JEREMY CORBYN ON WHY GORDON SURVIVED - AND WHAT LABOUR MUST DO NOW

Last night's PLP was not the bloodbath the media were hoping for. Jeremy Corbyn explains why..........

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/features/brown_lives_to_fight_another_day

ELECTION SPIN BACK ON THE AGENDA

I don't mind admitting when I'm wrong and I couldn't have been more so about the trajectory for Gordon Brown. In September, it looked as though he would be out by Christmas but politics is a volatile game, his stock has risen over the Government's handling of the economy and today the pundits are yet again predicting a snap General Election in June.
Which means Downing Street is seriously considering the scenario.
They did so of course in September 2007 when a snap GE was called off at the last minute. Brown lived to rue the consequences but now things superficially seem to have turned around. That superficiality would IMHO be a reason for deterring.
If Brown has re-gained public confidence that could easily dissipate if he is seen once more as an opportunist
Thousands of jobs are going down the tubes, repossessions are rising every day and we are on the cusp of the depths of winter with many too scared to turn their central heating on in case they can't afford the bills. Frankly, the Government should be concentrating on thise issues rather than encouraging more election speculation. UPDATE: Gordon Brown now "vehemently" denying the rumours. I hope that's true as a snap election just might rebound on him.

TRUE COLOURS ?

Earlier this week, after an ( inquorate ) Branch meeting, a few of us gathered to discuss Gordon Brown's handling of the current crisis. A friend of mine was rather delighted that the PM had "shown his true colours" and was coming round to the view that maybe he really was a closet socialist. The right-wing press has also been full of scaremongering on a scale which might suggest New Labour had nationalised the 250 monopolies under workers' control with no compensation. The reality is rather less exciting.
Last night I caught the News late to find that Gordon Brown is now being hailed as the "saviour of global capitalism." That's a position I have no doubt he will bask in and, from a statesmanship point of view, there is also no doubt that Brown's authoritative handling of this crisis will have improved his standing in the eyes of many people - and probably will give Labour a boost in the polls. But let us not confuse an expedient act with ideological commitment to socialist values - which would have seen a very different way forward and long-term perspective on how society deals with the meltdown of capitalism

TOLD YOU SO.....

Just watched the BBC News - with Siobhan McDonagh calling for a leadership contest. It's just the start..... One week before Labour Party Conference and the knives are clearly out for Gordon Brown. No coincidence either that the London MP used to work for John Reid.
Reid's own hopes of a leadership bid, you might recall, were well and truly shafted by a dirty tricks device which saw age-old "revelations" being published in the Mail On Sunday shortly before he announced he was throwing in the towel. That particular tale of a drunken lunge on Dawn Primarolo was timed to do maximum damage and stop Reid even thinking of challenging Brown. It did.
Now I didn't have much time for John Reid. Nevertheless, I thought that dredging up some ancient instance of inappropriate drunken behaviour was an outrageous tactic. Well, now the chickens are coming home to roost. As things stand, it's unlikely anyone will get the 70 names they need to challenge an incumbent Prime Minister. However, the bars and reception rooms of the Midland Hotel will still be awash with intrigue.
But let me make it plain to anyone who thinks otherwise. The Calder valley resolution to be debated in 10 days' time is not about attacking Gordon Brown. It is about ensuring there is a fair and honest contest IN THE EVENT OF A VACANCY.
However, this is my prediction. If Labour loses the Glenrothes by-election in October, the pressure on Brown will become unsustainable. He will have to go. All the more reason to have a new rule in place which does not leave any contest as the preserve of New Labour ferrets fighting for their political lives. An open honest debate about principles - not nasty backstabbing .

UPDATE: Daily Telegraph on-line 8.43pm

The Daily Telegraph understands that about a dozen Labour MPs, including several former senior ministers, have asked officials to provide nomination papers for a leadership contest at the party’s conference later this month.
They include Janet Anderson, Kate Hoey, Frank Field, George Howarth, Joan Ryan and Graham Stringer, all former ministers. Jim Dowd, a former whip, has also been involved in the operation, as has Lord Alli, the Labour peer. Former Cabinet ministers close to Tony Blair are also preparing to add to the pressure on Mr Brown with public interventions over the weekend.

