GIVE IT A REST , BARRY

Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman, the man who bottled out of challenging Tony Lloyd as PLP Chair ( he knew he would lose) is banging on about why Gordon Brown should stand down. I think it's time Sheerman shut up and did us all a favour. How dare he and the rest of these dreadful Blairites ( who are scared to death of a non New Labour leader after the General Election) lecture us on "loyalty." They are a disgrace. As were the "briefings" about the supposed Gang Of Five plotting to replace Brown with David Miliband. Don't the words "flogging " and "dead horse" mean anything to the control freaks in the Cabinet. If any Miliband is more likely to be a future Labour leader, the chances are it will not be the Foreign Secretary.

DEATH OF A DECADE

I won't be sad to see the end of 2009. In truth, it has been an awful year which I shall be glad to see the back of.
Good friends I have known for decades died this year, the health of immediate family members continues to give cause for concern.
And, until very recently, personal financial penury was most definitely looming.
At the start of the year, I invested much time and a considerable amount of cash in pursuing a Parliamentary seat in Keighley.
Last weekend, friends "kidnapped" me in an impromptu lunchtime drive up to Appletreewick, around 20 miles from the northernmost part of the Keighley constituency, for a splendid lunch. I reflected along the way that it was not - and nothing ever is - a complete waste of time. I met some great people - and learned some very hard political lessons.
My Christmas was less than wonderful thanks to the stupidity of a local DIY man who switched off next door's water supply ( therefore also curtailing mine). This took five days arguing with Yorkshire Water to ascertain.
Still, I now know it takes three litres of cold water to flush a toilet. And that there are far more important things in life than hot water. Like friends, family and basic facts like being healthy and relatively prosperous in a world where most people are not.
So I sincerely hope that 2010 is better. For all of us. A Happy Socialist New Year

DAVID TAYLOR MP

Sad to hear just now of the death of David Taylor MP, who represented North West Leicestershire. I interviewed him a couple of years ago and he was a decent old school Labour MP, Campaign Group member, who championed his constituency with conviction. He died while out on a Boxing Day walk with his family.

NO WATER WORLD

There is still no water to speak of in my house. My powers of British stoicism are running out and I have had to rely on the largesse of friends to have a bath. It has ruined my Christmas.
Yorkshire Water, to whom I pay over £30.00 a month in water rates, say there is nothing they can do and with temperatures set to plummet over New Year, it looks as though the situation will continue. I am at the mercy of the elements.
But what I didn't expect this morning was a dismissive phone call from the Yorkshire Water "helpline" to say it was an entirely private matter, there was nothing they could do, and basically to sod off.
I know that in the great scheme of things this is a trivial matter. But, as every woman knows, the simple joy of taking a bath is one of life's great pleasures. So forgive me while I contemplate crawling under the duvet and howling until the Big Freeze is over. It is nice to know the vast profits made by the privatised utilities are paid back in customer satisfaction

THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW......

All I actually want for Christmas is a bath. And running water. There has been more bloody snow overnight and what little water I had has now gone completely. The plumber said there is nothing which can be done until the Big Freeze is over - when gallons of water are likely to flood the basement. God bless us every one......

Fortunately, I am going to friends for Christmas lunch. I may also join the gym down the road just to have a shower. As I look out the window, the scene could not be prettier. The reality is that sub-zero temperatures have truly messed up my Christmas.And yes, I know I should not whinge.But sod it........

On a more positive note a truly Happy Birthday to my friend Pete Lazenby who is 60 today. Pete is a lifelong socialist , journalist and lives in Hebden Bridge. He works for the Yorkshire Evening Post and writes on the Guardian's Comment Is Free too . The only man I know who can stomach vindaloo curry for breakfast in the office at 9am in the morning. Have a good one and see you later for a birthday drink.....if I can find some hot water

IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER

I'm waiting for the plumber. I face the grisly prospect of Christmas without hot water - thanks to the Arctic weather we have had in Hebden Bridge. What joy.
Snow is great on the Christmas cards. Not so great when you are at the mercy of the elements and hoping against hope for an overnight thaw.
Trivial stuff, really, compared to the perils of being elderly and vulnerable in this kind of weather. Which at least are currently being assuaged by the severe weather payments which will now go out automatically to people like my dad who has not been able to leave home for a week. Payments which, under the Tories, are likely to stop.
But it's seemingly way too much for Peter Mandelson, that little inch of clear red water which still separates Labour from the Tories.
Apparently, he is letting his displeasure known to the press that Gordon Brown refused to be nice enough to the bankers and still wants to fight an election on the differences, not the common ground, between us and the Tories. The differences let's face it which keep many of us in the Labour Party despite everything.
No coincidence, surely, amid this talk of renewed plots against Brown that uber-Blairite John Hutton should finally own up to being the Minister ( which we all knew anyway) who said Brown would be a "f***ing disaster" as Prime Minister.
Once again Miliband, it's rumoured, is preparing to position himself for a leadership contest in the New Year.
I've always found it amusing ( in a wry kind of way) that what's left of the left gets accused of undermining Labour's chances when members of the Government feel free to brief the lobby they are not happy with the PM.
But they are living on another planet if they think a cynical pre-election coup will do Labour any favours whatsoever.
Is it the threat , not of election disaster, but of a hung Parliament, which has suddenly resuscitated the anti-Brown camp? It could well be they would prefer Brown to go down in flames rather than hang on - with a majority dependant on a de-New Laboured Party shorn of many of its most right-wing MPs , including people like Hutton who is standing down. We shall see but one thing is sure - Mandelson is up to his old tricks and Brown should also start positioning himself - around Labour's core values .

FESTIVE GREETINGS.......

A snowman greeted me this morning as I trudged through the town in Dostoyevskian fashion this morning to the railway station. He was still there as I trudged back tonight.

It is COLD, dark and I am looking forward immensely to the Christmas break which starts on Wednesday evening.

I just want to take this opportunity ( not having had much time to blog of late) to wish everyone I know a happy and peaceful Christmas.

2010 will be a challenging year for all of us I have no doubt. In the meantime time to recuperate and gather one's energies for the struggles ahead.

The good thing is that from now on the nights start getting lighter. And hopefully I will have time to return to the blog in the New Year. Thanks particularly to all who have supported me politically and personally in 2009. Happy Christmas, comrades.

FESTIVE READING -THE LRC RED PAPERS

One of the most disheartening things about the immediately pre-Christmas period is the sales signs going up . Now the majority of the UK population has spent up for the festive season, High Street retailers are already gearing up for the capitalist bonus of "bargains" which will increase their killing even further.
Today I finally got my act together and had a tree delivered. Tomorrow, I will frantically sign and address cards and maybe this weekend buy family and friends some modest presents but on the whole I find the corporate spectacle which Christmas has become pretty dispiriting.
One thing I've not had the chance to do recently is digest some serious reading on the economic prospects (bad ) for 2010 and, with some days off work over Christmas, I plan to go throught the Red Papers published by the LRC and get my head round some serious socialist analysis
The Papers are here and can be downloaded.They are an invaluable resource for those of us in need of facts and figures
http://www.l-r-c.org.uk/policy/LEAP

MARCH 25 - WATCH THAT DATE

A March election is on the cards according to the BBC - and according to many at Westminster.
Interesting times........
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8410502.stm

IRAQ - STILL JUSTIFIED BY BLAIR

At the last election, the Labour vote was decinated by the shadow of the Iraq war. Six years down the line, Tony Blair shows little remorse - seemingly discounting the WMD excuse which was used at the time to persuade otherwise ambivalent MPs to vote for the war.Astonishiing, really.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8408918.stm

GREED IS NOT GOOD......

I'm no saint but one thing I am not is greedy. Unlike MPs on all sides of the House who seem incapable of moving an inch without filling in their expenses forms.
One expects the Tories to be unpalatable toffs. One does not expect Labour Mps to be swimming in so much money that they claim the doubtful accolade of being the wealthiest MP in Parliament.
Shaun Woodward was of course once a Tory, He has four homes, land in the West Indies and a Northern constituency where he was parachuted in following his defection.
Rather amusingly, his CLP is actually affiliated to the LRC thanks to the stalwart efforts of the CLP Sec John Wiseman. But it's not very funny, is it, that this greedy Parliamentarian claimed £21,417 for his second home expenses despite being as rich as Croesus.
Likewise Quentin Davies, another defector from the Tories, who submitted a claim for more than £20,000 for work to the bell tower and roof of his 18th century mansion - a £5million pad in Lincolnshire.
These two jokers ( at our expense) make a nonsense of any attempt by Labour to adopt a "class war" strategy in the run-up to the General Election. What on earth are they doing , frankly, in the Labour Party? And why on earth did we allow them in ? Their sheer avarice and waste of public money is an absolute disgrace.

FIVE THINGS I WOULD HAVE BLOGGED ABOUT.....

