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Archive for May, 2010

Claire Spencer wants us to admit defeat

18/05/2010, 09:53:28 AM

At Saturday’s Fabian Society ‘Next Left’ conference, General Secretary Sunder Katwala remarked that Labour’s defeat felt akin to bereavement for many of us. We all had a chuckle, but he was far from wrong – our candidates and activists have been in campaign mode for months, giving up most of their spare time in the name of a Labour government and a brighter future. Things had looked bad for a couple of years – but as the polls narrowed and the campaign machines roared into life, many of us hoped as we had never dared to hope before that this was salvageable, that we could win, that we could still deliver. And maybe we could have – but we didn’t – and losing that hope, that future really hit Labour people hard.

I haven’t changed my view that a Labour win would have been the best thing for the country – the timing and precision of public spending cuts, the environment and our position in Europe, to name but three areas of concern – even though it would not have been the best thing for Labour. But it doesn’t really matter what I think – as so many of the speakers at Saturday’s conference reminded us, we lost, and we lost badly, and we can’t hold the electorate in contempt for that. We failed. It felt bad, it still does – but now I feel as though I have sped through the stages of bereavement, right through to hope. At this point, we have the opportunity to take one eye off governance, and to really turn ourselves into the movement for positive change that we believe we can be, and to turn that into something eminently electable by the time we reach the next general election – hopefully in time for the people who need us as much as we need them. (more…)

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Sam Bacon embraces the armchair activist

18/05/2010, 09:51:29 AM

It’s often said that things happen in threes; and so it proved for me during this election. At three separate events, and with three distinct people, I had the same discussion about the party and its supporters. And despite being at events intended to inspire passion and support for the campaign ahead, I left each one with a heavy heart and sense of defeat. It wasn’t because the speakers were poor or I feared massive electoral defeat, but because the conversation kept revolving around the ‘problem’ of ‘armchair supporters’.

The general point being made was that these big set piece rallies were weren’t ‘real’ campaigning, and tended to attract an undue number of ‘armchair supporters’. What we needed, or so the logic went, was committed, passionate, proper Labour supporters, not people who would come out to see a Minister speak, but wouldn’t knock on doors in the driving rain. What right did they have to attend these events? And why did the party flirt with them like this?

Many will have encountered similar attitudes at Labour meetings, events and discussions. You may even have thought – even said – something similar. But the election defeat should teach all of us who have time for such arguments one thing: if we’re ever going to experience victory like ‘97 again, we’re going to have to be the party of and for the people once again. And that means taking all comers with whatever they bring to the table. (more…)

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Rob Carr recommends a rest

18/05/2010, 09:47:01 AM

Now is a time for recovery for election activists. Whether from dog-bites, worn feet or just our general levels of sanity. There are no more major elections for a year. Party conference isn’t until September. Now is the time for us to get together in committee rooms, pubs, and around kitchen tables. To enjoy each other’s company. To be refreshed. A time to share our tales from the campaign. Whether it’s stories of ever-larger dogs we have faced down in our mission to deliver leaflets. Ever smaller letter boxes snapping on our fingertips. Ever soggier leaflets falling apart in our rain-soaked hands.

Or memories like the man who told me and a roomful of campaigners that he was going to break into his old house to retrieve his postal vote so he could cast it for Labour. (We talked him out of it, in case you’re wondering. He went to his polling station.) There was the voter who answered his door naked while I was canvassing one evening. An unpleasant experience, but a confirmed Labour vote all the same. Or the moment when Labour Party nobility, Sir Jeremy Beecham, popped his head round the corner as I was canvassing and started miming at me. Surreal then, but hilarious in the pub later. And – my personal favourite of the 2010 election – the Labour promise whom, on election day, I had to convince hadn’t cast her vote the previous week via Facebook. I’ve no doubt we all have a good collection of similar stories and experiences to tell, and now is the time to relax, reflect, and enjoy them.

But not for too long. Just long enough to ready ourselves for the battles to be joined. Because once we’re done resting and reminiscing about the various characters, the incidents tragic and comic, and the madness of polling day, we have to start thinking about what comes next. Gordon Brown has returned to the back benches for the first time in 20 years. With the loss of the election, we’ve come to a natural time to pause and review. Now is when we think about new direction, new policy, and new leaders.

Tuesday news review

18/05/2010, 09:42:42 AM

John Cruddas rules out standing for Labour leadership

“The free-thinking Labour leftwinger Jon Cruddas rules himself out of the Labour leadership race, saying he does not have the personal qualities for the job. His announcement, in the comment pages of the Guardian following a weekend of soul searching, will disappoint those hoping his candidacy would broaden the range in the contest.” – The Guardian

John Cruddas rules himself out of Labour leadership – ITN News

“I would like to be involved in the debate about the future direction of the party and how we reconnect with our lost voters. But I cannot enter a leadership election just to contribute to a debate; to go into this must be on the basis of running to win and hand on heart I do not want to be leader of the Labour party or subsequently prime minister. These require certain qualities I do not possess.” – The Guardian

