Tuesday 13 July 2010

Fallout From Mandelson's Memoirs Underlines Urgency For Labour To Present New Image

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/politics/10608577.stm
http://www.labourlist.org/time-for-a-memoir-moratorium-ben-fox

The public spat amongst former Labour cabinet ministers that resulted from the publication of  Lord Mandelson's memoirs has prompted some to suggest that there should be a mandatory moratorium period during which former members of the government do not publicly criticise their colleagues in office.

Certainly, I would agree that with Labour having left government only very recently, they need to focus on the vital business of choosing a leader to take us through the 4-5 years of  this parliament and not dwell on the fact that many of the Cabinet predicted that Gordon Brown would to lead Labour to defeat.

It is extremely damaging to have the political memoirs of the ex-Prime Minister and former First Secretary serialised in the newspapers right at the same time that their Party is electing a new leader.

Once again, this plays into the hands of the media and the press, who are more interested in highlighting differences between personalities who potentially may be governing us in a few years time, rather than discussing the bread-and-butter issues that really matter to the electorate.

Labour needs time to re-group and redefine itself so that it can be a credible force to defeat the Tories at the next election.

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