Bob Piper has been a Labour Councillor for the Abbey
Ward in Sandwell, West Midlands, for 10 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!
Promoted by Bob Piper of 115 Barclay Rd, B67 5JZ on behalf of the Labour Party, care of 39 Victoria Street London, SW1H 0HA . Hosted (printed) by Swaithe Internet Solutions who are not responsible for any of the contents of these posts.
Please note however, that The Labour Party is not responsible for the content of this website or individual posts as, unless specifically stated, I am writing solely in a personal and individual capacity.
Promoted by Bob Piper of 115 Barclay Rd, B67 5JZ on behalf of the Labour Party, care of 39 Victoria Street London, SW1H 0HA . Hosted (printed) by Swaithe Internet Solutions who are not responsible for any of the contents of these posts.
Please note however, that The Labour Party is not responsible for the content of this website or individual posts as, unless specifically stated, I am writing solely in a personal and individual capacity.
In the wake of Crewe and Nantwich, we hear this from Hazel Blears:
Voters have decided to send us a pretty powerful message but the last thing they want is the Labour Party to turn on itself and be obsessed with our own affairs and not what the public want.
Well, actually, Hazel, what we emphatically know is that the electorate do not want more of what we currently have. When Gordon Brown arrived in Downing Street he spoke of the need for change... and frankly, we haven't seen much sign of it. When Harriet Harman was elected Deputy Leader she told us in her acceptance speech that she wanted to achieve "a Labour party which unites the South as well as the North." Well I suppose in one sense she can be congratulated on that.
A lot will be made this morning of the fact that Labour had not lost a by-election in nearly 30 years, but of course we were in opposition for 18 of those years, and whilst we won by-elections during those Thatcher years, we lost general elections hopelessly too. So losing a by-election doesn't necessarily mean the Tories are ready to sweep into power But when you add in the local government results, the London Mayoral defeat and the opinion poll ratings, the signs are looking ominous.
I suspect Gordon Brown has had the rough end of things. Blair never had to deal with economic crisis (Oh, sorry, we are not supposed to talk about a crisis of capitalism any more, we have to say 'economic downturn'), but undeniably there have been other issues over the last 10 months which give a distinct impression of the Government as the Titanic in search of an iceberg.
In one sense I agree with Hazel Blears (and that's not something I say very often). Recriminations and in-fighting can be bitter and personal, and nothing turns the electorate off quicker than that... other than Ian Duncan Smith. But of course, 'recriminations and in-fighting' is usually a phrase associated with those in office who want to avoid change, democratic debate and accountability. The reality is, if the changes promised by Brown and Harman are not delivered, the electorate will vote for change themselves.
I'll finish with a quote from Jon Cruddas following the local election results just 3 weeks ago...
"Let's not mess about - our people are abandoning us, we're sinking fast and no amount of hand-wringing and promises of 'listening and learning' from election night will change that... The New Labour attitude that you can kick the workers from pillar to post because 'they've got nowhere else to go' has reached its ludicrous conclusion with the election - with working-class votes - of the SNP in Scotland, independent radicals in Wales and the BNP in industrial English towns like Stoke-on-Trent... We don't need to play one half of Britain off against another. It's not too late to change - but choose change we must."
Gary Elsby stoke said:
May 23, 2008 11:00 AM | permalink
Everything you have written is quite right and will be ignored by the barking nutters who claim we: 'Must carry on!'
It is they who are losing it for us, Bob, not us losing it for them. They lead, we follow.
We follow them to victory or we follow them to defeat. Which path do they wish to take us?
The Tories have no ploicies at all and that is the biggest falure for them (the Tories) and for them (our leaders).
Not us. We are just part of the proletariat who once had a vote for Tony Blair (but not for Gordon).
MPs may still wish to deny that they have caused ill feeling within the party, and yes, we may have voted as they did BUT they didn't bother to find out. That smacks of complacency.
I am an unpaid volunteer of the Labour Party. I spend many hours, days, weeks and years confirming my own commitment, of this I need no help from them. What I do want is for my party members to be listened to and to be involved in the Democratic process. Then and only then will they understand what is going on.
