Peter Watt « Labour Uncut

Posts Tagged ‘Peter Watt’

The world has changed: but we’re still partying like it’s 1995

22/09/2011, 11:14:07 AM

by Peter Watt

Since the general election it is fair to say that the Labour party, probably the left generally, has been struggling with exactly what it is there for. In simple terms, what is it that the Labour party wants to do that the government doesn’t?

The problem has been that there has been a divide in Labour’s ranks over the handling of the economic situation, the cuts, the Blair and the Brown legacy. So when it comes to key questions we struggle for coherent answers. Would we have needed to cut? Should we tax more or less? Should we defend public sector jobs? What about the role of the private sector in delivering the public services? Is there a “progressive majority”? On so many issues there is a divide on the left.

The government, in contrast, seems to lack none of this uncertainty. It makes mistakes, but at its heart it is playing a pretty mainstream tune. Mainstream in the literal sense that its overall message resonates with, well, the mainstream of voters. It’s a message of economic prudence, balancing the books, prioritising spending decision and localising decision making. It celebrates family and tradition but looks to the future. It is comfortable with enterprise and would prefer lower rates of tax.

Those “right wing extremists” have become the mainstream and the Labour party is becalmed on the fringe, apparently struggling to find answers to the problems of the day. The government is a security blanket in a scary world. And that is before we know the full extent of the Eurozone crisis. (more…)

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Sunday Review on Friday: What next for Labour?

16/09/2011, 02:24:47 PM

by Peter Watt

I have my copy of The Purple Book and I am loving it. It is great to have a coherent and well thought out vision for the next phase of Labour’s development. I agree with what Anthony Painter said on this site on Thursday:

“The Purple Book, published today, after months of political hysteria, is actually a largely constructive and imaginative collection. It is far from being “lazy” and “idiotic” as its detractors claim. This is the progressive Labour – out of political favour for almost half a decade – response to blue Labour. It is much more than that too. And it manages, fairly convincingly, to move on from its New Labour past”.

I strongly recommend that people buy and read it. But there is a downside to The Purple Book: that it will, inevitably, be seen as being partisan. Because of course it is. Speaking as a fully signed up member of progress, I am completely comfortable with the direction of its partisanship. But the Labour party is a coalition (I know that this is a bit of a dirty word, but I think we may well have to get used to it) and there will be many therefore who dismiss The Purple Book simply because it is from the progress stable. (more…)

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Show voters you care: talk about their jobs, not yours

15/09/2011, 01:00:32 PM

by Peter Watt

I have developed an annoying habit. You know the way that ex-smokers are annoying, always pontificating in a superior way about the dangers of smoking, the nasty smell and the cost? Well I am kind of like that about politics. I used to “do politics” full time. I was a real insider and all that. And then I gave it up, and now I love to tell those still addicted the dangers of the habit, the nasty smell and of course the cost.

Well this week, let me tell you, I have felt a pretty smug ex-politico and to be honest I think that I am justified, even if I am annoying.

The real anger at Westminster this week has been reserved for, wait for it, the outcomes of the boundary commission. Not the weak state of the domestic, European or even world economy. Not the worryingly high level of inflation and the real pain being felt by families struggling to make ends meet. Not the implications of the welfare reform bill for people with disabilities or the health and social care bill. No, not even the hacking of phones could come close to the levels of Westminster angst that the threat to a handful of MPs’ jobs could raise.

MPs and political parties have been getting agitated about whether MP A or MP B might or might not have a seat after the election. At the same time, mere mortals are working hard just to pay their electricity, gas and food bills. Whatever the rights or wrongs of the policy to reduce the number of Westminster seats, I am not sure that much of the public will share the dismay of many at Westminster. Well, except the dismay that the numbers are not being reduced further. (more…)

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The Tories still have the best tunes

08/09/2011, 07:00:07 AM

by Peter Watt

Back to school this week; families are struggling and life is hard. Kitting out one child is expensive, and we have more than one. Shoes £30 – £40, skirts £15 each and you need several, white shirts £6 each and at least two school sweat shirts at £15 per pop. Then there’s the PE kit. And pressure to buy a new school bag and pencil case. So not much change from £150 there then. More than one and the price goes up. And of course, all of this comes at the end of a long summer, with the inevitable costs of entertaining the kids with or without the cost of the annual holiday.

Over the last few years fuel price rises mean that it costs at least £70 per week to fill the car, parking charges have been raised and the gas and electric just keep going up. You try and cut down on usage, you get your cavity walls filled, your “units used” drops; but the bill still rises. Your weekly shop costs more and you seem to be getting less. Train and bus fares are higher this year as well and they’ll probably go up again next year. So there really is no slack in the budget to pay for the back to school purchases – credit card it is then. Assuming there’s still some credit left. And there’s a pretty good chance that over the next few weeks there will be a series of letters from the school asking for money for trips, photographs and commemorative school tea-towels.

What is worse, is that many are also worried about their job. So they are working longer hours in order to impress the boss just in case. And maybe there is a second job just to help make ends meet. There’s not much, if anything, left at the end of the month. The TV is full of news of more economic woes to come. It just doesn’t seem fair. (more…)

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What is party conference for?

25/08/2011, 08:00:01 AM

by Peter Watt

I have been pondering for a while what exactly party conferences are about. What are they for? This week Labour has announced that it will hold an “open day” at its conference in Liverpool. Up to 2000 members of the public are invited to attend and can register online for a full day’s programme of policy discussions. Wednesday 28 September is described as:

“…the first of its kind from any political party, is an opportunity for you to join the conversation about the challenges our country faces and talk to Labour Leader, Ed Miliband, and the Shadow Cabinet face to face”.