Pressure of time is making serious inroads into my blogging time. But even when I had several hours a day to muse on the political arena there are matters best left to the experts. These include the Pre-Budget Report.
Other events have occurred in the past few days I would have liked to say my piece on. For the record - they are.
1. The 100th soldier to die this year in Afghanistan
2. The Iraq War inquiry and the increasingly damning evidence against Blair - with even Prescott jumping ship
2. The NEC's decision to take over all remaining Parliamentary selections
3. Michael Meacher's Coalition For A Labour Victory campaign
4. An interview in which Cherie Blair ( with husband Tony now worth an estimated £12million) said she still worried about money.
5. Rumours that the General Election will now be in March
I hope to take up the cudgels on some of these at least in the weeks ahead.
For the moment, unlike Cherie, I am blissfully happy to have a modest income coming in, even if it does require 5.30am wake-up calls and a two-hour commute.

NOT QUITE ENOUGH......

The Pre-Budget Report had some welcome measures like the rise in NI contributions, one-off tax on the bankers. But, as Dave Semple makes lucidly clear on Though Cowards Flinch, not quite enough...........
http://thoughcowardsflinch.com/

See also LEAP

A PHONEY WAR

It's all very well for Gordon Brown to start using the "class war" tactic against the Tory toffs who largely live on a different financial planet from the rest of us. Given that 19 of the 29 Conservatives on the front bench are millionaires it is a justified tactic in the cut-and-thrust which is Westminster politics.
If only it were reflected in Labour's policies.
Instead of dog-whistle rhetoris, this Government should start REALLY attacking the rich - sacking the greedy bankers, taxing the highest earners, and making a serious fist of closing the gap between the rich and the poor ( which it has failed to do in 12 years in power) .
Jokes about Lord Snooty and his Pals may be frated hilarious by backbenchers. They won't find it quite so funny if they lose their seats at the General Election due to Gordon's failure to match rhetoric with action. NB: Former Tribune editor Mark Seddon has an excellent piece on this topic in today's Daily Mail. Yes, I know, but it is still a very good article......

NO CHRISTMAS BONUS FOR THESE GREEDY BANKERS

It's kind of difficult to fathom the greed of bankers at the Royal Bank Of Scotland. Already earning salaries most of us can only dream of, they see it as their right to demand a "bonus" adding up to an estimated £1.5billion. £75,000 each. At our expense.
The Government has an 84 per cent stake in the RBS yet bank bosses are telling the Treasury to get lost over its veto of the bonuses. Unbelievable, isn't it?
What also beggars belief is that the Govt is seemingly allowing them to call the shots.
It's time for the Treasury to take control, end the perks for already rich directors, and give the public, most of whom are coping with LESS money this Christmas, an early present.
Such a move would win widespread public suport, and boost Labour's chances of a much-needed boost in the polls.

MORE TIME FOR JOURNALISM

It's been difficult in past days to find any time for blogging. Today back from London from meetings, hauled in to do some volunteer stuff for Oxfam, then to another meeting and just finishing article before I head off to bed and up at 5.45am. So please bear with me while I adjust to a new routine.
Glad, however, to note Tim Gopsill, the recently retired editor of The Journalist, has a new blog, Victor Noir, which I have linked to ......
Tim, sadly, did not cover our last ADM due to internal union issues which don't belong on the blogosphere. But his contribution was massive and he will be sadly missed.
Tim says he will now have "more time for journalism." I hope that's true.

COALITION FOR A LABOUR VICTORY

At the recent LRC AGM we had a useful fringe meeting comprised of people from all part of the country. One of them was Sarah Evans from Andover, who has just been selected as PPC for NW Hampshire.
I'd like to wish Sarah the very best of luck in what is not, sadly, a Labour stronghold. But I know she plans to use the campaign as a chance to stand on a socialist platform and win back support for Labour in her constituency.
It takes guts to stand in places where the chances of winning are slim and months of pounding on doors is unlikely to result in victory .
In the past few months Michael Meacher has been trying to rally people to put their names forward as part of a "Coalition For A Labour Victory". The idea was to encourage more PPCs standing on a left ticket and make the most of the unprecedented number of vacancies before the General Election.
However it seems the NEC are now to take over the remaining seats where there isn't a candidate and I fear that will not be good news for more potential candidates like Sarah.
So what we need to start doing now is building a tranche of talented candidates from the left who will be ready and able to try and stand as PPCs in the years to come.
Whatever happens in 2010, we need a new generation with socialist ideas and principles to stand as Parliamentary candidates. I hope the LRC can do its bit in the months ahead to start that process.

NO MORAL COMPASS - PART 2009

Because I have been squirrelled away in a conference hall for the past few days I missed the Guardian story about Compass supporting some alleged leadership coup.
However I was pleased to note that Tony Lloyd MP has tonight been elected unopposed as the Leader of the PLP.
By no stretch of the imagination is Tony hard left. But I've known him for 20-odd years and the Manchester Central is a decent man of integrity and principle who I would back any day of the week against Barry Sheerman, the Yorkshire MP allegedly aiming to replace him.
The Guardian story ( which I can't link to as their website is rubbish) suggested Compass would back some alternative to Brown in a New Year coup. I ask the question- what's the point? Ironic really that Brown's erstwhile biggest cheerleaders are now aiming to ditch him.
I think those of us outside the Westminster bubble recognise the General Election is imminent, we're going to be immersed in a salvage operation, and maybe, just maybe, the result won't be as bad as some of us have feared due to lamentable own goals by the Tories and a change in the political weather. If anyone thinks a leadership election at this stage would be a good thing they are living in a parallel universe. Neal Lawson and his Management Committee should get real. And what a great pity they didn't in 2007. Now we live with the consequences. And do our best to hang on

WHAT'S ON THE HORIZON.......

The following article appeared in Friday's Morning Star. Truly frightening - but valuable ammunition .
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/83512


Also see LEAP

POLITICAL GENDER BALANCE -

AT the NUJ conference held last week in Southport there were very few issues that were contentious. Which made, if I'm honest, for a very boring agenda.
When you are in a conference hall for nine hours at a stretch there is nothing like a good old spat to get the adrenalin going and stop one nodding off in solidarity with everyone else who agrees with you .
The one major barney was between delegates backing a rule change to insist on 50 per cent nominations male/female for the union's NEC and myriad committees and sub-committees.
Rather surprisingly, it was defeated. Largely on the grounds it would be nigh impossible to carry out and that our union is struggling to find ANY nominees at all for bodies like the NEC, Ethics Council etc etc etc.
Now I've been a delegate to NUJ ADM for at least five consecutive events. Not because I'm the only person in my Branch with anything to say, not because I'm the greatest activist. But quite simply because no-one else ever seems to want to spend four days holed up in a hotel listening to motions they are probably going to agree with anyway . In short, we are very thin on the ground.
And that's why......I voted for an amendment calling on the union to campaign for more involvement by women - but stopping short of a statutory requirement for gender balance.
I know this will incur plenty of wrath from other female comrades.
But for some time I have been ambivalent about the outcomes achieved by hard-and-fast enforcing of all-women-shortlists, and other policies which are /were well meant and ethically right but in practice actually used to facilitate political gerrymandering.
Yes, the leftie world is still male pale and stale. No question. At the recent RMT conference which I spoke at, it was depressing to see an audience comprised of around 90 per cent men - mainly middle-aged and white.
In such a macho environment, many women would feel utterly intimidated and no doubt discouraged from getting more involved.
And there's no doubt most men find issues like speaking at rostrums, standing for positions etc far less stressful .
In the LRC, our National Committee is 50/50 gender balanced and actually works rather well. But the upshot is of course that very good male comrades have a more difficult task getting elected.
I think we need to ask ourselves why more women are disengaged from the political structures - and stop assuming it is because they need their hands held or because they have childcare issues.
At the recent LRC Conference we rightly provided a creche with properly certified carers. The take-up was tiny. That does not mean we abandon a commitment to enabling women to be there. But we do have to ask ourselves what else we need to do to change the overwhelmingly male world of politics. Imposing quotas is not enough......

BINMEN STRIKE ENDS IN SIGNIFICANT VICTORY

The solidarity shown by the Leeds binmen in their 13-week dispute has finally paid off with a significant victory . After weeks of negotiations between council chiefs , UNISON and the GMB the workforce have secured their previously threatened wages - in return for agreement to sign up for productivity and efficiency deals. It would be over-egging the pudding to describe this as a 100 per cent result but the men have saved their pay packets thanks to a refusal to kowtow to serious determination by the management to smash them completely by employing private contractors and bringing in scab labour.
A similar result soon I hope for the Superdrug workforce in West Yorkshire who are holding out against terrible pay and conditions .


http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Leeds-binmen-strike-ends.5848422.jp

PARACHUTES AHOY!

Whatever Parliamentary aspirations I once had have been well and truly smashed this year. But life goes on and as I write I am back in a newsroom and perfectly happy with my lot.
But it would be great if others still with the grit and determination to succeed against the odds were able to get through.
Alas, it seems that the NEC is already swiftlly drawing up a strategy to fill what seats remain ASAP. And, without being conspiratorial, we know that will reduce the chances of any more dissident voices getting off the starting-block.
There is already a strong rumour in Westminster circles that UNITE's Jack Dromey, husband of Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman, will be parachuted into Leyton and Wanstead. And up my end of the woods I have heard a little whisper that Alisdair Campbell could be doing similar in Burnley. Interestingly, the latter seat WAS going to be AWS but has been referred back to the NEC.
In fairness to Campbell, he could well be the man to take on the bully boys of the BNP in Lancashire. But, once the NEC takes over selections in a couple of months' time. don't expect any more mavericks to be joining the list of PPCs.

