Labour Uncut

GRASSROOTS: The toff takeover of British pop – it has to stop.

01/02/2011, 03:30:31 PM

by James Mills

The great delta bluesman, Bo Diddley, in response to a plummy-voiced English interviewer who asked him why he, a poor uneducated man, had had the audacity to make his own electric guitar and amp, replied: “the man who invented the wheel didn’t have a PhD in engineering”.

Today, many of the graduates who make the music in our country could probably qualify to do a PHD. Or as a recent survey by Word magazine found, 60 percent of current pop acts went to private schools compared to just one percent 20 years ago. This sometimes becomes unmistakable, for example around half of the 2009 Mercury music prize nominees were privately educated. Something which is very different to the 1990s Brit pop I grew up listening to, or the provincial working class sounds of bands like the Smiths. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: Why are we wasting time and police resources on phone hacking?

01/02/2011, 11:30:10 AM

by Dan Hodges

Westminster is gripped by a strange madness. Last week it was announced that the economy is teetering on the brink of the precipice, a swathe of cuts are set to scythe through every community in the land and that the 350th British life had lain down for its country in Afghanistan.

But what is dominating our political discourse? Phone-hacking. The hunt to uncover which journalists eavesdropped on the mobile messages of which politicians and minor celebrities. This is now the burning issue of our age.

We are witnessing the car crash of the British establishment. Our MPs are piling into the media. The media are piling into the police. The police are piling into everyone. All the while the public are gliding slowly by watching, with incomprehension, the unfolding spectacle.

On the surface, the hacking controversy raises important issues. Laws have been broken. The privacy of public figures invaded. There are questions over the integrity of senior police officers.

These matters should not be taken lightly. But nor should they be whipped into a frenzy of rumour, speculation and accusation. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: AV is a small change – but it could have a big impact

01/02/2011, 07:00:51 AM

by Richard Burden

For me, securing a yes vote in the referendum is about helping to create a more open and participatory politics. A lot of people in this country find politics a really big turn-off – and I can understand why. They want to see a change in the way politics is done. I do too.

Introducing AV is a small change – but it could have a big impact.

It is hardly earth-shattering to suggest that if we MPs are going to claim the right to speak for our constituents, we should each secure the support of 50% of those who voted. Preference voting systems – such as AV – are already used up and down the country in the internal elections of membership organisations, businesses and unions. Labour and other political parties use them to elect their own leaders.

That preference voting for the House of Commons is sometimes regarded as an outlandish suggestion says a lot about the narrow culture of the existing political system. It will take more than a new voting system to change that culture. But it will certainly help. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNBOUND: Tuesday News Review

01/02/2011, 06:59:26 AM

Even Cameron’s family disagree with NHS reforms

David Cameron’s health plans suffered a devastating blow yesterday when his brother-in-law blasted the Government’s ruthless dismantling of the NHS. The Prime Minister admitted his sister Tania’s husband Dr Carl Brookes had said: “You’re giving too much power to GPs, and hospitals will be disadvantaged.” Dr Brookes refused to comment when The Mirror approached him at his Basingstoke office. But by 7pm, No.10 issued an astonishing U-turn statement on his behalf, saying: “I am supportive of the reforms of the NHS. Clinicians should be more closely involved in decisions about where the money goes. I support the aim of reducing the overall management costs of the NHS and the measures designed to allow that.” The Prime Minister’s initially damning admission came as the Tory-led Coalition tried to force the Health and Social Care Bill through Parliament in the face of mounting opposition. On a day of blunders, Mr Cameron also admitted that district hospitals could close as market forces are unleashed throughout the health service. He said: “People like their local hospital and as long as they go on using it, it will remain open.” But in opposition, he had promised to keep hospitals open, saying: “We believe in them, we want to save them.” Shadow health secretary John Healey said: “The Prime Minister’s brother-in-law is one of three in four doctors who don’t believe this high risk, high cost reorganisation will improve services for patients.” – Daily Mirror Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: AV – who cares? The whole debate’s a waste of time and money.

