to go till we set off for Bournemouth and my conference pass has not arrived. No, I don't think it's a conspiracy to keep out rebels. Just pure, shambolic mismanagement. I have just had a message from a member of the National Constitutional Committe who is staying inside the secure zone at the five-star Highcliff. She's been told she will have to queue for late accreditation - despite the fact she applied SIX MONTHS ago. Of course, she won't be able to get into the hotel without her pass. Last year, the CAC promised they would try and sort this out. If you recall, an entire union delegation (ASLEF) went home in disgust after not getting their credentials in time. Many others had to queue for hours. I have tried ringing the number ( they are not answering) rung the Labour Party direct. And no-one seems to know what on earth is going on.
UPDATE: Just spoken to soemoene and if they don't arrive tomorrow, it's time to join the queue. FYI the late accreditations office will be open from 8am on Saturday at the Pavilion, Exeter Road.

POLLY SPART?

Would anyone accuse Polly Toynbee of being a "Dave Spart" demagogue? Probably not. Yet her very interesting piece in today's Guardian would no doubt be picked on by some as way too leftie for their tastes. Well done Polly. Agree with every word.....( she's talking about the Lib Dem policy proposals) I hope Alistair Darling is reading this over his breakfast

"Hammer the rich, shut loopholes for tax exiles and cut the basic rate of income tax for all by 4p sounds good. So does cutting the huge pension tax reliefs for the rich, long overdue, yielding as much as £7.5bn. Dead right to axe the inexplicable relief on capital gains for private equity, which would bring in another £6bn. All these the chancellor of the exchequer should steal wholesale for his next budget: think what he could do with £13.5bn in a very tight spending round. He won't, of course, do anything as brave - people who work private equity are rattling his cage with threats that touching their perks will lead to "meltdown".

IS KERRON CROSS ?

Kerron Cross, the self-styled voice of the "delectable Left," is clearly not quite such hot stuff north of the Border. According to a reliable Grim spy up in Scotland , he garnered just 2 out of 280 votes in Glasgow Central, where he was hoping to be Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Kerron spends much of his time in the blogosphere mocking socialists in the Labour Party, MPs on the left, and bigging up his chances of a Westminster career......

DON'T DO IT, BOB ...

Bob Wareing has vowed to fight West Derby, leave the Party, and stand as an independent. I have to say this cannot be a good idea, least of all for him. OK, he 's 78 But let's forget the age factor for a minute because for good or ill there are plenty of other MPs who hang on until their 70s ( and beyond) .

But by standing as an independent , Bob Wareing will most probably

a) lose b) lose badly and c) not help the socialist principles he has espoused so consistently. So I would urge him to reconsider because:

None of his comrades in the PLP will be able to help him campaign ( or they will also be expelled from the Labour Party which frankly would be a disaster for what's left of the Left ) , a defeat will be used against the Left politically by New Labour , and he knows as we all do what happens to Labour MPs who try to go it alone. They end up in the wilderness. No matter how hard they have worked over the years.

After Bob's 60 years in the Party, this must be an awful blow and I think he's been treated pretty shoddily. But just let it go, mate. With the greatest of respect......

STEPHEN TWIGG SELECTED IN LIVERPOOL WEST DERBY

Some years back, I had a chat with Stephen Twigg at Labour Party Conference. He was perfectly amiable, bought me a drink and we agreed to disagree on tuition fees. But I hear with some dismay that he's been chosen to stand - instead of sitting MP Bob Wareing - in West Derby. Campaign Group member Bob is well into his seventies and it could possibly be argued maybe it was time for him to stand down No-one is entitled to automatic re-selection.
But parachuting Twigg into a constituency in such a manner is cynical, unnecessary and typical shenanigans of a kind we have had far too much of in recent years.There must surely have been a wealth of local candidates who would have been more appropriate.....

WILL HE BE MERCILESS TO MING?

As the Lib Dems gather in Brighton, the rumour mill is working overtime on the prospect of Menzies Campbell hanging on to the leadership. The less likley a snap election, the more it seems that he's in trouble. At 66, Ming is hardly in the first flush of youth. But that is hardly a reason to get rid of him. A better one is that since Charlie Kennedy was forced to pack it in the Libs have plummeted in the polls.
The latest opinion poll for the Independent shows them marooned on 15 points, down seven points since April. Labour continues to flourish on 37 per cent and the Tories are on 34. However, the gloomy findings echo a Sunday Times poll which said 63 per cent of Lib-Dem supporters believed the party would do better with a younger leader. The bad news forMing is there is now talk of David Owen re-joining Labour and his gang Of Four colleague Lord (Bill) Rodgers says he is " disappointed with Sir Menzies's leadership." Just a thought, but I suppose if Rodgers, Owen and Shirley Williams all jump ship and head back to Labour, then Ming is surely doomed....

