The left needs to find the language of passion in politics
contribution by Emily Davis
The right-wing agenda gets across to people a lot of the time because it is framed in morally emotional terms e.g. ‘broken britain’. Their anger (properly controlled – not aggression!), against perceived moral injustice and passionate conviction catch the viewers’ and readers’ interest.
It is exciting! There is a plot, and these are the characters! Too often, for some reason, the left seems concerned with playing down passions and appearing almost overly rational – like a kind of robot that only acknowledges intellectual points in an argument, rather than understands and empathises with the voter’s hopes and fears.
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AJ confuses Labour’s economic message again
Just when you thought the Labour party was getting it’s act together and forging a clear and coherent message on the economy, Alan Johnson confuses it again.
In comments made to the Times today, some of his key statements look contradictory, or at least confusing, to earlier messages. Mehdi Hasan at the New Statesman highlights two areas.
First, Alan Johnson says:
The former cabinet minister insists he is actually an instinctive cutter.
He should have said that he was an instinctive believer in growing the economy to deal with the financial crisis.
He also said:
I am only backing 50p for the times we are in. It is not ideal; five years ago (we) wouldn’t have done it. Our policy has to be based on fairness and what encourages people to do well.
This is unreal, for several reasons. First, it goes against Ed Miliband’s own stated position of keeping the 50p rate, as Mehdi Hasan also notes.
But it also fails to recognise that the electorate’s view of what should be the top rate of tax has also changed since the financial crisis. We are no longer in the same world we were 5 years ago, and Labour politicians should recognise that.
Fair minded people across the country were (and are still) disgusted with the unfairness of watching the financial sector bounce bank (thanks to government lending) while their own services are being cut.
Not only was the 50p tax rate hugely popular – there is absolutely no evidence that it discourages people to do well. The Labour party should be the party of small business and small traders (as Ed Miliband has repeatedly stated) not of big earners in the City.
Even Peter Hoskin at the Spectator thinks this is confused.
It’s a pity that Alan Johnson still doesn’t seem to have developed a coherent tone on the economy yet.
We failed in 2002, but this time it’s different; there’s real anger
contribution by Matt Bolton
Just before heading down to the Millbank protests on Wednesday, I read a couple of interesting tweets. One was from @_richardking, was works at Domino Records. He wrote: “Hats off to everyone marching today, especially young people – showing the innocent smoothie generation how it’s done”.
The other was from @wdjstraw of Left Foot Forward: “Good luck everyone on #demo2010. We failed u in 2002/3 when Lab introduced top up fees.” Will was one of the leaders of the student protests against the introduction of fees in 2002 – protests that I attended, and which I left thoroughly disillusioned.
Innocent Smoothies was founded in 1998, and although I didn’t go to university until 2001, I still pretty much fall into the generation King was talking about. And I was certainly one of the people who ‘failed’ today’s students in 2002.
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Our third birthday: and the mission
In all the excitement around the students protests, the firefighters strike and the budget cuts – I completely forgot that 5th November marked the third birthday of Liberal Conspiracy.
Yup, just three years and already number 1.
I was at a bloggers event recently in Bristol, alongside Anton Vowl, Kevin from Angry Mob, Justin Jamie, Belle de Jour, Roy Greenslade and others. This video is from that segment.
(thanks for LovePhoolTV for filming)
I was asked why LC was set up and who it’s aimed at. You may find it interesting… or not.
Support and solidarity for the jailed victim of rape
contribution by Louise Whittle
I wrote a post before about a rape victim jailed for 8 months for retracting her original allegations. She appealed yesterday. She lost.
An application was heard by Judge John Rogers QC, in chambers, but permission to appeal was turned down. It is now expected to go before the Court of Appeal in London.
Following the failed appeal bid, the woman’s solicitor Phil Sherrard said: “He’s (Judge Rogers) considered the grounds to appeal and considered that his decision last week was the correct one.
…
“We will be in contact with the Court of Appeal to try and get the matter dealt with as expeditiously as possible.”
How the Daily Mail is using cancer drugs to attack the NHS
The Daily Mail today fulminates to its addled readership “Nice blasted for denying cancer patients lifeline after snubbing Avastin deal”.
On the surface, this seems terrible.
But, as with the seemingly endless slew of anti-NICE stories, there is a deeper agenda here to undermine the NHS.
