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"After the worse results in 40 years it is intellectually unsustainable for ministers to simply tell the electorate that the government is listening. Prevarication will only lead to a Tory government – what people want is decisive action to change the policies immediately.
If Ken does hang on, it will be as a result of his perceived independence from New Labour and should not be interpreted by Gordon Brown as any vote of confidence in New Labour in London."
posted by John at 8:22 AM | permalink | 
35 Comments:
looks like we will all (outside of London)be forced to live in "tesco towns" as I already do with the unethical ASDA at High Wycombe dominating now..
hope Ken can hang on as this will prove Brown should have listened to teh left (who increase their vote in elections rather than decreae it) instead of turning Labour into the Tories.. think Reading council is falling -still counting..
The odious James Purnell, the uber blairite/tory DWP Secretary has just been interviewed on Channel 4 news, he was completely out of his depth, mucking up his responses and just repeated saying it is all the fault of the global economy, he, like other blairites was clealry over promoted and now times are tougher are being exposed, he should have stayed as the policy wonk he was.
Speaking of policy, bizarrely even more draconian welfare reform is to be announced by the govt next month, yet figures from the main disability welfare charities indicate that most IB claimants will be 1.85 worse off but some severely disabled claimants may lose up to 7.00 pounds a week, maybe more, and an ever more harsh welfare regime. These cuts are much more than the 10p tax allowance abolition, so will there be an outcry over this.Not only that but disabled student on Ib will no longer be able to study at university, cruel or what,
New labour are out of control...
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/content/view/917/92/
Edit/Delete Message
This welfare reform issue gets raised a lot. I think we need to make some noise about it and very soon, because a lot of people are very angry that they seem to be getting ignored.
Why don't you just feck off McDonnell. The very idea that your policies will lead us to victory is just too ridiculous for words.
Yes, Brown is a disaster who should be booted out of office, but you are not the man to succeed him. Indeed, you are to blame for this scummy Scotsman being in power to begin with.
It is because of tossers like you that Tony Blair was forced out. It is because of you and your ilk that we are heading towards a Tory government.
Why you weren't expelled from the party a long time ago I just do not know.
I abstained from voting because I am simply frustrated by New Labour because they are the tories in disguise. I didn't vote for an alternative because the tories are the enemy in my eyes and the libdems are moving into New Labour territory. The only other option was the BNP but I would never vote for facists.
I want a real left of centre party to vote for because right now I won't be voting in the next general election. I feel guilty about that because people died to give me the right for me to vote but I feel I have no alternative.
Duncan, I certainly don’t think this is going to go away. There are plans for a national demo against the welfare reforms in July and when the general public realises it is geniunely disabled folk who are going to lose out, then like the 10p tax issue came from nowhere, all hell will break out.
N/l are attacking, yes attacking some of the most vulnerable people in the UK, some people are even saying they will end it all. The privatisation of welfare and payment by results will mean incredible pressure on disabled claimants, all done with no extra money from the treasury. Yet apart form occasional mentions on here and by JM the left remains silent, yet there are reams of stuff about the 10p tax issue. Why, is the left making the classic division between the working 'deserving poor and the non working ‘undeserving poor’. people should be valued for who they are.
There is now a race to the bottom between NL and the Tories on who can be the toughest on welfare benefits. The labour left should speak out more on this, it is morally and politically right to do
so.
Just saw you on C4 News John - well done, the clearest, wisest Labour voice I have heard all day.
Malky
x
We need to stop the welfare changes and have a complete rethink BEFORE the new regulations come into force.
John - what can we do to take a lead on this?
John had a EDM on the reforms signed by 27 M.p's inc Vince Cable, yet the media ignored it, yet that is as many as the initial one on 10p issue. Imo,there is a agenda by the MSM, that wotking isi best for everone, it may be, but not all can do so.
