lord of the blog

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Saturday, June 12, 2004

Election results

Well the Labour Government certainly got a hammering at the local and London elections last week. At the time of writing the European elections have not been declared but I suspect we will do badly there although the Tories and Liberals may also lose out to the United Kingdom Independence Party.

Anger and frustration about Iraq is the main cause of our unpopularity although I would not like to underestimate some of the other issues. Clearly we have some listening and learning to do. The British public do not have the same loyalty to a political party they had when I started in politics. They are more inclined to shop around if they don’t like what they are getting.

People do give the Government credit for improvements in public services especially the NHS but it no longer works in politics to simply point to the achievements. Telling people that winter bed crises are a thing of the past in the NHS does win a supportive response but tends to be followed up with a question about what next. In other words, governments are still expected to have a sense of vision and are not allowed to live on past achievements.

If, as I anticipate, Iraq does stabilise and we are able to get the Palestine/Israel peace process moving again then I believe it will become a far less intense issue. Despite the disgrace of the behaviour of US troops in prison camps and the blunders in peacekeeping the key question on Iraq was always, would the long-term effect make the Middle East more stable and peaceful or make a bad situation even worse? The answer to that question will ultimately determine whether the decision to remove Saddam Hussein was right or wrong.

Although the cloud over the Labour Government doesn’t have much of a silver lining it is true that the other parties don’t seem wildly popular either. So in a sense the message to Labour is, get back to the domestic agenda and do more on the public services. The Government must respond to that message.

The final point is Europe. The British have a love hate relationship with Europe. They don’t want to separate but they don’t really want to be part of it either! Whatever the long-term future of the EU it is very important that we stay active members. The Tory Party and UKIP under estimate the problems of renegotiating our terms of membership.

I leave you with this thought on the EU. At present the EU negotiates as a single trade block with all the other nations of the world. If we try to negotiate separately these nations would negotiate with the EU first and would come to us next. The deal we would be offered would be essentially the one already agreed with the EU. We would have little or no say in the matter. That is just one reason why Britain has to stay fully involved in the EU.

I've heard a lot about how the Labour leadership is going to listen and learn after the local elections results. But in what way will it change? Will it be about style of government or the substance of policy or both? Will the membership and supporters be better respected? It's all very well acknowledging public anger, but the public need action as well.

Frankly, I am desperate for a reason to rejoin the Labour Party, but Blair has not given me a sufficient reason yet. The Iraq War and issues such as tuition fees and PFI turned me against Labour. How do you plan to win people like me back?

>> it no longer works in politics to simply point to the achievements

Presumably you mean the 10,000+ Iraqi civilian dead. And murder, rape and torture in Abu Ghraib. As well as wholesale privatisation of Iraqi industries, and a shamelessly faked handover of 'sovereignty'. Democratic socialism, huh?

>> Despite the disgrace of the behaviour of US troops in prison camps and the blunders in peacekeeping

The disgrace here is your attempt to distance yourself from the actions of the US troops. Why don't you accept responsibility for your actions, Clive?

>> the key question on Iraq was always, would the long-term effect make the Middle East more stable and peaceful or make a bad situation even worse?

I don't think we need to wait for the answer to that, Clive. Just look at what is happening in Saudi - a situation most analysts agree has been dramatically worsened by your reckless and pointless invasion of Iraq. Plus the Madrid bombings - again, caused by Clive's beloved war.