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Monday News Review

31/05/2010, 07:45:59 AM

The candidates

Diane Abbott makes pitch to Sun readers

“”They all look, sound and think the same. I want to ask the difficult questions. The sort of questions Sun readers want asked.” But she faces a battle to win enough nominations to get her name on the leadership ballot.” – Diane Abbott, The Sun

“All that the contenders have to offer are their political skills, they are all creatures of New Labour. That makes them likable, good communicators and very clever; but the drawbacks are equally evident. They are all youngish men who have grown up inside the distortions of the adrenaline-fuelled life of government.” – The Guardian

“Ed Miliband said that he and David never fought during childhood because “we are both too weedy for that”. He said that he chose to stand for election so party members had a diverse choice. “The one thing about opposition is that it gives you the chance to renew,” he said. “It was an incredibly hard decision for me to decide to run against my brother. It’s unusual, to put it mildly.”” – The Telegraph

Scotland & Wales make play for NEC seat

Iain Gray calls for NEC seats for Scotland & Wales

“Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray has said he wants greater influence in the UK party, after calling for a place on its ruling body. Mr Gray told BBC Scotland the time had come to give Labour’s Holyrood leader a seat on the national executive committee to “bind” the party together.” – The BBC

“LABOUR’S Scottish and Welsh leaders should have a say on how the party is governed by gaining a seat on its National Executive Committee, according to Iain Gray. The Scottish Labour leader said he had urged the party leadership challengers to allow him and Welsh leader Carwyn Jones to join the body that formulates policy” – The Scotsman

“Labour’s Scottish and Welsh leaders should have a say on how the party is governed, Iain Gray said. The Scottish Labour leader revealed that he has urged the leadership contenders to give him a seat on the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).” – Press Association

Uniting the Union

“Mr Simpson and Mr Woodley are due to retire, and will be replaced by one general secretary, who will have a major influence on the Labour Party, of which Unite is the biggest financial backer. The odds are not in Ms Cartmail’s favour, because within each of the two unions that made up Unite there was an efficient vote-garnering machine.” – The Independent

“A moment of truth is approaching for Thigmoo – “this great movement of ours”, aka the UK’s once mighty trade unions, now facing their biggest test for 30 years as the Con-Lib coalition prepares public spending cuts that could threaten at least 500,000 jobs.” – The FT

Brown down

“Gordon Brown has “good days and bad days” but is coming to terms with losing power, ex-Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell said yesterday. Mr Campbell told the BBC the former Prime Minister was “reconciled to the fact that he didn’t win the election”.” – The Mirror

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The Ed Balls interview

27/05/2010, 12:07:36 PM

Labour Uncut interviewed Ed Balls on Tuesday evening. We couldn’t ask all the questions you submitted. There were far too many. We gave Ed the option of whether or not to answer questions – in this Labour leadership interview – from people who clearly weren’t Labour members or supporters. He chose to answer, and we’ve included several.

Ed’s is the first of our leadership candidate interviews. We were impressed by his focus and presence. It will be great if the rest are as good.

Q. (From Alex R) When the leadership candidates say that they were guilty of ‘not listening’ enough in the last government, how and why were you not listening? What steps would you take to listen sufficiently if you had another opportunity?

A. I think our problems about not listening started much earlier than the last Parliament. I think one of the great frustrations that we had in the election campaign, and in my case the year before, was that many of the things people were upset about, like public housing, the impact of unskilled immigration on terms and conditions, the obstacle of upfront tuition fees for young people going to university – these were issues we’d actually addressed. We’d put in place controls on immigration; John Healy was leading a big expansion on public housing; we’d got rid of upfront tuition fees. But the public weren’t hearing at that time what we were saying and it takes time for policy decisions to feed through to the reality of peoples lives.

