WHAT HAPPENED TO HILARY BENN?

Back in 1983 as a young whippersnapper I stalked the streets of Ealing North to try and get Hilary Benn elected as an MP. It was not a great year for Labour and we lost - big-style.

In those days, the younger Benn was still a Bennite.He has since eschewed those politics and become a part of the Establishment.

I know, and applaud, his work at the DFID and have no reason to doubt his sincerity. But how can anyone seriously suggest, as he did on tonight's Question Time, that we have left Iraq "a better place" following the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraquis and the soldiers who came back in body bags. We did NOT go into Iraq, actually, to play some paternalist role. We went there because the then Prime Minister assured us that Saddam Hussein was a serious threat to Western democracy thanks to his WMDs. Weapons which did not , er, ....exist.

Benn's defence of an appalling foreign policy is deeply saddening given his father's utter commitment to the anti-war movement.And, speaking as someone who knocked on doors tirelessly to try and elect him all those years ago. it also shows how many of the people we had faith in in the 1980's have let us down.

TOO LATE FOR STALKING HORSES.....

Labour Home ( see link below) has a story alleging that an ex Cabinet Minister is getting set to mount a stalking horse challenge to unseat Gordon Brown. Bit late, really, isn't it?
Assuming this were true, how exactly would it help Labour's election chances? If someone like John Reid or Charles Clarke did take over there would almost certainly have to be an immediate General Election. And the consequences would be even more catastrophic than they are under Gordon Brown. It is surely a sign of utter desperation that such stories are being leaked.And it doesn't help any of the MPs who are facing the grim prospect of losing their seats.

http://www.labourhome.org/story/2009/4/30/33359/7218

GURKHAS - ANOTHER OWN GOAL

It is sometimes mind-blowing how wrong the Government can be on issues where it simply makes the wrong call. Today's papers exult over the fact there was a Commons defeat for Gordon Brown on the Gurkhas and their right to stay in Britain. Cue pictures of Cameron, Clegg and Joanna Lumley outside the House of Commons celebrating a victory for democracy which will no doubt be followed by more opinion polls showing a plummeting rating for Labour. Of course many Labour MPs rebelled on this issue and they were right to do so.
The fact they had to is a sign that somehow those at the highest levels of power have somehow lost touch with their electorate . This latest fiasco is one of a series which have undermined the Government because they have got it wrong.
One of Tony Blair's great assets was his ability to sense the mood of the nation - particularly Middle England. This led to policies which infuriated the left and much of the Labour Party. But, under his watch, it would never have been suggested that the Gurkhas should have been denied the right to stay in this country. It was interesting to read in Chris Mullin's diaries that it was Brown, not Blair, who insisted on the privatisation of Air Traffic Control.
It is likewise Brown who has pressed ahead with the privatisation of the Royal Mail, the third runway at Heathrow ( opposed by several cabinet Ministers and backbenchers) and the Welfare Reform Bill. None of these is likely to win him much support so, on a purely pragmatic level, why is he doing it.
On Tuesday, as i was waiting to go into a meeting at the House Of Commons, I bumped into a friend of mine who is an assistant general secertary of one of the rail unions. He had just had a meeting with Geoff Hoon and was appalled at his lack of insight and concern on the issues relating to his members. His take was this is a Government which knows it is on the ropes and lacks the will or the sense to turn things round with policies which would appeal to its core vote. I'm afraid I can only agree.

OUT OF THE CHAIN GANG....

Last meeting tonight as Chair of Hebden Royd Town Council and just a couple of weeks to go before I hand over and step down as Mayor. One goal remains. That's to raise the £500 left to reach my target of £4000 for the local hospice. It's been an enjoyable 12 months and I have met so many people in the local community that I hope it's been a positive for everyone and in particular my freinds and comrades in the local Labour Party. When I started out in May last year, I did not expect to be ivolved in two Parliamentary selections and obviously it's been a real disappointment not to have ended the year as a PPC candidate in either. That's politics.
I have no idea what will transpire in tbe next 12 months but I will carry on doing my bit on the local Town Council, campaigning for the LRC and hopefully continue to fight my corner in the Labour Party. I had a chat with the Keighley MP Ann Cryer yesterday in Parliament and she has asked me to share my experiences of being on an all-woman shortlist at a conference to be held soon. I don't think I will be short of things to say.........