BUDDY, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME.......

Chancellor Alistair Darling resolutely upbeat this morning on Today despite the crisis over at Northern Rock.Let's hope he is right. Would the Government, as Will Hutton suggested, take the logical step of nationalising it in a worst-case scenario? One thing's for sure. The mood music in the media about snap general elections has already changed. It's suggested by the Guardian that pictures of anxious savers queuing to get their money out wouldn't exactly be helpful to our victory prospects. Indeed. And interesting, if a tad scary, to note just how quickly the apparent invincibility of the capitalist world can start to crack.

In 1929, the Wall Street Crash had terrible repercussions for the nation, despite the fact that less than one per cent of the American people actually possessed stocks and shares. The fall in share prices over just a few weeks made it difficult for entrepreneurs to raise the money needed to run their companies. Within a short time, 100,000 American companies were forced to close and many workers became unemployed. It was the start of the Great Depression. We're a long way from that. But it's a salutary lesson for companies like Northern Rock, where shares have fallen a horrific 50 per cent in just a few days

IN SHARP CONTRAST....

This morning to Mayor's Civic Reception ( for my sins I am Deputy) which was a very pleasant occasion with cause for one or two wry smiles. Our Mayor is a Liberal Democrat but this is Hebden Bridge where all kinds of strange things happen......expect the unexpected. Hence the service in the local school was a humanist one, the local brass band played the Marseilaise, and we sang a song called Solidarity Forever ( to the tune of John Brown's Body..) and finished off with Woody Guthrie's socialist anthem. This Land Is Your Land. Hence also no national anthem...... which caused much huffing and puffing from one or two Tory dignitaries.
And a sharp observation from one of my Labour colleagues that the whole event was far to the left of what our lot would probably come up with . Except of course, in Hebden Bridge. Where next year I hope to have the Tories singing the Red Flag or possibly the Internationale.....with the local parish priest ( a Labour Party member) joining in.

BROWN COMMISSIONS A THATCHER PAINTING......

Now Gordon has decided a picture of Thatch must hang in Number 10 - she's said to be "delighted" at the news. What's more, one of her allegedly favourite artists, Richard Stone, who has painted the Queen, the Queen Mother and Nancy Reagan, is expected to be commissioned to work on the portrait. Comes as no surprise now, does it......

SAVE THE LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE

Thanks to Save The Labour Party for the following press release. Stand firm, comrades!

Activists call for full publication of reactions to Brown Labour Party

London, 15 September - Save the Labour Party (STLP) has written to Labour Party Leader Gordon Brown asking for full publication of all submissions to his proposals for extending and renewing [Labour] party democracy the deadline for which was noon yesterday.

Evidence gathered by STLP and other Labour Party activists to date suggests widespread opposition to Brown's proposal to stop members tabling, debating and voting on resolutions at future Annual Conferences.
STLP Chair, Peter Kenyon, said: "It is vital that Labour practices what it preaches when it comes to party reform. What confidence can the public have in government consultations if our Party Leader is seen trying to gag his own party?"
The gagging move is also being resisted by affiliated trade unions. The Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation (TULO) meeting in Brighton agreed by a large majority to vote against Brown's Plan at the 2007 Annual Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth next weekend.
Efforts by No.10 advisors at the TUC in Brighton last week to broker a compromise even before the consultation closed failed. A further meeting is pencilled in on Monday ahead of the pre-Conference Labour Party National Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday.

For those ofyou who don't know, STLP ( of which I have been a member for 4 years) has attracted support from all sections of the Labour Party. It has close links with other campaigning organisations in the labour movement in England, Scotland and Wales, including the Campaign For Labour Party Democracy and the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance, which last year had four of its candidates elected to the NEC.
The LabOUR Commission's report "Renewal - a two-way process for the 21st century" was published after the polls closed in May 2007. It includes a 10-point plan to rebuild the Labour Party as a financially sound, mass membership democratic socialist organisation. It can be downloaded from http://www.labourcommission.org.uk/

STILL GLAD YOU NOMINATED HIM?

"Best when we are Labour." Gordon Brown, Labour Conference 2003.

TORY AD AGENCY APPOINTED BY BROWN

I'll say one thing for the otherwise irredeemable Luke Akehurst - he knows how to spot a good story and such is the news that Labour has now appointed Saatchi and Saatchi to head up its General Election campaign.This is of course a logical step - the next phase in Brown incorporating things Tory in his big tent. S and S are not just an ad agency who had an account with the Conservatives. They are iconic - and masterminded the 1979 Thatcher victory with their famous slogan "Labour isn't Working."
Like everything Brown does, it is deliberate, wilfully designed to upset Cameron, and will no doubt annoy many on the left. However, I won't be losing any sleep particularly as let's face it all ad agencies will work for anyone as long as they are paid enough dosh.
Yes, Brown could have gone for an ethical PR company ( there are some) avoided slick media spin ( wasn't that supposed to be Brown's USP) and hey saved the Labour Party some money - but with these guys on board it will be dirty business as usual. As anyone going to this link
http://www.labour.org.uk/just_gordon will see , they have already come up with a fantastic idea "Not flash - just Gordon." Utterly cringe-making. Expect a torrent of well-deserved p***-takingfrom the Right.

