Hello Internet. Can I call you Innie? Grand. As a Labour Party member concerned above all else with the election of a fourth term Labour Government, I have started this blog both to rant in vain at those, from whinging middle-class liberals through to the hard left, who stand as an obstacle to that fourth term, and to pour venom on the militant Etonian drinking club posing as the official opposition of this country.
I consider myself a moderate Labour member, stuck behind enemy lines in deepest blue England, fanatically supportive of the Labour Government (the outstanding exception being the Iraq war). Generally the political background I will be commenting from is thus:
1. I have believed in replacing Tony Blair as our leader, electorally brilliant though he may have been, since the 2005 general election, when we quite obviously won despite and not because of his leadership. Much like abandoning the baggage of unilateral disarmament and public ownership to win office, so must we now ditch the legacy of spin and the veneer of financial impropriety which has damaged Labour's reputation. Doing so required an end to Blair's premiership and a new, modernising agenda for the Government. I believe Gordon Brown will provide that. As it says in the blog title, it's "not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more". Except, er, without actually loving them. Pretty important, that.
2. Unfortunately I believe much of the third term has been wasted due to the confusion, indiscipline and division of the Parliamentary Labour Party. The re-creation of a unified and ambitious Labour Party should be the main benefit of our new leadership.
3. The cabinet has often failed to put our party's agenda into an historically consistent narrative of Labour values. We shouldn't be embarrassed about supporting increased consumer control of health or more locally provided services, nor the vigorous campaign against the crime and anti-social behaviour which blight working-class communities. And we absolutely shouldn't let the Tory Party monopolise the political mainstream, appropriating Labour's reforms and achievements in an attempt to bait the progressive left into rejecting its most successful incarnation ever. Social democracy borders on irrelevance if we are not in power to implement change. And we win or lose on the centre-ground.
4. Labour is a not a debating society for the chattering classes or think tanks. We have become the natural party of government for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the continued success of the Labour Party is absolutely vital for the future of British society and the future of the working class and the poor especially. I believe in a campaigning party rooted in local communities and the trade unions, and have no truck with any talk of virtual parties, state funding of political parties or American-style celebrity contests. Oh, and I wish the Lib Dems would shut up between elections and leave politics to the parties which actually represent solid class interests.
In any case, I hope to provide a sensible, 'social-democratic' perspective on British politics in the context of the Brown Government and its fight for the soul, not just of the Labour Party, but our whole society, against the horde of savage Tories knocking on Rome's gates.
God I love hyperbole.
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3 comments:
Yes, more or less. Sounds good. Best of luck.
Ta very much.
"I have started this blog both to rant in vain at those, from whinging middle-class liberals through to the hard left"
Toynbee made a great point about this the other night. No mention for middle class reactionaries who seemed to take a role in making policy over the last couple of years?
"fanatically supportive of the Labour Government (the outstanding exception being the Iraq war)"
Fair enough. That's a move in the right direction for the self-monikered 'moderate tendency', I suppose!
Agree with point 1 wholeheartedly; though public ownership isn't always bad either.
"I believe much of the third term has been wasted due to the confusion, indiscipline and division"
Indeed, totally agree. Excellent to see you acknowledge the relationship between the two. It's almost as if, to Blair, division was an intention of policy making, to make the left rant in the papers, and look like the government was ignoring them. Unfortunately, despite the right wing media, the left plays a prominent role in shaping debate and opinion, and has principles worth moving towards, as far as public consent allows. If this was Blair's strategy, it failed at whatever he was trying to achieve, for those reasons.
Agree with 3, but remember that social-democratic principle is just as important as power. Without one, the other is useless.
"and have no truck with any talk of virtual parties, state funding of political parties or American-style celebrity contests."
"In any case, I hope to provide a sensible, 'social-democratic' perspective on British politics in the context of the Brown Government and its fight for the soul, not just of the Labour Party, but our whole society, against the horde of savage Tories knocking on Rome's gates.
God I love hyperbole."
Here's to that. Welcome to the blogosphere, comrade.
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