GORDON BROWN AS TRAGIC HERO

In the early hours of the morning, I scoured the Sunday papers and decided I could not be bothered blogging any more about who's leaked what, to whom and why. The dying days of New Labour are febrile with disloyalty, betrayal, ambition, and all the other ingredients which make politics a very nasty game.
Undoubtedly, it's the policies as much as the personalities which have contributed to this sorry tale. But Brown's innate insecurities have also contributed to his imminent downfall.
He is, indeed a tragic hero - in the literary sense .
Eng Lit students of a certain age will have read A C Bradley's Shakespearean Tragedy - in which protagonists are all assigned a "fatal flaw" which leads to their downfall. Othello's, obviously, is jealousy. Macbeth's ambition. Hamlet's is procrastination. In his 25 years in Parliament, Brown has somehow managed to combine all three of these very human traits. So no wonder he's in serious trouble.
Aristotle also had five prerequisites for tragic heroes . They normally start off being nobly born or blessed with wisdom. Unfortunately, they then fall prey to something called Hamartia, roughly translated as an error in judgment. This then leads to peripeteia - a reversal of fortune brought about because of the hero's mistake. Closely followed by anagnorisis - recognition it's basically his own fault. Then there's catharsis - a purging of all all the above.
Where is Brown amid this Greek tragedy? Stage 4. As he broods on the beach at Southwold,
my guess is he knows that his current malaise is all his own fault. The question is what happens next.
As the Blairite vultures gather round, my guess is he will end up, tragically, like King Lear, alone on the "blasted heath" of New Labour.

WILL McDONNELL CHALLENGE GORDON AGAIN?

It's not often that the Left is front-page news but today's Mail On Sunday is seething with speculation that John McDonnell is to mount another challenge to Gordon Brown. The piece , alleging that "friends of the MP" have said he will try to topple Brown in the next few months, is curiously at odds with others alleging there will be no challenge from the Left MP as it's mathematically impossible to get the 70 or so MPs. So maybe the Mail is misinterpreting events.

But what is in no doubt is that Gordon Brown has been so damaged by the local election results it seems impossible he can continue until the next General Election. And the next few months are going to be absolutely fascinating politically - particularly for those of us who support the LRC.

Basically, around 100 or so MPs now know they have had it unless there is a change of leader - and policy direction. The prospect of redundancy can sharpen minds wonderfuly and Ken Livingstone's demise in London will also have been a wake-up call to MPs hitherto , as John puts it, "sleepwalking to disaster." I rather suspect that next Saturday's Labour Briefing AGM, at which John McDonnell is due to speak, may atttract rather more media attention than we would have thought possible just a few days ago.

JOHN4LEADER 2008

Today's Guardian has an interesting piece by Jackie Ashley http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/21/gordonbrown.economy
which raises the issue of a possible leadership election in the event of Brown being defeated over the 10 pence tax issue. Not, at time of writing, an impossibility.
Amazingly, the Labour Left actually gets a mention as a result of a TV interview Ashley has done with John McDonnell, who she quotes as saying, "We are very close to the edge.I would like a leadership election now ... We should have the leadership election we never had. Let's ask Gordon Brown, what do you really stand for? Let the Blairites put up their candidate ... Let's have a contest now and clear the air."
Ashley, of course, says this view is not the way forward. She fears a new Leader "to the right" of Brown would be elected and that, however awful the policies ( and she agrees they are) the usual calls to party discipline and unity around Brown is the only way to go. I do not agree.
Frankly, " to the right of Brown" is not a possibility within the Labour Party. Hutton wouldn't stand a chance and neither would Purnell. Trade unions lining up behind them ?
Don't think so.
The mood music around Brown has now got so bad that a leadership election - the one we should have had - would be a positive. It would break the stranglehold New Labour has had over this Party. Just think about it.
Candidates from all wings of the Party, a proper honest debate to cheer the hearts of demoralised and disillusioned members fed-up with New Labour, fed-up with never having a say on policy, fed-up with..... being fed-up. Will it happen? Probably not. But I live in hope.....