31/01/2011, 12:00:18 PM

by Michael Dugher

In September 2009 I was asked to conduct the traditional pre-briefing for broadcasters of the leader’s speech to the party conference. I remember reporting back to Gordon Brown’s other advisers that I had just “had my balls fried” by journalists about a line in the speech committing Labour to hold a referendum on the alternative vote. There was much confusion. The journalists wanted to know why having a referendum on AV had anything to do with the need for political reform after the MPs expenses scandal. They also wanted to know whether Labour would be campaigning for a “yes” vote, or whether we were simply committing to giving people the choice to move to AV or not. “Oh we’re definitely in favour of AV”, said one policy wonk. “No we’re bloody not,” said a political adviser, “large parts of the PLP are against and it hasn’t gone through the NEC yet”.

18 months later, the tedious irrelevancy that is the debate about whether or not to change to the alternative vote system continues. It is striking that the only party to have had a commitment to having a referendum on AV was Labour, the party that definitely lost the election. The Tories were opposed, as were the Lib Dems, who, as longstanding supporters of proportional representation, dismissed AV as “a miserable little compromise”. And yet we are having a referendum nonetheless, whether the public wants one or not. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: The unholy alliance destroying the country (no, not that one)

31/01/2011, 07:45:12 AM

by David Seymour

It is the last resort of a desperate politician to fall back on denouncing judges as unelected. Michael Howard was at it the other day, complaining that the courts should not be asked to decide whether it was lawful for the government to snatch away million of pounds promised to councils as part of the “building schools for the future” programme. (Yes, that’s the same Michael Howard who was overturned 27 times by the courts when he was home secretary).

If the only people who could decide anything had gone through an electoral process, we would be in a situation in which an administration supported by less than a quarter of the electorate (as most governments in the past decade have been) could do what it liked.

What really gets me agitated, though, aren’t the attacks on judges by politicians and right-wing journalists (can’t recall many of them being elected), but their acceptance at the same time of certain unelected and self-appointed individuals and bodies who exert an overwhelming influence on decision-making.

Take Sir Andrew Green and migration watch. Where did they come from? He was a retired diplomat who founded a body which has been at the forefront of terrifying the British people into thinking we are being over-run by foreigners. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNBOUND: Monday News Review

31/01/2011, 07:31:11 AM

Ed doesn’t repeat Nick’s mistake

Ed Miliband has hit upon the easiest and most obvious way to avoid what might be called the Clegg-over Trap: you do not have to answer certain questions, and any answer you give will make you look a twit, so pass. He was put to the test soon after becoming Labour leader when he was interviewed by Piers Morgan for an article in a men’s magazine. Morgan put the predictable questions – “How many women have you slept with?” and “When did you lose your virginity?” – both of which Mr Miliband brushed away, somewhat immodestly, by saying he “would not boast about his sexual prowess”. His reply contained a hidden dig at the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, who once told the same magazine, GQ, that he had slept with “no more than 30” women, to the horror of his advisers who were sitting in on the interview. The reply was meant as a joke, but landed the Liberal Democrat leader with the embarrassing nickname “Clegg-over”. – the Independent

The Labour leader insisted he would not be bullied into marrying Ms Thornton, the mother of his two young sons, before quipping: “Thank God for that, probably”. Mr Miliband, who is the first leader of a major political party to live with his family out of wedlock, has been criticised for not marrying Ms Thornton, a 40-year-old Cambridge- educated barrister. Traditionalists have also attacked Mr Miliband for not putting his name on the birth certificate of his eldest son, Daniel. He claimed he was so busy he forgot. During an interview for GQ magazine, which is out on Thursday, Morgan teased the Labour leader by continually referring to Ms Thornton as his “wife”. Asked for his views on marriage during the interview, which took place on the day he returned from paternity leave last November, Mr Miliband explained his decision. “It’s a good institution and part of having stable families, but there are also people in unmarried relationships with stable families. I don’t think politicians should order people to get married,” he said. He insisted he would eventually tie the knot. “But the more people who challenge me on it from a political standpoint, the more resistant I will become,” he added. Mr Miliband said he never took drugs at university, claiming he was a “bit square” in his youth. – the Scotsman Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: The Sunday Review: How the West was lost, by Dambisa Moyo

