TRIDENT MOTHBALLED

Today, the Telegraph claims Trident may well be another casualty of the recession and abandoned.
Welcome news, but it could have been a positive announcement from Number 10 instead of a swept under the carpet job.........
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/5844275/Gordon-Brown-delays-Trident-work.html

FARRAH'S STORY - ALL OUR STORIES

I never watched Charlie's Angel's. But with the help of Carmen rollers in the 1970's along with millions of other teenagers I tried to have hair like Farrah Fawcett. I suppose if I'm honest I always thought she was a bit of a Hollywood airhead but after watching tonight's extremely moving documentary on Channel 4 I'm astounded at her bravery in charting two years on film of invasive and terrifying cancer treatment.

Ten years ago this August, my sister died aged 51 of secondary cancer in her liver. She wasn't a Hollywood actress but she shared with Farrah Fawcett a profound concern for her children and family, rather than herself. At 61, my mother died of lung cancer when I was only 28 so to some extent it has been a major shadow over my life as it is for millions of others. Once it's been your loved ones in the frame the fear it might be you next never quite goes away.

When I was Mayor I tried to do my bit my raising as much money as I could and we collectively managed to raise £4000 - a decent enough total but only enough to keep the hospice going for one day. Their work continues.

At times in our lives, we all get wound up about trivial stuff like not enough money and getting older. We should be glad we are alive. I may spend a lot of my life in political activity - but I never forget mortality, the great leveller which none of us can escape. Nor cease to be affected by the bravery of others facing the end before their time. Like the rest of us, Hollywood legends have to die. And Farrah Fawcett emerged from her last movie with serene dignity and style.

NO MORE STITCH-UPS FOR BLAIR

The news that Tony Blair is being endorsed as President of Europe should come as no surprise to anyone who realises where the real power of this Government now resides. Peter Mandelson, plotter-in-chief and one of the most effective politicians of his generation, now effectively holds the strings which are keeping Brown in power. It's only thanks to Mandelson that Brown survived the serious coup attempt of a couple of months ago and, obviously, there was a price to pay.

One of which is, seemingly, suggesting the return of TB to the stage as holder of a £275,000 a year post in the EU. To Blair, now earning millions on the US lecture circuit, this is chickenfeed financially. But presumably he misses strutting around as a player closer to home.

New Cabinet Minister Glenys Kinnock, also part of the cabal which saved GB, is already enthusiastically drumming up support. Which is all deeply depressing news for all of us who have had enough of corrupt power politicians who seem to think they have a God-given right to high office.

Hasn't Blair done enough in consigning troops and the indigenous people of Afghanistan and Iraq to endless violence without returning to wreak havoc in the EU. I may not have said yes to No2EU. But I most definitely say NO to TB.

Frankly, the Labour Party has had enough of the Blairs and their unending boarding of the gravy train.

WHY OUR TRAINS ARE A NATIONAL SCANDAL

I don't blame the poor bird who flew into the windscreen at Oxenholme for turning my journey home into a nightmare. That honour goes to the staff at Preston station who tonight refuted the view of the guard at Lancaster that I was entitled to a taxi to get me home after the unfortunate creature had caused me to miss my (last) connection.
Thus a 40-mile journey took three hours, I had to go into Manchester and out again, two hours added to my journey, and it was made clear to me it was a case of like it or lump it.
In pre-privatisation days, British Rail honoured their customer contracts and did their best to get people home at the least inconvenience when things went wrong. The private companies don't give a monkey's.
So" thanks" to Virgin Trains for rendering a previously delightful day at my niece's graduation into an exhausting and unnecessary horror story. Is it any wonder people are reluctant to use public transport? And why we call for re-nationalisation

CALDER BRANCH LABOUR PARTY.......

Tonight affiliated to the LRC. We regard this as an absolutely fundamental step which will help us re-build and recruit more members. It will also enable us to send out a clear message that our Branch, the largest in the Calder Valley constituency, is not signed up to New Labour policy and that we retain the socialist values which we have stood for ever since we campaigned against Iraq, tuition fees, privatisation, and the other policies which the LRC stands for.I urge other Branch Labour Parties to do the same and our next fund-raiser on Thursday August 6 will give part of the proceeds to the LRC.

A DIRTY GAME.....

