Friday, December 01, 2006
Dissing Venus
In Swansea last night Rhodri Morgan compared New Labour to the Venus de Milo - a soulless slab of marble, moulded by spin doctors and completly 'armless. If only!In actual fact he said that both were showing their age. So is Rhodri Morgan but I am not going to hold that against him. There are some who would suggest that the Venus de Milo has aged much better than new Labour and that it shows an element of grace and composure that has always been missing from Tony Blair's creation and is certainly absent from its South Wales equivalent. Wales Labour is no art form and can be a truly brutal piece of work when it wants to be.
The attempt by the First Minister to distance himself once more from Tony Blair is no surprise. After all he faces a drubbing in the polls next May and is doing everything he can to create a distinctive product that is as tainted as little as possible with the Prime Minister's unpopularity.
As one Labour politician told me this week, there is no better way of winding up government-side Assembly Members than by calling them 'New Labour'. At least 80% of the 29 strong group consider themselves to be anything but. No wonder Rhodri spoke out. His problem though is that many members of the public will either not make the distinction or will not believe that there is one. Furthermore, we are still waiting to find out what Welsh Labour actually is if it is not 'New'.
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Seems to me that a more appropriate comparison may have been with the recent controversial 'empty room' art offering.
Members and voters can wander round aimlessly thinking of past Labour parties they have seen and making their own impressions.
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Members and voters can wander round aimlessly thinking of past Labour parties they have seen and making their own impressions.
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