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The difference between a bad joke and a death threat
Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani currently faces the threat of being stoned to death, at the hands of a vile theocracy that regularly exacts such punishment. My assumption would have been that anyone who presents themselves as a liberal, a leftist or a progressive would regard it as an elementary duty to do everything they possibly can to speak up for the victim.
In one of this week’s more unlikely stories, it seems a group of topless Ukrainian feminists got ‘em out in solidarity at an Iranian cultural event in Kiev, chanting slogans in Ashtiani’s support as they disrobed. That’s certainly imaginative, especially as one suspects that it must be a bit nippy in that part of the world right now.
Phil Woolas and Lutfur Rahman: compare and contrast
contribution by Jon Lansman
The two former Labour elected representatives, Phil Woolas and Lutfur Rahman, have something in common. Both are from areas with histories of BNP activity fomenting racial strife.
Both find themselves prevented from being a Labour candidate and excluded from the Labour Party, as a result of accusations of association with Islamic extremists.
Both have supporters in the party who believe they have been treated harshly, as well as detractors who support their exclusion. And yet one is the accuser and the other the accused. One has been found guilty as charged and one has not, because no investigation has taken place.
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Peter Oborne slams Dorries and Woolas
Peter Oborne is becoming required reading, and once again he is spot on in his Telegraph column.
He starts by talking about his entry into politics:
What struck me hard, however, was the realisation that ministers and government spokesmen were systematically and deliberately making false statements – lying – on the record in Parliament and to the press.
This culture of deception became a perfectly normal instrument of government under New Labour, and, in due course, I documented hundreds of examples in my book, The Rise of Political Lying. One of the worst cases was Tony Blair’s notorious dossier of September 2002 which made the case for the Iraq War. Had this document been an offer-for-sale prospectus, Blair’s fatal tendency to convert speculation into incontrovertible fact would have invited the attention of the fraud squad.
I think we lefties can broadly agree with that.
He then focuses on three cases. First, Nadine Dorries’ recent controversy:
In other words, her blog was, for the most part, a lie, designed to give constituents the impression that she was doing her duty as a diligent MP in Bedfordshire when actually she was in another part of the country altogether.
This is a wretched state of affairs and if David Cameron were a Tory leader who valued integrity and honesty, he would surely have ordered Miss Dorries to apologise personally to her constituents, and stripped her of the party whip there and then. Instead, he has done nothing.
And then on to Cameron’s friend Bill Wiggin, and finally Phil Woolas:
The most extraordinary thing about the Woolas debacle has been the reaction to it. One national newspaper published a leader condemning the judges’ decision. There has been a wave of sympathy from fellow MPs of all parties. Charles Falconer, the former Lord Chancellor, is reportedly advising Woolas; Cherie Blair sent a friendly note and Gordon Brown is said to be supportive, as is David Miliband, the former foreign secretary.
Inside the rarefied atmosphere of the House of Commons, the persecuted party has been Harriet Harman, Labour’s deputy leader. With Ed Miliband on paternity leave, she sacked Woolas as soon as the court judgment was made. But poor Harman, who appears to have behaved impeccably, was practically lynched for her pains at a meeting of the parliamentary party.
There is a common thread to these stories. All three cases show that lying and cheating are still regarded as acceptable conduct by the British Political Class. Our MPs continue to regard themselves as somehow beyond the basic morality that applies to their fellow citizens. I used to believe that this arrogant and dishonest approach to politics was peculiar to New Labour. Now it looks like common practice for all parties.
Peter Oborne is one of those rare Tory beasts that I have immense respect for.
Once again he is spot on.
The violence at student protests misrepresented the vast majority of us
contribution by George W Potter
Having read Mr Barker account of what happened at Millbank I felt quite pissed off.
His account is unrepresentative of the majority of the protesters.
I went to the protest as a Lib Dem and marched with other Lib Dems to demonstrate our personal opposition to fee rises and to show that the majority of the party does not celebrate what our leadership is doing.
continue reading… »
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» Revealed: govt to restrict abortion counselling despite Nadine Dorries vote
» Would raising the tax threshold actually help the poorest?
» To win London, Ken Livingstone has to step outside his comfort zone
» This trade agreement with India will destroy thousands of lives
» UK debt hasn’t hit £1 trillion – mostly because of QE
» The benefits of being a “burden” on society
» Today’s economic figures will simply confirm UK’s “lost decade”
» Have Labour realised the election is more than three years away?
» Violence in the office
» Want a more responsible capitalism? Reform how pensions work
» The world is entering the third phase of the crisis, warns ILO
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