CALL FOR NUCLEAR TRANSPORT BAN

Kate Hudson, of CND, works tirelessly in the cause of peace and nuclear disarmament. She also writes a monthly column in the Morning Star .Today's piece rightly warns of renewed danger of conflict in Iran, calls for immediate troop withdrawal from iraq, and closer to home reports that Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond is seeking to ban the transportation of nuclear weapons on his home soil. A highly significant step as it would have enormous repercussions for Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system. Currently, nuclear warheads are carried by road from the iconic Aldermaston in Berkshire, to the naval depot near Faslane in Scotland.
The Scots, as Kate points out, are absolutely right to be concerned about these road transports as the warheads in the lorries carry plutonium and other lethal radioactive materials. However, no warning of the convoys is given to either the public or to local authorities. Nor do the lorries display radioactive warning symbols, even though each one carries up to 8kg of plutonium. Salmond plans to invoke EU regulations on environmental protection as part of an ongoing campaign in Scotland against Trident. Updates on all the above at the Labour CND fringe meeting in Bournemouth.

LEFT UNITED IN OPPOSITION TO CONFERENCE CHANGES

Some stirrers on the right of the Party are trying to suggest that the LRC is somehow isolated , indeed "hysterical" in its opposition to Gordon Brown's proposals to render Party Conference utterly ( as oppose to only semi) impotent. This is , of course,utter rubbish.
On Tuesday night, the LRC, CLPD and Save The Labour Party staged a joint fringe meeting on the theme of Saving Labour Party Conference. I understand about 80 people attended. The special supplement of Briefing brought out over the summer explained cogently and in measured terms why the Brown document would take away, not extend, Party democracy. I quote.
"During the Blair years, Conference managed to pass some policies which were in opposition to the government line, most notably on the "fourth option" for council housing.Brown (having been moved to act on housing by the strength of feeling at Conference) is desperate to ensure his Government will suffer no such upsets.
"If the Brown proposals were really about democratising the Party, we would be having a debate between the various rules amendments promoted by CLPD and the LabOUR Commission. These include pushing for CLPs and affiliates to have rights to amend NPF documents at Conference and for Conference resolutions to override NPF documents ."
And Kelvin Hopkins MP also gets it absolutely right in the latest CLPD newsletter:
"The centralisation of power within the Party has seen a mass haemhorraging of members and the hollowing out of the Party's internal political activity. To see oceans of empty chairs at Conference,with visitors invited down from the gallery to fill up the gaps and lsten to boring speeches prepared by Party apparatchiks ( and delivered by New Labour delegates being groomed for slotting into safe Labour seats) illustrates the utter contempt with which the New Labour leadership regards the Party and its grassroots membership." And, if Brown gets his way, it will be even worse....

BACKING FOR REFERENDUM CALL.....

As expected, the TUC today backed a GMB motion calling for a referendum on the new EU treaty and urging Ministers to drop the opt-out on the charter of fundamental rights. This will a) fulfil Labour's 2005 election pledge and b) give workers more rights
PS: For now I won't switch on comment moderation but any more personal abuse will just be deleted.

IN ANSWER TO ANONYMOUS SLURS

In the past few days I have been on the receiving end of some fairly nasty posts from an "anonymous" person who makes the usual right-wing noises about "Trots" making trouble for the leadership. So let me absolutely clear about this. I would love to be extolling the virtues of Gordon Brown .I would love to be reporting how under his leadership the Govt has turned away from the failed politics of Blairism and turned back towards Labour values, shown solidarity with low-paid workers, curbed the excesses of the fat cats in the City, backed a Living Wage, Trade Union Freedom Bill etc etc.
Today, this nasty poster goes a step too far in saying my support for the unions' campaign for an EU referendum means I am lining up with the BNP and UKIP.Or, as he puts it so nicely "getting into bed with Nick Griffin."
As he knows full well ( or maybe he doesn't) where the Tories want a referendum to limit the influence of Brussels the TUC are looking to extend it.
Many unions see a referendum campaign as a way to exert pressure on the PM to sign up fully to the European charter of fundamental rights, which guards against employment abuses.
That's a move the government's always avoided because employers argue it would unfairly skew the labour market. Brown as we know is agreat fan of "flexibility." and global capitalism
Labour also went into the 2005 general election with a manifesto pledge to hold a referendum on the now scrapped European constitution. Once the EU resurrected large parts of the constitution in the form of a treaty, there were calls from opponents for the referendum pledge to be revived. Those opponents include Bob Crow from the RMT and Paul Kenny from the GMB. And their reasons are entirely honourable. Which is more than i can say for people who trawl the internet posting anonymous bile .Today, I hope the TUC backs the referendum calls.

