Posts Tagged ‘Labour’

10 lessons for Labour from England’s hopeless World Cup.

28/06/2010, 03:01:46 PM

1. Don’t blame external factors.

OK, so the Lampard goal that never was is damn irritating. But the truth is that England were ordinary at their very best throughout the tournament and no more. They were downright awful yesterday.

Equally, for Labour, its performance in the general election was very poor. It could have been worse; it could have ended up in third place. England could have failed to qualify for the second round. But to blame money, the media, the credit crunch for Labour’s defeat and then fail to face reality will be fatal for 2015. (more…)

Facebook Twitter Digg Delicious StumbleUpon

We’re not the story. Get used to it, says Dan Hodges

25/06/2010, 10:28:03 AM

Two chance Westminster meetings this week set me thinking about one of the big tactical problems facing Labour.

The first involved a discussion with two Labour supporting  members of the Parliamentary lobby, the elite squadron of registered press hawks who follow politics from an exclusive eyrie in the House of Commons.

From debating great matters of state (why Fabio Capello should persevere with Emile Heskey), the conversation drifted to the merits of their key contacts. Routine enough, except that the names were suddenly unfamiliar. Where once were Charlie, Dugher and  Damian, now it was Andy, Gaby and Henry. This was the beltway equivalent of the wrong picture coming into your head when you hear the words “prime minister”. For me, it was almost worse. (more…)

Facebook Twitter Digg Delicious StumbleUpon

Labour select committee election results

23/06/2010, 11:46:10 PM
Following today’s ballot the following colleagues (in alphabetical order) have been elected to the following select committees:

BIS – Luciana Berger, Jack Dromey, Chi Onwurah, Rachel Reeves.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT – David Cairns, Paul Farrelly, Alan Keen, Jim Sheridan, Tom Watson (more…)

Facebook Twitter Digg Delicious StumbleUpon

Michael Dugher on the strategic defence review

21/06/2010, 11:07:35 AM

At the General Election, all three main parties were committed to holding a strategic defence review (SDR) as part of their manifestos for government. Today in the House of Commons, the debate begins as to how we configure our armed forces for the challenges we face in the coming years. How Labour engages in this will be important.

In February, Labour in government produced Adaptability and Partnership: Issues for the Strategic Defence Review, the green paper which paved the way for the SDR. The document set out very well the principles that underpin Labour’s approach.

The first is that we cannot simply “defend our own goal line”. This is a response to the “troops out” message that goes out, not just from anti-war protesters, but from sections of the media and parts of the wider public, usually in response to ever-mounting casualties in Afghanistan. (more…)

Facebook Twitter Digg Delicious StumbleUpon

I trust Ed Balls to fight our corner, says Stacey McNamara

21/06/2010, 08:46:10 AM

I joined the Labour party when I was 15. Tony Blair had just won his famous landslide victory. I was impressed by his charisma and the effect his campaign had on the national mood. And Labour was part of my community, part of my childhood experience. I’ve always known how central politics is to people’s lives. And it’s important who the party leader is. It was important to me that Tony Blair was the leader back in 1997.

And I think it really matters who the new leader is now. That’s why I wanted to write this article to explain why I am supporting Ed Balls. One of the main reasons I am backing him is because of his economic strength and experience. I feel that his unparalleled economic experience and knowledge can help us be a strong opposition at a time when economics are at the very centre of our battle with the Lib Dem-Conservative coalition. While they are making swinging cuts all around, I believe he has not only the knowledge but the strength of character to resist.

(more…)

Facebook Twitter Digg Delicious StumbleUpon

Saturday News Review

19/06/2010, 08:42:35 AM

Ed B begins courtship

Ed Balls makes his pitch to the grassroots

Ed Balls is launching a drive to get more ethnic minority candidates into Labour politics, pledging that as party leader he would devote a proportion of party funds towards boosting their number. The leadership contender plans to set up a Labour party diversity fund to enable candidates from groups currently under-represented to stand for elected office.” – The Guardian

Labour leadership candidate Ed Balls has pitched to the grassroots of his party, calling for greater involvement from members and trade unions. Shadow education secretary Mr Balls said Labour needed to do more to support people from under-represented groups to stand “at every level”. – The Belfast Telegraph

“We must seize the chance of this leadership election to renew the Labour Party from the ground up and re-engage with the communities we are elected to serve. Political aims, vision and policies aren’t enough unless Labour can also be a community-based political party rooted in the communities we represent.” – Ed Balls, Labour Values

McDonnell wins

“John McDonnell has promised to bring in a new trade union freedom bill to tackle British Airways-style legal threats to strike action after winning first place in the parliamentary ballot of private members’ bills. The veteran leftwinger, who dropped out of Labour’s leadership contest last week, is seeking support from the TUC’s general council for the bill, which will have top priority among backbench legislative proposals this autumn. Mr McDonnell’s last bill on the subject was talked out under Government opposition in 2008. Mr McDonnell said employers such as BA had been exploiting “minor technicalities” to “frustrate the democratic decisions of trade unionists”.” – Tribune

(more…)

Facebook Twitter Digg Delicious StumbleUpon

Mark Fox says the leadership candidates should admit New Labour’s real mistakes

18/06/2010, 02:07:43 PM

For the first time in 13 years Labour finds itself adjusting to the problems and challenges of opposition – and they are real. It’s not just the chauffer driven cars and private office officials that have disappeared. More important – and much harder to overcome – is the lack of easy access to information and data, no longer having an automatic slot on prime time news and, for a while at least, still trying to argue from the policy platform on which they lost the election.

