Labour Uncut

GRASSROOTS: A one-off wealth tax is radical but astonishingly popular, says John Underwood

16/08/2010, 07:00:23 PM

For over thirty years, the Glasgow Media Group has linked the analysis of media content with the processes by which audiences receive and interpret messages. It has worked across a range of disciplines and well beyond the normal academic boundaries of communication studies. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Media Group should now turn its attention to media coverage of the national economic “crisis” and the need for cuts.

In an article in today’s Guardian, Professor Greg Philo, Research Director and one of the leading lights of the Glasgow Media Group asks why – amidst all the discussion of the deficit – there has been so little discussion in the media of how much wealth we have in Britain. The truth, of course, is that we are the sixth richest nation on earth with total personal wealth of £9,000bn. As Philo points out, this sum dwarfs the national debt.

Naturally, this wealth is overwhelmingly concentrated at the top. The richest 10% of Britons own £4,000bn, an average of £4m for each of the richest households. The poorest half own less than 10% of Britain’s wealth between them.

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UNCUT: It’s time to accept the dull & boring facts, says Tom Harris

16/08/2010, 04:30:01 PM

I blame Nixon. And Lew Grade.

Until Watergate, everyone believed their government was up to no good, but they could never quite prove it. You can hardly blame anyone for buying into the Kennedy conspiracy. And when JFK’s younger brother and Martin Luther King were felled by assassins’ bullets within months of each other in 1968, the public could be forgiven for believing they were bit players in a Hollywood movie. There was no doubting who the bad guys were.

Then Woodward and Bernstein had to go and publish evidence that the government were, after all, the bad guys. The cultural message was received loud and clear throughout the world. Official cover-ups have become such a central part of our entertainment industry that it is now simply not on to suggest that conspiracies are more fiction than fact.

Then there was Capricorn One (you were wondering when Lew Grade would come into it, weren’t you?), and suddenly the media were giving publicity to brain-addled hippies who had proved that Apollo had been faked using evidence procured by going through Buzz Aldrin’s bins.

Today, the front page of the Daily Mail proclaims that just one in five people believe the official story that Dr David Kelly committed suicide. When I was studying journalism I was taught that when a dog bites a man, that’s not news. When most people believe that the official story is hiding foul play, I’m afraid I see that as a dog biting a man. People want to believe in conspiracies because in doing so, they make life much more interesting than it actually is. More like a movie, in fact. And who wouldn’t want to live in that glamorous world instead of this one?

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GRASSROOTS: Milburn vs. Milburn: Round I

16/08/2010, 11:00:53 AM

In the first round of our Milburn vs. Milburn feature, Sam Hargreaves agrues that we should rejoice at having one of our boys on the inside, while Paul Cotterill hits back with his view that it’s just a Tory trick:

Who would you rather have in charge?

Alan Milburn’s appointment as social mobility tsar has been a surprise for those within the Labour party; however it should not be viewed as an unwelcome one.

Social mobility is an issue at the heart of the Labour movement; it has long been the goal of our party to reduce the gap between the richest and poorest members of our society. This goal is not one that is shared by the members of the current cabinet, as shown by the scrapping of the future jobs fund.

A study conducted by Milburn before he left parliament criticised industries that were inaccessible to those from a poorer background. He has shown a clear understanding of the problems we currently face in our society, by forcing coalition members to see these problems, a shift in policy may be achieved.

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GRASSROOTS: Our new leader will need to move quickly to define our narrative, says Peter Watt

16/08/2010, 09:05:28 AM

Whatever people once thought, Labour must be rueing the decision to allow the leadership contest to drag on. This window has allowed the Con/Lib government to to create a sense of moral outrage about Labour’s so called ‘profligacy in government’. They’ve tricked us in to thinking that cuts of up to 40% in departmental budgets aren’t savage – and to do anything else would be irresponsible at best and probably immoral to boot.

Eric Pickles reinforced this last week with his decision to open up the DCLG books. Eric, who must surely be seen as having one of the strongest performances of any cabinet member so far, has pulled a master stroke. How credible does it look for Labour to challenge the government on spending when it allowed tax payers pounds to be spent on massages, trips to the races and swanky hotels?

Over the coming months, journalists and armchair auditors will be poring over the lists of payments and drip-feeding a diet of ‘excessive spending’. It doesn’t matter what the reality is, the perception will be as the public suspected; spending had got out of control. The mood of the day is that although it might be painful, it needs doing.

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HOME: What must the new leader do to win, asks guest editor Tom Watson

16/08/2010, 09:00:35 AM

“To lead a political party you must first establish whether the party wishes to be lead.”

These are the alleged words of Neil Kinnock in the bad old days of the 1980s. The reassuring message to the thousands of Labour members who hold our great party together is that the parliamentary Labour party wishes to be lead. This has not been the case after previous election defeats. The party faced extinction in the years after 1979. In 2010 our MPs, the new intake in particular, are murderous in their desire to win.

For every day that the fragmented group of charismatic individualists running the country continue to stumble from one sporadic decision to the next, the more the lust for victory grows amongst the best intake of MPs I’ve known in my lifetime.

Whoever wins the leadership election will inherit a parliamentary party with a killer instinct. They are backed up by a party on the ground that is newly rejuvenated by the audacity of David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

The challenge for our new leader is to harness the energy, focus the attack, build a new vision that challenges the notion of a “big society” and the spurious new politics of the coalition.

