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.
I doubt Tony Blair would make a difference. He got 22.6 % 5 years ago. Since then we have had a recession and expenses just before the election. We need a AV system, to ensure the BNP do not win, but that the vote is more proportional than FPTP. I think Wales has been the worst result. I think Wales needs a better Welsh leader. I like Peter Hain and Peter Murphy but one is not Welsh, and one is too lacking charisma. I think they should have a young charismatic noticeably Welsh man as Welsh secretary, why aren't there any, they have 39 mp's there. Maybe we need a more noticeably Yorkshire man in the cabinet too to hold up the Yorkshire vote. We need to shore up the base with basic tricks of having charismatic people from those regions in the cabinet to speak to those regions.
My view is this is just a protest vote election. If we get 20%, that is only 2.6 % less than 2004. If we won in 2005 after being at 22.6% in 2004 why can't we win from 20%.
"We need a AV system, to ensure the BNP do not win, but that the vote is more proportional than FPTP".
Electoral reform, the last resort of the scoundrel. You'd do better to address the electorate's concerns than to tamper with the system to ensure it doesn't produce a result you don't like.
Whilst trawling through your blog, I stumbled across this little gem:
"What is happening to Northern Rock is an outbreak of mass hysteria amongst savers that has nothing to do with the company's business model, which was actually pretty sensible"
Oh for Christ's sake, when will Blairites stop convincing themselves that their man was really really popular by the time he left. He wasn't. Look at our results at the last euros in 2004 - rubbish; and at the local elections in 2006. Blair went early because the party was a shambles at the time and really unpopular.
It still is. Because the policies have barely changed, even if the - profoundly unimpressive and intellectually lightweight - personalities have. And our uselessness has helped hand a seat to the fascists.
I don't. I say that as a loyal party member who has taken the abuse head on this week. But I remain of the opinion that TB's actions over Iraq remain unforgivable and don't the actions of Blears, Purnell, Falconer, Milburn, Byers etc over the last few days show what a bunch of disloyal troublemakers Blair's chosen ones are. Name me one good idea any of them have come up with. I dred to think what Blair mark III's cabinet would have looked liked.
Brown has made a huge number of mistakes, On Lisbon, On Tax, On giving James Purnell a job but he is Labour to his core and should be supported by the party.
There is no happy ending to this saga. We either hang together as a moderate centre-left party with the support of the Trade Unions and our roots or we hang seperatly as a party with no vision, no base and no idea of why people should vote for us and not the Tories.
OK things to look on the bright side 1. This was not a general election. Imagine how horrible that would be today. 2. BNP finnished behind labour and greens. 3. The left wing runs America.
Ed :: electoral reform is not the last resort of the scoundrel. It is something analytical people find interesting I cannot help it if ladyboys like you find these sort of issues tedious. I find it deeply interesting.
Luke, I sometimes feel that way, but what would he have done differently on the big issues? The recession would still have happened, and its UK dimension is largely due to policies which happened on his watch, and similarly most of the expenses claims bringing us into disrepute happened while he was PM, thanks to Ministers he appointed and championed.
A certain sign that a Governemnt, and maybe an entire Party, is doomed is when it's members start wistfully echoing back in nostlagic ways to a past that they start to mentally re-write as some nirvana.
A pity that so many dead British troops who died in an imoral and probably illegal war in Iran aren't still alive to indulge themselves in that alonside (the self-proclaimed Christian) Mr Blair
In the 2005 election the tories were chiming, "Vote Blair, get Brown", which turned out to help us win that election because, as Ted has pointed out, the Iraq war led to him being publically discredited
Why we lost yesterday is because Gordon was not flexable enough to enbark upon a whole sale change of the Labour vision, ie he was trying to be more Tony Blair, rather than being Tony Crosland.
I think his chances of trying to move to the moderate left (traditional labour right) are somewhat limited, mainly because Mandelson now holds all the cards. Brown has to keep him sweet to prevent the blairites from trying to batter him.
If you miss Blair then presumably you miss Bush as well? Even to this day you have not recanted your support for the invasion of Iraq. The test of a good idea is whether it get repeated, so why not invade Iran or Syria? In addition, do you still support "Light touch regulation" as well? Blair is every bit as responsible for the demise of Labour as is Gordan Brown. When Labour get defeated at the next general election, the first thing they will have to do is chuck in "New Labour" which now looks very old.