PARTY CONFERENCE IN THE BALANCE

Three months into the Brown Premiership and we're back to inquorate meetings, cynicism and disillusionment. It's deeply depressing. Last night to Branch meeting where I was aiming to get a resolution to our CLP next week on saving contemporary motions - and mandating our delegate to vote down moves to end Conference votes. With around 140 members in our Branch, we could rustle up only 9 - 1 vote short of the number needed. A show of hands was 6-2 in favour of keeping the status quo and i still hope to raise the isue next week. But it doesn't bode well.

Last weekend there was apparently a regional event ( to which surprise surprise I did NOT get an invitation and our CLP sec got it so late there was no time to circulate) with Hilary Benn trotting out the nonsense that Brown's proposals will be more democratic. His line was apparently that the Govt had never taken any notice of Conference votes anyway so what was the problem. Well, comrades, we know what the problem is. The National Policy Forum has no checks and alances and this ever more right-wing leadership doesn't want any more clear dissent from the Conference floor.It is one thing debating a contentious issue ( then sweeping it under the carpet) quite another having a clear vote showing the real thoughts of CLPs and trade union delegates.

. Ideology aside, this move by Brown is anti-democratic ( however cleverly he spins it) and the death-knell for any meaningful discussioon at Party Conference. However, the reality is this will get through unless the unions stand firm and help the Left save what little is left of democracy at what used to be the sovereign policy-making body.

THE MESSAGE FROM THE UNIONS.....

........is that If Gordon Brown insists on unfair pay restraint, they will join forces for co-ordinated industrial action. Frankly, he has left them little choice.

As Mark Serwotka said earlier today: "When Gordon Brown slams the door in our face, we have to say we aren't accepting it. Unity is strength." Our members are not the cause of inflation; they are the victims of it."
Steve Cox, of the Prison Officers' Association, added: "None of us want a repeat of the winter of 1978. However, if the government continues like this, we have to be ready for action.
"If we are left with no alternative, we will all be out on the street."
General Secretary Brendan Barber said the TUC would bring unions together and co-ordinate action, including industrial action . He warned that the government would pay a "heavy price" if it did not change its mind over pay. But don't expect Brown to listen to sense any time soon......he's too busy listening to his friends in the City.

THE VERDICT FROM THE FLOOR.......

I've been at Labour Party conferences where Gordon Brown has been cheered to the rafters. Until fairly recently, one might have expected a similar response from a TUC crowd delighted to see Blair's demise. But yesterday's ( expected) pronouncements on public sector pay , coupled with ( maybe not so expected) Blairite rhetoric went down like the proverbial lead balloon. The Prime Minister's speech got no standing ovation and applause lasting just 30 seconds. I have no doubt he will get a much warmer reception in two weeks' time when Labour convenes in Bournemouth. But Brown forgets the anger of the unions at his peril. He's now on a collision course with those who most wanted to support him. And it is entirely of his own New Labour making.

NEW PLAQUE FOR PETERLOO SITE

Congratulations to campaigners who have persuaded Manchester City Council to put up a new plaque explaining exactly what happened at Peterloo - that terrible day in 1819, when a peaceful crowd of about 60,000 people gathered in St Peter's Fields ( now St Peter's Square) to listen to anti-poverty and pro-democracy speakers. Despite the peaceful nature of their demonstration, it is estimated that 18 were killed, and over 700 were seriously injured by armed cavalry. An existing blue plaque (pictured) commemorates the date and site -now it will be replaced with a red plaque outlining the horrible reality of what happened on August 16 188 years ago. The campaigners, who have their own website, hope to carry on their work ensuring that Peter loo is remebered by future generations - they are holding a meeting in the Briton's Protection pub , Manchester, on September 17.

In UNISON against low pay......

An anonymous poster (they always are) today accused me of being on the "lunatic fringe."

He of course is perfectly entitled to that view but I doubt the same charge could be levelled at Dave Prentis, the moderate UNISON leader (pictured) who normally goes out of his way to be conciliatory.

However a few minutes ago on the radio Prentis spoke out against Brown's stubbiorn, wrong-headed stance on public sector pay. He talked quite rightly of the unfairness of "public sector workers bearing the brunt of the government's cost-cutting measures because of an inflation caused by the £14billion in bonuses for people in the City who are now busy spending their money and pushing up prices. People in the public sector have got to be looked after otherwise you can't have the goodwill of the workforce." Well said, Dave.

