So Diane Abbott is now in the running for the leadership of the Labour Party.
Entering the race right at the last minute, with the endorsement of fellow-candidate David Miliband, I wonder what impact her presence will have.
Clearly the aim of Ms Abbott was to produce a more balanced field of runners for Labour Leader, with the two Miliband brothers, Ed Balls and Andy Burnham, who has also entered the contest, all white former cabinet ministers and party strategists from Oxbridge.
It remains to be seen how many votes Ms Abbott, a veteran left-winger and MP since 1987, takes from the other candidates.
I hope David Miliband does not regret his decision to back her.
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Coalition Will 'Consult' Public On Cuts
David Cameron's message to the British people was both sombre and predictable.
The state of the economy is 'worse than first thought' when the Coalition took office and Labour's gross overspending has left our finances in an utter 'mess'.
From the start, the Conservatives have said their priority, if they won the election, would be to reduce the huge budget deficit. It is a job that has to be done, and done quickly.
The Prime Minster has promised to consult the electorate on where cuts should occur.
The new coalition have already announced over £6bn worth of cuts to various ministries and will announce more specific measures in the forthcoming budget.
If ministers are so keen to consult the public, why haven't they been consulted up to now?
It will be very interesting to see just how much 'consultation' with the public will actually take place.
The state of the economy is 'worse than first thought' when the Coalition took office and Labour's gross overspending has left our finances in an utter 'mess'.
From the start, the Conservatives have said their priority, if they won the election, would be to reduce the huge budget deficit. It is a job that has to be done, and done quickly.
The Prime Minster has promised to consult the electorate on where cuts should occur.
The new coalition have already announced over £6bn worth of cuts to various ministries and will announce more specific measures in the forthcoming budget.
If ministers are so keen to consult the public, why haven't they been consulted up to now?
It will be very interesting to see just how much 'consultation' with the public will actually take place.
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Miliband Accuses Coalition Partners Of Broken Promises And Hypocrisy
The Prime Minister David Cameron has warned of the pain to come when further cuts in spending are announced in the forthcoming emergency Budget.
The frontrunner for the Labour Party leadership, David Miliband, has been very swift to condemn both Mr Cameron and Deputy PM Nick Clegg for misleading the British people during the election campaign.
The Conservatives had said right up to the election that the focus on any spending cuts would be on reducing government waste. And yet they have announced the axing of the Future Jobs Fund, set up by Labour to guarantee jobs or training for 18-24 year-olds.
Mr Cameron has repeatedly claimed he cares about the future of our country.
However, by cutting a scheme which will help the next generation of school and university leavers to get work, that will mean that thousands of young people will be unemployed.
And as for Mr Clegg and his party, the former foreign secretary is right to speak of their total hypocrisy.
It was Clegg himself who shouted the loudest during the election campaign; highlighting the dangers of any Conservative cuts in public spending should they win power.
Now he and his party are implementing these cuts themselves.
What a difference being in power makes.
The frontrunner for the Labour Party leadership, David Miliband, has been very swift to condemn both Mr Cameron and Deputy PM Nick Clegg for misleading the British people during the election campaign.
The Conservatives had said right up to the election that the focus on any spending cuts would be on reducing government waste. And yet they have announced the axing of the Future Jobs Fund, set up by Labour to guarantee jobs or training for 18-24 year-olds.
Mr Cameron has repeatedly claimed he cares about the future of our country.
However, by cutting a scheme which will help the next generation of school and university leavers to get work, that will mean that thousands of young people will be unemployed.
And as for Mr Clegg and his party, the former foreign secretary is right to speak of their total hypocrisy.
It was Clegg himself who shouted the loudest during the election campaign; highlighting the dangers of any Conservative cuts in public spending should they win power.
Now he and his party are implementing these cuts themselves.
What a difference being in power makes.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Mandelson's Brilliant Assessment Of The Direction In Which Labour Must Now Travel
http://www.labourlist.org/mandelson-peter-new-labour-life-heart-dead-goes-on?utm_source=taomail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2807+Communication,+Thu+3rd+Jun+2010&tmtid=31121-2807-6-1-1297
I am in total agreement with Peter Mandelson here.
Whilst Lord Mandelson now believes that Labour can no longer market itself as 'New' by the next generation of Party leaders, the concept 'New Labour' that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown adopted to bring the Party back to government after 18 years of Opposition still is of value today.
He sums up perfectly the direction in which the Party should continue despite now being back on the Opposition benches. The former Business Secretary talks of New Labour not being 'a marketing tool that enabled us simply to win elections'.