DALAI LAMA'S WORDS OF WISDOM

I'm glad that Gordon Brown is going to meet the Dalai Lama. It just so happens that I have a calendar on my desk which offers words of wisdom from the great man for each day of the year. So I hope Gordon takes note of today's thought when he meets him.

"In reality I believe that economic advancement and respect for individual rights are closely linked. Society cannot fully maximise its economic advantage without granting its people civil and political rights."

TIME FOR UNION LEADERS TO STAND FIRM

The trade union bureaucrats have not exactly been inspirational in the last 12 months. When push comes to shove, on almost every issue important to the left, they have rolled over and died . But let's hope that the massive vote in favour of Andrew Miller's Bill on Friday will give them a bit of backbone today when the meet Gordon Brown.
Brown, of course, will be aiming for a fudge so that the proposals to give equal rights to temmporary and agency workers can go into the long grass for a bit longer via a spurious "Commission." That just won't wash - given the amount of support for the Bill in the House of Commons on Friday. As Halifax MP Linda Riordan said to me on saturday, it made you remeber why you had jouned the Labour Party in the first place.
So let's hope that Tony Woodley, joint leader of Unite, sticks to his belief that the Commons vote has "quashed" the idea of a commission.
He says, "The evidence of the need for legislation now is overwhelming and we will not accept the promise of jam tomorrow."

COMRADES, COME (TO A) RALLY.......

Depressing details in this week's Tribune re Gordon Brown's plans to make this year's "Conference " even more of a US -style rally . Having abolished voting, Gordon now wants the whole thing to revolve around him. So the entire (non) event will now build up to a "crescendo" of excitement with the final Leader's speech being delivered on the Wednesday afternoon - not as was previously the case on Tuesday.

This, of course, was news to various people on the NEC. Not to mention people like myself who diligently helped book accommodation MONTHS ago on the grounds that hotels in Manchester get booked up ages in advance. Even back in October, it took many phone calls before I was able to find a block booking - and spare rooms - at a price people could even begin to afford. But we managed to book it from the Saturday night to the Thursday. That's just as well. because anyone now trying to get a hotel for what's now the first night of Conference simply won't be able to ( unless they go miles out of the city). But we will still have to re-negotiate what to do about the Wednesday night ( when everyone will now go home) It's ludicrous and, as usual , has been done without any consultation.

The biggest laugh of all is that this has apparently been bounced through on the grounds that the leadership is concerned the conference Hall is normally less and less packed as the week progresses. Well I have news for them. That's not because everything is an anti-climax after the Dear Leader's speech.

It is because Labour Party Conference, minus the resolutions and the input from ordinary members, has become one big yawn. And the thought that everyone will be agog till the Wednesday afternoon until they hear Gordon's speech is risible .Ironically, Blair might have got away with such showbiz shenanigans, because of his skills as an orator. Brown, a dull speaker in the best of worlds, has not a hope in hell.

And, by the way, doesn't that mean the traditional farewell from the Deputy Leader has also been consigned to history I increasingly wonder what that contest was for ........ poor old Harriet has been utterly downgraded.

2007 - A VERY BRITISH COUP

This blog was originally inspired by the hopes we had of a contest for the leadership of the Labour Party. In 2008, it will continue to support the LRC and its Chair John McDonnell as we continue to campaign for socialist ideas and an end to the New Labour doctrine which I suppose many of us began the year by thinking was about to be ditched or at the very least diluted with the advent of Gordon Brown. Not so.
This was also the year trade union leaders sold us down the river and to a man backed the New Labour leadership, , surrendering voting rights at Party Conference without so much as a murmur. The hopes placed in the "awkward squad" a couple of years ago have, frankly, proved misplaced. All we can do is carry on campaigning and working to change the status quo.....
In Tony Benn's Diaries, he compares AMICUS General Secretary Derek Simpson ( as he then was) to Harry Perkins, the socialist PM in the political drama A Very British Coup . In character, yes. Politically, no. Perkins stood up to the Establishment. Simpson has embraced it. And so sadly has Chris Mullin MP, who back in the 1980's wrote the excellent series about the consequences of a socialist Government.
At this year's Party Conference, Mullin arrived back at his hotel ( he still books in with the lefties) after a gang of us had been out for a meal. A comrade somewhat emboldened by drink asked him when he was going to write the sequel. In 2007, I think we got it........Happy New Year, comrades!