OFF TO THE SEASIDE....

How I wish it were for a holiday.......instead I'm Branch delegate at the NUJ AGM in Southport. Before embarking on Thursday I will be writing up my report from the LRC AGM for Labour Briefing.
I note with interest Adam White's remarks on Labour Home. Congrats to Adam for being elected to the National Committee from Greater Manchester LRC.I will have a chat when I see you next about your thoughts.....
The NC has several new members this year which is A Good Thing and dare I say also a Even Better Thing they are from Cambridge, Chesterfield Manchester and Merseyside.
The LRC needs its Friends In The North ( and South, East and West) if it is to progress in the coming period.We need to get out more. So thanks to my erswthile Manchester NUJ colleague and new NC Committee member Miles Barter for his offer of going out on the stomp in the south. All such offers will be gratefully appreciated ...PS: Yes I know I said I wasn't blogging but as several people have asked me to carry on I will, albeit more sporadically.PPS. Commiserations to Rochard Simcox, NUJ Left candidate for editor of The Journalist.

LAST BLOG FOR NOW....

The fact that I have had no time to report back from Saturday's LRC Conference says it all, really. In my defence I'm now juggling a part-time job with politics, one which requires 6am starts so am utterly exhausted and have spent the last three weekends in London with a union AGM this weekend in Southport. Blogging time is almost non-existent.
So because I don't think blogs work if they are half-heartedly done I'm packing it in for a while. At some point in the future things may change but for now I'm blogged out.
Thanks to all who voted for me on Saturday. I was really pleased to get the top vote for LRC Vice-Chair and delighted to win the NEC slate nomination with Christine Shawcroft. Commiserations to Gary Heather and John Wiseman.
The hustings was pretty tough but at least the LRC can say their candidates really have been democratically chosen. Our bottom line is clear and unequivocal. Two candidates , two places on the CLGA slate.

BUILDING THE RESISTANCE - AND REBUILDING THE LEFT

On Saturday at the LRC AGM Chair John McDonnell MP will be outlining our policy platform and work programme for the coming months in the run-up to the General Election. For those of you who can't make Saturday's conference, our strategy is here:

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/83153

CALLING ALL REGIONAL LRC MEMBERS.....

I hope this year's LRC Conference will see more members from outside London making it down the M1 (or M6). In 2009 we've made a start to build groups outside the Smoke but there's still much to do and we will be discussing the way ahead at a lunchtime meeting after the NEC hustings. It won't be top-down but a chance to discuss issues, challenges and problems we're likely to come up against in the coming period.
Steve Brown from Newcastle will be leading off and then there will be an open and honest discussion........
Saturday should be an interesting day and as I have much to do before then I will leave it there. If you're wavering, remember it's only £5 to register if you're not from London.

PHOTO FINISH

My thanks to friend and comrade Stephanie David for e-mailing me this picture which, coincidentally, I bought a postcard version of at Labour Party Conference.
Steph has "adapted" it for use on my Facebook support group for the LRC Vice-Chair election. And, on a Monday morning when I am still recovering from a nasty bout of bronchitis and frankly sick to death of faction fighting, it has really cheered me up! The "Susan" in question was Susan Lawrence, one of the first three women Labour MPs ever to be elected and the first to chair Labour Party Conference........

THE 200th TO DIE

This morning I was too ill ( blame a walk in the pouring rain in Central London Friday because of a Tube fire) to make the annual Remembrance Day service at the war memorial in Hebden Bridge. I was, though, well enough to hear on the radio that the 200th British soldier to die in Afghanistan announced and I wonder how many more deaths it will take for the Government to acknowledge it's time to bring the troops home.

IN THE FIRING LINE......

Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that this blog is in its dog days. I set up Grimmer Up North nearly three years ago and the problem is that I can no longer really do what I intended to do when I set it up. So, pretty shortly, I am going to close it down.
It's been an interesting few years involving campaigns for an election for Labour Party Leader ( that never happened) . several Parliamentary selections , a year of activity locally as Mayor and of course more general observations on the political scene.
Today I was speaking in LRC Vice-Chair capacity at the RMT's conference on the crisis of working- class representation in London . I knew it would not get an easy ride - I was right.
People clapped politely but for the most part they were all fired up with the far more enticing prospect of a New Workers' Party/ Socialist Alliance at the next election and obviously I wasn't going down that road. The speeches, by Joe Higgins, Bob Crow, and Pat Sikorski, were absolutely brlliant and their rhetorical skills stunning but the conclusions?.
The problem is that if you start believing , as one Socialist Party comrade clearly did, that a one per cent share of the vote ( which is what No2EU got) is some kind of victory for socialism then it's a parallel universe you're living in.
The hard truth is that minority candidates get minority votes. And maybe the electoral system needs to change to give more people more of a say but we are where we are.And that is facing the prospect of a Tory Government and a resurgence of the right - not socialist utopia .
The LRC attracts criticism from the far left for focussing on retaining socialist Labour representation in Parliament and most of the audeince clearly wanted no truck with Labour at all . But I hope I made my case and thanks to the RMT for the invite to the LRC. So why the prpblem with the blog?
If they are to work, have to be individual, quirky, and fearless. They also only thrive on regular posts. And as I now have some extremely welcome journalistic work , I'm finding it increasingly difficult to keep the whole thing going. Though I would hope to continue contribute to the official LRC website , LabourHome etc
I will keep everyone informed about the LRC Conference and maybe one or two other things to come. But after that, Grimmer Up North may be taking a well-earned holiday. And, with the prospect of some money coming in after an extremely difficult year, hopefully so will I.

BAILOUT OF THE BANKS PART TWO

If you're outraged, as I am, by the latest news about the banks, bail-out and potential sales to the private sector, read on......how much more of our money is going to be wasted? A lot, it seems
http://leap-lrc.blogspot.com/

WHY I'M STANDING FOR THE NEC

At the LRC Conference on November 14, there will be hustings for the NEC nominees. And, with so much misinformation already flying around the blogosphere, I thought it best to set the record straight.
There are four nominees and two places. They are NOT gender specific. So any combination of candidates could make it to go forward to the CLGA slate. ie two men, two women, one woman, one man. I am not on any slate .I am standing on my own merits with Christine Shawcroft, Gary Heather and John Wiseman. May the best person win.
But it is NOT about individuals. It is about why it is crucially important the left strengthens its position on the NEC. So, whoever wins is not on some personal bandwagon but there to represent LRC policy AND to stand firm on our agreed position of two places on the CLGA slate. That's the bottom line. And all of us must be prepared to stick to it.
I am standing because I don't think the CLGA has worked collectively . I think ordinary Labour Party members have been let down. And I think it's time we had CLP representatives who stand up for them.

FACTION FIGHTING - NOT A FUTURE THE LRC WANTS

In the forthcoming contest for LRC Vice-Chair ( the only one to be contested) I have set up an entirely personal Facebook support group and I think that's fair enough.I would expect other candidates to do the same.
What is NOT fair, to put it mildly, is to suggest there is a joint slate against me. So I would like to thank Andrew Fisher, who is standing as LRC Secretary , for setting the record straight by making it clear he will be supporting me
I am very disappointed that others have chosen to suggest otherwise via what looks like a quasi-official Facebook group but I will happily, if re-elected, work in tandem with whoever else wins one of the two Vice-Chair positions. And the rest of the Exec, National Committee and anyone who has constructive ideas on how to progress the LRC.
At the end of the day, I stand or fall by the work I have put in. And that's down to the people who actually turn up on the day on November 14 to vote for me. But I would like to thank the affiliated groups and individuals who have given me supporting nominations so far.
They include Greater London LRC, Cambridge LRC, Greater Manchester LRC, Lambeth and Southwark LRC and of course my own LRC in West Yorkshire.

YEAR OF THE HUSTINGS - AND NOW THERE ARE MORE....

For someone who is basically terrified of speaking in public, 2009 has been a baptism of fire.
To date, three Parliamentary hustings in Keighley and another in Calder Valley. OK I did not win those paticular battles but it was very good experience in overcoming stage fright.
A friend who is a trade union leader gave me the sound advice many months ago that the only way to beat nerves on these occasions is just to keep on keeping on doing it. And, yes, it gets easier. A bit.
Which is just as well because I will be facing some rigorous questioning at the LRC Conference on November 14 when I will be one of four candidates standing for two places on the CLGA slate for the NEC.
I hope this will all be done in a spirit of friendliness and comradeship and I hope that whoever wins will take the LRC forward and work towards a more cohesive and constructive presence on the NEC.
I'm also standing for re-election as LRC Vice-Chair and I hope those who attend our conference will recognise the hard work I've done in the last 12 months at various locations/meetibgs/campaigns and re-elect me so I can carry on building LRC groups across the country and encouraging activists to get involved. Much remains to be done ......