Politics is a dirty game and after 30-odd years I see no reason why it should change - much as I would like it to. Stitch-ups, treachery and jobs for the boys have always been a part of Labour Party culture which is why in the early 1980's groups like the Campaign For Labour Party Democtacy struck such a chord with activists.
CLPD is still gamely hanging on and trying to reverse measures like the abolition of contemporary resolutions at annual Conference. The results of which we will see at Brighton in a couple of months but that will only happen if the unions come on board. Which, hopefully, they will.
OMOV voting for the National Policy Forums would be another advance , making the NPF more representative and ending the sheep-like mentality of the current set-up which is still overwhelmingly dominated by what's left of New Labour.
The mood locally in my Labour Party Branch is unremittingly bleak folowing the NEC's refusal to listen to us over the Parliamentary selection(s) and several of our keenest activists have resigned. Most members are just apathetic and unwilling to engage - and who can blame them.
As Branch Secretary, I face a Herculean task turning that round but we still have over 100 members and the only way forward is to try and motivate people which is not going to be easy in the current circumstances. In the long term, things can change and with local elections coming up next year we will need candidates in place who our members will campaign for.
If there are any more stitch-ups, or candidates barred for spurious reasons, Calder Branch will be in terminal decline.As things stand, most of us are just hanging on in there by our fingernails.

BONUS CULTURE MAKES MOCKERY OF DARLING'S POLICY

Earlier this week, the Chancellor was criticised for his failure to adopt stringent regulation on the banks bailed out by US. Today's Mail reports the bonus culture is back......
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1198904/City-banks-reward-staff-mind-blowing-bonuses-months-bringing-world-economy-brink-meltdown.html
The Left Economic Advisory Panel's take is here

THE GREAT FOOD DIVIDE

I blame the fact that I was force-fed as a (very) premature baby both for a lifelong obsession with food - and a lifelong problem with my metabolism. I'm currently (successfully) managing to eat rather less but note today's CiF thread on a report in the Mail which suggests us Northerners spend far less on fresh produce and eat more junk than our counterparts in the south. Oh, yawn.

Some 70 years ago, in The Road To Wigan Pier, George Orwell pointed out that people with very little money or indeed time would tend to opt for a tasty fried fish supper rather than take the time to concoct something healthier or cheaper.

His evocation of the fly-blown tripe shop remains one of the great examples of descriptive prose in the English language. The fact is that diet is still largely determined by income and by class. Not by geography.

Until recently, it was fair to say that food in Britain remained cheap. Not so any longer. The days when you could cram a bag full of veggies for very little are long-gone .

Hebden Bridge, where I live, is a haven of foodie-ness with two delis, an organic veg and meat shop, two butchers, greengrocer's and no big supermarket. Two farmer's markets a month and every week a market where this week I bought a fresh piece of perch for £2.47 and baked it in the oven with lemon and herbs. I must confess it was rather bland and a portion in batter with some chips would have tasted rather better. And cost rather less.

I skipped on the fruit and veg ( apart from a punnet of strawberries for £1) because it was far too expensive.And frozen veg is just as nutritious.

Due to diminished income, I've become adept at stuffing sell-by cheapies in the freezer, I can make a pan of soup for about 50pence, and being a post-war child am also pretty skilled at the comfort dishes my mum made like shin beef stew ( Tater ash if you're a Mancunian, Scouse if you're a Scouser) and liver and onions. But, North and South, the art of cooking is dying out.

Junk food is undoubtedly more prevalent and I see far more takeaways when I go down to London than there are in Manchester city centre. It's all part of a quick-fix, corporate society where a vegan cafe has little chance of success in a world dominated by KFC and McDonalds.

I'm reminded of that wonderful TV documentary where Michael Portillo took over the cooking for a family in Liverpool and shamefacedly confessed he spent more on one meal out than the family did in a week. And that's the bottom line. Iceland, Lidl and Aldi are the ports of call for anyone with mouths to feed and very little money to feed them on. Ocadia and Waitrose the preserve of those with oodles of cash. Those with very little will eat what they can afford. And chips are very very cheap.....

A TERRIBLE TOLL

It is not Bob Ainsworth's fault that the speaking clock is probably capable of emoting more distress than he is able to in the wake of the news that the death toll in Afghanistan hasnow reached the same total as Iraq.But never was a man less suited to the role of conveying public sorrow at private grief. He talks like an automaton.
That's no doubt why one of the bereaved relatives today accused him of being uncaring about the deaths of so many soldiers in so few days. I am sure that is not really the case.
However, it is surely time for the Government to consider bringing the troops home and ending the carnage.

