This morning the media is again full of plotters engaged in the planning of coups and counter coups, conspirators infighting and character assassination. It's just another day in the life of New Labour.
The Blairite New Labour spin machine has gone into overdrive in promoting David Miliband throughout their usual media outlets. Yesterday it was embarrassing to read exactly the same eulogies to Miliband from the likes of the Guardian's Polly Toynbee that she had written initially for Tony Blair and only 12 months ago for Gordon Brown. Now in the Sunday papers we have Blair's own revenge attack on Brown published.
Also today the Jon Cruddas and Neal Lawson Compass camp has launched its leadership bid with a very personal coded attack on David Miliband, accusing him of a "narcissistic cash for personal glory" and refers to his small faction that "seeks immaturely to gain advantage." Whilst they call for policy changes and list a few policies the Government should consider, the only slight problem is that over the last 11 years they have wholeheartedly supported the Government's policies they now criticise and voted against many of the policies they now advocate.
The Brownite response is a planned cabinet reshuffle to bring more unquestioning supporters into the cabinet. This just gives even further the impression of a beleagured leader defensively circling of the wagons. Just at a time when we need more open and honest debate in cabinet he appears to be stifling this opportunity.
In the long term interests of our party, the people we seek to represent and indeed the country, we desperately need to find a way out of this mess and to end the personal dogfighting and to help restore some dignity to the standing of the Labour Party and our Government.
My straightforward proposal is that we should impose a time limit on the debate on whether there is to be a leadership election or not. This would involve saying to all these various contenders that by the Labour party conference in September you should declare whether you wish to stand for leader of our party. If you wish to stand then say so and publish the policy manifesto upon which you want to invite support from our members. So that there can be no means by which the factions within the Parliamentary Labour party can block an election we should drop the rule which a a candidate must secure a minimum number of MPs' nominations and thus veto an election.
At least this process force the current prospective candidates to make their minds up and come out the dark. It should not prevent any future debate about the policies Labour should pursue but at least it would no longer place these proper and democratic debates in the context of leadership conspiracies.
I appeal to all those who have participated in the discussion about Labour's future to support this compromise plan to resolve the current impasse.
23 Comments:
we must have a democratic election - at least in teh Us they have primaries - this tiem or we will be a laughing stock and we will lose (even more) respect internationally- we need to follow the US into a new kind of politics now..
John, as a party member I totally support your line of thinking. The various factions and power-plays are leading to a point where only the Tories will benefit from the public's take on a what can be seen as a wriggling sack of worms.
More than ever we need to look at reconstituting the Party - entrench the differences between leading the party and leading the PLP - and make the former the senior figure in regards to policy.
It's a crying shame that 44 Labour MPs could not be found to support John's original quest for Labour leader. What is needed is an open debate to highlight the failings of new labour and to push for more progressive/radical policies. The world is crying out for decent socialist policies to create a fairer more equitable system which places people before the profits of the multinationals and leads us away from the death and destruction that has been wrought on regions of the world by the corrupt system we have a the moment
The problem with Britis democracy is that the deciding of policy by the electorate is secondary to the election of the men (it's mainly men) who do the deciding.
The Blairites (who dont seem to realsie they have no support0 are trying to organise a crisis now so they can have a big walk out and claim that a labour defeat at the election had nothing to do with their policies.
the truth is we were always going to have an election next year brown was always going to have to stand down
the truth is we need a much "Broader" left supporting john this time
and this means talking to ALL trade union leaders, even the ones we may disagree with not trying to get small unelected unrepresentative groups in these unions to get around it...it simply wont work
If I back you, it would be like Castro backing Obama.
Although unlike Obama you have a solid set of socialist demands and it would be great to see them discussed.
Are you officialy launching the leadership bid.. don't always hear Today due to being a night owl and not liking talk progs at that time but you are on The Sun website of all places...! I only went on there to follow up a biographical link of Obama's Irish relations...
you can get the schedule for teh Democratic conv on CNN Politics (see The Situation Roon, Jack Cafferty etc) - Obama to speak on the Thurs tho there is goin gto be anomination thing with Hillary, also Bill, Hillary, V-p, Michelle Obama and I think ted Kennedy...after all that lot maybe peole her in the UK will be able to focus on our leadership issues. cameron thinks he is new Obama and need to be pu tdown (politcaly not literally1) - we shd have time if no election for 18m and we can campaign for a democratic lelection this time and have time for people to ge tto know John as candidate. We need to expose(as part of our J4l'08 campaign) things such as the fact that Labour wouldn't debate Iraq, teh arcane rules that require topics like that to be put on the agenda a year in advance...my husband couldn't belive that Labour still operates like this in this day and age!.. new Obam aattack bnook all lies of course -just read Dreans From My Father..see Amazon (though baddies union -busters_ for a preview of his policy book which is coming out , think called Change we can belive in...happy holidays to you all....maybe Obam anot asociliast but speaks up fo rfathers and undertands racial issues, has dileemas as multi-racila, at least he will talk to Iran etc unlie McCain..on Afghnaistan he has to talk tough cos of 9-11,, I don't know, I'd like pacifism bu tthe Taliban endorse torture (at work I had an Afghan surgeon cliam asylum to me as Taliban had wanted him to strat cuttinng people's hands off etc adn he wouildn't so he left his family to claim asylum and I think he was on for gettin it though that decision was made in another department - he would have been made a recognised refugee so they're not all econominc migrants and anywya I'd try it if I lived in a poor country, wouldn't we all..?) and as with many other regime in the world their treatment of women has got to stop..
John,
I hope that you will pursue this one -
http://threescoreyearsandten.blogspot.com/2008/08/defend-iranian-democrats.html
Harry Barnes
I think Cruddas should be brought into the cabinet. I am more soft left to be honest. I was against the Iraq war but I do see we need to be electable. Cruddas is his own man and would be a good one to bring into the cabinet.
John why are you backing someone in the SWP who is on video smashing up his political opponents (AWL) meetings
What's this referring to?
Happy Birthday to all you hard-working Virgo people!
Left need to improve our links with Howard Dean and co in the US who were in at the beginning of the grassroots regeneration building behind Obama.
Of course Obama can be criticized from the left though at least his voting record is pretty liberal but first let's focus on his economic policies currently being discussed in the US media this week. As to the religious issue - another issue they will soon cover in the election run-up hopefully those in doubt due to ignorance abou tteh Islamic faith in the US will realise that even if he was a Muslim this would almost certainly mean he is not an extremist in line with most Muslims! only 60 odd days to go to the elction so we need a strategy in place to increase our US links and see what we can learn from the obama "Change" campaign a.s.a.p.
there is a statement from obama on the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae situation posted yesterday on the Obama for America website in which he states he wants to protect the jobs and homes of ordinary people not just line shareholders pockets.
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