I think that this is probably a good idea; well in a symbolic way at least. It sends a signal that the leadership is determined to open up the party beyond the dwindling band of party activists. And that has to be a good thing. It is clearly unsustainable for handfuls (relatively) of party activists to maintain the pretence that they alone should determine policy, choose candidates and so on. But does it go far enough and will anyone be interested? (more…)

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Politics is boring and irrelevant

18/08/2011, 07:30:09 AM

by Peter Watt

I went to Chessington World of Adventures today. While sat on the “Jungle Bus” with two of our kids, watching thousands of people enjoying an August day out, it suddenly dawned on me. Sometimes politics inspires and excites. And sometimes it just doesn’t. Right now, I think that politics is hell-bent on persuading much of the public that it is all just an irrelevance.

People at Chessington were probably worrying about rising utility bills, that it costs a small fortune to fill up the car and how their weekly food bill just keeps creeping up. They may be worried about their job or how they will pay for Mum’s care. But I bet that hardly any of them thought that politicians had the answer. And I thought all of that, when I should have been enjoying the stomach churning delights of the ride.

If I think back just over my lifetime, there have been some pretty exciting and inspirational periods. Margaret Thatcher remains a figure of hate for many on the left, but there is no doubt of the extent to which she dominated the political scene. Who can forget the sense of something important having happened when she stood on the steps of Downing Street reciting St Francis of Assisi? Over the next ten years she took on and beat the trade unions; liberated the Falklands; played her part in glasnost and changed the direction of the British economy. Whatever you thought of her, you knew that with her in charge politics mattered, the battles between the parties were keenly felt, emotions often ran high and she seemed to inspire adoration and hatred in equal measure. (more…)

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People are rioting and politicians are revolting

11/08/2011, 08:00:46 AM

by Peter Watt

Politics has never had such a bad name. Well, that is one of those slight exaggerations that help to colour opinionated blog posts like this one. But there is surely no doubt that politics and politicians are pretty unpopular at the moment. A succession of scandals, and a sense that they are in it for themselves, has meant that most people look on politicians with disdain. The ongoing hacking furore has just added to a sense that those inside of the elite bubble don’t live in the same space as the rest of the country. This isn’t just a UK problem, but that hardly matters to those who live here and are disdainful of UK politicians.

A large part of the problem is that people just don’t think that politicians get their lives. That the language used, and the solutions offered, just don’t resonate with their own experiences. For instance, for years people have felt that some young people have been out of control. Not many, certainly nothing like a majority, but some. No one seems to be in charge of them and they don’t seem to listen to anyone or respect or fear authority. They put their feet upon the seats of trains and tell the guard to “fuck off” if they are asked to move them, with no apparent sense of embarrassment. They mouth off at anyone who looks at them in the wrong way and are never at school, college or work. Normal deterrents, like parental sanction, fear of arrest, fines, public shame or worse, don’t seem to work.

Over the years, politicians’ responses have included more education, boot camp style discipline, national service, more youth clubs or more benefits. Most people knew that there were elements of a solution in all of these, that some would benefit from each. But they also knew that it wouldn’t help those who were really out of control, because the problem for them was something else. It was a problem with parenting or rather the lack of parenting.

Politicians from the right would demand tough love, and those from the left more understanding. But people out there knew that the real problem was that for some family life was not providing the support, discipline and example that we all need to become responsible adults. In fact, for some family life was providing exactly the opposite. It was nurturing irresponsibility and lessons in how to operate outside of the mainstream. (more…)

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The week Uncut

06/08/2011, 02:00:43 PM

In case you missed them, these were the best read pieces on Uncut in the last seven days:

Michael Dugher reports on the governments attempts to sneak out the trash

Dan Hodges reveals his guilty crush: Ed Miliband

Atul Hatwal reports on the shadow cabinet’s secret makeovers

Peter Watt casts an expert eye over Labour party finances

Uncut asks: Louise Mensch a future Tory PM or a car crash waiting to happen?

Kevin Meagher feels sorry for Rupert Murdoch. No, really.

… and John Prescott asks #wheresthegovernment?

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More members alone won’t pay the bills

04/08/2011, 08:00:11 AM

by Peter Watt

I feel the need to return to a favourite topic of mine – the funding of the Labour party. Why? Well because this week has seen two developments. First, the publication of the party accounts for the year ending December 2010. And second, the announcement that Charles Allen, former ITV chief executive, has been asked by Ed Miliband to lead a commercial and management review of the party.

Taking the accounts first. At face value the accounts are a mixed bag. On the one hand, they show just how fragile the party’s finances are with a balance sheet showing a deficit of almost £7.5 million. For the financially illiterate, that means we owe a lot more than we have. The reason that we are still solvent is that we are able to meet these obligations as they become due by making sure that we have enough cash year-on-year.

On the other hand there is clearly real improvement in the overall year-on-year position. Sound financial management, some purchasing of property and a sensible strategy of rescheduling debt has ensured healthy surpluses in the last few years. Ray Collins, Roy Kennedy and the Victoria street team should take huge credit for ensuring that the balance sheet improved from a deficit of over £27 million in 2005, in the aftermath of that year’s general election, to the 2010 position.

One contractual consequence of the debt rescheduling, is that the party has to pay off at least £2 million of debt every year. This enforced discipline lead to a policy of “if we don’t have it we can’t spend it” at the 2010 election. The result was, incredibly, that in an election year we reduced party debt. At this rate, the party will have a balanced balance sheet in the next couple of years. (more…)

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