.....AND LET'S HAVE A REFERENDUM ON THE EU

Reports suggest that Ministerial aides are hotfooting it to Brighton to try and persuade the trade union leaders to drop calls for a referendum on the EU constitution. The current state of play is that these pleas are falling ondeaf ears with a motion tabled for Wednesday. I hope the unions stand firm on this. The consensus ( to use one of Brown's favourite words) is that the British people were promised a vote . The Govt's current position is disingenuous. And they know it. What's more, after the many years of Blair spin and subterfuge, people simply aren't prepared to be hoodwinked. If Brown doesn't listen to the calls across the board for a referendum on the issue, he will live to regret it at the ballot box.
Check out www.iwantareferendum.com for more info.

TIME FOR TUC TO GET TOUGH ON THE FAT CATS

I hope this week's TUC conference in Brighton has some positive outcomes. On the one hand, it's obviously encouraging to hear Brendan Barber calling on the Govt to address inequalities in the tax system and "loopholes" which add up to £4billion a year in tax breaks for UK citizens who spent time abroad.But don't hold your breath.
Barber has rightly slammed the "super-rich" who float free from the rest of us, and think that tax is for the "little people". He is also right to criticise the size of City bonuses - £14bn in total this year. Why? Because the gap between rich and poor in this country is, after 10 years of labour Government, worse than ever.
But then in sadly predictable fashion he steps back from the logical brink and confirms the TUC is not actually calling for a change in the rate of income tax for the highest earners. What's worse, he starts to morph into Gordon Brown -speak which sounds radical without actually offering any concrete suggestions.
Unions, he says, have to "build support for a new progressive consensus of equality and redistribution - not based on the old politics of envy but on a new politics of cutting the costs of inequality".
Now what does he mean by the "politics of envy." Go back three generations and my grandparents were scrabbling around to try and earn enough to feed five children . They couldn't, so my dad was sent to his grandparents in Northern Ireland.
When I was little, we had no car, we didn't go abroad, holidays were caravans in Blackpool and North Wales. Yes our family life was stable and parental love and concern is one thing money can't buy but were we envious of those who had more? The answer , Brendan, is yes of course we were. And we had every right to be.
When I was a teenager in the LPYS, there was a badge in vogue which bore the slogan "We don't want the cake, we want the whole bloody bakery." Fine sentiments, I still think. So can the trade union bureaucrats stop serving us the crumbs.....and expecting us to be contented.

UNIONS LINING UP TO BLOCK BROWN'S ATTACK ON PARTY DEMOCRACY

I'm glad to see Derek Simpson is speaking out, as we all must, against Gordon Brown's plans to remove the last vestiges of democracy from Party Conference. But frankly it's a bit of a shame that Simpson and his UNITE comrade Tony Woodley did not do a bit more to stop Gordon Brown becoming leader without a contest . They were warned and most probably knew full well that Brown would be even more right-wing than Blair but, like turkeys voting for Christmas, refused to countenance officially backing a left candidate.On what basis, I still can't understand as Brown has done absolutely nothing to placate them. Quite the contrary.
Now we are all reaping the whirlwind of Gordon's clunking first. With every day that passes, there is a new pronouncement or appointment that takes Labour further away from its roots. Last night I was at a friend's 50th birthday party where I met an 85-year-old Party member who expressed utter astonishment at that Brown is doing in the name of the labour Party. "I used to be Old labour, then I was New Labour but now I'm definitely Old Labour again, ." she said as she somewhat tipsily waved a red napkin in my face. All in all, Peg was a bit of a star and it's great to meet people who have spent all their lives campaigning for Labour.
But it's also seriously depressing that the left has no influence whatsoever in Govt. However, rolling over and dying just isn't an option. On Tuesday night, there's a TUC fringe meeting on the topic of Brown's plans to put the final nail in the coffin of Party Conference. Tony Woodley, John McDonnell, and Save The Labour Party's Peter Kenyon will be speaking so if anyone reading this is in Brighton do get along. Venue is the Quality Hotel at 5.30pm.Labour Party Conference must be saved!

NO BLOG TODAY BECAUSE......

It is all of course the fault of my friend's young son, whose 14th birthday it was yesterday. We toasted him with pink cava and I had starved all day to enjoy the delight of a very hot curry with masses of pickle and poppadums . Unfortunately, the cava took effect before the food......so a beautiful sunny day destroyed by a hangover. Will i ever grow up........

And yet another Tory.......

Hi comrades,daresay you're all delighted that another bloody Tory is part of Gordon's gang.
Tory donor, Johan Eliasch is advising the Great Leader on deforestation and green energy. Of course, Labour doesn't have any experts on climate change, does it.........
Labour MP Alan Simpson says in today's Morning Star ""There are at least a dozen really reputable, well-known figures in the UK with real independence of mind and a track record of addressing sustainability issues, particularly in relation to deforestation.
"To overlook those in favour of a man who has a reputation for growing money trees rather than real trees is an indication of Brown's weakness on environmental policies rather than his strength,"
"It is bad enough that the guy is likely to retain his links with the Tory party, but the real issue is that he is unlikely to establish links with the planet, which would push Gordon to develop the radical environmental polices that he will sooner or later have to face up to."