30/01/2011, 03:00:39 PM

by Anthony Painter

On their way to discuss “shared norms in the new reality” in Davos this week, many of the world’s leading politicians, businesspeople and media figures will pick up a copy of Dambisa Moyo’s How the West was lost. Those coming from “the West” will turn the pages nervously. Those from emerging nations will smile contentedly. The future is China’s. The US will not only lose its number one spot but will decline precipitously and end up as a bloated socialist state. How the tables have turned.

We have been here before. In the 1960s, it was the USSR that was going to overtake the US. Sputnik focused minds. NASA landed a man on the moon and all was fine again. By the 1980s it was Japan, when a spate of books detailing Japan’s onward march to global domination filled those same bookshelves that now hold Moyo’s book. Now, it is China. Surely, this time it’s different?

Actually, this time it probably is different. China will end up as the largest global economy. It’s huge, its population is four times that of the US and it’s growing fast. The surprise will be if China does not replace the US as number one in the next couple of decades. Japan has already slipped into third place as a result of China’s rise. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: What are Tory ministers up to in Sudan?

30/01/2011, 12:31:33 PM

by James Watkins

The arid, sun drenched lands of southern Sudan may seem a long way from the corridors of Whitehall. But the actions of British ministers are raising eyebrows – and have led to real differences in the “special relationship” between the United States and Britain.

Right now, the count in a key referendum is taking place that is likely to lead to the world’s newest nation in southern Sudan being created this summer. Interim results are already out that shows there is, to date, 99% support for a new state. The referendum is going forward largely peacefully – with the exception of deadly violence in a key border area between northern and southern Sudan. The African Union is playing a critical role in this largely peaceful process with these efforts being hailed by former South African president, Thabo Mbeki, as a step forward for the continent.

But this referendum is taking place against a background where horrific violence between Sudanese forces and southern Sudanese militias had led to the deaths of 2 million people. Sudan is already scarred by the tragedy in the eastern Sudanese province of Darfur where the actions of the Sudanese government-backed militias have, according to the united nations, played a major role in the deaths of 300,000 people. As a consequence, the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, has been indicted by the international criminal court on charges of genocide. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNBOUND: Sunday News review

30/01/2011, 06:59:24 AM

Ed meets the troops

Ed Miliband vowed yesterday he would not play “party politics” with British troops as he made his first visit to Afghanistan as Labour leader. Speaking in Helmand province, Mr Miliband backed PM David Cameron’s timetable to end combat operations there by 2015. He told troops: “Our mission is not a matter of party politics. It is about doing what is right for our country. A more stable Afghanistan will lead to a more safe Britain. You have our support, our respect and our admiration.” Mr Miliband toured Camp Bastion base, meeting the injured. He then went to Shawqat, scene of fierce fighting, with defence spokesman Jim Murphy and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander. – Sunday Mirror

Ed Miliband pledged yesterday not to play ‘party politics’ with the military campaign in Afghanistan after making his first visit to the war-torn country. Addressing British troops in the volatile Helmand province, the Labour leader insisted that Britain was ‘united’ behind the military effort. But he also backed the Coalition’s plans to end UK combat operations by 2015, saying: ‘It is right that this is not a war without end.’ Mr Miliband said: ‘I want you to know that our mission in Afghanistan is not a matter of party politics. It is about doing what is right for our country. A more stable Afghanistan will lead to a more safe Britain. ‘Above all, I want you to know that you have our support, our respect and our admiration for what you are doing for our country.’ Accompanied by Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy and Douglas Alexander, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, the Labour leader toured the British forces’ main base at Camp Bastion and met injured soldiers. He then travelled to Shawqat, which has seen some of the fiercest recent fighting. Mr Miliband also met General David Petraeus, the American commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, and later held talks with Afghan president Hamid Karzai in Kabul. – Mail on Sunday Read the rest of this entry »

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