LRC MEETING IN MANCHESTER

I've spent the weekend in London at the LEAPhttp://leap-lrc.blogspot.com conference which gave more very useful insight into the economic crisis we're in and what should be done to address it. Welcome though the Chancellor's tax hit on the rich was it's just the tip of an iceberg where the rich are getting richer, tax avoidance is in the billions, and four million people are still waiting for council homes.
Tonight I'll be with fellow LRC National Committee member Jenny Lennox at an open meeting at the Friends Meeting House in Manchester where all are welcome at 7pm.

PPC RESIGNS IN EASTLEIGH

Dan Clarke, a Labour PPC in Eastleigh, Chris Huhne's constituency, has resigned and is joining the Liberal Democrats. He's made the wrong decision.
Dan's disillusionment with Government policy is one shared by many others, including myself. When Gordon Brown became leader two years ago I hoped the Party would change direction. It was never going to implement the LRC's manifesto but one hoped for a decisive move away from New Labour ideology,
Events have ordained the Government had to step in and bail out the banks - but the same people remain in charge and the billion we have spent doing so are clearly not available for other deserving cause ie people on welfare benefits, people facing soariung utility bills, rocketing tuition fees. Et etc etc. Ay thr weekend Stephen Byers said it was time for the Government to consider scrapping ID cards and Trident because of the cost involved. We should also consider scraping them because it would help restore faith in the Party, mean cash could be diverted towards social justice, and maybe, just maybe, stop people tearing up their Party cards.
I have several friends standing as PPCs in unwinnable seats. They are the only ones left candidates don't get stitched up in. But I know that Gary Heather in Tunbridge Wells and John Wiseman in Westmorland and Lonsdale will use their candidacy to contiunue to fight for the policies they believe in and give people faith that one day things will change. Closer to home, I have friends who are now considering leaving Labour right across the political spectrum. I won't be one of them. But I fully understand why they feel they can no longer stay.
Alicde Mahon, I'm glad to say, will still be campaigning with us in the LRC. Dan Clarke's reasons for leaving are below

http://www.labourhome.org/story/2009/4/26/123957/105

100,000 READERS - AND COUNTING......

Just noted this week that GuN has passed the 100,000 landmark. Thanks to all who have read the blog in the past two years. Hits have been on the up againm recently and will endeavour in the months ahead to up that even more. .......

WILL DARLING'S GAMBLE PAY OFF?

Last night I attended a meeting in the House of Commons where the Budget and its impact was discussed .More in the link below. And thanks to Graham Turner for giving me a copy of his book on The Credit Crunch .

http://leap-lrc.blogspot.com/2009/04/30bn-worth-of-cuts-and-privatisation.html

PROUD TO HAVE MET HIM.....

I was asked recently who my political heroes were and one person I most definitely should have mentioned is trade union leader Jack Jones. To the end of his life, Jack embodied the finest virtues of the labour movement - eschewing the House Of Lords and gravy trains for life in a modest council flat in London and tireless campaigning for those who were vulnerable. After he "retired" Jack was one of the leading lights of the National Pensioners' Convention. He also attended Campaign Group rallies every year at Labour Party Conference and never lost his fighting spirit. In Manchester three years ago, I was proud to say hello and shake his hand - Though clearly frail, he was able to stand up and be counted as one of the heroes of the Labour Left. It's a shame there are not more like him today. An exemplary human being .

LLOYD GEORGE KNEW MY FATHER

Away from matters local to the national picture and Polly Toynbee has a piece in today's Guardian calling for a "Peoples Budget." Hmmm...... I await with interest what tomorrow will bring as I'm going to be in London but leaked news of £15billion in public spending does not augur well for the Keynesian pledges ......let's see what happens and I'll leave it to the experts to do the analysis tomorrow

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/21/peoples-budget-darling-2009
Update: 10.20 The PCS union is already commenting on this....
http://leap-lrc.blogspot.com/

HOLDING THE LINE AND DRAWING A LINE....

It has been a very strange week up here in Calder Valley and I think that events are far from over. The row continues in Erith and Thamesmead and it remains to be seen what will transpire here. The media frenzy we have had over the Georgia Gould issue would probably not have happened without the internet -nor the revelations regarding Damian McBride.
As far as my constituency goes, i think it's now best for others to answer the questions we have put. I can only say there are going to be others. For now, I think it's best to draw a line. But I'm also holding the line that the whole process of how we select our candidates must be looked at by the NEC and I would urge people to contact their CLP representatives . This week, the grassroots have risen up and said enough is enough. I'd like to thank everyone who has phoned or e-mailed me and I'd like to hope that in the end the result will be a posiitve one for Party democracy and for all those of us who want to see politics be more open, honest and transparent. The smearing , and the tactics used by those who do it, cannot go on.

