You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Uncategorized' category.
The Guardian today is reporting of a list of some 130 demands being made by the unions. Some of them seem sensible (such as measures on flexible working) but a large number vary from the ridiculous (calling for staff in city academies to be paid at the same rates as other school staff) to the insane (restoration of secondary action). I hope that the inflated nature (and the inclusion of more controversial demands) of the list is a tactical measure in order to secure the more modest measures: that there are people that can still talk of restoring secondary rights makes my mind boggle.
Really good piece over at Progress on the lessons from Crewe and Nantwich. Essentially, the argument is that by going on class we appear anti-aspirational and this is what is turning both working and middle class voters off from us. I think there’s a lot to this. Having recently re-read Philip Gould’s Unfinished Revolution, I think it’s an important point to remember in that attacking modest wealth and middle class lifestyles we don’t just turn off the middle classes: we also turn off all of those Labour voting working class people who aspire to having a bit more material comfort.
Even in 1997, people had a fear- they were genuinely afraid- of what a Labour government would do to their standard of living. The New Labour coalition worked because it binned the politics of envy. We threw away the stale politics of trying to overthrow a system that people could live with (and worked) and replace it with one that didn’t. We became comfortable with people wanting to better themselves: we forget that at our peril.
For what it’s worth, my suspicion is that at the next General Election the Tories will have a slick campaign but will fundamentally have not changed in terms of policy (rather like Labour in 1987). This will be because the parliamentary party and the wider party are essentially reactionary and not signed up to Cameron’s ‘progressive’ agenda. It’s incumbent on us therefore to get a positive message out there (rather than this ridiculous toff nonsense), focus on getting the economy back on track, and start highlighting the gulf between a Labour Britain and a Tory one.
Amongst all the talk of overthrowing Gordon Brown the Tories have said that if Labour ‘forces another unelected Prime Minister’ on the country they’ll try and force an election. I’m not a constitutional expert, but two points stand out here:
1. Prime Ministers don’t have to be elected- they only need to be able to command a majority in the House of Commons
2. Related to 1, as long as any Labour Leader commands a majority in the Commons, how can the Tories win a vote of no confidence?
Now whilst it can be argued that the person of Prime Minister is integral to the identity of government (therefore favouring a poll every time that a new Prime Minister kisses hands) this argument is often made by the same people who decry the presidential nature of the premiership. In short, the critics can’t have it both ways.
Whether the public would wear another change of leader without a poll entirely depends on the circumstances: indeed, there were (Tory) people who said Gordon Brown shouldn’t hold a poll last autumn precisely because he would have won and this would have been a manipulation of the public sentiment. To sum up, there is no constitutional reason why there should be an election if the leadership changes: indeed, the only people who’ll be calling for one will be those who think they can win…
Hi everyone- welcome to my blog. I’m planning to use this forum as a space to air frustrations, comment on irritations, and generally lend another incoherent rant to the blogosphere. Thanks for reading!
Recent Comments