And, of course, not yet having a new leader to provide direction and purpose adds to the problem. These things will sort themselves out in time, but for a while Labour will continue to struggle. (more…)

Facebook Twitter Digg Delicious StumbleUpon

Friday News Review

18/06/2010, 08:13:47 AM

Not just the candidates, but their children

“The question had related to the lack of women in the upper echelons of the Labour Party and glanced towards Yvette Cooper’s decision not to Chief Secretary to the Treasury Yvette Cooper MP leaves number 10 Downing Street, London after a meeting of the British Cabinet on November 6th, 2008.stand against her husband, Ed Balls. But the discussion soon turned – how could it not? – to the difficulty of combining a senior role in politics with babies. It was as though the playpen gate had been thrown open. The four men positively fell over each other to vaunt their infatuation with their offspring.” – The Independent

“Other critics – many within the Labour’s own ranks – believe the situation is evidence that the party has failed to foster a belief amongst its female MPs that promotion to the highest offices is a realistic prospect, and also that the party remains stifled by an anachronistic culture of paternalism.” – Political Promise

“Under the Tories, the poorest will end up paying the price of the mistakes of the richest. We should not be afraid of the mansion tax on £2m houses or extending the bankers’ bonus tax, rather than charging the poorest with VAT rises. And the idea of taking money from the poorest children while continuing to subsidise private schools is just wrong”. – The Guardian

“I believe it would be economic madness for Osborne to go ahead with deflationary spending cuts and the VAT hike that his advisers have been whispering about to the newspapers. I fear this “unemployment budget” will set back the economic recovery and put jobs at risk.” – The Guardian

Has the race left London?

“I’d make a break with the London- centric nature of our politics. I regret to say our party has run itself in too top-down a way from London.” – Western Mail

“Ed Balls finally launched his campaign website today in his email to the 80,000-strong Labour Party email list. Every candidate is entitled to send one email to the party’s list. David Miliband sent his first, last Wednesday, followed by Ed Miliband on Thursday and Andy Burnham last Friday.” – Labour List

(more…)

Facebook Twitter Digg Delicious StumbleUpon

Tommy Watson takes the fight to the Tories

16/06/2010, 04:19:15 PM

When the coalition caved in to pressure and published details of – some of – its special advisers’ salaries last week – there were a few details missing.

So Tom Watson has produced this briefing paper, which contains a detailed account of the coalition’s spin doctors’ new pay rates and pensions.

It includes what last week’s document didn’t show: the additional civil service pensions that these coalition spinners can expect.

Under the civil service pension scheme, the PM’s spin man Andy Coulson gets £160K to add to his retirement pot.

These are the same “gold-plated and unfair” pension schemes that deputy pm Nick Clegg denounced this week.

Clegg said it was unreasonable to expect the taxpayer to continue to keep paying  into “unreformed gold-plated public sector pension pots” – just like those awarded to the new government.

So, Watson asks in his  letter to Nick Clegg, if low paid public sector workers are to forgo their “gold plated pots”, will all the coalition spin doctors be opting out of the civil service pension scheme?

Facebook Twitter Digg Delicious StumbleUpon

Efficiency Briefing: Number 1

16/06/2010, 04:16:51 PM

David Cameron and Nick Clegg: The cost of their recently appointed special advisers’ pensions

“So can we really ask them to keep paying their taxes into unreformed gold-plated public-sector pension pots? It’s not just unfair, it’s not affordable.” Nick Clegg, 14 June 2010 

Tom Watson MP

Efficiency Briefing: Number 1

Introduction

Last Thursday, after a dismal performance in the chamber by Danny Alexander earlier in the week, the government caved into pressure and published the salary list of their newly appointed special advisers.

As well as showing a startling increase in the number of spin doctors working out of number 10, the publication showed that chief spin doctor Andy Coulson had been awarded a salary greater than that of the deputy prime minister.

What the publication didn’t show you was that on top of a £140K pay packet, Coulson is automatically entitled to a civil service pension – the same pension arrangements that Nick Clegg described yesterday as “gold plated…unfair…[and]…not affordable”. So on top of his £140K, the taxpayer could fund another £27,160 per year towards Mr Coulson’s retirement. 

(more…)

Facebook Twitter Digg Delicious StumbleUpon