Bob Piper has been a Labour Councillor for the Abbey
Ward in Sandwell, West Midlands, for nine years. He is a lifelong supporter of Aston Villa Football Club and a follower of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
The views expressed here are mine in a personal capacity, not those of the Labour Party, Sandwell MBC, Aston Villa or Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Get it! Mine... just mine!
You've talked a lot about rebuilding Labour from the bottom up. What do you think should be the role of members in today's Labour Party? NEIL FOSTER, Morpeth, Northumberland
The members are absolutely crucial. We can't go down this route of a "virtual party" where members are just cheerleaders for people at the top. We need to involve members much more. If they had been listened to over issues like top-up fees, or the need to build more council houses, we would be in better shape now. We need to respect and value members a lot more than we have been doing.
The question is how does the Party value and respect members? For a 10-point plan on Party renewal go to the LabOUR Commission website to download its 2007 Interim Report.
Yes... so dangerous that listening to members business Hughesy. Remember Blair's promise to rebuild the Labour Party as a mass party.... whatever happened to that.
The housing issue is a major problem for our traditional voters. Not just because of the problems that Cruddas would highlight in East London (perceptions of failing the white working class at the expense of non-whites), but because we are getting whole generations of young people who have no hope of being able to afford to buy or even rent a place to live.
Seems that some of the New Labour types still don't like the start of the new Clause IV 'The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party'.
'Not just because of the problems that Cruddas would highlight in East London (perceptions of failing the white working class at the expense of non-whites) Danivon'
House price hyperinflation has hardly anything to do with 'non-whites' and more to do with a massive inflation of the money supply, both through government borrowing, low interest rates, willingness of UK consumers to chase property and slack lending criterian on the banks.
This 'no boom and bust' stuff is OK if you own a house before it really kicked off after 9/11 - but a nightamre for the young!
May 7, 2007 11:27 AM | permalink
Oh no! Once more into the abyss dear comrades...