LRC CAMBRIDGE REPORT

In my past year as LRC co Vice-Chair one of the things I have most enjoyed is getting out and about to different parts of the country. I hope, if I'm re-elected, to carry on doing exactly that. Last week I was over in Hazel Grove CLP where we had a frank and fearless debate and I'm up for more of the same if any other CLPs are interested. This report of the Cambridge LRC meeting is on the Socialist Appeal blog. Kelvin Hopkins MP will be at their next meeting .



http://www.socialist.net/labour-left-rallies-in-cambridge.htm

NICK GRIFFIN AND THE BBC

I have veered in the past week between thinking that Nick Griffin's atrocious appearance on Question Time was inexcusable and then, immediately after watching it, believing maybe it might have shown him for what he is. And therefore not such a bad thing after all.
News that the BNP has , allegedly, recruited thousands as a result, was a sobering reminder that "no platform for fascists" might have been the right line after all. I honestly don't know. But the piece below in the Morning Star on-line is a timely reminder of what he really stands for. And how intolerable it is.

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/features/Griffin-s-twisted-history

TIME TO STOP THIS PROFITEERING

I was astonished at an event organised by the Co-op Party in Manchester on Saturday to hear the vacillations of a Northern MP on the subject of the privatised utilities and public transport.
Having first asserted that railway re-nationalisation was undo-able he later conceded it was in fact a Good Thing - but could somehow be achieved by the back door as long as it was not officially in Labour's manifesto. The question being WHY on earth would you would not promote a policy bound to be a vote-winner in difficult times .
On privatised utilities, he was similarly wavering, conceding too they should never have been privatised and that people might support their return to public ownership.So why not do it?
It seems to me there are probably dozens of Labour MPs who, given the chance, would put their weight behind the radical policies we need to win back the voters. But are seemingly afraid of being dubbed, as he put it " red-blooded socialists" Or, more likely, given a sound ticking-off from those who would prefer hell to freeze over before they return to democratic socialism. Today's revelations in the Indy over the "big six" energy suppliers show exactly why we have to stop their rank profiteering - which means millions will be living in fuel poverty this winter. And bring the whole lot back into public ownership




http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mps-demand-inquiry-into-great-energy-swindle-1809415.html

THE FUTURE OF BLOGGING - A MEETING IN HEBDEN BRIDGE

The Calderdale branch of the NUJ is organising a public meeting on Journalism in the Age of New Media and Blogging. I will be chairing the discussion, which will be led by New Media expert Gary Herman and Chris Ratcliffe who runs the Hebweb. It's at the White Lion 7.30pm and all welcome.

I WAS WRONG......

Turns out, if you believe the Guardian, that my nice, liberal thoughts which naively assumed would be common denominator have resulted in being a huge recruiting sergeant for the BNP. I was wrong. So was the BBC. More thoughts later. For now have to go to sleep and get to London tomorrow

HOIST BY HIS OWN REPULSIVE PETARD

I just might have changed my mind about the BBC's decision to allow Nick Griffin on Question Time. Jack Straw was rightly cheered to the rafters as he laid in to this repulsive specimen of humanity and what he stands for. How heartening it was also to see politicians for once speaking from the heart and more or less zero tolerance from the audience for Griffin's racist, homophobic, unacceptable views.
He was inarticulate, incoherent, and my guess is the BNP will not be regarding this as an "early Christmas present" but an unmitigated disaster.
Which is not to say that Labour does not need to get out there in the coming period and expose the BNP's fascist ideology for what it is. Come up with some answers as to why so many of their natural supporters have turned to the extremism of the right. And come up with some policies to stop it. But, by and large, I'm cheered by the expose of Griffin for what he - and his Party - are.
Our task is now to convince the millions who will not have been watching the programme tonight.

FLASHBACK TO 1993

The late John Smith was a moderate man. But in 1993, Labour's election broadcasts , when he was Leader, had a rather more radical edge. See here for an insightful look at just how different things were ( with help from Fry and Laurie) And how things should be in the run-up to the NEXT General Election

http://leap-lrc.blogspot.com/

NICK GRIFFIN

I'm third generation Irish. I can recall my mum telling me how during the 1930's - and later - signs would appear on lodging houses in Manchester saying, "No Irish, No Blacks." Today, the Irish community has been assimilated and is indistinguishable from the indigenous English population ( if there is such a thing) . But 50 years ago, we were subject to the same bile which now spills from the BNP and is targetted at the black community.
Tonight in the pub, by no means a bastion of bigotry, nevertheless much chat from sundry locals about Nick Griffin appearing tomorrow on Question Time. Much was seriously depressing. He "has a point" say people I have thought were decent. Many, it seems, will be watching with anticipatory glee.The ratings are likely to go through the roof- for entrirely the wrong reasons
Then home to Newsnight and Barbara Follett speaking the folly of defending Gordon Brown's call for "British jobs for British workers" as if that were a perfectly axceptable palliative for those obviously already inclined to talk about "them" rather than "us." It is not, as Follett said" reassuring".It is inexcusable rhetoric which has only strengthened their vile outpourings
On Monday, my uncle was buried at the age of 84. He survived the D-day landings, fought the Nazis, was a socialist all his life, and I know he would be horrified at Griffin's appearance tomorrow night. Like, I hope, most of us who know where the horrors of racism can lead and whose families have suffered from it in the past. As far as the present goes, I deplore the BBC's decision to give fascists a platform. And I wish I lived within striking distance of Television Centre to protest.
The notion that the BNP's views are legitimate is abhorrent and it makes me sick to my stomach. The BBC has taken the decision to give them the oxygen of publicity. It is wrong, wrong, wrong.

NOT MUCH TIME FOR CYBERSPACE

I have been traipsing up and down the country at various meetings and tomorrow night I go to speak to Hazel Grove CLP to give a brief talk about the LRC.
I am pretty exhausted, fire-fighting on several fronts with not much time to blog - or inclination, really if I'm honest.
However, things which have cheered me in the past couple of days include Mervyn King's wise words about the disgraceful profiteering of the banks, the CWU's refusal to cave in to Royal Mail bosses so intent on smashing their strike that they bring in 30,000 casual scab workers, and then there was Peter Hain calling on the BBC to ban Nick Griffin.
I hope tomorrow there are thousands outside Television Centre to protest at the shameful inclusion of Griffin as a guest on Question Time. And I hope at some point in the future to regain my enthusiasm for blogging. In the meantime, I will be going to lots of real time events and helping organise a local support group for the CWU.

BILLY, YOU ARE A HERO

The first ever post which I wrote on this blog in 2007 was about Peter Mandelson. It was rather derisory. At that stage, Mandy was out of Government . He is now, effectively, running the country.

Mandelson has condemned the forthcoming strike action by the CWU as "political suicide."

It is a measure of the gulf between the Government and the postal workers that they do not seem to realise that in seemingly condoning Royal Mail's determination to smash the strike ( today the Observer reports 30,000 extra workers being signed up to act as scabs) and the efforts of the union on behalf of their members that they could also be accused of a death wish.

Billy Hayes, hardly one of the most militant trade union leaders, has made comments which of course have been misconstrued by the right-wing media . His point that he was "stronger than Arthur Scargill" was not made to be macho. I think Billy is one of the least egotistical trade union leaders I have ever met.

He was simply pointing out that a 76 per cent vote in favour of industrial action gave him a mandate which Scargill did not arguably have when he called the miners out in 1984.

But battle lines have now been drawn up and the CWU is standing firm - as it should.

At our AGM of the West Yorkshire LRC yesterday we agreed to do all we could to support the CWU locally. On Tuesday at our Branch Labour party meeting, we agreed to donate money to help the strikers.

The tragedy is of course that it seems inevitable, given the course of events in the last 12 months, that the union will disaffiliate from Labour. It will certainly be a course of action which Billy, an "unreconstructed Bennite" and Labour Party loyalist, will find deeply painful. But is it any wonder?

Last week in Cambridge, a postal worker told us how his pension had been reduced to ashes, wages cut and jobs threatened due to Royal Mail's refusal to listen to union demands . Conciliation has also been ruled out by the Royal Mail bosses who take six-figure salariesand expect the lowest-paid to take the rap.

So now we have the prospect of a re-run of 1984 - the difference being that this time it is a Labour Government opposing the interests of the class it was set up to represent.

I hope ordinary members of the Labour Party will take a very different view. As we did in 1984, when then Leader Neil Kinnock refused to give unconditional backing to the NUM.

WEST YORKSHIRE LRC AGM

The West Yorkshire LRC AGM is on Saturday October 17 at the Trades Club, Hebden Bridge. We will be making nominations for Executive and National Committee positions - and discussing the last 12 months of activity. As Secretary of the local LRC, can I thank all those who have supported the Labour Left in 2009 and I hope to see some of you at 1pm. New supporters welcome! Our task in the coming months is to ensure we do as much as we can to stave off the likelihood of a Tory Government both in the Labour Party and the wider trade union movement.
In the south-east, comrades are already mobilising to support John McDonnell in his campaign for re-election. I'm sure that in the North we will be doing likewise for MPs under threat.

COMRADES LIKE THESE ARE NEVER FORGOTTEN

I've had a really sad week. I was brought up in an Irish superstition household where one death means there will always be three. And. having heard in the past week of two deaths, tonight I learned that one of the Labour Party's most stalwart campaigners and someone who was a real comrade and friend has also died.