There were protests at the LP conf in 2005 but they were ignored by the left in favour of Iraq, as indeed yet another Iraq Demo is planned for the next Lp Conf, obscuring other issues.
lots of info on the reforms here,
www.swansheffield.org.uk
jonathan rutherford at compass has writtenen detailed pieces on them as well (on swans site)
Have had people queuing up all day to apologise for not listening a year ago. They are stunned and disappointed. The Left in Labour must show a way forward and people are geting in touch with me already to say they are joining the LRC and/or have heard coverage on the media.
if Ken does lose he could join with John McDonnell and teh other left Mps that still have soem intergrity to from a new party as I think Brown has finally finished Labour off... on the other hand we are still in power so should now have the proper policy debates and leadership challenge as JOhn said on C4 and not let teh media dismiss the debate as a load of old Labour or left people dismiss trade unions as male-dominated/only for the working class and other outdated stereotypes whihc sadly still persist...
if Ken does lose he could join with John McDonnell and the other left MPs that still have some intergrity to from a new party as I think Brown has finally finished Labour off... on the other hand we are still in power so should now have the proper policy debates and leadership challenge as John said on C4 and not let the media dismiss the debate as a load of old Labour or let people dismiss trade unions as male-dominated/only for the working class and other outdated stereotypes whihc sadly still persist...
had to re-post above as I meant to say "let people dismiss trade unions not left people!" (dunno how you can delet your own comment once it's up....
I see Ken result expect about midnight now - sounds like recounts......
can you imagine what Boris would be like in charge of the Olympics?! (though probably the Olympic money should have just been spent on better housing and regeneration, transport, childcare etc etc you could say..)
If he did win he should immediately resign as Henley MP as there's no way he can do both -and he shoudl eb sahmed at teh state of the dirty council toilets and baby change room - which is a mat over a toilet approx three feet wide no room to swing ats let alone change babies in Waitrose car park in Henley!
Just listen to arrogant idiot after arrogant idiot in New Labour try to pretend the election results are all to do with everything and anything other than themselves.We've all met their sort; the types who try to claim all the credit when it's good and then blame all else when it goes wrong. The Trade Union leaders who backed Brown(and Blair before him) should all now re-consider their positions. They had a big influence on matters and, rightly fearful of the Tories, should have seen John Mcdonnell into a true leadership contest which he could have gone on to win. We're now likely to get the Tories back in double quick time, although we've had a pretty good impersonation from New Labour these past few years. By the way Anonymous of 4.06p.m., and feeling guilty about not voting. You're not alone and it's painful to not take part. Lives were lost defending our freedoms, but I'd tentatively argue it's about the right not to vote should you so choose as much as a right to vote. However, as we all know, nature doesn't really count absenteeism votes and fills the void in any way it chooses; that unfortunately presents us with self-opinionated, odious types who find the market and business as all our salvations and scapegoats a plenty elsewhere. A voting option(s) against a candidate as well as for a candiadate, plus a decent Proportional Representation system would help, though I accept this is starting to sound a bit desperate and shows a lack of belief in anyone! In any case, what have The Greens and Left List done so wrong to not merit automatic consideration? We would do well to back much of what they are proposing. If all of this makes for a delayed ballot result, so what? What's a few extra days in the interests of getting it right? Another world was possible back in the summer and it still is but only just. Good Luck John. You say what needs to be said and you're a true voice of the people.
yes the New Labourites are showing themselves up one after another -cringeworthy is not teh word.
We must call for a genuine an dlegitimated leadership election adn discussion of teh policies Labour really wants no wor failing that Ken, John and all other Labour rebels who still have intergrity or a conscience could form a new party.
Things move much faster these days than in the past what with the internet, U tube and everything- we need action now!
Boris has also already shown himself up already in his first interview as Mayor - he got a bit stroppy with the interviewer who asked if he should be called Mayor Boris or Johnson) and all that stuff about him abstaining from drinking for the three month campaign is a bit worrying - how much does he normally put away then?! (he did sound just a little bit pissed in the interview as had already had his celebratory drink but surely he'd only had time for one by then and I'm imagining it??! Maybe it's just he way he comes across when he contradicts people before he does me for slander! - I don't know that much about him obviously as he's on the wrong side but his jubilant father who has just been interviewed about his win made him sound like a right Hoooray Henry on tv just now - he said it was amazing that Boris had managed to give up drink for the three month campaign and that anyone who did that was therfore definitely good enough to be Mayor??!!!- typical boorish Tories I'm afraid -they never change....and a "boozy Boris" tag coems to mind.. but probably slander! I fear his much hyped (by himself) pledges to 'sort out the crime on the buses' means an immediate end to free fares for kids which is typical money-grabbing Tory as was much of the interview if you listened carefuly and is a slap in the face for Ken's ultimate dream of kids having the freedom of London via the buses as he once had as a kid (read his early books) and is meant to therefore keep kids out of trouble by giving them plenty to do visiting places/parks/friends etc not get them into it. I remember when I was a student in central and East London I was so hard up I often didn't use the buses or tubes at all and we walked to a lot of places including the parks/Camden and so on that were quite a few stops distance away and we could have done so much more with subsidised travel.