CELEBRITY POLITICOS

George Clooney is arguably one of the most handsome men currently on the planet. And, if I were Sarah Brown, I probably wouldn't exactly turn down the chance to meet him either. But I wonder what both were doing at the G8 summit in Italy.
Most of the tabloids coverage of the summit has consisted of blow-by-blow accounts of what the various wives were wearing and who looked the best. Why, exactly, do the wives have to be there? It only adds to the cost of the whole circus and it's rather depressing so little progress has been made and that the world's leaders are still male, middle-aged and parading their partnes around as if it were London Fashion Week rather than a serious political summit. It 's all a bit farcical and, frankly, a distraction from the global changes which desperately need to be addressed. Still, fair play to Carla Bruni for snubbing Berlusconi so she could take George to the opening of a cinema. Given the choice, who wouldn't ........

PHONE TAPPING.....

John Prescott is right to call for an enquiry and it beggars belief that Andy Coulson. as editor of the News Of The World, would not have known what was going on.......

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8141720.stm

SLEEPWALKING TO DISASTER.....

The pitifully small rebellion on the 10p tax rate was sadly another indication that the PLP has not learned from the mistakes of the last couple years- and most of all the dreadful results in June. Today, I received the final report from our former MEP Richard Corbett - a decent bloke who did not deserve to lose his seat to the BNP. It was utterly nauseating to hear Nick Griffin on the radio as a bona fide member of the Brussels Parliament being given time on the BBC explaining why he thought boats carrying illegal immigrants should be sunk. Why are we giving oxygen to these scumbags by ignoring the plight of the most vulnerable, and betraying our fundamental values? Reversing the 10p decision would have sent a clear message out that the Govt has listened and learned. Instead, we are, as John McDonnell puts it in the Morning Star article below, sleepwalking to "disaster." And local MPs like Gordon Prentice and Mike Wood, who were brave enough to join the rebellion, are among those most at risk as a result.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/britain/labour_on_the_road_to_disaster

STAY AY HOME UNIVERSITIES

Bear with me for a Dark Ages moment or two. When I left home in 1977 to go to university it was a door into a different world.I met students from a wide range of backgrounds, I was independent, I was an ADULT ( well I thought I was) . The notion of staying at home and going to university would have been absolute anathema.
Today, the news channels report the Govt plans financial incentives - no tuition fees - for students who stay at home.
Some 30 years on my nephew is planning to do exactly that because he does not want to be lumbered with thousands of pounds in debt. And no doubt, in the current climate, he's making a highly sensible decision. But we have to ask ourselves what will happen if this policy, which on the face of it helps thousands of young people, comes to pass.
Effectively, those with least money will choose to stay at home. It will create a two-tier system whereby the rich and affluent will choose universities on the basis of the best place for their courses, enjoy the freedom of three years away from home, and of course the unique experience which university offers in learning how to survive as an adult for the first time ever.
Those with no such resources will study close to Mum and Dad. They will also lose out both intellectually and be the "poor relations" in an unacceptable way . The only answer is for the Govt to re-introduce proper maintenance grants, stop the iniquitous financial burden which students carry, and reform the tax system so that university is open to all. With no worries about debt, tutition fees, or the highly necessary practice of cutting free from the comforts of home.

CAMPAIGNING FOR THE LEFT

As the General Election draws nearer, the LRC is drawing up a list of MPs whose track-record in Parliament merits extra support at the General Election. One might have hoped the list of MPs rebelling over the 10p tax rate would have been longer than the 18 who supported Frank Field's bid to stop its abolition. Another opportunity wasted to win back support from the General Public. At present I can't source a list of the rebels on the internet so if anyone can supply it I would be grateful........Update: Gordon Prentice, Peter Kilfoyle, Jeremy Corbyn, Kate Hoey, Mike Wood, John McDonnell, Paul Flynn, Alan Simpson, Dai Havard, Mark Fisher, Kelvin Hopkins, Frank Field, Lynne Jones, Dianne Abbott, Martin Caton,David Drew, Andrew Mackinlay.

FREELANCE MONTH

It's kind of ironic that this month is designated by the NUJ as Freelance Month as this month is when I cross the Rubicon from scraping by to being seriously skint. Of course, I'm far from being on my own. Which is why the NUJ is highlighting the plight of freelances.

Most journos I know are either facing redundancy, scratching their heads and wondering how on earth they are going to replace the work they have lost, or seeking alternative means of employment.

At 51, the reality is that my chances of getting a staff job ( if they still existed) on a local paper are precisely zero. My only option is to contact as many people as I can and try and pick up PR or other forms of writing work to tide me over. But I'm not particularly optimistic.

My young nephew is a hotshot on using the internet to make money and has informed me of one or two sites which pay up for reviews of books etc. This blog earns me a tiny amount of money and I'm thinking of setting up a credit crunch blog to cheer up others in the same boat by sharing tips on saving cash.