Joan Abrams made you proud to still be in the Labour Party. She was a Labour campaigner for decades, at last year's Convention Of The Left., at last year's LRC Conference. And no doubt she would have made it down to London ( as she did in 2008) on November 14 for the next of our AGMs. She was a socialist through and through. But Joan is no longer with us.

Coincidentally, I'm going to Joan's CLP in Hazel Grove next week where I was asked a bit ago to be a speaker. The only thing I can do in her memory is stand up for the values she believed in. Values she was expounding only a few weeks ago when she gave a lead-off to the COL about the Co-op Party.

Today, by chance, I happened upon a book about Bob Cryer, former MP in the Keighley constituency where I tried to stand earlier this year as PPC. Reading the testimonies from people like Tony Benn , Alan Simpson and Alice Mahon made me even more determined to stand up for the values which Bob, a founder member of the Campaign Group, believed in all his life.

I quote from a tribute paid by Alan Rye, a former secretary of the Keighley CLP.Written 15 years ago, his words still mean so much to all of us in the labour movement.Because in an age where so many Mps have let us down , they are particularly pertinent.

"Bob anticipated many issues which Parliament, Press and public woke up to only later. Two examples are MPs' business interests, and the need for public control and ownership of water. As for MPs who hold directorships, continue running private businesses or work "on the side" as journalists or lawyers, he never had any time for them, and some sadly, were Labour members. Bob declared from the time he entered Parliament that he would devote himself to the job full-time.

He went further, calling for a register of MPs' business interests, long before the House of Commons itself voted to do just that. And he long ago warned of the dangers of corruption and the deceit of Parliament and the public by unscrupulous MPs and Ministers who saw that large profits could be made through their association with the area's industry.

Bob told the House that if there were a register of MP's interests he would be delighted to declare his - five £10 shares in the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Company."

THE WEEK FROM HELL

Regular readers may be wondering why I have blogged little this week- the answer is that in one week have had serious worries over health of my dad, a death in the family of another close relative, more bad news re journalism commitments, and in past 24 hours a seven-hour slog there and back to Cambridge by bus for official launch of LRC ( thanks for a good evening in a bad week) in my old university town.
Oh, and if all that weren't enough, boring domestic issues involving flooding and horrendous expense of a plumber - coming Thursday.
I take comfort in the thought that weeks don't come much worse than this - but being superstitious am not going to tempt fate by thinking that's necessarily the case.
If all I had to worry about was paying back expenses, and why incidentally are MPs whingeing about this, then things would be one whole lot better.Most MPs, frankly, live in a parallel universe to the rest of us .And they should pay back what they owe.

MASS CANVAS IN HAYES AND HARLINGTON - RE-ELECT JOHN McDONNELL!

With only months to go until the General Election, it's absolutely vital that left activists rally round the socialist MPs who are at risk of losing their seats. So well done to Stroppy and comrades for organising mass canvassing every other Sunday in Hayes and Harlington. Starting Sunday October 18. Details on the Facebook group below.



http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=160143531011&mid=13e5a3bG1fabec62G3b7697bG7

NO DEFENCE FOR THE ENGLISH DEFENCE LEAGUE

I was not best pleased, en route to see my dad who is 89 and not in the best of health, to see my home city of Manchester hijacked my fascist bastards who gridlocked the place and ensured it took 90 minutes to traverse six miles on the bus . Complete chaos. What the hell were GMP thinking of to allow such mayhem for the sake of a few neo-Nazi nutters? How many thousands of pounds did it cost?
I met a woman at the bus-stop seriously worried about her 19-year-old daughter who was engaging in the demo against the fascists.I'm glad people were saying what they thought but frankly Manchester should never have allowed this march to happen.

THE SPECTRE OF IRAQ RETURNS TO HAUNT BLAIR

As Peter Mandelson has now made more comebacks than Frank Sinatra, presumably the Blairs thought it was their time to return to the stage. Amid talk of an imminent EU Presidency, Tony and Cherie returned to grace a service for the war dead at St Paul's. But one grieving parent wasn't having it, denouncing Blair as a war criminal.
If the Blairs imagine two years on the fat cat lecture circuit - and countless homes funded by their travels - have rehabilitated them then yesterday's incident was a sharp reminder that people's memories are not that short. And that the waste of thousands of lives in an unnecessary and illegal war will not be erased from the history books.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1219241/Tony-Blair-makes-surprise-appearance-Queen-pays-tribute-Iraq-veterans-St-Pauls.html

SO NOW WE KNOW .....

Returned home last night from Manchester to see Paxman beating up Osborne on Newsnight. One can only hope the Tories have unilaterally shot themselves in the foot with their risible mantra that "We're All In It Together."
As is patently clear, those at the top will suffer very little pain from the policy horrors being outlined by the Conservatives. Public sector workers, pensioners, the low-paid, and those currently receiving tax credits ( to be abolished) will all be targetted and unemployment will rocket beyond Thatecherite levels.
Surreal going through the city to see Tories strutting around and drunk with the prospect of imminent power. I hope I won't be shot at dawn for this but over a coffee near Manchester Central I asked some young suits what they thought of the city and their chances in the General Election. They had just been told by a taxi-driver that no-one in Manchester supported them - which is a positive I suppose.
Their risk strategy of spelling out what a Tory Govt will mean can hopefully be a wake-up call to those who thought Cameron was Blair's representative on earth and that "compassionate Conservatism" was anything other than a PR stunt.
Labour's only chance, as Seumas Milne points out in the Guardian, is to pose a real alternative to their slash and burn strategy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/07/conservatives-in-europe-latvia

GREATER MANCHESTER LRC

Greater Manchester LRC meets tomorrow night at the Friends Meeting House, Mount Street, 7pm. Items on agenda include fothcoming AGM and Labour Party Conference. I'll be there and hope others can make it too.
Building The Resistance, the forthcoming AGM, will be having a fringe lunchtime meeting on building regional LRCs . And we're hoping to organise a meeting for regional LRCs in the North on November 7. Possibly in York. If anyone wants to find out more or is interested they can e-mail me SsPre2@aol.com

TIME TO RAGE AGAINST THE TORIES

I've just been reading ( a bit late) some of the responses to the Convention Of The Left in Brighton over at Socialist Unity. I think a lot of the comments were unfair, and wholly negative. Yes, the event could have been bigger, the demographic was a bit narrow, but overall it was successful in bringing together disparate left groups to have a discussion in a friendly way and I believe it will be the base for joint working on issues down in the south.
This spirit of comradeliness seems to irk some folk. Which frankly mystifies me. And, speaking as a white, middle-aged socialist I get a bit sick and tired of people having a pop at events lagely comprised of the above as if somehow being over 50 were a crime against humanity. Would you prefer us not to turn up at all?
What also disturbed me were suggestions that that the Sunday demonstration, which frankly was hijacked by the SWP chanting inane and sometimes offensive slogans, was a better way of demonstrating solidarity and support. For what? I could not help asking as a woman next to me hysterically screamed "Gordon Brown, you are scum" over and over again .
I was not alone in regarding this as childish, disturbing and wrong. Which is why I sidestepped away from the banshee-like wailing.
The original point of that demo, convened by several unions including my own, was NOT to "Rage Against New Labour" but to march on the theme of "Jobs, Education,Peace." A constructive message which sadly got rather lost in the name-calling.
One of the many attributes which people like Tony Benn have always had is a refusal to downgrade political disagreement to personal abuse. To use the cliche, policies, not personalities."
And when you get alleged socialists chanting "Labour Out" with undisguised glee then you have to ask what planet they are living on. Or if they actually care what happens to the working-class in their zeal to out-left each other.
Maybe there are some on the very far left who do not care whether we get a Tory or a Labour Government - for those of us in the Labour Left I hope the position is very different.
This Government has scored own goal after own goal in its quest to keep Middle England on board and yes there are some Labour MPs who are indistinguishable from Tories. They remain in the minority.
In the past two years on this blog I have repeatedly said that the labour movement, and the Labour Party, is far more than New Labour. And that calls for a new Party are a blind alley.
Yes I'm angry that the Government did not see it was alienating its core supporters with much of its policy agenda. But we have just a few months to try and win that back.
By putting pressure on from below, getting the TUC to campaign on the Peoples Charter, and killing the myth of "compassionate Conservatism" , we can do far more than tarring all Labour Mps with the same brush, and helping the Tories by standing no-hope candidates.
The SWP's tactic of righteous but bilious anger is "a tale of sound and fury, signifying nothing" other than iconoclastic , nihilistic rage which will only help Cameron to an even larger majority.
The approach of the Convention, to work together on the issues which unite us, rather than open up unnecessary divisions, is sane, honest and far more worthy of support.