Tony Blair won three general elections in a row. That's more than David Cameron will win. Mr.'Hug A Hoodie' will have been rumbled by voters well before 2014. Still he can always go back to P.R.!
Its clear that it is the 'heartlands' , particularly up North, who simply stayed at home this time. The results in the North-West and Yorkshire were atrocious for Labour. I don't think that it can be denied that there is an issue about the perception of the government and its policy priorities.
But I do think that there appears to be a desire to be 'led'. I have never really 'got' this . To me, sheep need to be led, not thinking individuals. But given that the population still seems to want someone to lead us to the promised land, it clearly can't be Gordon, because he doesn't come oner well on the telly and appears to be detached and a bit weird.
I keep hearing ministers using the expenses row as the main reason for Labours failure but I'm pretty sure people have a lot more gripes than just expenses.
I hear Hain talking about Labours core beliefs and how they are still delivering on that....most working people would argue with him on that.
Since Labour came to power the price of property has boomed beyond the scope of most first time buyers and anyone who is earning less than £13.00 per hour. Lots of people like myself have benefited but also lots see themself with no prospect of owning a home. Brown did promise that he would not let property boom threaten the wider economy....well he did nothing...he failed miserably. Now we have millions of people facing repossion and the prospect of negtive equity but even still the average price of property is beyond the first time buyer.
Browns answer is to artificially inflate the mortgage market with tax payers money....the result will be massive tax increases and falling public service budgets. NHS for exampel will see massive cuts by next year.
Min wage, again great but still vastly underpaid..and not a living wage. Recently restaurants have been paying staff the min wage with most of it being made up by tips. The government pledge to resolve this matter and help poorly paid restaurant workers has devlivered a revised system where workers will end up getting no tips at all and paying extra national insurance.....Nice one Labour.....really well thought out.
Immigration, still a hot subject and still Gordon does nothing. The European elections another example of peoples opinion of Europe...they don't it. But Labour press on trying to ratify a treaty that less than 20% of British people want. Workers still be undercut in the work place and unemployment growing at its fastest rate in over 50 years.
I could go on but Labour wouldn't listen and this is the reason why in 2010...maybe 2009 Labour will be wiped off the map.
So do I. We would not be in this mess if he was at the helm. He would have been able to get across to the voters what needed to be done rather than focus about out- manoevering the tories. He would not have insulted us by saying that the party is increasing public spending when we know it is not able to and figures from the treasury tell us so.
We would not have lost so many women from government if TB has been PM. The loss of these women is a step backwards in terms of gender balance.
TB would not have surrounded himself by thugs nor brief against those who disagreed with him. He had class!
TB would have handled a resurgent Conservative Party better. He knew better at how to deal with DC.
I acknowledge that polls were downward the last year of his premiership. However, I do not believe that support would have been so low as it is under the current PM. We have lost Middle England. GB will never appeal to them and without such support we are doomed to failure big time.
Luke you are not alone. Many people share your views and many will never vote for GB. I for one will never forgive him for ousting TB and he will not ever get my vote. I shall abstain until he is removed or repeat my actions in voting for a fringe party which I did in the EU election.
you are frickin joking!
ReplyDeleteHas no one ever told you not to lead with the chin?
Don't worry, I'll leave it to your other readers to flag your inconsistencies on that particular topic.
Good Lord.
Maybe you need to get some sleep.
I opposed his removal in 2007
ReplyDeleteI doubt Tony Blair would make a difference. He got 22.6 % 5 years ago. Since then we have had a recession and expenses just before the election.
ReplyDeleteWe need a AV system, to ensure the BNP do not win, but that the vote is more proportional than FPTP.
I think Wales has been the worst result.
I think Wales needs a better Welsh leader. I like Peter Hain and Peter Murphy but one is not Welsh, and one is too lacking charisma. I think they should have a young charismatic noticeably Welsh man as Welsh secretary, why aren't there any, they have 39 mp's there.
Maybe we need a more noticeably Yorkshire man in the cabinet too to hold up the Yorkshire vote.
We need to shore up the base with basic tricks of having charismatic people from those regions in the cabinet to speak to those regions.