One step I have taken is to lock away what remains of my savings to ensure they do not fritter away - so that if push comes to shove I will have to take whatever work I can find. It is probably time to stop going to the pub and to invite friends round, get the pulses out of the back of the cupboard, and hope that at some point in the future things will improve.So, solidarity to all the other freelances I know who are prowling the supermarkets for red stickers, discovering the charity shops, and harking back wistfully to the days when we took all that well-paid work for granted. In the meantime, I am open to offers.........and please click the ads!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD

Today is my Dad's 89th birthday and I just want to wish him a good day though truth be known he probably doesn't know what a blog is......last year he gave us a bit of a scare and spent most of the summer in hospital but he's rallied round and defied medical logic once again to be looking forward to attending his grand-daughter's graduation next week. Only the second generation of the Press family , as Kinnock once put it, to go to University.
When he came to MY graduation, 29 years ago, I thought he was knocking on a bit! In fact, he was only 60 but when you are 22 that seems very old indeed.
Born in 1920 to parents who left Northern Ireland after having the gall to fall in love across the religious divide, he was sent back to Portaferry on Strangford Loch for some years when five kids proved to much to fend for in 1920's Manchester .
My well-worn theory is that the fresh air and fresh food he had in his days as "Johnny Manchester, " as the local kids used to call him, are partly responsible for such amazing longevity .
I hope I've inherited his genes and ability to withstand less than abstemious behaviour .....I certainly inherited his interest in politics, trade unionism, and love of an argument over a drink or two. Now counting down to 90...........fingers crossed. Happy Birthday, Dad.He's pictured above with me and my sister at last year's Mayor-making,

EQUALITY IS ALL

I have just had to turn down an invitation, which I would happily have accepted, to speak to the Greater Manchester Fabian Society in November. It clashes with another commitment but I hope they will ask me back at some point as it is always good to engage with others - even if you're not always going to agree. Here in the north, we also don't have the plethora of meetings and discussions which people in London take for granted and are pretty blase about.
The Fabians may not be normal territory for the LRC but let's not forget 'twas they who organised the infamous debate on the Labour Leadership Election that never was and provided the only opportunity for John McDonnell and Michael Meacher to debate with Gordon Brown. As Brown was outflanked completely, he saw both of them off the very next day but that's history.
However, in recent days. John Denham has kicked up a storm with a speech he gave to the Fabian Society claiming Labour should ditch notions of egalitarianism and worry more about "those in the middle". Quite honestly, I was a bit astonished. Wasn't this the very same John Denham who at one point in 2007 was being touted as a possible "left" contender against Brown? . It also shows a bewildering lack of political nous, frankly, for such a senior politician not to be tuning in to the cultural zeitgeist in an economic climate which is very different from the prosperous days of 1997 and 2001.
I fundamentally disagree that people don't care about fairness and social justice and closing the gap between rich and poor. As unemployment rises, and will continue to, more and more will realise the illusions fostered by New Labour that everyone can prosper under capitalism and that it's OK to be "intensely relaxed" about the filthy rich are simply not so.
Young people, in particular, are seeking fairer ways of running the world and campaigning tirelessly on issues like global poverty, climate change and peace.
Denham got it wrong - which is why he has been lambasted by that doyenne of social democracy Roy Hattersley. I trust Denham's views are not representative of the Society as a whole. And I hope to be able to debate with them at some stage......after all I believe Tony Benn is also a member.

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE.........

One morning soon I expect to wake up and find the top 100 monopolies nationalised.......or something damn close. Because every day now seems to bring another U-turn on New Labour policy.

The LRC has been calling for years for the railways to be nationalised, for compulsory ID cards to be scrapped. And, most recently, for the Royal Mail privatisation plans to be abandoned. Now by the osmosis of the capitalist crisis all the above are to happen. With the blessing of the Government......

Every day there is also the announcement of another prominent Blairite jumping ship. Tessa Jowell and former Chief Whip Hilary Armstrong are the latest said to be standing down following in the footsteps of Milburn, Hutton, Hewitt. Reid, and a swathe of backbenchers who have decided to jump before they are ousted either at the hustings or in the wake of the expenses' scandal.

There is a terrible irony in all of this because of course the policy changes are the result of pragmatism, not principle. Let's face it. Lord Adonis must really have indulged in some serious gritting of teeth before opting for taking the East Coast line back into public ownership.

But all these developments give the Left a serious window of opportunity.

