Surely the Message to Blair and Brown Coming from All Sides is that Time is Up for their Policies
In a week when nearly 40 members of Margaret Beckeet's local party have resigned in protest at Blair's international policies, and AMICUS's General Secretary, Derek Simpson, has described New Labour's domestic policy programme as being infected by Tory ideology, the message coming from all sides to both Blair and Brown is that the time is up for their policies and politics.
It appears that the only minister New Labour could field to defend Blair was his old flatemate, Lord Falconer, a person who owes his whole political life to the powers of patronage of the Prime Minister. However Lord Falconer's response unwittingly confirmed our own view that removing Blair and simply changing leader will do nothing to halt the slide in support for Labour in the polls.
Leadership change without a radical break with New Labour's policies will be totally futile.
The response to New Labour's failed and unpopular policies from Labour Party members is not to leave the party but to stay and campaign for change. The reaction from trade unions should not be simply to voice criticisms of the policies but to work for a radical break with New Labour's programme of privatisation, flexible employment exploitation and anti trade union rights.
This requires the development of an alternative new Warwick agreement setting out the programme trade unions want a real Labour Government to pursue in power. Central to this Warwick Mark 2 programme should be the end of privatisation, the promotion of public ownership and public services, and the implementation of the Trade Union Freedom Bill.
The media have been briefed this week that the Prime Minister is to undertake a series of major policy speeches to bind the future programme of the Labour party for a decade. It is clear that he and his dwindling entourage have just not grasped the growing reality that increasingly people are just not listening. After nearly 10 years of office and having the opportunity to lay the foundations of transforming our society in a way few other Labour Prime ministers have had, the Blair administration has demonstrably failed. The very simple message to both the key architects of the New Labour, Blaur and Brown, is that time is up.
Radical change is needed and our campaign for the leadership will give the rank and file of the Labour party, trade unions and progressive organisations the opportunity of participating in the creation and advocacy of that radical new agenda.
One way in which people can participate in this creative policy process is just simply letting us have your ideas via this website and blog of the policies a real Labour government should be implementing in office to transform our society.
We will publish these ideas for debate on the site and bring people together to work up their ideas into practical programmes for government.
Over to you.
It appears that the only minister New Labour could field to defend Blair was his old flatemate, Lord Falconer, a person who owes his whole political life to the powers of patronage of the Prime Minister. However Lord Falconer's response unwittingly confirmed our own view that removing Blair and simply changing leader will do nothing to halt the slide in support for Labour in the polls.
Leadership change without a radical break with New Labour's policies will be totally futile.
The response to New Labour's failed and unpopular policies from Labour Party members is not to leave the party but to stay and campaign for change. The reaction from trade unions should not be simply to voice criticisms of the policies but to work for a radical break with New Labour's programme of privatisation, flexible employment exploitation and anti trade union rights.
This requires the development of an alternative new Warwick agreement setting out the programme trade unions want a real Labour Government to pursue in power. Central to this Warwick Mark 2 programme should be the end of privatisation, the promotion of public ownership and public services, and the implementation of the Trade Union Freedom Bill.
The media have been briefed this week that the Prime Minister is to undertake a series of major policy speeches to bind the future programme of the Labour party for a decade. It is clear that he and his dwindling entourage have just not grasped the growing reality that increasingly people are just not listening. After nearly 10 years of office and having the opportunity to lay the foundations of transforming our society in a way few other Labour Prime ministers have had, the Blair administration has demonstrably failed. The very simple message to both the key architects of the New Labour, Blaur and Brown, is that time is up.
Radical change is needed and our campaign for the leadership will give the rank and file of the Labour party, trade unions and progressive organisations the opportunity of participating in the creation and advocacy of that radical new agenda.
One way in which people can participate in this creative policy process is just simply letting us have your ideas via this website and blog of the policies a real Labour government should be implementing in office to transform our society.
We will publish these ideas for debate on the site and bring people together to work up their ideas into practical programmes for government.
Over to you.
posted by John at 1:22 PM
9 Comments:
Well, for starters, how about stopping the flow of money out of mental health and into acute medicine, and a positive response to Lord Layard's recent report recommending better access to talking therapies. I am a clinical psychologist in the NHS so this is my particular concern. And of course an end to the occupation of Iraq and student debt. More social housing. A more equitable education system. It will have to be paid for through increased income tax, and not through stealth taxes like VAT on domestic fuel bills that penalise the poorest members of society.
Sorry, didn't get beyond the first line of your premise as I know it to be not true.
40 members of Margaret Beckett's party have not resigned over Middle East policies...
I'm surprised that you took what was in the media without question.
There were some defections to the LDems, but nowhere near 40.
And they had nothing to do with the war in Lebanon and everything to do with the battle for seats on Derby City Council.
Just a week before the stunt, two of the defectors were rejected by local party members in their bid for selection .
full details on my blog at fairdealphil.blogspot.com
No disrespect to Phil's detailed local knowledge - but whatever the reasons for the Derby defections it is a shame that Phil didn't read the rest of the post as it sets out a persuasive case and an ambitious project.
There have often been local disputes and sometimes defections. The point is not why the individuals may have defected. It is that they can credibly blame the appalling neocon foreign policies of this depressingly reactionary Government.
We ought not to have a foreign policy which provides such excuses (if indeed they are excuses)!
Let's have socialist policies instead :)
My pet idea is that we should extend public ownership, at a community level, with local renewable energy networks. Either coops or some other social model, linked into groups of power generators/consumers and all democratically controlled.
I think people would be more motivated to conserve and generate their own energy and it would provide a vast new marketplace for the production of small-scale generating equipment - solar panels, wind turbines etc, which could also be publically owned in competition with the private sector (being 'moderate' here - I say nationalise the lot!).
Obviously these are only sketchy thoughts from a dilletante - I'm sure others' have much better ideas about this sort of thing.
As my ol' mum says, at least Thatcher had the decency to step down and save her party. This man TB is not a team player and means to retain power even at the expense of the party. It would not surprise me if some spin will provide Tony the opportunity to u-turn his decision to step down at all.
Top of my wish list is a coherent, committed public transport policy. By reducing private road transport and its consequent high use of oil, this will serve us on the economic front. Becoming less dependent on oil may have a beneficial effect on our foreign policy. This would of course have to be paid for by tax on private fuel and may not be deemed electionable. But some movement toward this ideal should be initiated now.
Hmm, I would like to see the Northern regions get as much money put into their transport as London does.
Privitisation should not only be stopped, but should be reversed - and without compensation. Obvious targets to start with being water, rail and the postal service, which would generally have widespread support amoung the population.
Most importantly they should be under democractic control of both the public, the government and the workers within, and that should be hammered home, as one of the pet fears the owners put forward is always one of bureaucratic mis-management within nationalised industries.
These 41 ex-Derby Labour Party members who defected to the Liberal Democrats had joined Labour. They had Labour membership numbers they had Labour membership cards. The General Secretary of the Labour Party has now written to them and invited them to rejoin Labour.
He would hardly have done that if they hadn't been Labour party members.
Face reality Labour made itself unpopular over Iraq and the Lebanon. And locally in Derby Labour has made itself unpopular by going into an alliance with the Tories, and cutting a number of local services, sports centres home care services for the elderly and disabled etc.
That is why people are leaving Derby Labour Party in droves. Instead of pretending that people who were Labour Party members were never Labour Party members. It would be better to consider why so many people want to leave Derby Labour Party.
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