PETER'S FRIEND.....

Ex Campaign Group MP Harry Barnes has for months championed Peter Hain as a closet leftie and at one stage called repeatedly for him to stand as Leader. Actually, in a straight choice between him and Brown, I would probably agree. But given Hain's abysmal showing in the Deputy Leadership contest ( I did actually vote for him...) we now know that will never happen. So what has he got to lose......

Harry now reckons Hain is incensed at the Govt's refusal to bale out 125,000 workers whose pensions have been wrecked and "privately appalled." Well, if he has an ounce of courage left then , yes, he should resign from the Government. But I'm not holding my breath.

In recent weeks he has also presided over the draconian "Welfare To Work" proposals at the DWP, reneged on promises to stop the closure of Remploy factories, and backed Gordon all the way. Call me cynical but I would not be surprised to learn that Hain realises he's so screwed by the donations farce that he knows a future re-shuffle will see him out on his ear. In which case he will then veer left and , like Frank Dobson and Clare Short, re-discover his "left" credentials and bleat from the backbenches. Only to be dismissed as an "embittered ex Minister." In no way is he now a credible left figure.

LET'S HEAR IT FOR HARRY

The other night attended my local LGC meeting which was a pretty packed affair. Someone wagered this was the "Brown bounce." Hardly.

Today, I bow to the greater experience and wisdom of Harry Barnes, a former Labour MP whose blog is a fount of commonsense. Harry's from the centre-left tradition of democratic socialism and his analysis of Brown's first few days is chillingly bleak. But he's absolutely right.

We face a long hard haul and, if anyone out there thought Gordon was to the left of Blair, well it's been made horribly clear that he is not. Inviting Tories like Sir Digby Jones into the Cabinet, setting up a pro-capitalist Business Council, offering Paddy Ashdown a job as Minister.You really couldn't have made it up. As Harry says:" If Thatcher had gone as far as this we would all have screamed blue murder." The only answer I'm afraid is the serious slog of recruiting, attending meetings and getting into positions where we can start to stem the right-wing tide which effectively means we now have a National Government comprised of "all the talents" - as long as they are not on the centre-left.