Ken looked gutted - I could see the tears - and shouldn't have blamed himself.
But don't worry Ken - you will be back in Labour politics in some good way- I've a strong feeling that all this is not over yet.
Personally I'm bowed down by guilt that I couldn't help the campaign this time as I've had to look after my children -sounds like htey had plenty of activists unlike Labour in Reading for example though - the loss of which makes the South East bluer than the sea. Not sure that Tessa Jowell was the best campaign manager though - tonight she spoke more about Boris than Ken in defeat! Her lack of enthusiam was rather obvious.
Await comment from John soonish - expect he needs some sleep and is isn't reading this live. I do have quite a lot of time on a good day to catch snatches of the media coverage while looking after the kids etc and I was outraged when I heard that Brown didn't even stay up to hear the local election result as last night but chose to sleep - very sensible I'd agree but it begs the question that if he didn't even stay up to start analysing his own party's results straight "What kind of politician is he ??!! - either breathtakingly arrogant or he's just an android in disguise like Liz Hurley in the second Austin Powers film!)
Think he might have just a TEENSY bit of insomnia tonight!! (perhaps eh could count count lost SEATS rather than sheep - no it's no laughing matter).
Now too hungry to blog ever again after day's media fest (interspersed with domestic and school duties) so will stop ranting right now and switch the thing off!
To misquote John McDonnell very badly "The road (for the Labour left) back starts here, we go out canvassing etc four days after this defeat and keep on till victory four years after (or hopefully not that long.." - hope to see you all on the trail and remember to "never give up until the last counter has been played" - if necessary we may have to watch the Tories incriminate themselves for a while but hopefully not - we need to get going now anyway - I'm not licking any wounds as i consider them to be New Labour's nor ours in the "real Labour movement.
I am a city councillor and we have really had a shocker last night at the polls.
A ward represented by a prominent ex council estate has gone Tory for the first time since the 70's!
I myself managed to hang on marginally but it has taken five weeks of unbelievably hard graft. The opposition, luckily did little but still managed to put us under pressure.
After 16 hours running around yesterday I have had to visit the shoe shop today to buy a new pair of shoes!!
The New Labour idea of triangulation i.e. shift to the right to get the middle classes behind you and expect the working class to vote for you anyway has failed. WHY DO PEOPLE IN THE PARTY NOT NOW ACCEPT THIS??
New Labour is now 14 years old and is based upon election defeats from even further back. Times have moved on and as Ken in London has proved people are prepared now to vote for radical change.
If as councils we had the opportunity to have a fairer local taxation system, build new first class council housing, promote living wages in our community and tackle the grotesquely low benefit levels when the rich and multinationals are avoiding tax we would get the working classes to turn out for us.
Will Brown see this? I don't think so. The tragedy is that he could have changed the party direction radically - he has chosen not to. He is likely to be finished in less than a year.
The right are likely to start tearing lumps out of each other on the personalities (there are rumours surfacing everywhere of leadership challenges, etc. - probably all nonsense).
I think we should take a lead on the policy agenda. If people think trying to find a Cameron/Clegg clone to lead us is the lesson to be learnt from the last 48 hours then they deserve to lose. The lesson is one about policies, and we're the best section of the party to promote those answers.
we need to be 2john the movement 2 in teh way that Obama is supposed to be "Obama teh movemnet" -i.e. not so much on the leadership candidate's personality tha on policies..
not saying Obama is all that left but hisbook isd intersting I recommend - no time to ananylse now though I thought his recent speech on race was noteworthy and should make the campaign for him...
On the incapacity benefit and welfare reform point, is there any way we could persuade the PCS (I assume it would be PCS?) to refuse to co-operate with the new regulations when they come into force?
Indeed if they said that they wouldn't follow the regulations, would that be enough to force a rethink?