ANOTHER "CONSULTATION" SHAM?

Why am I not surprised at the news key environmental groups are set to pull out of a Govt "consultation" on the grounds it's a stitch-up.Friends Of The Earth , Greenpeace and the WWF claim the so-called inquiry into the pros and cons of nuclear energey is a waste of time and money as Gordon Brown has already made his mind up.According to the Guardian, a document detailing their anxieties will be outlined to ministers today. Apparently, it accuses the government of "conducting a public relations stitch-up designed to deliver a preordained policy on new nuclear power" and "rushing" a consultation process that its advisers say should take at least nine months.
"The new consultation is no different from the government's previous attempt at a nuclear consultation," it says. "It skirts over the many negative aspects of nuclear power, such as its enormous cost, what to do with all the radioactive waste new build will create, and how little nuclear power will do to help cut carbon emissions and guarantee energy security."
The document continues: "It has become clear that the government has already made up its mind ... and that this new consultation is nothing more than an expensive sham. "

Predictable this is, but also depressing. New leader, same New Labour crap. It hardly bodes well for Gordon's "citizen's juries" and whatever other nonsense the Government comes up with instead of properly democratic processes. It's telling that last night, I chatted to two new Labour Party arrivals in the area who a few weeks back were eagerly awaiting a Brown Premiership. Disillusion, I'm afraid, has already set in. Brown's "cleverness" in recruiting right-winmg Tories to his team and utterly excluding the left will come back to haunt him. I hope.

FUND-RAISING IS GOOD

An event of no interest whatsoever to anyone who doesn't live near me but our bi-monthly curry nights raise about £1000 for the local Labour Party - which unlike some of its members (see below) does not pocket fat wads of cash from people with more money than sense. So off I go to the Trades Club to meet other ( maybe deluded) souls who still have faith in the common good.......

GREED IS NOT GOOD

How much money does John Prescott need? Not content with a handsome pension and ongoing role in the Council of Europe, Prescott clearly concerned at the prospect of no longer being at Westminster as he is now touting himself around as an after-dinner speaker. The mind frankly boggles at the notion of anyone parting with hard-earned cash to hear him murder the English language but there you have it. A mere £10,000 to £25,000 a pop should guarantee you a night out with Two Jags - who wouldn't jump at it.

I write this in sorrow more than anger as , naively, for many years I harboured a sad illusion that Prescott still retained some kind of credibility as a Labour man. But that was before the TT races with Tracey Temple.

SUPPORT THE RMT

A sign of the times, I suppose, that Facebook groups are quoted in political stories. I joined one supporting the RMT but it seems there are many others decrying Bob Crow for standing firm and leading the walk-out on the Tube. Bob gets the kind of press once reserved for people like Arthur Scargill and Tony Benn. There are very few of his ilk left. My only argument with Crow is the fact the RMT should never have left the Labour Party and his backing for ultra-left groups but, as a union leader, he is sound. Bottom line is that the RMT has increased its membership by nearly 50 per cent since Bob took over as general secretary in 2002. So he's probably not losing any sleep at the lack of Facebook Friends.....

THE QUOTE RE THATCH

On reflection, perhaps I was a little over-emotive last night so, in the interests of objectivity, this is what GB actually said. I still think it's offensive, expedient and unacceptable. I would be interested to know what others think.....
"Whatever disagreements you have with her about certain policies – there was a large amount of unemployment at the time which perhaps could have been dealt with – we have got to understand that she saw the need for change. I also admire the fact that she is a conviction politician... I am a conviction politician like her."

AND NOW THATCHER IS GORDON'S ROLE-MODEL

It just doesn't get any worse than this. The" grotesque spectacle " ( a favourite Neil Kinnock phrase) of a Labour Prime Minister praising Margaret Thatcher as a "conviction politician." Without irony, without qualification, quite wilfully. All in the interests, apparently, of wrongfooting the Tories.

Sometimes, in the political world, diplomacy and protocol demands being civil to one's enemies. I understand that. I even admit I met Thatcher myself at a literary dinner and had no option but to exchange pleasantries - though I wanted to run a mile.

But the way Brown is now behaving is simply beyond the pale.

Margaret Thatcher had convictions alright. I remember them well. I remember standing on the picket lines in 1984, and the generosity of mining families fighting with dignity and courage for their jobs, going to Greenham Common and protesting against cruise missilies and joining thousands of marchers in London on CND demonstrations. There was the People's March For Jobs, a couple of million on the dole, the deliberate destruction of mining and manufacturung industry in the interests of market forces. Trade union rights taken away.

