Sunday, January 15, 2012
Labour in crisis continued
All the buzz on Twitter is that it is only a matter of time before Ed Miliband goes as Labour leader. Fortunately, for the government that is not how things are done in Labour. Well, at least it has not been up until now.
Do Labour have the equivalent of the men in grey suits? Will Miliband junior be told to shape up or ship out? We will have to see.
One thing that is clear is that the dose of realism that has overcome the Labour Party in 2012 has annoyed a lot of their supporters. Those on the left and in the Trade Union movement who believe that politics is a moral crusade in which the forces of radicalism take on vested interests have had a rude awakening.
Politics is of course about power and in any case the battle lines are not as clearly drawn as many would like. This is especially so when the Liberal Democrats are providing moral ballast in the coalition, effectively ensuring that no matter how tough things get the government is focussed on social justice and upwards mobility.
Thus, we have tax cuts for the low paid, uprating child tax credits for poorer families, index linking pensions, and the multi-billion pound scheme to help young people into work to name but a few.
When on top of all this, one of the opposition backbench spokespeople announces that Labour is not ready to govern again and Ed Miliband “needs more time” to establish himself as a leader among voters then surely even the most ardent supporters must be banging their head on the desk in despair.
In today's Telegraph Rachel Reeves, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, also admits that the previous Labour government spent too much money on salaries for senior public sector workers. She also says that the party still has “a lot of work to do” to regain public confidence.
Cameron and Clegg must think that it is still Christmas.
Do Labour have the equivalent of the men in grey suits? Will Miliband junior be told to shape up or ship out? We will have to see.
One thing that is clear is that the dose of realism that has overcome the Labour Party in 2012 has annoyed a lot of their supporters. Those on the left and in the Trade Union movement who believe that politics is a moral crusade in which the forces of radicalism take on vested interests have had a rude awakening.
Politics is of course about power and in any case the battle lines are not as clearly drawn as many would like. This is especially so when the Liberal Democrats are providing moral ballast in the coalition, effectively ensuring that no matter how tough things get the government is focussed on social justice and upwards mobility.
Thus, we have tax cuts for the low paid, uprating child tax credits for poorer families, index linking pensions, and the multi-billion pound scheme to help young people into work to name but a few.
When on top of all this, one of the opposition backbench spokespeople announces that Labour is not ready to govern again and Ed Miliband “needs more time” to establish himself as a leader among voters then surely even the most ardent supporters must be banging their head on the desk in despair.
In today's Telegraph Rachel Reeves, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, also admits that the previous Labour government spent too much money on salaries for senior public sector workers. She also says that the party still has “a lot of work to do” to regain public confidence.
Cameron and Clegg must think that it is still Christmas.
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I'm not totally astute in politics, but I do feel that labour needs to look deeper into its ranks for the answer. Ed balls cannot be part of labour going forward as there is no trust in him. The gap between left and right has narrowed, but a greater sense of idealism is needed in labour. New names and new faces are needed with fresh mandates. The old guard can still advise, but the young lions of labour need to take over. Just can't see this happening for at least 5 years. We need a viable option and come the next general election, perhaps the lib dems should step away from the tories. Mr clegg is tainted goods and his recent rebellion on europe I fear has come too late. Time will tell. As I said, this is very much a man on the street and a somewhat uneducated view. Love the blog by the way. Keith skeggs
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