STAYING IN......

I spent much of yesterday with Alice Mahon while she was doing media interviews in the idyllic environs of Hebden Bridge. In the evening, it was my civic dinner over in Mytholmroyd and someone asked me had I thought tof resigning from the Labour Party.
Quite frankly, if I'm not going to do it now then I probably never will. But I must say I feel more disillusioned than ever before. As Alice said yesterday, the old ways of changing policy just aren't there any more. And, after what has happened to me as a candidate in Keighley and Calder Valley, I honestly think left-wingers do not stand a chance of beating the machine. The selection process would have to change radically to maje it a fair contest with a level playing field.
I think the only way forward would be possibly a truly OMOV process, an upper limit on campaign spending of around £1000 and an end to the "nomination" process by trade unions which to be honest is an uter stitch-up for favoured candidates. In both Calder Valley and Keighley, UNITE actively campaigned against me. As someone who has spent 25 years as an active trade unionist, I think that's a disgrace.
I used to have faith that the unions would help us "re-claim" Labout but the truth is they do their damndest to stop the left having a voice in the Party. Last yar at Labour Party conference, their cabals joined forces to ensure our resolution on leadership challenges was defeated. I was actually told by a senior union official that they did not want candidates like John McDonnell, someone whose voice is among the strongest in Parliament for trade union rights, having a chance. The resolution was actually one suggested, not by the LRC, but by the Campaign For Labour Party Democracy. Didn't matter - they trashed it
The truth is that at the moment democracy is not something we have, either as Party members nor as PPC candidates.It's all decided in rooms which may not have smoke any more but which still serve to block anyone who might not toe the line.
I've come to the conclusion that nothing will change until after the General Election. If it doesn't, then even lifetime Labour members like me may well vote with our feet. I am truly sorry Alice Mahon has left Labour, but I understand why she did.

ALICE - STILL A COMRADE

I've known for some time that Alice Mahon was considering leaving the Labour Party. At Labour Party Conference in Manchester, I spent a considerable amount of time persuading her to stay and I hope my thoughts helped keep her with the Party a bit longer.

Alice is resigning for a lot of reasons. Most of which are in today's Yorkshire Post. So I won't catalogue them. The final straw for Alice was the treatment meted out to Janet Oosthuysen who won the original PPC selection in Calder Valley. It took six months for the NEC to make its mind up on the issue. Their grounds for doing so, a police caution, was blasted all over the media thanks to a scurrilous campaign led by Janet's opponents in the Labour Party. Not satisfied with that, because the NEC was still undecided , they then besmirched her name further with totally false personal allegations which were splashed in the Mail On Sunday.

Having succeeded in getting rid of Janet, there was then a re-run in Calder Valley, where Party members who supported me are now asking for an inquiry. One of my endorsers was Alice and I was proud to have her name on my leaflet. I am very sad indeed that she is going.

But I cannot , in truth, blame her for being sick of the stitch-ups, the smears, and the tactics of those whose arrogance sickens ordinary Labour Party members.

The Guardian today has a piece on the Rrith and Thamesmead debacle in which I am quoted.

I note today's Times says Georgia Gould, who works for Tony Blair's Faith Foundation, should be the candidate chosen to "send a reassuring message to Labour voters." What nauseating rubbish

People with friends in the media and other high places may think they can ride roughshod over the hopes, dreams and aspirations of those like Alice who have devoted their lives to the labour movement. The truth is that their antics fool no-one - however many strings they are able to pull. In losing Alice Mahon, Labour has lost one of its greatest champions for peace and social justice. But I'm glad to say Alice will still be my friend and comrade.

ERITH AND THAMESMEAD CANCELLED

I'm astounded to learn that the selection tomorrow in Erith and Thamesmead has been cancelled. Apparently, a ballot box has been tampered with.This raises fundamental questions about what on earth is going on with the selection processes for PPCs. Clearly, in Calder Valley, we have been right to raise issues and I'm expecting some serious answers from the Labour Party.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6115915.ece