My view is this is just a protest vote election. If we get 20%, that is only 2.6 % less than 2004. If we won in 2005 after being at 22.6% in 2004 why can't we win from 20%.
"We need a AV system, to ensure the BNP do not win, but that the vote is more proportional than FPTP".
ReplyDeleteElectoral reform, the last resort of the scoundrel. You'd do better to address the electorate's concerns than to tamper with the system to ensure it doesn't produce a result you don't like.
Whilst trawling through your blog, I stumbled across this little gem:
ReplyDelete"What is happening to Northern Rock is an outbreak of mass hysteria amongst savers that has nothing to do with the company's business model, which was actually pretty sensible"
classic.
kris
ReplyDeletethe posts you need to look at were in sept 06
Oh for Christ's sake, when will Blairites stop convincing themselves that their man was really really popular by the time he left. He wasn't. Look at our results at the last euros in 2004 - rubbish; and at the local elections in 2006. Blair went early because the party was a shambles at the time and really unpopular.
ReplyDeleteIt still is. Because the policies have barely changed, even if the - profoundly unimpressive and intellectually lightweight - personalities have. And our uselessness has helped hand a seat to the fascists.
One thing you can say about Tony Blair - he was in touch with the party mood. Unlike his followers in any respect whatsoever!
ReplyDeleteI don't. I say that as a loyal party member who has taken the abuse head on this week. But I remain of the opinion that TB's actions over Iraq remain unforgivable and don't the actions of Blears, Purnell, Falconer, Milburn, Byers etc over the last few days show what a bunch of disloyal troublemakers Blair's chosen ones are. Name me one good idea any of them have come up with. I dred to think what Blair mark III's cabinet would have looked liked.
ReplyDeleteBrown has made a huge number of mistakes, On Lisbon, On Tax, On giving James Purnell a job but he is Labour to his core and should be supported by the party.
There is no happy ending to this saga. We either hang together as a moderate centre-left party with the support of the Trade Unions and our roots or we hang seperatly as a party with no vision, no base and no idea of why people should vote for us and not the Tories.
OK things to look on the bright side
ReplyDelete1. This was not a general election. Imagine how horrible that would be today.
2. BNP finnished behind labour and greens.
3. The left wing runs America.
Ed :: electoral reform is not the last resort of the scoundrel. It is something analytical people find interesting I cannot help it if ladyboys like you find these sort of issues tedious. I find it deeply interesting.
Luke, I sometimes feel that way, but what would he have done differently on the big issues? The recession would still have happened, and its UK dimension is largely due to policies which happened on his watch, and similarly most of the expenses claims bringing us into disrepute happened while he was PM, thanks to Ministers he appointed and championed.
ReplyDeleteA certain sign that a Governemnt, and maybe an entire Party, is doomed is when it's members start wistfully echoing back in nostlagic ways to a past that they start to mentally re-write as some nirvana.
ReplyDeleteA pity that so many dead British troops who died in an imoral and probably illegal war in Iran aren't still alive to indulge themselves in that alonside (the self-proclaimed Christian) Mr Blair
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn the 2005 election the tories were chiming, "Vote Blair, get Brown", which turned out to help us win that election because, as Ted has pointed out, the Iraq war led to him being publically discredited
ReplyDeleteWhy we lost yesterday is because Gordon was not flexable enough to enbark upon a whole sale change of the Labour vision, ie he was trying to be more Tony Blair, rather than being Tony Crosland.
I think his chances of trying to move to the moderate left (traditional labour right) are somewhat limited, mainly because Mandelson now holds all the cards. Brown has to keep him sweet to prevent the blairites from trying to batter him.
It's all to play for.
Luke,
ReplyDeleteGood to hear your Brownite phase is over you're now a born-again Blairite!!
Ravi,
If Brown remains in charge, the Tories' slogan at the next election should simply read "vote Brown, get Brown"!
Fingers crossed he gets shafted long before then...
"I doubt Tony Blair would make a difference. He got 22.6 % 5 years ago. Since then we have had a recession and expenses just before the election."
ReplyDeleteI second that. He began the slide. Brown has accelerated it.
I'd rather not slide.
If you miss Blair then presumably you miss Bush as well?
ReplyDeleteEven to this day you have not recanted your support for the invasion of Iraq.
The test of a good idea is whether it get repeated, so why not invade Iran or Syria?