Now comes decision time for Labour. Do they sack Gordon now, or wait, hypnotised, hoping for Boris to say 'picaninnies' again or something else to turn up ? I think they should, but I hope they don't. Let's draw out the agony. Either way, they'll wait for the Crewe bye-election. If their vote collapses there - which I think is quite possible - they really will be on the rack. Inshallah they'll bottle it anyway and the torture (for them) will continue for another two years.
Yesterday I knew Gordon was doomed when I looked at the press, looked at a few Labour supporting blogs saying 'In the name of Gord, go !' and actually found myself feeling sorry for him. It didn't last. I went to this site
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/road-tax/
to see what the stealth increase would be on our 2.2 diesel car, which does a not-too-bad 44 to the gallon. £170 this year - £270 two years from now. And it's not a 'green' tax, which would be on petrol consumption. The money's just being used to fill the gaping holes in Gordon's book-keeping. The Labour Party can tar and feather him as far as I'm concerned.
will also be a Henley by-election although only amoracle could rest this seat from the Tories of course.
john is all over Mai on Sunday as a prporpsed stalking horse candidate against Brown!
I didn't buy it I just saw i in a Somerfield and it was 25p more than the Sunday Mirror and I didn't thave enough change for both!
Of course if John runs it will be as a serious candidate not as a stalkong horse. Think there is a PLP meeting tomorrow where Gord will have to face his MP's although they have it in a committee room that I've been in and which is so big I get the impression that the meetings between the PM and his backbenchers are more like a rally or school asssembly than a geniune Q and A... I know there are a lot of MP's bu tno woner he's so out of touch, despite his protestaions on Andrew Marr this morning. He also tried to paint his background as normal but if his father was a clergyman they would have been protected from the pressures of having to earn enough to pay the rent/mortgage.....
Serves Ken Livingstone right for losing the election. Fancy having that pro war campaigner Alaister Campbell as an advisor! Ken came to power as an independant and in my opinon if he stood as an independant he would have won the election. Distancing himself from the New (Con) Labour completely would have been the best move.
We will never forget those MP's who voted for the massacre of millions of Iraqis. They all should be booted out of Parliament.
Saddam would be proud to see such devotion! If he weren't dead, that is.
Get over it you pacifist shite. You lost the vote in Parliament and you lost the war.
Democracy rules! If you don't like it, I suggest you feck off to the socialist cesspits of Cuba or Venezuela.
I suspect that the Govts welfare reforms will be the next thing to rebound on them, while the general public may not like 'chancers' it is clear they are going to hit genuine disabled and very sick people hard.
there is an excellent article here in the New Statesman about them.
Is Labour abolishing illness?
Alison Ravetz
Published 01 May 2008
* 27 comments
The new rules on incapacity benefit stake everything on a major gamble: that a large proportion of claimants are, in fact, well enough to work
Incapacity benefit has become one of this year's favourite scare stories. Hardly a day passes without a new headline deploring its soaring costs and the rising numbers of claimants who get "something for nothing", at the expense of decent, hardworking taxpayers. We are told that we are footing an outrageously escalating bill for 2.4 million people, a million of whom shouldn't be on the benefit at all, and each successive work and pensions minister vows to be more ruthless than the last.
http://www.newstatesman.com/200805010015
"This welfare reform issue gets raised a lot."
By who? The most earache I've had this year (and last year) was about the abolition of the 10p tax rate.Not a single person has mentioned 'welfare reform' on the doorstep as an issue to me.Prices in shops,anti social behaviour...but welfare reform? It may well be something that needs to be tackled but it isn't registering out there...and doing things that isn't registering has been our problem...
Perhaps that is because the majority of people it is going to affect don't really know whats coming. This is partly down to he media and its agenda: an example, John had 27 M.P's sign his EDM on the welfare reforms, including Vince Cable,the same number at the time who had signed up to the 10p issue, but guess which was ignored and which was deemed a rebellion.
You may not think losing upto 400 pounds a year and face more harrassment from privatised welfare agencies isn't an big deal, but to those who will in time be attacked by these reforms, they will certainly notice it.
and just maybe it is morally right to challenge these US style WR's never mind politically astute
'By who? The most earache I've had this year (and last year) was about the abolition of the 10p tax rate.Not a single person has mentioned 'welfare reform' on the doorstep as an issue to me.Prices in shops,anti social behaviour...but welfare reform? It may well be something that needs to be tackled but it isn't registering out there...and doing things that isn't registering has been our problem..'
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