I think the truth is that the time when we weren’t listening enough was probably during the second term in Government. My election campaign for the last 18 months has been all about repeated public meetings, listening to people and their issues – and lots of other MPs who were successful in their campaigns did the same thing in this last couple of years. If we’d been doing that five years earlier we’d have made different and better policy decisions at an earlier stage.

So your politics can’t be about telling communities what you’ve concluded; it’s got to be about asking them, listening to the voices of people who need us on their side and responding. That’s what I mean by listening. (more…)

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INSIDE the leadership campaigns: website, text, office, er.. action

26/05/2010, 02:29:53 PM

The unifying theme of all the leadership campaigns remains as we reported it last week: shambles.

Front runner David Miliband’s organisation is the nearest to being slick. But it is not very near.

At the whizzy end of things, he is the only one with a broadcast text message system, which alerts targeted Labour MPs to forthcoming Miliband encounter opportunities. It tells them where he will be, when, and with what voter segment (Northerners, trades unionists, women etc).

This is a canny Pavlovian ruse by Team David: MPs are already accustomed to receive hourly instructions – from the whips – by this means. The whips’ messages show up as sent by ‘Rapide’. The young dauphin’s come through from ‘D_M’. You cannot reply. (more…)

Posted in Inside | 5 Comments »

Questions for Ed Balls

25/05/2010, 10:56:02 AM

Labour Uncut is interviewing Ed Balls about his leadership bid.

What should we ask him? What will your vote depend on? Here’s a chance to have your say.

Add them to this thread as a comment, by 6pm today.

UPDATE – 26.5.10:

We’ve now done the interview, which will appear either later today or early tomorrow.

So this thread is now closed.

Thanks for the helpful contributions.

Posted in Grassroots | 108 Comments »

Ed Balls’ letter to the PLP 20.5.10

20/05/2010, 04:58:59 PM

Dear colleague,

The election for Labour leader is not just about the future of the Labour Party. It’s about the future of our country. This contest has to be about the public first.

That’s why yesterday I launched my campaign to lead our party at a public meeting in Gedling, a marginal seat we held against the odds. On the way, I visited a pre-school playgroup in Basildon with our former colleague Angela Smith – a seat we must win to get back in to government.

Over the next few weeks and months, I’ll be meeting not just party members, but the public too, in town halls, community centres and homes right across the country. A debate which takes place only in Westminster – just in party meetings or think tank seminars so we can then present the public with what we have decided – cannot produce the ideas or forge the coalition needed to win power again.

Leadership is about being strong, about taking tough decisions, about taking people with you and building a consensus for change based on your values and what you stand for. But it must also be about genuinely listening and hearing first before you decide. (more…)

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Campaign update – and why we need a serious woman

20/05/2010, 12:14:25 PM

In the PLP section of the leadership contest, David Miliband is powering ahead. Labour Uncut is listing 30 declared PLP nominators so far. But even a rival campaign manager told us that “he’s way over that; they’re weighing them in”. His Parliamentary campaign team is led by Jim Murphy and Douglas Alexander. Murphy, who sealed his reputation with his handling, as Europe Minister, of the Lisbon Treaty ratification, is a real politician’s politician. Likeable but ruthless, serious but funny, he is abstemious but has a slightly edgy air.

With David Miliband permanently on the terrace and in the tea room schmoozing people – neither his natural environment nor his métier – his campaign will profit from Murphy’s people skills as well as his machine ability.

Ed Miliband, currently showing 15 declared endorsers, is also thought to have comfortably surpassed the 33 MPs needed to get on the ballot paper. Former Cabinet Ministers Sadiq Khan and Peter Hain are the most active on his behalf in the tea room. Strangely similar characters from quite different backgrounds and generations, both are natural organisers. Ed Miliband’s coalition, though, still looks the most inchoate. It makes the least sense. Perhaps a group that includes Stephen Pound, Helen Goodman, Emily Thornberry and David Hamilton will turn into a big tent party. Let us hope it does not prove a messy mishmash. (more…)

Posted in Inside | 10 Comments »