And Brown now stands there at the podium and pontificates on Thatcher's qualities. How dare he! What exactly is he trying to achieve and why is no-one in Government stopping this relentless attack on the values we hold dear, the members of our Party and the struggles which at the time he wholeheartedly supported. To say I am disgusted is putting it mildly.

Gordon, why not go the whole bloody hog and cross the floor with your fellow neo-cons. Frankly, it would be a great relief to many of us. Because the way you are behaving at the moment, you are a disgrace to the labour movement.

GORDON......RAMSAY?

What the f*** is going on ! Excuse my language but what on earth is a LABOUR PM doing inviting more Tories into his team. Not just any old Tories, either. None other than Patrick Mercer, who quit as shadow homeland security spokesman after a row over alleged racist comments, ie calling someone a "black bastard" is to advise Lord West on security matters. Jack Straw, then the leader of the Commons, said Mr Mercer's comments were "breathtaking and dreadful". Wonder what he makes of this, then.
In another fantastic appointment, less sickening but equally inexcusable, John Bercow will advise on support for children with learning difficulties. Lib Dem MP Matthew Taylor will also advise the PM, on rural planning. How bloody marvellous..Does it never occur to Brown to give a job to anyone even remotely left of centre? He talks quite openly of an end to "the politics of division". Yes, that would be good. How good it would be to see a Cabinet in which "all the talents " of the Labour Party were represented. As they used to be.

So people with expertise like Jon Cruddas, John McDonnell and Alan Simpson would be offered decent jobs ( not pathetic sops) and be able to contribute to the challenges of Government and help keep things on track in a centre-left direction. In our dreams......

I think Brown is insulting his MPs, insulting his members ( who let's not forget never elected him anyway) and utterly discrediting the Labour Party in a way hitherto only seen with Ramsay MacDonald. I am , in a word, appalled.

GRIM UP NORTH

Have just got back from the birthplace of the co-op movement, where I was doing a recce on local restaurants ( food and drink writing being one of the ways I earn a living) .It's over 20 years since I entered the portals of the Rochdale Observer building in search of a job - and was dispatched over the Pennines to Rawtenstall, where the Lancashire accents were so dense that I had difficulty understanding them ( and I'm from Manchester!)

Sadly, that once-proud newspaper building, where we all rallied for NUJ meetings, is now for sale.The print workers are long gone and I understand the journalists either work from home or at a centralised operation in Manchester city centre.

It's a while since I visited the town and somewhat striking that the consumer renaissance which has transformed Manchester almost beyond recognition just hasn't registered only 10 miles from Selfridges and Harvey Nichols.

The town centre has a hard-up, flyblown air which is more reminiscent of Thatcher's Britain than Brown's supposedly affluent UK. Actually , in 1984, when I first visited the place at the height of the miners' strike , it looked far more prosperous.

One restaurant owner I met (somewhat bizarrely cooking up Cajun cuisine !) told me he only opens two nights a week as people only go out at the weekends. Another cafe was run by Kurds who have joined the many refugees in the town . His establishment, he told me, was almost exclusively used by the Kurdish community and, unlike London, there's not much of a cultural crossover. Curry houses abound and there are cheap shops but it's still a pretty depressing place with lots of derelict land and "To let" signs.

By now, the new Metrolink station should have opened (and that really will have a dramatic effect on the town) but Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive is still trying to plug the gap in Govt funding which was taken away a couple of years ago.

Towns like Rochdale are far more typical of the north-west than glitzy Manchester. And if they are to survive they need far more commitment from central government to help local authorities build the infrastructure and attract the investment they need to stop places like this dying on their feet economically.

CHEAP AT A PRICE

There are women I know of the "shop till you drop" tendency who think Primark is marvellous. And so it seems if you want cheap fashionable clothes and don't have a lot of money. But we all know the real cost is paid by the workers who supply the togs now selling at ludicrously low prices ie stuff in primark now costs less than I remember paying as a very image-conscious teenager in the 1970's.

Today no real surprise as the Guardian reveals that workers in the sweatshops which supply places like Primark, Gap and Matalan get paid as little as 13 pence an hour for a 48 hour week - and are regularly forced to work overtime of between six and 18 hours per week. Boycotting these shops will do little to help those currently being exploited so hideously. Putting pressure on the Govt and the retailers just might.In the meantime, check out retailers like Marks and Spencer whose "Look Bhind The Label" range is in the FTSE top 20 of ethical companies.

BEGINNING OF THE END?

Some good news at thr weekend as it was announced 500 British troops are to pull out of Basra palace , with withdrawal from the city itself expected in the autumn. yesterday, the Sunday Times predicted Gordon Brown would use his first Westminster statement of the autumn to announce some kind of exit strategy. Let's hope they are right.

