Opinions from a loyal Labour Party member
Archive for January, 2010
“On the ground the yellow team are spiteful and vicious” Guido Fawkes
840 days
by Stuart Bruce
in Campaigning
The Liberal Democrats love to pretend that they are the fluffy, cuddly alternative to the nasty politics of the Tories and Labour. The truth, as any Labour or Conservative activist could tell you, is that the Lib Dems are usually the dirtiest, nastiest political campaigners around. They never usually trouble themselves with inconveniences such as facts or the truth.
Guido Fawkes reports that The Mirror’s Kevin Maguire has a delightful little tale about overhearing a Lib Dem activist on a train boasting on his mobile about he’d got the Evening Standard to claim Labour has secret plans to shut Kingston Hospital. Lib Dem MP Susan Kramer can now run a ‘successful’ campaign to save a hospital that we never going to close. It’s straight from the Lib Dem astro-turfing play book – whip up an artificial campaign and then claim the victory.
Guido Fawkes comments: “Once again it is another blow to the image of the Liberal Democrats as fluffy and nice that Clegg and Cowley Street constantly spin. On the ground the yellow team are spiteful and vicious.”
Let this be cautionary reminder for voters in the Leeds by-election for Hyde Park and Woodhouse. Labour has an exemplary candidate in Gerry Harper.
It still never ceases to amaze me how indiscrete people can be on train. This incident isn’t too dissimilar from the one I experienced in June when I overheard and Twittered the conversation of two Total executives discussing the Lindsey refinery dispute, which was then picked up and run by The Guardian.
UPDATE: According to Guido it appears that this wasn’t a rogue Lib Dem activist, but that Susan Kramer, the Lib Dem MP, was actively involved in this plot to mislead the electorate.
Tackle the binge drinkers, not the sensible majority
852 days
There is a lot of pre-election hot air today around the subject of alcohol and licensing law reform. I’m broadly in favour of Alan Johnson’s proposals, but still don’t really think any party is getting this right.
I was an enthusiastic proponent of licensing law reform and 24 hour opening, even organising a conference ‘Time called on last orders’ to help successfully lobby in favour of the new legislation. I see it as one of Labour’s many achievements in government. So what went wrong? Well nothing much in my back.
The problem as I see it isn’t the pubs, clubs or supermarkets. It is the irresponsibility of a minority of people (not all of them young, so let’s not demonise the wrong people.) What Alan Johnson and the Home Office should be focusing on as far more draconian sanctions against the minority of people who are responsible for drunken behaviour on our streets. If they can afford to get drunk, they can afford to pay big fines.
I propose a zero tolerance approach to drunkenness and rowdiness on the streets. Two sanctions should be introduced 1) On the spot fines 2) Compulsory alcohol education programmes after the first offences (none of this three strikes and your out nonsense.)
The alcohol education programmes would be at zero cost to the taxpayer as attendees would foot the entire cost of the programme themselves. The set-up costs could be levied with a voluntary/compulsory charge on alcohol producers and vendors, but allowing them to recoup the costs from the attendees.
I’d also like to see some sort of reform to the licensing law to force most venues to introduce an at seat service. This would have numerous benefits including slowing down the speed at which people can drink, increasing the cost but also crucially doing so by increasing the number of people employed thus helping to tackle unemployment. Venues that don’t do this would have licenses refused or restricted.
Together these two proposals would go a good way to reclaim the streets for the vast majority who want to sensibly enjoy the night-time economy and achieve the European cafe culture that Britain needs.
Stuart Bruce at 17 in the top 100 political bloggers in the UK list
859 days
by Stuart Bruce
in Personal
Just spotted this list of the top 100 political blogging tweeters in the UK. I make it into the top 20 at 17, just behind the Evening Standard’s Paul Waugh, ConservativeHome’s Tom Montgomerie and Labour MP Tom Harris.
The full top 20 is:
1) Alastair Campbell (12,270 followers)
2) John Prescott (10,717 followers)
3) Iain Dale (6,993 followers)
4) Tom Watson MP (6,977 followers)
5) Guido Fawkes (6,300 followers)
6) The Wardman Wire (5,698 followers)
7) Kerry McCarthy (4,451 followers)
UK Progressive (4,399 followers)
9) James Cleverly (3,600 followers)
10) Enemies of Reason (3,412 followers)
11) Cllr Phil Briscoe (3,342 followers)
12) Green Girls Global (3,101 followers)
13) Labour List (2,991 followers)
14) Paul Waugh (2,972 followers)
15) Tim Montgomerie (2,968 followers)
16) Tom Harris MP (2,637 followers)
17) Stuart Bruce (2,628 followers)
18) Gideon Rachman (2,240 followers)
19) Obnoxio the Clown (2,147 followers)
20) Lynne Featherstone MP (2,058 followers)
Don’t trust David Cameron, I’ll cut the NHS, the BBC…
864 days
by Stuart Bruce
in Conservatives
We’ve had the brilliant spoof of the Conservatives’ David Cameron poster, but now thanks to the Evening Standard’s Paul Waugh we’ve got this brilliant real life improvement to a poster at King’s Cross:
In case you can’t read it, the graffiti states: "I’ll cut the deficit, the NHS, the BBC, Ordnance Survey, Anything whatever in fact, We should not be allowed to govern again."