NEW WEBSITE FOR THE PEOPLE'S CHARTER

One of the positives from the TUC was its formal backing for the People's Charter- a massive boost which should make the task of building support around the policies so much easier. Here's the new website - with information on how to get involved.
http://www.thepeoplescharter.com/

BUILDING THE RESISTANCE IN THE LRC

Chilling, isn't it, to watch the Tories in Manchester? Chilling because we know that in a year's time these chumps ( to use Mandelson's favourite, ahem, swear-word ) are likely to be in charge of the country - and Labour will be consigned to Opposition.
Such thoughts are not defeatist. They are realistic.And maybe our only hope of escaping this fate worse than death is to draw up the battle-lines now and make it clear what the difference is between us and the Tories. The problem is of course that cuts are also on Labour's agenda - what a difference it would make if we came out fighting instead of bowing to the demands of the CBI and IMF.
The LRC AGM on November 14 has the theme of Building The Resistance. And where we can, we MUST campaign against the threats we face to working people and the trade union movement.
Internal victories like having grassroots control of the NPF will mean precisely nothing if we're in the throes of a Tory Government. So in the months ahead it is absolutely vital that we campaign to retain as many Labour MPs as we can. promote socialist policies in and outside the Labour Party, and do not get so pre-occupied with navel-gazing that we lose sight of the bigger, terrifying picture.
On Wednesday night I'll be talking to the Greater Manchester LRC on the implications, politically, post-Labour conference and the week after I'm going over to Hazel Grove CLP to do something similar.
In my year as LRC co Vice-Chair, I've done my best to encourage others to mobilise and form local groups to give LP members a bit of hope that there is a progressive alternative. I hope to be re-elected in November to carry on that work.
The juggernaut of a Conservative Government is staring us straight in the face and now is not the time to abandon the radical policy changes we've called for in recent years. Policies like nationalisng the banks under democratic control, taking back control of the private utilities, defending union activists in struggle, could yet save us. Platitudes won't do it. Principles might. Now is the time... to come to the aid of our Party. And the Mps who are now fighting for their political lives. Here's what one of them, Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North, has to say on the matter
http://l-r-c.org.uk/news/story/five-steps-to-the-return-of-labour-jeremy-corbyn/

DEPENDENCY CULTURE? I DON'T THINK SO

If anyone were in any doubt that the Tories remain the same old, same old, then Cameron's announcement today on welfare benefits should remove any uncertainty.
His plans to slash incapacity benefit by a third are clearly just the tip of an iceberg which will mean the rich getting richer and the poor - well, why should they care?
There's a certain personal irony of timing in the fact that, as we confront the prospect of a Tory Govt and what it will mean, for the first time in 25 years I've put in a claim for benefits - and I can assure anyone who thinks, as they might if they read the Daily Mail, that the jobless and low-paid are living off the fat of the land they are wrong.
The only reason I found out I was entitled to Working Tax Credit was via a conversation with someone who knew the system's labrynthine complexity - which as the LRC has said for years saves the Govt billions as many others don't realise either. In fact, a couple of months ago I was told I was entitled to nothing.
So, if there is anyone else out there struggling on their own on a low income and over 50 then it's true the State will help you for decades of NI and tax .
In my case, £38 a week. Which at least will pay a couple of bills.But that's it. God help us if the Tories get in because no doubt they will scrap this, too.
The problem is that people like James Purnell and other colleagues on the New Labour wing of the Party , which backed the iniquitous Welfare Reform Bill, allowed Middle England to think that millions were on Easy Street and should be punished for their "crime" in being unable to find or be capable of work. The Tories, clearly, plan to reap electoral dividends from this wicked fiction.

THANKS .....

To all on Facebook who have posted birthday wishes today. ........it's much appreciated. I have had no time to celebrate as as usual I have been running round like a headless chicken but I will be having a meal with friends tonight followed by drinks in the estimable Fox and Goose, Hebden Bridge. Then back to London tomorrow for a Labour Briefing editorial board......thanks also to those who posted or txtd messages about the Radio 4 coverage of the LRC fringe the other day.

A MAJOR VICTORY FOR LABOUR PARTY DEMOCRACY

I've spent a couple of days trying to track this one down - and the VERY good news is that Labour Party Conference withstood serious pressure from the leadership and has backed a change in the way in which the National Policy Forum is elected.
I know that the trade unions were being arm-twisted for days before the vote on Wednesday afternoon. But they stood firm.
So now instead of delegates at Conference being the only ones who can vote on who represents us, we will all have a say in who gets onto the NPF. This is an issue which groups like CLPD, STLP and the LRC have been fighting for for a couple of years. It may end the farce by which dissenting views on the NPF have been effectively wiped out.
OMOV for the NEC has allowed the left of centre grassroots candidates to get four out of the six CLP places. Now it's time to take the fight to the NPF. And fight for the policies we need to change direction. This is not, as some have billed it , a return to the "bad old days" of internal strife. It may indeed herald a return to the "good old days" when Labour policy-making had input from all wings of the Party.

See link below for details.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8282449.stm

A CONVOCATION OF CASSANDRAS?

It's a lovely turn of phrase. the kind of thing I used to dream up in my days as a Diarist for the Manchester Evening News. However, today's piece in the Guardian on "Labour's Death Row" was a bit of a misrepresentation of the LRC "Not The Labour Party Conference" rally held on Monday night.
I see no point in pretending this was a major triumph. We got about 60 activists out in a very large ballroom where in previous years the numbers would have been in the hundreds.
The same was true of ALL events this year at Conference. Attendance was down, the mood was sombre.But unlike some events, the LRC rally told the truth. And it's dire.
For at least the past two years, and probably more, we have warned of a Government "sleepwalking to disaster" because it refuses to change direction.
Repeatedly, the LRC has outlined the policies needed to bring back voters. The need for honesty. The challenge of admitting some things were wrong - and that they needed to be put right. The People's Charter, endorsed at the TUC Congress, would be a bold step away from the likelihood of a Tory Government.
Instead, Conference saw speaker after speaker claiming we had a "great story to tell" and that somehow we could win back voters' trust by repeating the same tired old mantras. And hoping that past policies would somehow transmogrify into present day successes.
But the game is up. And, much as I loved the pictures of Tony Woodley tearing up the Sun on stage, the truth is that the union leaders have colluded in the conspiracy of denial which is seemingly, inevitably, leading to a General Election defeat.
As Mark Serowtka said on Monday night, Gordon Brown could still come back from the brink of disaster by taking on the bankers, rallying round the public sector workers, scrapping the Sun-led agenda , and fessing up that it's time to turn left in the interests of the vast majority of working-class people. Instead, the spin doctors thought that wheeling on the wife to tell everyone how great Gordon is would somehow turn things round.
Now the vile Sun newspaper has ditched Labour, perhaps those in the Downing Street bunker will realise it is five minutes to midnight and they have one last chance to claw back from the abyss. If they don't, as Alan Simpson put it, Gordon Brown is a "dead man walking" And in 12 months time, when we gather in Manchester, the numbers will be even more decimated - and we will be in Opposition

WOT A RELIEF.......

I'm sad I was not in Brighton to see UNITE'S Tony Woodley tear up a copy of The Sun in disgust after Murdoch's grotty little rag ditched support for Labour in a three-page diatribe. Frankly, I'm delighted. Pandering to Murdoch's right-wing agenda was one of Labour's worst-ever moves.

MAGDALEN LAUNDRIES REVISITED........

At Brighton I was only able to blog pretty sporadically due to real time commitments. But I was pretty horrified to note in Brown's speech yesterday a reference to what sounded like souped-up workhouses for teenage mums.
The very idea of "correcting" the behaviour of youbg mothers by putting them into some sort of supervised housing is worrying and nastily authoritarian, too. Punishing girls for getting pregnant is the kind of mentality which in Ireland saw them banged up with nuns and lectured on their immoral behaviour. Still, at least Gordon isn't proposing to give the babies away.
But it's an issue which needs addressing with more than punitive measures.
Why do so many girls get pregnant in an age when it's never been so easy to get contraception? When sex is taught in schools. When sexual acts I never knew existed at a similar age are advertised and discussed in glossy mags read by 12-year-olds. Yes, it needs looking at . But these "houses of correction" seemingly dreamt up on the back of a fag packet are not the answer,

GORDON'S SPEECH- WHAT HE DID NOT SAY

I listened today with some care to Gordon Brown's speech. It was crafted meticulously - he is no Tony Blair ( thank God) but he did it well. If you listened to the rhetoric there was little anyone would disagree with. Much to applaud too. More aid to the developing world, past achievements like the cutting of NHS waiting lists, more nursery care, , scrapping of compulsory ID cards, and then the undoubted truth that a Labour Govt is better than a Tory one.
But,unlike Eddie Izzard, I was not in tears. Because you see good as things sound they could be so much better. Labour cuts because it has to, said Brown. The Tories because they want to. I do not doubt the latter statement. The end result, as far as the public sector is concerned, will however be the same. And Labour COULD make cuts which many of us would cheer to the rafters.
Cuts in tax to the low-paid, cuts in expenditure on Trident ( cut all of it) . Cuts in defence expenditure in Afghanistan ( by bringing the troops home).Cuts in subsidies to the private sector.
We could also reap rich rewards to the economy by cracking down seriously on the tax dodgers and bankers in the City, attract thousands of votes via a mass house-building programme. And maybe even more as winter beckons by stopping the rank profiteering of the private utilities. By taking them back into public ownership.
Couching what is a basic acceptance of the capitalist crisis bail-out - without radical solutions - and couching it in quasi-socialist rhetoric is clever strategy . It may even be sincere. But the British people ( to use a Gordon Brown phrase) see little difference between us and the Tories. Clear red water could only help in giving us a fighting chance at the Election.
And please in future years can we be spared Leader's partners waxing lyrical at the rostrum. I do not doubt Sarah Brown adores her husband. It is very little to do with the business of running the country.It may have been lapped up by the Party faithful. The wider general electorate find such stunts rather manipulative......
As I pack my bags for Hebden Bridge I suppose my abiding memory of this conference will be its funereal ambience, the low-key security, the general air of resignation. And if, in 12 months time Labour has secured a jaw-dropping victory well yes I will be happy to be proved wrong. I think those who predict Labour will die at the next election are wrong, too. The truth, I suspect, will be somewhere in between. And we will battle on.......