In addition, do you still support "Light touch regulation" as well?
Blair is every bit as responsible for the demise of Labour as is Gordan Brown.
When Labour get defeated at the next general election, the first thing they will have to do is chuck in "New Labour" which now looks very old.
PS despite the rant, I hope you get well soon.
Tony Blair won three general elections in a row. That's more than David Cameron will win. Mr.'Hug A Hoodie' will have been rumbled by voters well before 2014. Still he can always go back to P.R.!
ReplyDelete"I think they should have a young charismatic noticeably Welsh man as Welsh secretary, why aren't there any, they have 39 mp's there."
ReplyDeleteQuite a number of them are women, which apparently disqualifies them from being Welsh Secretary.
No loads of secretaries are women. He could the welsh secretary to make the tea then.
ReplyDeleteIts clear that it is the 'heartlands' , particularly up North, who simply stayed at home this time. The results in the North-West and Yorkshire were atrocious for Labour. I don't think that it can be denied that there is an issue about the perception of the government and its policy priorities.
ReplyDeleteBut I do think that there appears to be a desire to be 'led'. I have never really 'got' this . To me, sheep need to be led, not thinking individuals. But given that the population still seems to want someone to lead us to the promised land, it clearly can't be Gordon, because he doesn't come oner well on the telly and appears to be detached and a bit weird.
Merseymike, well there must be a hell of a lot of "heartlands" in the South East where Labour polled 8%. Tw@t.
ReplyDeleteI keep hearing ministers using the expenses row as the main reason for Labours failure but I'm pretty sure people have a lot more gripes than just expenses.
ReplyDeleteI hear Hain talking about Labours core beliefs and how they are still delivering on that....most working people would argue with him on that.
Since Labour came to power the price of property has boomed beyond the scope of most first time buyers and anyone who is earning less than £13.00 per hour. Lots of people like myself have benefited but also lots see themself with no prospect of owning a home. Brown did promise that he would not let property boom threaten the wider economy....well he did nothing...he failed miserably. Now we have millions of people facing repossion and the prospect of negtive equity but even still the average price of property is beyond the first time buyer.
Browns answer is to artificially inflate the mortgage market with tax payers money....the result will be massive tax increases and falling public service budgets. NHS for exampel will see massive cuts by next year.
Min wage, again great but still vastly underpaid..and not a living wage. Recently restaurants have been paying staff the min wage with most of it being made up by tips. The government pledge to resolve this matter and help poorly paid restaurant workers has devlivered a revised system where workers will end up getting no tips at all and paying extra national insurance.....Nice one Labour.....really well thought out.
Immigration, still a hot subject and still Gordon does nothing. The European elections another example of peoples opinion of Europe...they don't it. But Labour press on trying to ratify a treaty that less than 20% of British people want. Workers still be undercut in the work place and unemployment growing at its fastest rate in over 50 years.
I could go on but Labour wouldn't listen and this is the reason why in 2010...maybe 2009 Labour will be wiped off the map.
I guess Luke is about the only one who does miss that worn-out, raddled old queen.
ReplyDeleteStill living in the past are we Luke?
ReplyDeleteSo do I. We would not be in this mess if he was at the helm. He would have been able to get across to the voters what needed to be done rather than focus about out- manoevering the tories. He would not have insulted us by saying that the party is increasing public spending when we know it is not able to and figures from the treasury tell us so.
ReplyDeleteWe would not have lost so many women from government if TB has been PM. The loss of these women is a step backwards in terms of gender balance.
TB would not have surrounded himself by thugs nor brief against those who disagreed with him. He had class!
TB would have handled a resurgent Conservative Party better. He knew better at how to deal with DC.
I acknowledge that polls were downward the last year of his premiership. However, I do not believe that support would have been so low as it is under the current PM. We have lost Middle England. GB will never appeal to them and without such support we are doomed to failure big time.
Luke you are not alone. Many people share your views and many will never vote for GB. I for one will never forgive him for ousting TB and he will not ever get my vote. I shall abstain until he is removed or repeat my actions in voting for a fringe party which I did in the EU election.
Best wishes.....
I bet you do he was your ticket into fill your pockets Parliament.
ReplyDeleteYou must be as sick as a parrot. Oh sorry your are
i miss tony blair as well, wish we could get him back
ReplyDelete