But what I like most about his comments is his view that New Labour...'is about ...not being a party of class or sectional interest, but being a broad-based party of conscience and reform....Open not tribal'
Of course the candidates for the Leadership are right to want to reconnect with all sections of the Party and ensure that Labour wins back those disillusioned working-class voters who abandoned them in May's election.
But it is only as a broad church, representing all sections of the British electorate, that Labour has any hope of regaining power.
That is how Labour won in 1997.
And it is how they will win again.
I am in total agreement with Peter Mandelson here.
Whilst Lord Mandelson now believes that Labour can no longer market itself as 'New' by the next generation of Party leaders, the concept 'New Labour' that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown adopted to bring the Party back to government after 18 years of Opposition still is of value today.
He sums up perfectly the direction in which the Party should continue despite now being back on the Opposition benches. The former Business Secretary talks of New Labour not being 'a marketing tool that enabled us simply to win elections'.
But what I like most about his comments is his view that New Labour...'is about ...not being a party of class or sectional interest, but being a broad-based party of conscience and reform....Open not tribal'
Of course the candidates for the Leadership are right to want to reconnect with all sections of the Party and ensure that Labour wins back those disillusioned working-class voters who abandoned them in May's election.
But it is only as a broad church, representing all sections of the British electorate, that Labour has any hope of regaining power.
That is how Labour won in 1997.
And it is how they will win again.
Cameron Responds To Calls For Tighter Gun-Control Legislation
In the wake of the appalling events in Cumbria and the mass killing of twelve people by Derrick Bird, there have been the inevitable calls from anti-gun campaigners for more stringent gun-control legislation.
The UK already has some of the toughest anti-firearm legislation in the world. The laws on hand-guns were tightened even further following the Dunblane Massacre in 1996.
For once, however, I actually found myself in agreement with David Cameron.
The Prime Minister told a news conference: 'You can't legislate to stop a switch flicking in someone's head and this sort of action taking place'.
And the consensus amongst the psychology experts asked to comment on the killings in Cumbria seems to be just that: it is impossible to predict exactly whether, when or where someone will snap in the way that clearly, Mr Bird appears to have done.
Most licensed gun-owners behave responsibly with their weapons, and all have to go through the most vigorous checks to assess their suitability for possessing a gun.
Any change to the law on firearm-use or ownership is certainly a long way off.
The UK already has some of the toughest anti-firearm legislation in the world. The laws on hand-guns were tightened even further following the Dunblane Massacre in 1996.
For once, however, I actually found myself in agreement with David Cameron.
The Prime Minister told a news conference: 'You can't legislate to stop a switch flicking in someone's head and this sort of action taking place'.
And the consensus amongst the psychology experts asked to comment on the killings in Cumbria seems to be just that: it is impossible to predict exactly whether, when or where someone will snap in the way that clearly, Mr Bird appears to have done.
Most licensed gun-owners behave responsibly with their weapons, and all have to go through the most vigorous checks to assess their suitability for possessing a gun.
Any change to the law on firearm-use or ownership is certainly a long way off.
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Labour Leadership Hopefuls Set Out Their Stalls
All six candidates for the leadership of the Labour party have written in the Guardian today.
A common theme amongst them seems to be the necessity of the new leader to ensure the Party reconnects with those core voters that deserted them at last month's election.
It is still a open question as to which of the candidates will be the most capable of doing that.
http://www.labourlist.org/comment-is-free-hustings-how-do-they-match-up?utm_source=taomail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2805+Communication,+Tue+1st+Jun+2010&tmtid=31028-2805-6-1-1297
A common theme amongst them seems to be the necessity of the new leader to ensure the Party reconnects with those core voters that deserted them at last month's election.
It is still a open question as to which of the candidates will be the most capable of doing that.
http://www.labourlist.org/comment-is-free-hustings-how-do-they-match-up?utm_source=taomail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2805+Communication,+Tue+1st+Jun+2010&tmtid=31028-2805-6-1-1297
US Deficit Woes Put UK In The Shade
I was shocked to discover that the budget deficit currently being dealt with in the United States stands at 13 trillion dollars.
The UK's total is £156 billion. Piffling in total.
I therefore find it a bit too much to bear when I hear the new coalition repeatedly reminding the British people of the terrible economic mess they inherited from the Labour government.
The UK's total is £156 billion. Piffling in total.
I therefore find it a bit too much to bear when I hear the new coalition repeatedly reminding the British people of the terrible economic mess they inherited from the Labour government.
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