HAS LABOUR LEARNED TO LOVE MANDY?

I was not in the conference hall for Mandelson's speech - not excactly on the top of my to do list yesterday. But according to reports I have had from those who were, he was received rapturously.
Delegates who have been missing Blair's bravura performances were no doubt entranced to see another great political vaudeville act. But thousands more in the Party continue to fight Mandelson's privatisation plans and "intensely relaxed" attitude towards the rich.
Tomorrow, the leadership will ty and quell hopes of making the elections to the National Policy Forum OMOV and are trying to pressurise the unions to cave in. Let's hope for once the unions stick to their guns - and their promises to the grassroots.
Mandelson's message may have been slick and assured. However, at last night's LRC rally MPs John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyn and Katy Clark spelt out a rather starker message. Which is this - unless every MP goes out into their constituencies and holds true to the policies which help our core voters - and continues to fight within the Party for them - we face oblivion. My thanks too, to the young delegate from Brighton Pavilion, a staunch campaigner for Nancy Platts, who was so cheered up by the fact at last he'd bumped into some socialists here in Brighton. There are not, amid the suits and boots, many of us around.......

FIN DE SIECLE.....

The flags fluttering in the Brighton air are significantly devoid of the New Labour brand. Too late I fear. Two days into the Labour Party Conference and the mood is very much fin de siecle......there is much brave talk and yesterday new PPCs were rolled on stage and rightly applauded for their commitment to the battle ahead. But most sense it is already lost. However as a regional Party organiser said to me this morning we just have to fight on.
And I have a question for the SWP hordes who hijacked yesterdays trade union demo for "Jobs, Education and Peace" They brought their own banners, they " Ragesd against New Labour. They shouted "Labour Out".....What exactly do they think is going to be the scenario in a year's time......Do they really prefer the Tories?

CONVENTION OF THE LEFT - SATURDAY

Saturday 26th September 200910:30am to 5:00pm
The 2009 Convention of the Left will be held at the Brighthelm Centre, North Road, Brighton, BN1 1YD.
This is a free one-day conference, with contributors including Jeremy Corbyn MP, Robert Griffiths (Communist Party of Britain), John Haylett (Morning Star), Caroline Lucas MEP (Green Party), John Maguire (Unite Belfast Visteon Convenor), John McDonnell MP (LRC), Pete Murray (NUJ), Kay Phillips (Respect), Martin Smith (SWP), Matt Wrack (FBU) to discuss how we make the green, left, socialist and radical alternative a reality.
See www.conventionoftheleft.org for more details. Download the Convention of the Left 2009 flyer.
Last year the Convention ran successfully as the alternative to New Labour’s conference in Manchester. This year’s Convention event will continue the debates on the crisis of capitalism and Westminster politics and develop our ideas in response.
The wealth exists in society to pay for our essential needs - and the way the governments of the UK, EU and US have found trillions of Pounds, Dollars and Euros at the drop of a hat for the bankers proves what we have been saying all along.
And, as the continuing bloodshed in Afghanistan shows, there is still a limitless coffer for war and destruction.
The trouble is that our rulers want to use the wealth in society to prop up capitalism - which will inevitably lead to the same results all over again. They are buying themselves out of their crisis, but expecting the rest of us pay the price.
Recessions lead scape-goating, racism and the rise of the far right. The election of two BNP members to the European Parliament should be warning to us all.
Don’t blame the victims. The poor should not be punished for the crisis of capitalism. We must provide the alternative. We look forward to seeing you in Brighton on September 26th to discuss how we make the green, left, socialist and radical alternative a reality.

SCRAP THE LOT, GORDON

This week Gordon Brown said he would cut the Trident fleet from four to three. Scrap the lot, Gordon. If the C-word is now in fashion, surely cutting the nuclear weapons bill would be a great turn-around for Labour's chances. Do it.

LOCAL MP URGES RE-THINK ON ROCHDALE 7

A few days ago a chance encounter on a train led me to highlight the case of the Rochdale 7. They have now been expelled from the Labour Party after decades of foot-slogging and loyalty. One of the expelled is 78 years old and most have been in the Party for 30-odd years. Do they deserve this shabby treatment? Jim Dobbin MP, who I worked for as a press officer in the 1992 election, is said to be taking up their case. I ask this question. Why is the Labour Party treating ordinary members in this way? Why are they ensuring that support on the ground in places like Rochdale will be thin? Why are they shooting themselves in the foot? Why, even if they think these members have made a mistake , is the Witchfinder-General approach the only route? I am disgusted. And I will be writing to the NEC .I urge others to do the same.

LIB DEMS -LURCH TO THE RIGHT

Liberal Democrats are seemingly set to ditch their commitment to scrapping tuition fees as Nick Clegg talks of the need for "savage "cuts. Presumably in a bid to out-Cameron Cameron. Charlie Kennedy, the best asset the Libs ever had, whatever his issues with alcohol, has warned this will not go down at all well but my guess is Clegg will continue the Party's rightward drift whatever the grassroots think. At the next election, it will be a two-horse race and anyone who still thinks the Lib Dems are to the left of Labour should take a reality check.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clegg-challenged-over-tuition-fees-uturn-1790709.html

LEFT EVENTS AT LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE

I will be heading off to Brighton at the end of the week for Labour Party Conference:
The following events are musts for activists:

Saturday September 26: Convention Of The Left, Brightelm Centre, Brighton:
10.30am-5pm Speakers include Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, and Prem Sikka from LEAP.

Grassroots Umbrella Network: 4.45pm onwards, UMI hotel ( previously Belgrave) .A chance for Labour Left delegates and activists to get together and discuss contemporary issues, getting contemporary motions restored......and emergency motions on the agenda.

Sunday September 27: Labour Against The War: 7pm, Friends Meeting House, Brighton.Speakers Alan Simpson MP, Christine Shawcroft, NEC

Monday September 28. LRC "Not The Labour Party Conference" 7pm, Ramada Jarvis, Brighton.

CAN LABOUR SURVIVE IN THE CALDER VALLEY?

I was down in London yesterday for a meeting of the LRC's National Committee and discussing Parliamentary selections. A well-intentioned comrade said to me, if you put in the work, you will get selected. I disagree rather in the light of my own experiences but this was certainly true in the case of Calder Valley's Janet Oosthuysen, who was selected after a hard contest only to be unendorsed in the light of stories which appeared in the media which the NEC judged would harm Labour's chances at the General Election. We said they were wrong.
I've blogged at length about the reasons why, so I will not repeat them again. Suffice to say my Branch lobbied the NEC and several individuals also made complaints- to no avail.
Today, the Mail On Sunday is running a quite separate story about our current PPC , Steph Booth. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the matter, it should be investigated by the NEC as a matter of urgency.
Calder Branch Labour Party has a public meeting on Thursday at the Hole In The Wall pub in Hebden Bridge on the general topic of the General Election. I hope Party members and non-Party members locally will turn up and tell us what they think.

TUC BACKS PEOPLE'S CHARTER

Earlier this year the People's Charter was launched by Parliamentarians and trade unions including the RMT and FBU. Good news from the TUC where Congress overwhelmingly voted to back an RMT motion asking for support for the Charter's call for a fairer economy, decent housing and pensions, restoration of trade union rights, and bringing the private utilities into public ownership. More details on the LRC website

ROCHDALE PARTY MEMBERS FACE EXPULSION

Last night on the way home from Manchester I met a woman from the Labour Party who I have known for at least 25 years. She told me about the disgraceful victimisation of some long-standing Party members ( now threatened with expulsion) because they made an offiical complaint about their PPC Simon Danczuk. A former Mayor is now threatening to resign. My understanding is all the seven facing disciplinary action have been in the Labour Party for decades.
Danczuk has been PPC for a couple of years. He was selected over Manchester councillor Afzhal Khan, a former Lord Mayor of Manchester and someone who would have been a brilliant canddiate. The point at issue now is that Party members in Rochdale believe there are question-marks over Danczuk which require investigating. And have been brave enough to sign a letter saying so.
Have we now really reached the stage where any questioning of the New Labour clique who run the Party machine - and use it to get their candidates imposed often against the wishes of the local activists - is grounds for being thrown out?


http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/29600/former-mayor-threatens-to-quit-labour-party

WHAT RECOVERY?

