Sunday, May 03, 2009
Labour in meltdown
All the papers are full of stories of Labour MPs and Ministers in full meltdown mode this morning as the ramifications of last week's votes hit home.
Of note is Hazel Blear's piece in the Observer in which she says that the government is failing to get its message across to ordinary people or to relate to them. She has a particularly nice line reminiscent of John Major's 1992 soapbox offensive: 'I'm not against new media. YouTube if you want to. But it's no substitute for knocking on doors or setting up a stall in the town centre.'
Actually Hazel you need both, as John Prescott has effectively demonstrated, but Labour's problem is not the medium, it is the fact that they are not listening and that they no longer have a message that people want to listen to. It also helps if the person using the communication tools at their disposal knows what they are doing, has done the groundwork and is comfortable with them. Gordon Brown fell down on all three points with his excursion into the YouTube generation.
The Observer has an interesting take on Hazel Blear's article:
Up to now, cabinet ministers have remained studiously loyal to Brown, despite a terrible month that saw the sacking of his political adviser Damian McBride for trying to smear leading Tories, widespread criticism of the budget and chaos over Gurkhas' rights and MPs' expenses.
Now the Blears intervention suggests that discipline is breaking down. A senior party figure said Blears was "making her move" and believed she could lead the party. "She thinks she is the one. She is part of a very active rightwing faction within the party which has a lot support among women MPs and in the student wing. She knows precisely what she is doing. You have to say she is brave."
It is not just the soapbox allusion that reminds us of the Major years here but the breakdown in government discipline as well. Meanwhile. elsewhere in the media Labour's heavyweights pitch in with their own criticisms:
In a provocative challenge in today’s Mail on Sunday, Mr Brown’s long-time Labour foe Charles Clarke issues a coded call for him to sack Ed Balls and Cabinet Office Minister Tom Watson.
Mr Clarke stops short of calling for Mr Brown to go but his attack on Mr Balls appears to have two aims: to deliver a lethal blow to Mr Brown and kill off the leadership hopes of his chosen heir.
Calling for a clean-up of politics, Mr Clarke says reforming MPs’ expenses is not enough:
‘Good and well-policed rules are not enough to secure respect for politics. Honour, integrity and good behaviour are also essential.
‘Damian McBride was not a lone gun in the politics of 10 Downing Street. He was part of a poisonous team. The matter won’t be laid to rest until all links with Derek Draper and Charlie Whelan are severed and those Ministers who worked very closely with them are removed from their positions.’
I thought that Andrew Rawnsley summed it up rather well:
The government has currently lost both the hearts and the minds of the voters. There is precious little evidence that they have a clue how to try to win them back. Head-shaking ministers are reduced to being grateful for swine flu. Says one member of the cabinet: "At least no one's blaming us for that." Oh, just you wait.
Update: Recess Monkey has some examples of Hazel Blears' own YouTube appearances indicating that she is more adept at the medium than her soundbite today lets on.
Of note is Hazel Blear's piece in the Observer in which she says that the government is failing to get its message across to ordinary people or to relate to them. She has a particularly nice line reminiscent of John Major's 1992 soapbox offensive: 'I'm not against new media. YouTube if you want to. But it's no substitute for knocking on doors or setting up a stall in the town centre.'
Actually Hazel you need both, as John Prescott has effectively demonstrated, but Labour's problem is not the medium, it is the fact that they are not listening and that they no longer have a message that people want to listen to. It also helps if the person using the communication tools at their disposal knows what they are doing, has done the groundwork and is comfortable with them. Gordon Brown fell down on all three points with his excursion into the YouTube generation.
The Observer has an interesting take on Hazel Blear's article:
Up to now, cabinet ministers have remained studiously loyal to Brown, despite a terrible month that saw the sacking of his political adviser Damian McBride for trying to smear leading Tories, widespread criticism of the budget and chaos over Gurkhas' rights and MPs' expenses.
Now the Blears intervention suggests that discipline is breaking down. A senior party figure said Blears was "making her move" and believed she could lead the party. "She thinks she is the one. She is part of a very active rightwing faction within the party which has a lot support among women MPs and in the student wing. She knows precisely what she is doing. You have to say she is brave."
It is not just the soapbox allusion that reminds us of the Major years here but the breakdown in government discipline as well. Meanwhile. elsewhere in the media Labour's heavyweights pitch in with their own criticisms:
In a provocative challenge in today’s Mail on Sunday, Mr Brown’s long-time Labour foe Charles Clarke issues a coded call for him to sack Ed Balls and Cabinet Office Minister Tom Watson.
Mr Clarke stops short of calling for Mr Brown to go but his attack on Mr Balls appears to have two aims: to deliver a lethal blow to Mr Brown and kill off the leadership hopes of his chosen heir.
Calling for a clean-up of politics, Mr Clarke says reforming MPs’ expenses is not enough:
‘Good and well-policed rules are not enough to secure respect for politics. Honour, integrity and good behaviour are also essential.
‘Damian McBride was not a lone gun in the politics of 10 Downing Street. He was part of a poisonous team. The matter won’t be laid to rest until all links with Derek Draper and Charlie Whelan are severed and those Ministers who worked very closely with them are removed from their positions.’
I thought that Andrew Rawnsley summed it up rather well:
The government has currently lost both the hearts and the minds of the voters. There is precious little evidence that they have a clue how to try to win them back. Head-shaking ministers are reduced to being grateful for swine flu. Says one member of the cabinet: "At least no one's blaming us for that." Oh, just you wait.
Update: Recess Monkey has some examples of Hazel Blears' own YouTube appearances indicating that she is more adept at the medium than her soundbite today lets on.
Comments:
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some kind soul should point out to the hopeless hazel blears that every govt that has been on the verge of being booted out of office has claimed that their chief problem is that they are 'not getting their message across'!
It doesnt seem to have dawned on the likes of blears that people are simply not interested in new labour's 'message' anymore!
Leigh richards,
swansea.
It doesnt seem to have dawned on the likes of blears that people are simply not interested in new labour's 'message' anymore!
Leigh richards,
swansea.
# posted by 
: 8:20 PM
: 8:20 PM
The fact is they do not have a message do they, they keep asking the Tories to say something so they can attack it or use it. And thats the problem we have been waiting for Browns vision and the fact is he does not have one. I doubt anyone within Labour would be able to pick this government up, if we had Purnell who was believed to be an up and coming leader, he has problems now. But even if he took the leadership what would we get, New Labour Tony Blair mark two. The fact is in areas like mine which is Swansea, Jobs are coming from the retail, part time low paid and bloody rubbish working conditions.
We need a new government a new party is that the Tories i doubt it so we will swing from one problem to another.
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We need a new government a new party is that the Tories i doubt it so we will swing from one problem to another.
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