David Cameron: because I’m worth it
864 days
Listening to David Cameron on the Today programme this morning I heard him as good as admit that he’d been airbrushed by dodging the question and blaming those who produced the advert.
It’s not exactly the sign of a great leader that at the first time of trouble you blame the troops.
And another hat-tip to John Prescott and Go Fourth for this brilliant spoof advert (now picked up as a story by Gemma Charles in Marketing magazine).
Gordon Brown must not go V2
865 days
The second post on this new blog said Gordon must not go.
This evening I’m on BBC Radio 5’s Matthew Bannister show. To give you a heads up on where I’ll be coming from I’ve just added my name to this letter from LabourList:
We are dismayed that Labour’s positive start to the New Year has been overshadowed after only two days by veteran Labour MPs who should know better. As candidates and activists, we know that nothing turns the public off more than introverted infighting in the corridors of Westminster and we hope that this distraction fizzles out as quickly as it started. Whether Labour wins or loses the next election will rest on whether we have the right answers for the challenges of the next decade and the right approach to politics.
This new approach has to recognise that there can be no return to the old style of politics after the next election. The public, rightly, have lost the last vestiges of faith in the political class after the expenses scandal, and the only way we can win it back is if the Labour Party tries to do things differently from the usual political cribsheet. We must not resort to negative attacks on the basis of class war. What matters is not the school someone went to, but whether they can understand the hopes and needs of all our people and are able to govern in the greater interests of our nation. It means that Labour must be willing to accept not everything it has done in government has been perfect, but that it’s ready to learn from its mistakes. And it means that we must go to polls on the boldest, most progressive platform we can muster. This is not a time for triangulation or cheap dividing lines. It’s a time for clarity of vision and ambition.
As the grassroots of the Labour Party we don’t doubt that the next four months will be difficult, but part of being a progressive is to maintain hope that nothing is insurmountable. We believe that an authentically Labour manifesto combined with our significant achievements in government and our passion for organising could bring about a historic fourth term. We call on Labour’s leadership in parliament, in government and in Downing Street to focus on bringing about a better future for the people of Britain.
Stuart Bruce
The Tax Payers Alliance doesn’t represent me
866 days
I don’t understand why the media given any credence whatsoever to the so called Tax Payers Alliance. The idea that it anyway represents ordinary tax payers like you and me is ridiculous. It represents a narrow sectarian interest of rich people who don’t have a patriotic bone in their bodies.
The vast majority of people in this country understand that you pay tax in order to fund essential public services such as the NHS, education and the defence of the nation. Every tax payer is a recipient of services that are paid for by tax. Britain is a democracy and we vote to elect a government that represents our interests. We don’t need an unelected, shadily funded, unaccountable pressure group pretending to defend our interests.
A real Tax Payers Alliance would represent ordinary tax payers who also benefit from the essential services the state provides. A real Tax Payers Alliance wouldn’t necessarily stand for “lower taxes” it would stand for fairer taxes.
John Prescott’s Go Fourth campaign deserves praise for exposing the TPA as a partisan pressure group rather than a legitimate think tank or support group. He did well with the Charity Commission investigation and the response from the BBC that acknowledges:
"I do accept that the TPA’s publications and policies come from a distinctive political position and think we should try to avoid our output giving the impression that it is an impartial body.
Gordon must not go
868 days
Ask any of my friends and they’ll tell you how vehemently opposed I was to Gordon Brown becoming Labour Party leader. It wasn’t because I didn’t rate or like Brown. I rate him extremely highly. He’s the one you’d always want on your team. He’s the one you’d always ask for advice. He’s the one whose counsel you would treasure. It’s just that I never thought of him as a leader. A leader is someone you’ll trust and follow even if your own instincts say something else. A leader is a communicator. A leader is someone who inspires. Gordon isn’t that sort of leader.
But he is the leader that we’ve got. It’s far too late to regret our mistakes. Sheerman, Clarke and Pope need to accept that. We must rally around Gordon and fight to win. Because Labour can win. No matter how poor a leader Gordon is, he’s still a gigantic political figure who gave sterling service as chancellor. And he’s surrounded by cabinet colleagues who bar two or three would all be capable of stepping up and leading the Labour Party and the country. Contrast this with what the Conservatives have. Cameron is it. He’s the best they’ve got. He’s all they’ve got. Who have the Tories got to replace Cameron? The boy George? I hardly think so. William Hague is a possibility, probably the only possibility.
And how popular are the Tories under Cameron? The simple answer is that they aren’t. They might be leading in the polls, but by nowhere near enough. People aren’t making a positive choice in favour of the Conservatives. They’ve lost faith and turned away from the Labour Party.
Labour can still win the general election. But only if we present a clear vision for the future. It’s not enough simply to point to our record or what people would lose under the Tories. We need to offer them something more.