Yes, I know. Any left blogger worth their salt should have been reporting the resolutions, the policies, the way ahead as proposed by TUC Congress. I haven't.
I haven't because this economic recession is no longer something to be debated, discussed, and argued against a backdrop of a meal out or dinner round at someone's house or a political meeting. It is real, it is me, and it is the prospect of earning less than I need to pay the bills. And it is frightening.
It keeps me awake at night, it means that maybe for the first time in a long time my solidarity with those similarly trying to survive is no mere intellectual discussion. Or opportunity for grandstanding. And it makes me angry beyond belief that in the space of two days I have been talking to exdcellent people in Leeds and Manchester who would want to do something to change the way things are, who would like to be our representatives, but who are blocked at the highest levels by those who don't want to see the troublesome, the awkward squad, the socialists in our Labour Party ever achieving what they should.
Over 2 million unemployed, swatheing cuts in the public sector, arrant nonsense about a "recovery" which has no impact on those I know who are seriously struggling. Columnists like Kevin Maguire say Gordon Brown is doing the best he can, so why day after day do people tell me they have had it with the Labour Party, that they can longer stay involved. Because there is no point. I would like to tell them they are wrong. But I seriously begin to wonder.

A LEGEND IN HIS LUNCHTIME.....

Sad to learn just now of the passing of Keith Floyd, a celebrity chef in the days when Gordon Ramsay was still tucking into boiled eggs with soldiers. Unlike today's super-hyped, slick breed of TV cooks, Floyd was utterly shambolic. He was never to be filmed without a glass of wine in hand and sometimes even a cigarette or two as well as he travelled the world in search of recipes from far-flung places. I still have one or two of his cookbooks and all the recipes were relatively simple - and they worked. Apart from the rare occasions when they didn't - and he didn't mind showing the results in his shows. I recall one exceptional disaster involving a fish cooked in salt.......

Outside the kitchen his personal life was an absolute shambles too and he married four times, went bankrupt, and in the end of course his love of a snifter and a fag killed him prematurely at the age of 65. He looked 20 years older. But in his heyday on TV he was charismatic and funny. I daresay foodies all over the UK will be raising a glass to him today.

RMT CALL FOR RENATIONALISATION - WITH MASSIVE PUBLIC SUPPORT

Clear evidence it's time for policy change by the Govt - six years after Labour Party Conference agreed


http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/britain/Most-people-want-rail-privateers-to-go

SCRAP TRIDENT CALL AT TUC

One of the issues which saved the Calder Valley seat for Chris McCafferty ( ask anyone who spent every day at the Trades Club phone bank during the last General Election campaign) was her strong opposition to Trident.
Despite the rebellion of over 100 Labour MPs, including Chris, Gordon Brown and the Government pressed ahead with plans for a new generation of nuclear weapons. As Kate Hudson points out over Socialist Unity, a reversal of this policy which is neither financially nor morally viable , would be a vote-winner. There is also a CND fringe meeting at the TUC Congress. Details are in the post.

http://www.socialistunity.com/

THE PARROT ISN'T DEAD

Derek Simpson asserts that New Labour is as dead as Monty Python's parrot. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Far from it. Indeed he is as guilty as anyone else in colluding with the right-wing machine which is still very much in control of the Labour Party.

The rhetoric Simpson cranks up every year at Conference time, however amusing and astute it may be, only translates in real terms into unconditional support for the Brownite wing of the Party. Ed Miliband is touted by Simpson as the best hope for Labour. Who will it be next year.......

Far from backing the Left, UNITE and its 'political officer, Charlie Whelan, runs a tight Parliamentary ship which backs candidates who are often as far from "old Labour" as you can possibly imagine. And, according to my contacts in the union, it also does its best to scupper the Parliamentary hopes of even its own left activists.

Six years ago in Bournemouth, I recall being greatly cheered at an angry meeting of the "Big Four" union leaders with the rousing theme of Get Labour Back.

Simpson and Woodley, who despite their personal animosity to each other share great public speaking skills, were cheered to the rafters as they pledged to re-claim the Party and do their damndest to bring it about. In my innocence, I believed every word.

In the years since, their stated opposition to Blairism has gone very little beyond jokes ( at which Simpson excels) about the" Blair witch project." In 2007, despite the talk of "not doing coronations in the Labour Party" Simpson 100 per cent backed Gordon Brown becoming Leader without a contest. Both Woodley and Simpson's calls for radical policy changes have largely been ignored.

Berating Mandelson and the other Miliband and making pointless pleas for Old Labour to return is playing to an increasingly empty gallery as Party members give in to apathy or despair at the prospect of annihilation at the General Election.

Yet, in Brighton in a couple of weeks' time, we will be treated to the same of script - with the same result.

In previous years, I've looked forward to the fringe gatherings, late-night arguments, and general bonhomie which almost cancels out the fact that Conference itself is a stage-managed farce.

This year, I expect there to be even less opposition , less Left delegates, and less reason for actually being there. The results of UNITE's supine support for the New Labour establishment will be seen at the General Election and in Manchester in 12 months' time we will be surveying the subsequent political wreckage. Maybe by then the parrot really will be dead - but it will be squawking all the way to the hustings. And how many Labour Party members will be around to witness its final demise?

BIT LATE IN THE DAY, CRUDDAS

Jon Cruddas, Great Red Hope of the Islington dinner party circuit, is reported in the Mirror as saying it's time for Labour to turn left. The time for Labour to turn left and away from neo-liberalism was in June 2007 when Gordon Brown became Leader.
Of course, it was Cruddas and his comrades in Compass who aided the coronation of Brown, which made it so easy for Brown NOT to change tack and claim an overwhelming mandate in the PLP for same old, same old. So I'm afraid as far as I'm concerned it's a case of too little and probably too late. Cruddas is right to say the Party is in despair - however he is one of the chief architects of the despondency which is driving so many Party members to the point of walking away. And a significant number of others, sadly in my locality, to hand in their Party cards.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/09/09/turn-left-gord-115875-21658866/

ED MILIBAND IN BRIGHOUSE

I believe Ed Miliband is going to be in Brighouse. Don't ask me where or when because, as the Branch Secretary of the largest Branch in the Calder Valley, clearly I'm not entitled to know, And neither are my pals on the left who have complained loudly and long about the debacle which has been the Calder Valley Parliamentary selection.
It heartens me to know that some of them are continuing to complain and making their views known to the powers-that-be in charge of doling out the tickets to the favoured few.
Mind you, here in Hebden Bridge we're no strangers to being the excluderati.
At the last election, there was a big shindig with Tony Blair in Huddersfield and those of us who, shall we say, had expressed our displeasure with the PM over Iraq were not told when or given tickets to attend. Hopefuly, I will bump into Ed and a few members of the NEC when I go to Brighton in a couple of weeks time........

DIVERSIFICATION - NOT ALWAYS PLAIN SAILING

Back home from London today to find my bi-monthly copy of The Journalist on the doormat. On the train I was having a conversation with a colleague who is taking a job in a hotel to survive so it was with some irritation that I read an article in the latest edition on how marvellously liberating life could be after redundancy. The last word is of some importance because most freelance journalists are NOT " made redundant." They just don't have their contracts renewed so there is no financial safety net or recompence at all for what can be years and years of service. You are just Out On Your Ear

Yes, there are those who have the skills to set themselves up as Susan Press International Media or some such equivalent and good luck to them. The reality is that such projects require money and that in order to survive a lot of freelance journalists who lose their core income simply have to pack it in entirely. And that, for the freelance sector in the north, things have never been worse. The market is crowded and, over 50, you're not going to be top of the pile.

I don't mind diversifying. My initial foray into bookselling has been a bit of a minefield and I've made some mistakes , as I was bound to, but I'm confident it can earn me a couple of hundred a month in time. What writing work I have left pays the bills ( for now) so in theory I just need another 15 or 20 hours a week work to keep head above water.

But that means accepting the reality that the halcyon days of regional journalism are over, and that in order to make up the shortfall I'm likely to have to take on work I would never have considered before. And I think The Journalist should make room for such stories in future editions. It really isn't that easy..........ask my friends.

NUJ BACKS DEMO AT LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE

See details on link below

http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=1333

TROOPS OUT CALL AT LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE

One for Brighton delegates to watch........


http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/sep/06/gordon-brown-afghanistan-pullout-motion

NO PLATFORM FOR FASCISTS

NO, they should NOT be given airtime

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6823364.ece

BETWEEN THE LINES

The proposition of selling books on-line seemed pretty straightforward. It is not, as I have learned the hard way. Now going through catalogue of 400 books for umpteenth time to sort out errors. So just in case anyone out there is thinking of doing similar. Some tips.
1. Never describe a book as " as new" unless it's absolutely pristine.
2.Every scrap of wear must be described or else it may wend its way back home
3. Forget best-sellers. You will be competing with thousands of others with little chance of sale.
4. You will need to upload pics of your books.
5. Buyers are either readers or dealers. The latter are VERY picky.
6. Photography and art are the best hope of sales along with literature and poetry.

And after a month of hard work how much have I earned? About £100. Not exactly Waterstone's........but as said books are all on-line now I will persevere.