POSTAL VOTES - A VIEW FROM THE NEC

Six years ago I joined a group called Save The Labour Party which was set up to improve Party democracy and call for greater accountability to members. It would be nice to report that since 2003 we have made great inroads into the processes which, since Partnership Into Power was agreed in the early 1990's, have only closed down democracy and taken the decision-making processes further and further away from the grassroots.
The sad truth is that things are worse than ever. In 2006, the Party Conference was persuaded, thanks to a deal with the unions, to abolish contemporary motions. This year's Conference must, as a matter of urgency, restore the right to vote.
But all that frankly pales into insignificance with the current furore over the way in which postal votes are being used to outweigh democratic hustings at Parliamentary selections. One achievement STLP can be proud of is electing Peter Kenyon to the NEC. Peter is one of the most rigorous and fair-minded people I have met in my many years in the Party.
He wouldn't mind me saying that , though we differ on many issues, we have always shared a quest for fairness and accountability. His take on the postal votes issue is here:


http://petergkenyon.typepad.com/peterkenyon/2009/04/labour-ppc-selections-and-postal-voting.html#comment-6a00d8354c43ba69e201157025cfbe970b

OFF TO PARLIAMENT......

Next week the LRC has a Day of Action planned to coincide with the Budget Day and on the evening of Wednesday April 22 I will be chairing a meeting in the House Of Commons.
Our campaign - Their Crisis Not Ours! - is calling for a fairer tax system, a crackdown on tax avoidance, full nationalisation of the banks and an increase in pensions and unemployment benefit.
The campaign is also supportive of the People's Charter, backed by trade unions and a broad swathe of groups in the labour movement, which includes calls for more council housing, an end to repossessions, a cap on energy prices. and the return of the utilities to public ownership.
If you want to join in the day starts with a protest at 11.30am on Whitehall along the route the Chancellor will take from No. 11 Downing Street to address Parliament. At 5pm, there is a another protest outside the Treasury on 1 Horse Guards Road - then at 7.30pm a Budget Question Time event in Committee Room 10, House of Commons with panellists including John McDonnell MP, economist Graham Turner and Clara Osagiede (RMT Cleaner’s Grade Secretary).

LOOSE ENDS.....

This year of civic duty is coming to an end and there are a few loose ends I have to tie up between now and May 20. First, just over a thousand pounds more is needed for the Overgate Hospice to reach my fund-raising target of £4000 so I'll be doing my best at the Civic Dinner on Saturday to do that . Thanks to the friends who are turning up, including a gang from London, to boost the coffers with a three-course meal, traditional Irish music band and disco Then there's the Mayor's Report to write for the Town Meeting on May 13 before handover on May 20. And that's it.
By the time I've finished I will have done about 80 engagements and I'd like to thank all the schools, groups and individuals who have invited me to events or supported the fund-raisers I organised. It's really now time for a new chapter to begin. But, given the dearth of journalistic work in the north, it's going to be anything but easy.

STORIES IN THE MEDIA.....

There is wall to wall coverage on the internet today about the fact that members of my CLP are calling for an investigation into procedural aspects of the recent Parliamentary selection.
In normal circumstances, no-one would be interested. But the circumstances in Calder valley have been anything but normal in the past 12 months.
Some of the stories which have appeared are way off the mark - all correctly state that in the voting on the night of the hustings I won two-thirds of the vote. The hard fact is that even if I had won 100 per cent of the vote it still would not have been enough because it was the postal votes which won it.
Postal votes are on the media radar because of a furore over the selection in Erith and Thamesmead . And many in the Party are concerned at the fact they are open to abuse - and manipulation - everywhere.Let's not pretend otherwise
Let me make one thing clear. I did not , nor did anyone quoted in the story, approach the Yorkshire Post. Their enquiry was the result of a piece of correspondence from a Party member upset at the latest proceedings. I have no idea who.
When Chris McCafferty announced her decision to stand down two years ago , all any of us wanted was a similarly left-of-centre candidate with roots in the local community.
We did not want tabloid coverage and lurid stories dreamt up by those who had a problem with the chosen PPC. Those who, unfortunately, succeeded in forcing a second contest via poison pen letters to the NEC and an orchestrated media campaign. The tragedy in all this is that they were listened to by people who should have known better.

CONCERN GROWS IN LABOUR PARTY ABOUT POSTAL VOTES

Concern about postal votes and the way they have overetaken the traditional democracy of hustings has been growing apace. This is John Harris's take in yesterday's Guardian.If Georgia Gould wins in Erith and Thamesmead, it could well be a selection too far.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/15/damien-mcbride-georgia-gould-labour

BREATHING SPACE....

Having spent most of the weekend ill with bronchitis am down to the doc's for some antibiotics then off to Saltaire for some fresh air and lunch with an old friend and his family.
Tomorrow I'm going to start considering my options for gainful employment - today 24 hours away from financial and other cares.