TASER GUNS NOT THE ANSWER

Something is rotten in the state of the Home Office when they start investigating the whys and wherefores of shooting at kids. Apparently the green light has now been given to using Taser guns, which emit electric shocks of about 50,000 volts, not only to adults but to minors too.

The Home Office has also apparently asked for computer simulations to be carried out to analyse the effect on "a pregnant female". Nice one.

In the current wave of public horror at the dreadful random killing of an 11-year-old boy in Liverpool, such calls are likely to win wide support. But, as the recent evidence from the POA shows, getting superficially tough on crime does not necessarily solve the endemic problems which are causing it in the first place. Much is down to drugs and, speaking utterly personally, I would be in favour of legalising some of the drugs which currently lead to out-of-control gangland culture and profiteers making capital out of people's addictions. I accept that would not exactly be a vote-winner.....

But we need more positive initiatives, more faith in the ability of communities to work together to tackle these dreadful problems. Slapping ASBOs here, there and everywhere and demonising people just isn't the answer.

We have a ridiculously consumerist society - where the gap between the rich and poor is widening all the time and people on low incomes are encouraged by big banks and loan sharks to get into debt so they can emulate the wealthy.That's not an excuse for bad behaviour. But it's part of the problem.

Last weekend, in Hebden Bridge, which is regarded as a haven of middle-class liberalism, youths in the town nevertheless went on a mindless rampage smashing shop windows. Completely unacceptable I agree. But giving them the taser treatment wouldn't change the underlying reasons why incidents of this kind happen. There are no easy solutions. But an increasingly authoritarian police force surely isn't the answer. It's also dangerous.

Amnesty International claims Tasers have been responsible for 220 deaths in America since 2001. Many cities and police forces there have banned their use against minors.
Two years ago in Chicago a 14-year-old boy went into cardiac arrest after being shot with one. Medics had to use a defibrillator four times to resuscitate him.
Taser International, the American firm that makes the device, says tests on pigs suggested the weapons were safe. I will refrain from making the obvious comment....

THEY KEEP THE RED FLAG FLYING....

My thanks to Unrepentant Communist for unearthing an absolutely fascinating website which is an Aladdin's Cave of socialist music. Largely devoted to the musical canon of the former Soviet Union , this websitehttp://www.sovmusic.ru/english/index.phphas its own Top Twenty, a section devoted to the Internationale and songs by left legends like Victor Jara and Paul Robeson ( who sings an English translation of the recently reinstated Soviet anthem). There are also forgotten tunes of the Spanish Civil war and dozens of other gems. And, yes, comrades, you can download them all!

I'm no apologist for totalitarianism. But, as a visitor to the USSR in 1989 , I recall with some nostalgia the friendliness of the people I met in Leningrad and Moscow and the plusses of a non-consumerist society. Yes, many minusses too. But it's one of the great tragedies of the 20th century that Gorbachev's laudable perestroika experiment ended in a violent coup, corrupt Government, and the worst elements of capitalism riding roughshod over the masses.

HOW MUCH LONGER ?

For the fifth year running, anti-war campaigners will be meeting at Labour Party Conference. Last time I was in Bournemouth, it was 2003 and Labour Against The War was discussing the immediate aftermath of the conflict.

A year later, in Brighton, I was there when dozens of journalists from around the world joined delegates crammed into the Friends' Meeting House for a harrowing evening which included an unbearably poignant telephone interview with the brother of Ken Bigley, at that stage still alive and pleading with Tony Blair for his life. It's fair to say that few of us then would have thought three years on we would still be urging a Labour Government to take immediate steps to bring an end to this unholy alliance with the US which has led to so much death and suffering. Last year, at the Manchester conference (pictured) thousands of us marched in what we knew would be Blair's last conference. Despite the change in leadership which some erroneously thought would lead to a sea-change in our foreign policy, nothing has changed and meanwhile the recriminations continue.

The former head of the British Army has now attacked US postwar policy, calling it "intellectually bankrupt". General Sir Mike Jackson, who headed the army during the war in Iraq, describes as "nonsensical" the claim by the former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that US forces "don't do nation-building". He has also hit back at suggestions that British forces had failed in Basra. In his autobiography, he says tha Rumsfeld was "one of the most responsible" for the current situation in Iraq. Just what will it take for this Govt to change tack?

HE WON'T BE BACK ................

A chuckle this morning at the news Hollywood tough guy Arnold Schwarzenegger won't be adding his macho brand of showbiz glitz and glamour to the forthcoming Tory Party conference.
The Republican politician, incidentally the last celebrity to meet Blair in Downing Street, was due to make a keynote address on climate change at the conference later this month.
He will now speak via a live video link because" political commitments" mean he is unable to travel to the UK. My guess is Arnie realises Cameron is not the A -list politician he was billed as and can't be bothered making the journey. More bad news for the beleaguered Tory leader.