Vote Hazel
I hope this is true ... and at last we have someone running for Deputy Leader telling it like it is about the future direction of the Labour Party ""She will say that the party risks losing at the next election if it makes “the mistake of a lurch to the Left . . . The idea that we win a fourth term by distancing ourselves from that leadership or by dismissing our own successes is dangerously misguided” " rather than joining in a dutch auction of naff faux leftism.
posted by Luke Akehurst at 7:54 am
9 Comments:
Dear Luke
Careful before pledging your troth in the Deputy contest. Why not blog after you have a fuller report from your pal John McTernan on what was said by whom in post Conference respresentations to Hayden Phillips, and the role played by Hazel Blears in that affair?
9:51 am, February 16, 2007
Trust me, Luke, it's 100% true. People are canvassed all over the place to see if they would be interested in attending Ms Blears campaign launch. I'm sure they won't forget you, dear! Look forward to the report :-)
10:31 am, February 16, 2007
The government is not appeasing the Left at the moment. Yet at the same time:
The Tories have been ahead of us in the vast majority of opinion polls for months.
The last local elections were tragic for Labour.
Party membership has plummeted.
And here comes Hazel Blears insisting that everything's fine and that we will only lose the election if we change in any way. She's another 'Steady as she goes' candidate. She is seriously deluded. Any talk of a change of direction is instantaneously met with accusations of treachery and derided as a move back to the 80s. I despise the dogma of the far Left and the far Right in the party. Labour seriously needs renewal and Blears is making it clear that she is not the candidate to deliver it.
11:20 am, February 16, 2007
Keep up Luke. She may not have formally announced it, but she ruled herself out of the race weeks ago.
Hazel Blears Out of Deputy Leader Race
11:45 am, February 16, 2007
If Hazel supported Hayden Phillips cap on union donations I would be appalled. I find it hard to believe.
11:49 am, February 16, 2007
I thought the accusation over Hayden Philips is that John McTernan said a different thing in a private meeting to what was said by the official delegation headed by Hazel Blears and Jack Straw?
2:40 pm, February 16, 2007
Hazel Blears has got NO CHANCE .
She makes Harriet Harman look like a lefty.Unreconstructed Blairites are not the way forward for the Party, of whatever sex.
BTW I hear Hilary Benn is faring v badly but who would vote for someone not even supported by their dad....
5:44 pm, February 16, 2007
So once again we have the old "lurch to the left" versus "drift to the right" false dichotomy? If we really have to we can fight elections like US demo-publicans but we MUST run the country as Labour. Most of the ends - barring imperialism, nuclearism and deterrent - are uncontested. It is the means of improving hospitals, schools and public services that are contested.
Say it loud, say it proud: "lurch to the left" is spin, "renewal in power" (also spin) but noble spin can be accomplished by routes which include real engagement with Labour Values like Keeping Public Services Public, Universal Quality ahead of Bogus Choice, Ethical Foreign Policy ahead of Imperialist Wars.
9:40 am, February 19, 2007
PS Keep Left: Peter Hain isn't supported by his mum or his dad. they wouldn't trust him as far as they could throw him.
9:42 am, February 19, 2007
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