Time to Restore Trust in Politics
I've been on the road for a week now, doing meeting after meeting as part of my campaign for the Labour leadership - in Hull, Liverpool, London and now back up to Manchester. I've been meeting with Labour party members, Labour supporters, trade unionists, and people just walking in off the streets. The enthusiasm of people to just discuss politics can almost be touched. Young people are turning up to the meetings in numbers I've not seen for a decade. The key issue that's emerging is a breakdown in trust, not just in the Labour leadership, but in politics overall. Nevertheless, people who have come to the meetings are there because they share a determination to turn things around.
New Labour evidenced this weekend that they haven't learnt the lesson by refusing to allow a debate about Trident's replacement at Labour Party Conference. New Labour has prevented Labour party members having any say on this major policy issue in advance of the decision to be made on whether Trident is to be replaced or not. This could be the last opportunity for a Labour Party Conference to have any say because the decision could be made by Blair and Brown before the Party Conference meets again.
The revelation this week that Trident will now cost not the £26 billion first envisaged but £76 billion clarifies why the Government doesn't want to debate this issue. Imagine how much this country could gain from the investment of £76 billion into its public services, into its pensions system, and into improving our environment. I believe that the electorate of this country will not support a Government that goes ahead with this waste of resources. This missile system is clearly unusable. We must now use the period ahead to implement the programme of arms conversion to protect the jobs of those workers currently associated with the operation of the existing Trident system. In the first instance this workforce will be utilised in the dismantling of the system itself. With the massive skills that exist within the Trident workforce, the next stage of this process should comprise the redeployment of these skills into a programme of development of alternative power technology. There is an ideal match between the skills available and the need of the country to develop sustainable alternative power sources which will contribute towards tackling climate change.
We welcome people's views on how this arms conversion programme can be developed to provide the practical alternative to secure the jobs and the skills base of the workers currently engaged in the Trident programme.
New Labour evidenced this weekend that they haven't learnt the lesson by refusing to allow a debate about Trident's replacement at Labour Party Conference. New Labour has prevented Labour party members having any say on this major policy issue in advance of the decision to be made on whether Trident is to be replaced or not. This could be the last opportunity for a Labour Party Conference to have any say because the decision could be made by Blair and Brown before the Party Conference meets again.
The revelation this week that Trident will now cost not the £26 billion first envisaged but £76 billion clarifies why the Government doesn't want to debate this issue. Imagine how much this country could gain from the investment of £76 billion into its public services, into its pensions system, and into improving our environment. I believe that the electorate of this country will not support a Government that goes ahead with this waste of resources. This missile system is clearly unusable. We must now use the period ahead to implement the programme of arms conversion to protect the jobs of those workers currently associated with the operation of the existing Trident system. In the first instance this workforce will be utilised in the dismantling of the system itself. With the massive skills that exist within the Trident workforce, the next stage of this process should comprise the redeployment of these skills into a programme of development of alternative power technology. There is an ideal match between the skills available and the need of the country to develop sustainable alternative power sources which will contribute towards tackling climate change.
We welcome people's views on how this arms conversion programme can be developed to provide the practical alternative to secure the jobs and the skills base of the workers currently engaged in the Trident programme.
posted by John at 11:21 PM
5 Comments:
The UK has 4 vanguard submarines which carry the trident missiles. The missiles are built and serviced in the US, the warheads created in the UK. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4805768.stm
I see no reason why the submarines cannot continue with conventional weaponry (against whom?), so the only loss to UK jobs would be at Aldermaston. However, Aldermaston is run by a consortium headed by Lockheed Martin, a US company. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2081800,00.html
The timing of this decision neatly coincides with the sabre rattling going on with Iran. Not so much a cold war but a hot-head war? As usual it is not the UK which has much to gain.
Given that Gordon Brown used his speech as a husting speech for leader it would only be fair to offer you the same amount of time to address conference too.
That's not an entirely frivolous point! Of course Gordon Brown is likely to get more media time than any other potential candidate because of his current role - but clearly the media are not interested in his speeches because he's Chancellor but because he's the front runner for the leadership. Not much can be done about that, but how much of his speech today was centred on matters of peculiar interest to him as Chancellor? The leadership contest has clearly started, you launched your campaign recently, Brown has now clearly launched his: surely new rules should apply?
I'm disgusted to see just how much the conference has declined from a place of debate to a stage managed facade and the latest refusal of a debate over Trident is yet another piece of erosion of a party hijacked by the right wing.
I'm dismayed and disallusioned by all this Tony/Gordon talk in the media, the constant fighting over personalities and the lack of any mention in the media for John who is standing for leader.
John, you need to get to the media and promote yourself more so that the people out there know who you are, and what you stand for and that you are serious about bringing about the return of REAL Labour.
I'm really curious as to why union leaders at conference rightly condemn privatisation of public services, but continue to endorse Gordon Brown, the one candidate responsible for PFI, and his idea on the NHS (an independent board), would leave us with a US-style private healthcare system.
I'm also curious as to why the public want honest politicians like McDonnell, but allow themselves to be sidelined by personal trivia and celebrity politics.
Earth to Labour: the entire country wants public services back in public hands, we're sick of new labour and all it stands for. People haven't turned against Blair/Brown because they're not right wing enough, we don't like them anymore as they promised us a Labour government in 1997 and gave us a Tory one. Anyone who listened to Blair's attack on Cameron would see, he attacked him from the right, and Brown loved every word. The mockery of Cameron as soft on crime and refusing to go for nuclear power. It shows anyone who votes for Brown would be endorsing more right wing policies and nuclear power and trident. If the media won't give McDonnell coverage, then hold public rallies in parks, like it used to be in the old days.
Post a Comment
<< Home