A blog by Luke Akehurst about politics, elections, and the Labour Party - With subtitles for the Hard of Left. Just for the record: all the views expressed here are entirely personal and do not necessarily represent the positions of any organisations I am a member of.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

My answers

I was one of the people who responded to the YouGov poll. These were my answers on the policy questions:


Here are some things that different people are urging Gordon Brown to do when he becomes Prime Minister. In each case, please say whether you would support or oppose it:

Publicly distance Britain from President George W Bush’s policies in the Middle East
68% of members support. Akehurst opposes.

Increase the top rate of taxation to 50% for people earning more than £100,000 a year
66 % of members support. Akehurst in favour in principle but not prepared to do it if it will lose us the next election, which he thinks it probably would.

Give local councils more powers to vary their policy on rubbish collections, including penalising households who throw out the most rubbish, and rewarding households that do more recycling
63 % of party members in favour. Me too.

Slow down, and fundamentally rethink, the strategy for ‘Blairite’ reforms of health, education and other public services
58 % of members in favour. Ditto, I'm not convinced about the "choice" agenda.

Bring Britain’s railways back into public ownership, even if this means increasing taxes to pay for it
58% of members in favour. I really don't care who owns the trains as long as they are safe and run on time. If someone can convince me the state can do a better job that it did last time under BR, I'm not instinctively hostile.

Increase taxes on motoring and flying, and use the money to reduce fares on buses, trains and the underground.
57 % of members in favour, including this one.

Extend the period that terrorist suspects can be held without being charged from 28 days to 90 days.
55% of members in favour, including this one.

Withdraw Britain’s troops from Iraq as soon as possible, regardless of what Iraq’s government wants
48% of members in favour, Akehurst opposed and wonders what sort of socialist ignores a democratic foreign government's request to help stop suicide bombers and civil war.

Approve the building of more nuclear power stations in Britain
47% of members in favour, including this one, as I would like to have electricity in my retirement.

Change the current system for allocating social housing, so that British-born people are given higher priority than today, and immigrant families a lower priority
47% of members in favour. Not this one, who is shocked by this level of support for such an unpleasant, discriminatory policy.

Scrap the Government’s plans to introduce Identity Cards
47% of members in favour but not this one.

Give the trade unions more influence over the Government’s policies
Only 40% of members in favour but assuming that this means more influence over specifically union issues industrial strategy and employment rights then I'm one of 40%.

Keep the Government’s commitment to replace Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system in due course with a new nuclear weapons system
37% of members in favour, including this one but I think most people know that already.

Introduce a bill to abolish England’s remaining grammar schools, regardless of what the local education authority wants
34% of members in favour, including this one, assuming "abolish" means make them into comprehensive entry schools, as I find selection at 11 morally abhorrent.

OK, on the basis of those views, who should I really be voting for?

14 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Me! Me! Vote for me, PLEEEAASEEEE!

Why are all my supporters abandoning me?

:(

8:32 pm, June 03, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Given your views on employment rights etc. actually I would suggest Cruddas. If a deputy leader is going to have an influence at all it is going to be on issues like that rather than grand foreign policy questions.

8:43 pm, June 03, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tosser!

8:53 pm, June 03, 2007

 
Blogger HenryG said...

Neal Lawson :-)

9:06 pm, June 03, 2007

 
Blogger Ewan Watt said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

9:44 pm, June 03, 2007

 
Blogger Ewan Watt said...

What would be the point in increasing the top rate of taxation to 50%? The principle? Revenues? Equality?

Such punitive measures may in fact have a regressive effect government revenues, thus damaging the very the prospects for the "investment" that the PM and CoTE want in the public services.

9:48 pm, June 03, 2007

 
Blogger Chris Paul said...

Clearly Harman or Cruddas. Definitely not Blears.

9:50 pm, June 03, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

On those answers, you're certainly closer to Jon than Hazel. Not sure whether to be worried by that...

9:52 pm, June 03, 2007

 
Blogger Chris Paul said...

BTW. Don't think higher tax for over-X,000 would be a vote loser. Somone earning £120,000 would pay (or avoid) an extra £2,000 and to be honest they'd hardly notice.

9:53 pm, June 03, 2007

 
Blogger Tom said...

You should probably be voting for a bizzarre cross between Alan Johnson and Jon Cruddas.

"Not this one, who is shocked by this level of support for such an unpleasant, discriminatory policy."

Tell that to Hazel...

10:30 pm, June 03, 2007

 
Blogger Tom said...

And on extra tax, I think it would be silly to raise the top rate, but the removal of the 10% rate gives us an excellent reason to bring in a new one.

10:31 pm, June 03, 2007

 
Blogger Ewan Watt said...

"BTW. Don't think higher tax for over-X,000 would be a vote loser. Somone earning £120,000 would pay (or avoid) an extra £2,000 and to be honest they'd hardly notice."

Ah, so it's the principle then? In addition, just because "they'd hardly notice" does this mean that the government should have the privilige to seize their money merely because they're earning too much?

10:35 pm, June 03, 2007

 
Blogger Benjamin said...

The removal of the 10p starting rate was one thing, but the real problem was that instead of simply replacing it a 0% starting rate for poorer folk, the chancellor instead made it a 20% starting rate.

I think tax should be permanently reduced for poorer folk, not increased and then some of it handed back through complicated, bureacratic tax credits.

Labour has not been very imaginative with tax. Its a complicated tax system, and really hits poorer and middle income folk quite hard.

9:55 am, June 04, 2007

 
Blogger Benjamin said...

I am shocked too at the level of support for Hodge's daft proposals.

Its clear who's making a stand against this nonsense - Cruddas - not Blears. Cruddas has thought long and hard about these issues and come up with some of the right answers.

It's an important issue and its not one that Labour should yet again slide closer to the BNP on.

10:01 am, June 04, 2007

 

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