“As the potential field for the party contest continued to narrow, Mr Cruddas said he did not aspire to the top job. The Dagenham MP, who has strong union backing and finished third in the 2007 deputy leadership contest, said ”many people” had urged him to stand and he had given it ”serious thought”. – The Telegraph

David Miliband: Time to repair Labour

“Future is the most important word in politics, but at the election people judged that the Labour Party was out of time. The dad I met having breakfast with his son in Rochester on Saturday morning had voted for us three times; this time he felt we weren’t addressing his concerns about the cost of living. Too many people like him felt Britain needed change, but that we didn’t offer it. In a “change election” we were perceived to be defending the old order, rather than advancing a new one. Founded as the people’s party, we were too easy to caricature as the politicians’ party.” – David Miliband, The Times

“David Miliband declared the death of New Labour yesterday as he officially launched his leadership campaign.Speaking overlooking the Tyne in his South Shields constituency, he promised tougher policies to tackle anti-social behaviour and drive up classroom standards. He argued that Labour needed to “catch up” with the ConDem coalition with action on political reform, immigration and housing. But he said at the heart of his campaign was a vow to move the party into a new era.” – The Mirror

“Speaking in his constituency of South Shields, the former foreign secretary claimed the electorate had not sent the party into “retirement” but into “serious rehabilitation” instead. The elder Miliband – whose main declared rival for the post thus far is his brother Ed – has long been seen as close to the former prime minister Tony Blair. But today he urged the party to bury the labels Blairite and Brownite and “renounced refighting the battles of the past”.” – The Guardian

“David Miliband called time on the “Blair-Brown era” as he officially launched his leadership campaign yesterday with a pledge to end infighting and take the Labour party into an era of idealism. Speaking at his South Shields constituency, the former foreign secretary put critical distance be-tween himself and 13 years of Labour government, saying there was no longer any need to “repeat mantras” or “bow down in front of the greats of the past”.” – The FT

“David’s speech was particularly strong on party organisation and the new politics. This is important ground, especially in reviving the party organisation, and David sounded genuinely engaged in that -especially in the ending of unattributable briefings. That said, I wonder what implications the “ending of machine politics” has for, say, Parliamentary selections or the NPF. David will be asked for more hard edged commitments here, no doubt.” – Hopi Sen

“David Miliband has formally launched his bid for the Labour leadership with a call for his party to “reform, repair and reconnect” with voters, as Ed Balls, the Brownite challenger, prepares to throw his hat into the ring. Miliband, the Shadow Foreign Secretary and regarded by many as the Blairite candidate, made his pitch in his home constituency of South Shields and sought to downplay the Blairite/Brownite delineation, saying he promised to leave such distinctions to the past. “New Labour did fantastic things for the country, never let anyone take that away, but what counts is Next Labour,” he declared.” – The Herald

“Following David Lammy’s thoughtful contribution which includes a call for the public to be brought into the process, and a piece by Ed Balls who is surely about to join the race, David Miliband has formally launched his camaign with a fresh and lengthy speech. The main focus was on his own roots, values and policy positioning. Miliband indicates he is trying to implement his father Ralph’s legacy with practical politics.” – The New Statesman

The future of Labour

“The Labour party was not smashed to bits on May 6th. Its share of the vote fell below 30% and it was almost wiped out in the south of England. But it fought back impressively in places such as Scotland. Across the U.K. it held on to 258 seats – an impressive total in the circumstances, after a deep recession and some keystone cops antics from it leadership in recent years. Labour’s escape in the election has been likened to the evacuation of Dunkirk: Most of the armor and artillery was left behind but the vast majority of the men got away to fight another day. So, the party is theoretically within touching distance of the Tories – who are on 306 seats. If it can regroup and work out a way to take thirty seats then it would be in a strong position to form an alternative coalition with the Lib Dems. If it could take back 70 it’s back in government.” – Iain Martin, Wall Street Journal

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Let’s hope the candidates out-perform the campaigns

18/05/2010, 09:32:59 AM

So far, the leadership campaigns have been pretty shambolic. There is no sense that any of the contenders have a pre-assembled team which has kicked into operation. Rather, they all seem disorientated by the lack not only of the civil service support to which they’re accustomed, but even of what remains of the Labour apparatus which served them as best it could during the election.

The nearest to organised is Balls. In part this is just because his core team – in keeping with his niche in the party – boasts better organisers. People like Tom Watson, Ian Austin, Michael Dugher and John Spellar may not exactly have ‘rainbow coalition’ or ‘next Labour’ printed on their t-shirts, but they are well acquainted with the mechanics both of internal elections and of external spin.

Balls is also the one who has done the most work over the last five years. He’s the only one who’s been assiduously traipsing round the Friday night rubber chicken circuit of local Labour parties since 2005. He has made the most effort to court the unions, and starts ahead in that section of the electoral college. And he has worked harder than David Miliband, though perhaps not than Ed, at convincing his fellow Labour MPs to like him. (more…)

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Eyes down for a full house

18/05/2010, 09:30:56 AM

As one might expect, Labour MPs are being telephone stalked by leadership candidates. The harassment takes different, if equally unsurprising forms: big Miliband is imperiously brusque; little Miliband is meanderingly genial; big Ed is focused; Andy is apologetic.