On rail re-nationalisation, endorsed gleefully by John Prescott and dozens of Labour MPs, it's now time to take things to the logical conclusion and launch a campaign in and outside Parliament for wholesale re-nationalisation of the railway system. Supported , incidentally, by none other than Peter Hitchens on Question Time the other night. And of course backed in 2003 as Labour Party policy at the Bournemouth Conference......

The Left can also use the U-turns caused by pragmatism as an opportunity to unite around the principles which will vastly improve our chances at the next Election. There must also be a new campaign to stop Trident , which according to reports Gordon Brown is now considering scrapping on the grounds of cost. ......There is all, IMHO, to play for now.

The same is true of dozens of constituencies newly vacated by sitting New Labourites, which present left candidates with an unexpected chance of standing for Parliament. I would urge anyone who wants to see a newly reinvogorated Left in the next Parliament to put their names forward and go for it. And, by the way, you do NOT have to be on te existing Parliamentary Panel.

WHY THE LEFT MUST STAY AND FIGHT

By any standards, it has been a bad year for the Labour Left in Calder Valley. The PPC who most of us wanted was de-selected, we have another one in place thanks to machinations which many of us in the CLP are still angry about - and which the NEC have ignored.

And now, due to that mixture of activists' anger and apathy in an extremely fraught year, the largest Branch in the constituency ( mine) has no elected CLP officers. The right, in short, has taken over and dispatched us to the sidelines. So be it.

I went to France the day after a CLP AGM which several of us left in disgust. Why? Because a moderate candidate for CLP Chair , one who had expressly said he would work to mend the horrors we have endured, was done over . Another, who has served the CLP for years, found himself opposed by as Vice-Chair by someone who no-one has ever heard of. Both had committed the cardinal sin of supporting Janet OOsthuysen and then myself for PPC. So rather than work to unify the CLP ( which is what I would have done if PPC) Steph Booth and her supporters decided to get rid. At the next election, when they are looking for people to deliver leaflets, they should not be too surprised if bodies in Calder Branch , the biggest by far in terms of activists and members, are rather thin on the ground. Politically and strategically, it was a stupid thing to do . But, given the state of play in West Yorkshire, there are many Labour MPs who need support so after last week's shenanigans I have no compunction at all in saying I will be off to Batley and Spen to help Mike Wood and also helping Linda Riordan in Halifax.

Others I know are just going to resign from the Party. Understandable though that is. it really is not the way to recover strength or a strategy with any positives whatsoever.

En route to France, I chaired a session at the Labour Briefing AGM. Some there had left Labour. Most had not. NEC member Christine Shawcroft (pictured with me at the meeting) pointed out she had been done over so many times that she had far more excuses than most to throw in the towel. She hasn't. Now more constituencies are up for grabs, I hope Christine will once again put her hat in the ring. Because we must not give up. I have no intention of doing so. As Briefing founder Graham Bash said to me after the meeting, we have a collective responsibility to re-build the Labour Party and make it Labour again - not walk away. As New Labour implodes, it's time to take the Party back. However difficult it seems.

TRAINS, BOATS AND NATIONAL EXPRESS

I've sampled all the above in the past seven days but did not expect to return to a re-nationalised railway line in Yorkshire.
The fiasco over the National Express franchise illustrates perfectly why re-nationalisation of a failing sector should be an urgent priority for the Government.
At a recent public forum, Calder Valley PPC Steph Booth said she was not in favour of the railways once again being in public hands. The news about the East Coast franchise shows how seriously she is out of step with even the Government on this issue - let alone the Labour Left and of course the Labour Party which agreed some years ago it was Party policy. Fares in the UK, the highest in Europe, are a national disgrace.
Today I've travelled from Normandy to Yorkshire. A round trip of over 200 miles on SNCF cost £25. I paid £66.10 on a Virgin Trains Pendolino, where we stormed first class and refused to move as a train had been cancelled and there was nowhere to sit. Eurostar was an eye-watering £122.00 single London to Paris.
Lord Adonis has done right to take the franchise off National Express ( which I never use as it's too expensive) but it's madness to suggest the nationalisation is only until another private consortium can be found. It's time the Govt listened to the rail unions, and the general public who are sick and tired of over-priced, overcrowded trains run only for profit. The fact private companies can just walk away from franchises, leaving the Govt to mop up the damage , is wrong both morally and financially. A Labour PPC taking up the cudgels on behalf of rail users would find that stance a vote-winner. Ignoring the reality, that we've been ripped off for years by the private sector, is frankly, not. More on the RMT and LEAP websites