So my question to Uncut readers this week is a simple one: what has the new leader got to do to win? If you think you have the answer to this question, or even a partial solution, then I want to hear from you.

Our former general secretary Peter Watt kicks off the discussion. Peter argues that in failing to elect a leader in July, we are already missing out on the opportunity to characterise the opposition as lacking vision. Worse still, we are allowing them to destroy our legacy by besmirching our economic record. Peter carried a heavier load than he deserved for the Labour party. It is to his credit that he still cares enough about the party to worry about our future.

Tom Watson is the MP for West Bromwich East, a blogger and guest editor of Labour Uncut.

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UNBOUND: Monday News Review

16/08/2010, 07:30:29 AM

Milburn: not getting off lightly

More Milburn

Contenders for the Labour leadership will probably be more guarded in their language but would be equally displeased since they might have expected to use the talents of Milburn in opposition.
Leadership contender Andy Burnham said that if Milburn accepted the job it would be a “kick in the teeth” to Labour supporters. – The Guardian.

Health Emergency campaign information director John Lister warned that Mr Milburn is a free-market “fundamentalist.” “Milburn’s the one who introduced neoliberal policies in the NHS – clearly he’s been brought in to do a similar job in terms of social mobility,” said Mr Lister. Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott branded Mr Milburn a “collaborator.” Communist Party of Britain general secretary Robert Griffiths was more blunt. “The rats have left the sunken ship and scrambled aboard the Con-Dem vessel – which is heading for a similar fate,” he said. – Morning Star.

Disaster Funding

Government funding for global disasters such as Pakistan’s floods faces being scrapped as part of the coalition government’s plans to cut back on international aid, the Labour party has warned. The central emergency response fund (Cerf), which helps countries respond to natural disasters, is on a list of more than 80 commitments targeted for cuts by the department for international development (Dfid). The list was revealed last week in a leaked memo from DfId director of policy, Nick Dyer, to secretary of state for international development, Andrew Mitchell, in which Dyer suggested where cuts could feasibly be made. He recommended the cabinet minister should honour 19 of the 80 pledges, but the Observer today reported that Mitchell had agreed to honour only eight of the promises. – The Guardian.

Coal power: remaining a contentious issue

Green issues

Green groups are aghast that a flagship policy called for in opposition by both Lib Dems and Tories, and which they last year tried to force on the Labour government, will now not be implemented in the coalition’s first energy bill to be published this year. Their criticism of the government’s commitment to green issues follows news last week that nature reserves could be sold off as countryside protection measures also bear the brunt of budget cuts in the Department for Environment. – The Guardian.

A matter of support

It would, of course, be stretching things to say that the public loves the coalition. While its net approval ratings remain positive, they are declining. The novelty of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats working together has largely worn off. Support for the opposition Labour party has hardened over concern about the scale and severity of the cuts the government unveiled in its emergency Budget in June – FT.

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GRASSROOTS: We owe it to young people to keep sex ed on the curriculum, says Hannah McFaull

15/08/2010, 02:00:38 PM

Question: What is a clitoris?

Answer: Is it a fish in the Amazon?

Question: What happens if you’re having sexual intercourse and the condom splits?

Answer: Do you wash her (sic) out with white spirit?

Genuine questions from a genuine sex education lesson in an east London school with a group of 15 year olds. Aside from cringing at the second answer, the more worrying indication is that we’re not doing enough or starting early enough when talking to our children about their bodies, relationships and sexuality.

Imagine that even the basic, inadequate wisdom that we currently impart wasn’t compulsory or standardised. Not knowing the basic human anatomy of your own body, let alone the anatomy of anyone else’s. Not understanding how to prevent the spread of disease. Not appreciating that you have a choice in avoiding becoming a parent until you’re ready.

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UNBOUND: Sunday News Review

15/08/2010, 09:09:58 AM

Bring in the ringers

Alan Milburn has been appointed to give political cover to Clegg

As expected there’s been a furious response from ex-Labour deputy, John Prescott to the overnight news that former arch-Blairite cabinet minister, Alan Milburn is possibly going to return to government to act as “Social Mobility Czar” – whatever that means. Prezza Twittered: “So after Field & Hutton, Milburn becomes the 3rd collaborator. They collaborated to get Brown OUT. Now collaborating to keep Cameron IN” For the three Labour figures named were all opponents of the Gordon Brown premiership which makes it easier for Prescott to condemn them in this manner – though I do wonder whether the term “collaborator” is taking tribal politics a bit too far. – Political Betting

Labour’s Alan Milburn is poised for a shock return to Government as David Cameron’s “social mobility” czar. And it was reported last night that former Cabinet minister David Blunkett could also boost the coalition with advice on poverty, benefit cheats and the pensions crisis. His former Cabinet colleague Mr Milburn will advise the PM on helping people from humble backgrounds into lucrative careers. – The Mirror

The appointment of the former Health Secretary will anger Tory traditionalists who fear there are already too many left leaning policies being drawn up by the coalition. The announcement will be made by Nick Clegg, perhaps as early as Wednesday. A Liberal Democrat insider said the appointment had been agreed between Mr Clegg and Mr Cameron as a way of promoting the former’s “fairness” agenda. Many will see it as a way of shoring up the Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem leader who is facing internal trouble in his own party over the severe spending cuts he has backed. – The Telegraph

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