The political situation could not be worse for Gordon Brown. Capitalism is in crisis, there is a global credit crunch. And thousands of people look set to lose their jobs in the wake of the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB. So it's nice to know that Andy Hornby, the man who brought HBOS to the brink of collapse as chief executive is to keep his £2million-a-year job.
Amid this chaos - and the worst ever polls in Labour's history - leading figures in the Labour Party like John Prescott are sticking to the "steady as she goes" script and even launched a campaign this week for a fourth term. What planet are they on, exactly?
Gordon will survive the Labour Conference. The cheerleaders will see to it he gets a standing ovation. Voting has been abolished so there will be no embarrassing defeats. The trade union leaders will rally round him. But outside the parallel universe of Manchester Central the real world is waiting. Personally, I will be to-ing and fro-ing between the Conference and the Convention Of The Left , which is already attracting national attention from papers like the Guardian which normally eschew any left events. I urge others to do the same.
Once Conference is over , and our hangovers have been thoroughly nursed, the real world will still be waiting. In the shape of the Glenrothes by-election. If Labour loses, there is no way that Brown will survive. Many on the centre-left are running scared and say he is better than any alternative. That is only true if he gets up in Manchester and ditches his New Labour ideology. I don't expect that to happen. Another by-election loss and Gordon is out. If that happens, I hope he goes with some dignity. We will then be able to have a leadership contest which under current rules will need 45 names to get on the ballot paper. Let us ensure that if that happens this time round we have a truly representative contest - and put John McDonnell on the ballot paper. Now I'm off to Manchester......
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8 comments:
All this has a 1930's feel about it:, a extremely weak Labour Govt, an economic crisis, massive cuts in welfare, etc,
when is the split though?
This is the very time when any decent Labour government would be taking the City to task.
But this one won't, as it has been too busy slobbering at its feet for the past 11 years. What credibility would it have even if it did act now?
the issue is policy
not leader
john has no chance of winning
he will not secure a big vote in the CLPs
and Johns attacks on union leaders will ensure not one major union will back him (even if their members would)
The rmt, fbu, pcs, nut non affilated so no vote
calling for a new leadership election but dont forget the new leader will be democratically elected and it will not be john
so we need to go on policies
however I believe we will only have a caretaker until the full debate battle after the election
lets see Clarke and Balirites co after the elction uuuummm SDP I suspect or just busy racking in directorships
Actually I thought Campbell and Prescott were right to launch an outward looking campaign.
The irony; a Republican fiscal conservative, nationalising banks. More socialist than our PM.
They have no problem supporting banks, it's a shame they can't nationalise their health service (or even the Medical insurance companies).
What is clear to me the postion of the Labour Party (B4 Blair), i.e. social democracy (democraic socialism) has once again emerged as relevent and current. If the leadership are blind to this they must be mad.
Seems everyone else who is blogging now has stated that Labour has come back, one nice blogger said he had been waiting for ages for Labour to return, and it's happened.
Did I miss something.
Everyone who can work, must work. That's why James Purnell [the work and pensions secretary] has introduced reforms so that apart from genuine cases of illness the dole is only for those looking for work or actively preparing for it.''
With the above, Brown has now uniquivically said he is going to force millions into unpaid, unsuitable or even dangerous work and despite him saying disabled people will not be partof the programme, Purnell has said he wants over 1 million disabled people back into work.
How can this be progressive: this is real right wing US style politics and wouldn't be out of place at a Republican convention. It seems no one now speaks up for the really poor. Where are the Unions, the Labour Left. Where are the jobs going to come from, we are in a massive recession with unemployment rising. Its not about fairness, its about bashing the poor and being punitive.
The lack of opposition to all this is baffling and shaming....
Ok let me explain, October the 27th ESA will come into force, straight away Labour has saved 28 Billion by cutting the benefits by £45 a week, the new benefits is lower then we get now.
The fact is employers are looking for people with qualifications, a lot of disabled people have mental health problems yet had very good jobs, these people are being sought by employers, now of course you might say who are these people, well believe it or not solicitors have a high incidence of mental health so do accountants, so do personal secretaries, all these people are being targeted with help to get them back to work and it's been successful mainly because these people would have returned to work anyway.
But look at me not very educated but worked in the building trade and I did OK, made a lot of money hard work, then I had an accident and it was the end, now Labour are aiming to get me back to work, with further education, training programs and I've done them all. Then I was off down to my employment agency, to see a very nice young lady who felt I would be good working as a Perfume sales person in boots, sadly boots thought the wheelchair and being a fat bloke, did not really look right. Then this young lady said that was a mistake how about if you become a self employed window cleaner yes thats good, so I left walking (wheelchair) out.
I was then sent to the Shaw trust a highly respected charity, well not so much respected anymore. I was told how about working as a cleaner, or perhaps you can do something like charity work, so off I go to this charity who were jumping up and down , yes yes said the bloke your what we need. Right you take this tin go into pubs and collect money for our charity, with you being in a wheelchair you could clean up, how much does it pay, pardon, I said how much wages does it pay, OK you collect £35, anything after this is yours, I said what happens if I do not get £35, pardon, what happens if I do not get £35, then you do not get paid, the job is self employed, he then tried to tell me if I worked all day and all night in the pubs and clubs I could clean up, I left.
I've been looking or work for five years and have not found a single real job, oh I've handed out baskets at Asda been a father Christmas but are these real jobs.
This is all about cutting benefits lowering benefits and making the disabled disappear.
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