Blame the infighting left for the BNP
The consensus is that the Right triumphed at the Euro elections. “Voters steer Europe to the Right”, said the BBC. Its correspondent Mark Mardell talked of “March of the right”, with particular reference to the advance of far-right parties across the continent, while the Independent talked of “Right advances in Europe“. The Mail said electoral wipeout was a “vote against stimulus spending and corporate bailouts”, more or less in line with the theory that European Social Democracy is in serious trouble.
That may well be the case but, as of today, few have picked up on the crucial factor that turned the right’s victory into plain sailing: the spectacular divisions within the left.
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Brown’s stitch-up: why AV is not the answer
Brown has put his great clunking feet in it again. If reports on theBBC are to be believed, Brown's new National Council on Democratic Renewal – a body that may very well meet mostly in private – is to propose that the UK adopt the alternative vote (AV) for elections to Parliament. There is apparently to be a referendum.
Quite what Brown and his wretched party – I am a former member – hope to achieve is beyond me. There is a very strong group in the party – Mandelson, Hain, Martin Linton, etc, etc – who have long argued the dubious case for AV since they think it is the "electoral reform" option that will best preserve their place in national politics; and since it will block the move towards proportional representation that will alone free Parliament from bondage to the executive. So there is a simple self-serving motive at work. But this is such a stupid gesture that I suspect that they would be happy to put the proposition to a referendum and lose, having falsely demonstrated their commitment to democratic renewal.
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Cheers Tim, but we already know what Fascists are
I see, from Sunny’s post in the small hours of this morning, that Tim Mongomerie has swiftly tried to capitalise on the election of Nick Griffin and opportunistically use it as a vehicle to promote the fiction that the BNP are, if not a Far-Left political organisation, then one that should not be identified as belonging to the Far-Right.
Sadly, it already appears his misconceived whining has born misshapen fruit, with Kate Sanderson casually tacking the sentiment “or as some say ‘far-left’” as an aside on a reference to the BNP as being ‘far-right’ during this mornings BBC Breakfast.
The problem being that, as a politically illiterate Neocon with no history or background in anti-Fascist activism, Montgomerie hasn’t got the foggiest idea what a duck is.
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Is the Green Party anti-science?
Last week, Frank Swain and I wrote a piece for The Guardian in which we questioned the various parties on their science policies ahead of the elections. We heavily criticised the Green Party of England an Wales, in spite of their sparkling climate and environmental credentials, and in doing so kicked off a debate that ran for much of the week on blogs and in The Times. On one side, many people thanked us for exposing deeply troubling attitudes.
On the other, Greens angrily claimed we had misrepresented their views. So are the Green Party anti-science; and if so what should they be doing to correct this?
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Alan Johnson would do better at election
This is why the Conservatives would prefer Gordon Brown as Prime Minister:
Alan Johnson would deny David Cameron an overall majority at the next general election if Labour ditched Gordon Brown and installed him as prime minister, according to a new poll for The Independent. The ComRes survey provides the first evidence that a change of leader could dramatically transform Labour’s prospects.
…
The ComRes poll puts the Tories on 38 per cent (up eight points since its last survey a week earlier), Labour on 22 per cent (no change), the Liberal Democrats on 20 per cent (up two points) and other parties on 20 per cent (down 10 points).
The BNP is definitely far-right
It looks like various conservative figures are on a mission to convince everyone the BNP is a “far-left” party than actually what it is: a far-right party. Tim Montgomerie of CH has drafted a letter to the BBC to make a formal complaint. Well, I’m going to draft a letter listing all the reasons the BNP is a far-right party and the media should describe it as such.
No doubt some will make points supporting Tim’s positions but can I at least hear a whole range of points supporting the “far-right” tag so I can write something comprehensive?
Euroelections: 1994 and now
Remember the factional disarray that beset Conservative governments in the early 1990s, as Labour supporters gleefully watched the Major administrations unravel before our very eyes?
I can’t help being struck by the parallels between the political climate then and now. Except that this time round, Labour is the butt of the joke and it is the Tories that require a continuous supply of dry underwear.
One obvious comparison is the state of the UK economy, which had undergone serious turbulence in the preceding two years, as a result of the unconstrained financial markets that Thatcherism deified and the Labourism of the period still half-heartedly contemplated reining in.
Griffin is finally legitimised. Thanks New Labour!
And so finally, fascist flabby arse-wipe Nick Griffin has achieved national political legitimacy by winning a seat at the European Parliament.
And guess what?
We put him there. The progressives. Or so-called progressives, anyway.
The New Labour project, that brave centre-left experiment to bring Clintonian Third-Way politics to a post-Thatcherite Britain, is over.
James Purnell saved Brown’s skin
A few thoughts on the plotting to get rid of the Prime Minister:
1) It looks like James Purnell inadvertently saved Brown’s skin by resigning early and forcing cabinet ministers into a corner. They were compelled to pledge loyalty to Brown as he planned a hurried reshuffle, and thus any plotting that could have come following last night’s terrible election results died a premature death.
2) The government’s central talking point since the re-shuffle has been that voters expect them to deal with the MPs expenses crisis. And if you notice, most of the ministers heavily tainted by the scandals have gone: James Purnell, Hazel Blears, Jacqui Smith, Tony McNulty and Geoff Hoon. The only major offender he couldn’t get rid off was Darling, mostly because the city and the FT mostly said he should be kept there. And that Darling could have revolted (though I doubt it). Of course Gordon Brown can’t actually make this point otherwise they’d have to explain why some like Darling didn’t go – but it definitely looks like an attempt to clear out the front-bench of the biggest offenders. None of the media have picked this up.
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Time to sack him or back him
A (guest) Memo
To: The Parliamentary Labour Party
Subject: Tonight’s PLP meeting
Comrades, colleagues and friends,
OK, the results are bad. The BNP won two seats, we’re down in the share of vote, the Tories took Wales and we’ve lost a lot of good councillors, not to mention some good MEPs.
However, the story isn’t that anyone has done particularly well; it is that Labour has done badly.
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