POLLS WORST YET FOR BROWN.....

Today's Sunday Times has a poll which puts the Tories 13 points ahead of Labour - their best result for 15 years. Brown's personal rating has slumped to - 26 from a summer high of + 38 per cent - or something like that. Takes some doing, really.But frankly Brown lousing it up is becoming increasingly exasperating , irritating and inexcusable.

It seems some of the Cabinet are fed-up too - well, sod the principles, eh, some of their livelihoods are at stake.

It's seriously hard to summon up much sympathy for a man whose raison d'etre is seemingly letting down pensioners, the disabled, the low-paid. And , oh yes, disappearing when the going gets a bit tricky.From a blogger's point of view, it is not exactly inspirational stuff......maybe he will nationalise Northern Rock this week and give us something to celebrate over Christmas.

ELECTION FEVER SHOULD BE QUARANTINED

Someone once described Clement Attlee as a "modest man with much to be modest about." The same cannot be said of Gordon Brown.The man is a political genius of formidable stature but sometimes you can be too bloody clever by half. He has spent the last three months in a determined bid to run his tanks over the Tories - not by adopting the "best when we are Labour" policies he used to espouse but actually by moving further and further to the right in his bid to persuade Tories to jump ship. Sod the rest of us......
I am so glad I was not in the Conference Hall last week when Tory defector Quentin Davies was hauled on like some prize trophy to make a speech. I know - 100 per cent - I would have done a Walter Wolfgang .
Brown also got his way with the unions on contemporary resolutions on the back of an imminent election. Now he is grandstanding in Iraq and re-hashing old policy announcements to make it seem as though another few hundred troops out is a major breakthrough. My word it's clever - but many Party members I know are sick and tired of his manoevring and posturing. The "British jobs for British workers" rhetoric sickened many of us last week. Brown , as the NUM's Nigel Pearce put it on Saturday, is suffering from "blue tongue disease."
Now it very much looks as though a General Election is imminent - or is it? Nobody I know wants to traipse the streets in the pitch-black for no reason other than to assuage Brown's enormous ego, It's unnecessary, unwelcome, and may well backfire . Above all, it's an election which will be based on the spin, smoke and mirrors which Gordon said he was so determined to sweep away. As former PM John Major says in today's Guardian: "What is pretty unattractive is the nods and winks, the hints, the cynicism, the belief that every decision is being taken because it is marching to the drumbeat of an election rather than to the drumbeat of solid proper government. " Intellectually, Major is a pygmy compared to Brown. On this occasion, he is right.

SALMOND V BROWN ?

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

BROWN TO PRESS AHEAD WITH CONFERENCE FOLLY

Yesterday to London where was at meeting with NEC members of the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance. Worrying news confirming suspicions that Brown is intent on pressing ahead with plans to end the chance to vote on ANY ISSUES AT ALL at Conference. It's hidden in the small print, but as part of a consultation exercise billed as "strengthening democracy" Gordon Brown actually wants to abolish the 8 contemporary motions ( the only way now to force a vote on issues) currently shared between the trade unions and constituencies .
The procedure as it stands is far from perfect. But had it not been in place, the following issues would not have been aired - and the leadership defeated - at conference. Moves to end NHS privatisation, council housing (now back on the Govt agenda after THREE votes at Conference) re-nationalisation of the railways and the extension of trade union rights. The implications of this are outlined in bleak detail by John McDonnell MP at the LRC website here
which also has news of Conference and other events. keep going back for more news from the Labour Left.

SAVING LABOUR DEMOCRACY

About to dash off yet again for trains so no real time for blogging. Off to London to attend meeting of the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance, where items on agenda will include Brown's latest bid to "democratise" the Party via a special document. This questionable enterprise ( not even discussed by the NEC before it went out to consultation) was talked over at the weekend National Policy Forum, which of course is dominated by New New Labour.