Calls can come at any time of the day or night. They have everybody’s numbers. (David Miliband, whose election campaign was more of a leadership election campaign, asked party regional offices for the phone number of every PPC whose patch he drove through during the campaign, “so that he could call to wish them luck”). If you don’t reply they just keep calling. Nobody is safe.

All four are phoning, and determinedly, but in a targeted way. We have yet to meet an MP who has been hounded by all four. A modest prize awaits the Labour Member who can – honestly – claim a full house.

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Life beyond electoral death for Labour’s Special Advisers

18/05/2010, 08:00:50 AM

It has been 14 years since we’ve had such a contest, but Labour still elects its Shadow Cabinet. This is a quaint practice which used to be a web of corruption. Ray Powell, the former MP for Ogmore and accommodation whip, was the spider at its centre. He collected blank ballot papers in return for larger offices and other whiply favours.

Regional blocks were a big thing in those days. As were voting bands of drinking buddies and over-representation by those more courtly and solicitous than they were talented.

The modern Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) will not go back to those ways. Where it will go is not clear.

At its first meeting last Wednesday – called at the height of the post-election bargaining frenzy – the PLP decided that there would be no Shadow Cabinet elections till after the new leader had been chosen. (more…)

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John McTernan on the cant of an honest debate in the Labour movement

18/05/2010, 06:12:46 AM

There are two great mistakes that parties make when they lose elections. First, they blame each other, then they blame the voters. Each in its own right is disastrous. Together, they are toxic.

Thus far, the emergent leadership campaign has been more benign. There is a refreshing willingness to concede that we made errors in office and need to reconsider before we rebuild.

But the biggest trap awaits – the false consciousness of an “honest debate in the party/the labour movement.” This is cant, and dangerous cant. A debate with ourselves is a conversation with the already convinced – we all voted Labour. We lost, not amongst the 29% who voted Labour or (generously) the 10% of voters who pay the levy or join the party. We lost among the middle-ground decent folk of Britain. If we were serious we’d let voters in Brighton, Redditch and Redcar choose our next leader.

I’m not suggesting that we have primaries. There is a very good reason that parties have members: the collective discipline provided is crucial for effectiveness in campaigning and ultimately in governing. What I do believe is that unless we understand not just why we lost but also what our people want, then we are doomed to a treadmill of defeat.

Let’s be clear, we were liberated by New Labour because it was a set of policy ideas based on analysis. The example set by Philip Gould was finally copied by the Tories when Lord Ashcroft funded the work that underpinned his polemic pamphlet “Smell the coffee.” What we need now is an equally detailed and compelling assessment of where public opinion now stands. We will differ about how to respond to the facts, but can we have the sense to gather them first?

John McTernan was Political Secretary to Tony Blair.

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Labour must become the anti-immigration party, says David Goodhart

18/05/2010, 06:06:53 AM

The regrets and half-apologies for Labour’s mass immigration policy are starting. The Eds, Balls and Miliband, and Jon Cruddas have all accepted that too many people came in too quickly. Ed Miliband told Andrew Marr on Sunday that the costs and benefits of mass immigration were very unevenly distributed and too many of the costs fell on Labour’s core working class voters. Jon Cruddas described the policy as acting like an unforgiving incomes policy for those in the lower part of the income spectrum.

This should be just the start of a historic shift on immigration policy. Labour should become the party that is anti-mass immigration, but pro-immigrant. This would more accurately reflect the interests of its voters, both poorer whites and minority Britons.

Labour can be proud that since the 1950s it (often alone among the main parties) has championed the cause of race equality and stood up for immigrants. It should continue to do so, but not in a way that conflicts with the economic and cultural interests of the British mainstream. The party therefore needs to re-think its commitment to the laissez-faire multiculturalism that has left many of Britain’s towns ghetto-ised and divided. (more…)

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As the coalition coalesces, Labour must not cede the centre ground, argues Benjamin Wegg-Prosser

18/05/2010, 05:55:27 AM

Labour types will have found last weekend rather curious: an interview with the PM of which we felt no sense of ownership; front page stories on splits at the heart of government which did not raise our blood pressure; and talk of leadership contests which we could not dismiss as an irrelevant side-show.

The idea that being out of office is something which we should welcome and embrace is clearly bonkers. But it is an enforced opportunity to reflect on what we achieved and where we came up short over the past 13 years. The fact that the Tories are making the weather – and the audacity of the new coalition is nothing if not a remarkable piece of political manoeuvring – should renew our appetite for a swift return to government.

In short, Cameron’s move presents both an opportunity and a problem for us. The former is clear: he has not reformed his party; he was unable to push through the changes which he wanted in opposition, so he has rather skilfully turned his own failure to secure a majority to his distinct advantage, marginalising the policies and people whom he wanted to junk but could not do so prior to the election. (more…)