Hazel is Hazel and I offer no criticism towards her but she really should curtail the 'I'm listening to all of you' sort of stuff because when I'm down (but not out) I don't want this sort of talk, I just want a gun.
With a gun, I can sort out my party once and for all.(posted 10.58 GMT)
Update: Stoke-on-Trent's elected Mayor has banned all guns in Stoke (posted 11.02 GMT)
Alastair Darling has left the Country and is now called 'Bob' dressed as a gypsy in Venezuela (posted 11.04 GMT).
Silent Hunter said:
May 23, 2008 1:02 PM | permalink
I'm afraid you 'New Labour' people simply DON'T GET IT! Do you?
No one wants you any more because you have proved yourselves to be completely CORRUPT & SLEAZY!
You ARE the continuation of everything that we voted to get rid of in 1997.
Yes! I was one of those Labour voters, looking forward to a 'new dawn under New Labour'
Disappointment..........does not even begin to describe what I feel about New Labour.
Shame, Disgust, Anger, Disdain, Enmity and now....real HATE!
That is what 11 years of New Labour have engendered in me.
Please......Just GO NOW!
Give us a General Election before you can do any more damage to this country........or are Labour now planning a scorched earth policy to finally destroy our economy?
Nothing is more heart warming that watching Labour MPs fret and panic as they fear the imminent loss of their £60k salaries and generous expense accounts...
Bob, who will Labour find to replace it's core voters as Scotland embraces the SNP and Wales embraces Plaid Cymru?
Labour will be out of power for another generation...
Sadly, I've heard both Caroline Flint and Hazel Blears spouting the "we need to listen but" argument before unleashing a raft of statistics about low inflation and being steady during an economic downturn etc etc. Just the sort of thing that had Labour voters flooding to the polling stations in the past two weeks...usually to vote for other parties.While I agree recriminations suit no one but the Tories it has to be said that the leadership coronation and deputy leadership contest were fought on the basis of change.I,and the majority of members, voted for John Cruddas to ensure we had that change...but we got Harriet instead.
We also seem to be obsessed with 'toughness', especially when we've made a mistake, the 10p tax disaster, police pay and the war in Iraq.You can be tough when you are right, if you are wrong and decide to be tough it just makes you look bloody thick. Half the cabinet can go and get a few people in who look vaguely like they know what they are talking about, drop the lectures about the last ten years and tell people what you are going to do for them now and in the next ten years. Change is in the air, either we become that change or we'll remain the past.
Leader she told us in her acceptance speech that she wanted to achieve "a Labour party which unites the South as well as the North." Well I suppose in one sense she can be congratulated on that.
May 23, 2008 11:00 AM | permalink
Everything you have written is quite right and will be ignored by the barking nutters who claim we: 'Must carry on!'
It is they who are losing it for us, Bob, not us losing it for them. They lead, we follow.
We follow them to victory or we follow them to defeat. Which path do they wish to take us?
The Tories have no ploicies at all and that is the biggest falure for them (the Tories) and for them (our leaders).
Not us. We are just part of the proletariat who once had a vote for Tony Blair (but not for Gordon).
MPs may still wish to deny that they have caused ill feeling within the party, and yes, we may have voted as they did BUT they didn't bother to find out. That smacks of complacency.
I am an unpaid volunteer of the Labour Party. I spend many hours, days, weeks and years confirming my own commitment, of this I need no help from them. What I do want is for my party members to be listened to and to be involved in the Democratic process. Then and only then will they understand what is going on.
Hazel is Hazel and I offer no criticism towards her but she really should curtail the 'I'm listening to all of you' sort of stuff because when I'm down (but not out) I don't want this sort of talk, I just want a gun.
With a gun, I can sort out my party once and for all.(posted 10.58 GMT)
Update: Stoke-on-Trent's elected Mayor has banned all guns in Stoke (posted 11.02 GMT)
Alastair Darling has left the Country and is now called 'Bob' dressed as a gypsy in Venezuela (posted 11.04 GMT).