We need to fight Brown's move to ban votes at Labour Party Conference and sundry other issues which go under the name of increased "democracy"but will in practice only further remove activists from any say in the policy process - or even the chance to protest meaningfully when they don't like decisions made by the leadership .See here for more details.

GORDON'S GAMBLE

Well done, Gordon ! Brown has seemingly decided that plans for the Manchester supercasino are to be shelved - forever. Instead, he says the Govt will look at alternative ways of regeneration. I'm very glad to hear this as the very notion of gambling as a way forward for socially disadvantaged communities was, frankly, totally out of line with Labour values. No doubt he will get lots of ire heaped on his head for this but in my view he's made absolutely the right decision. Manchester MPs who backed the plan ( with the best of intentions) should now turn their minds to more positive ways of boosting urban areas. Let's hope Brown does the same.
UPDATE: It has been suggested there ios something "ironic" and "right-wing" about not backing the supercasino idea. In my view, it represented much that was reprehensible and amoral about Blairism. "Investing" in the futures of working people by lining up with fat cats, crooks, and those who prey on the hardships of the financially vulnerable was never a move to be applauded. When was the last time you met a socially responsible casino owner? Presumably one of the reasons why left-wingers like John McDonnell opposed this idea in the first place. Yes, it would have brought jobs to the area. Now let's find some real ones, not sops which do lip service to the idea of regeneration but which really line the pockets of the money men.

MORE COUNCIL HOUSING NEEDED!

Have just been reading the PM's speech text from today which, on the surface, sounds fair enough with some welcome pronouncements on housing . But does anyone actually know what this will mean in terms of SOCIAL, not "affordable", housing. One of my first tasks as a local councillor was attending a workshop on the difference between the two. "Affordable" basically , means diddly squat per se.If you're a millionaire, what's "affordable" is a a tad more flexible than if you're on the minimum wage. And the fact is most people starting out on the property ladder are facing the tightest cash squeeze since the early 1990's. Back in 1988, I was able to buy a modest flat for £23, 000 as i was earning £9,000 a year - just 2.5 times my salary. On my current wage as a self-employed journalist, I would be unable to buy half of the house I now live in .We need more details from Brown about HOW the Government is going to help the low-paid who at the moment, can't even get onto the first rung of the ladder, Many thousands who mortgaged themselves to the limit are also in deep trouble. We need solutions, not soundbites. And that includes the right of local authorities to build more social housing for those for whome "affordable" is not an option .As Dave Osler points out, In 1981, local authorities in England and Wales owned nearly 4.8m homes. By 2005, that had shrunk to 2.8m, with some councils having sold their entire housing stock. And there are currently 1.6milion people on council house waiitng lists.
Tomorrow, Defend Council Housing's National Conference to ‘Stand Up for Council Housing’ takes place from 9:30am-4:30pm at TUC Congress House, Great Russell Street, London. Labour Party conference has voted to endorse the 4th option of direct investment in council housing for three years running. A REAL commitment from Gordon Brown on this issue is therefore long overdue. See here

BROWN HUMILIATED BY CAMPBELL

Much has been made of the fact that Alasdair Campbell excised nasty references to Gordon Brown in his Diaries. So it's interesting he chose to include the ( to say the least of it) embarrassing tale of Gordon Brown locking himself in the lavatory in 1994 as the two were battling it out as to who should stand for Labour leader. Frankly, this seems to be the level of most of the "revelations" so far. Self-serving, stupid tittle-tattle.My last word on the subject......

CONSTITUTIONAL CREDIT

Credit where credit is due and it seems Gordon Brown's proposals to discuss constitutional issues are being broadly welcomed - as they should be. No longer will Prime Ministers be able to take us to war at whim and, in fairness, Brown seems determined to give Parliament - and our people - back some autonomy. As Tony Benn says in today's Guardian

"Gordon Brown's statement in the House of Commons on Tuesday was by far the most comprehensive analysis of constitutional relations that I have heard in my
lifetime and could have a profound influence on our political future. I welcome
his readiness to encourage a debate and hope that opportunity will be taken up
by all those who have been campaigning for such reforms for so long."