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Dear Paul

I declare an interest as a member of Labour's NEC, and a former member of an RC parish in North London affiliated to TELCO, now London Citizens. Charmingly seductive as James Purnell's musings might appear, London Citizens is (in my experience), like the PoWER Commission, 'anti-political parties'. The staff of those organisations depend on an ability to raise money to keep themselves employed, not recruit people to join mainstream political parties.

You might be interested in the on-going City of London Labour Party's London Living Wage campaign. We were delivering leaflets and lobbying our Common Councillors over a year before London Citizens' event at the Barbican in November 2009. The issue was first taken up by the Corporations's Establishment Committee in November 2008. The issue was No.1 on our Pledge Card for the Common Council Elections in March 2009. Low Paid casual staff at the Barbican Centre are now enjoying a significant pay increase thanks to negotiations by the GMB union, and Labour in the City embarrassing our so-called 'independent' elected representatives. Our aim remains to get the Corporation to become a London Living Wage Employer.

But which broadcaster is free to report a local political party campaign?

Frankly Paul, I think you would glean more information talking to psychologists than to insiders within the Labour Party.

'Control Freaks' are control freaks are control freaks. Their very nature is such that they are unlikely to even admit it to themselves, let alone to anyone else, that they have such a personality disorder. For a personality disorder it is and they seldom, if ever, change. Only when cornered, and in danger of being exposed or found out, or desperate do they pretend to give in, do they pretend to change but the change is often only temporary.

Of course, I am not talking about any particular politician here - I am speaking hypothetically - but, from a psychological point of view, it is truly fascinating at the moment observing the run-up to the coming election.

For some reason I am reminded of 'The West Wing' when President Bartlett began to fall apart and needed the help of a shrink. Of course, he didn't think he did and, even when all around him knew that he needed help, he refused to believe them right up until the moment when the shrink sat down in the chair opposite him.

It is easy to destroy people when they are failing, lost and need help.

It is much harder to reach out with a genuine helping hand.

That could be so true of so many in British politics this week.

Who says an investment v cuts is not a sustainable basis for an election campaign. If Labour adopt a we can cut more or better than the Tories there will be few activists to work the reluctant electorate. Should the cutters get their way and , miracle, Labour is elected implementing widespread cuts and privatisations (ie degrading public sector terms and conditions) would quickly destroy a Labour Government who would not have much of a majority if any at all - discontent for all seasons!
Cameron has made a major error is taking a strident line on cutting public expenditure and alienating many floating discontents who depend on or work in the public sector.
Leadership, strategy and promoting core Labour values are the terminal failures of the Brown premiership. It is core values not the "core vote" Labour should concern itself with.
Just when you thought the LD's might have something Clegg spoils it. What will become of those of us who want a fairer and more equal society now?

in the same way they had no nation building model for iraq they don't have one for the uk. policies depend upon having such a model. the taliban or maoist has no problem with policy. they know exactly what they will do and who for.

so the exposure is that modern politics does not have a model as their starting point. playing headlines is not 'a nation building' model.

#3

''What will become of those of us who want a fairer and more equal society now?''

There is nowhere to go, hence a campaign to get 'abstention' put on the on the ballot paper as a political option to put a cross in to formally register a vote of no confidence in the current system.

We already have 40 people signed up..only 999,960 to go before we get a 10 second slot 3/4 of the way through the news.

Alternatively those 40 people all strip naked and bare thier bottoms in parliament square in the direction of big ben in a co-ordinated moon..in which case we will make all the headlines....and get a million hits within a week.

on



What a funny world we live in now isnt it!

Or at least it would be funny if it were not so nasty with it, it was interested in the Ö÷²¥´óÐã story on paying mortgages by credit card, this one looks right up your street Paul to do some digging into the legalities of this and the practises of financial institutions aka vampire squids

''Up to one million households have borrowed money on a credit card to pay their mortgage or rent over the past year, a charity's study suggests''

''Citizens Advice found that since 2000 there had been a 722% rise in the number of charging order applications by unsecured creditors.''

A high interest rate on an unsecured loan and the threat of repossetion, there is something that should not be legal about that..but aparently is legal...

Heads I win, tails you lose with 20% interest rate with base rate sat at 0.5% should not be part of the finacial architecture of a fair society.

No doubt the law lords would find in favour of the banks if there is any class action against them based on a 'point of law', which seems to be aterm oft used now which really means.

'Your not clever enough to understand you are being sucked dry so shut up and let us do what we want and keep our mates at the gentlemans club happy'

What is a 'point of law' anyway... surely the 'point of law' is to serve the people, not be used as a intellectual superiority stick to beat the population over the head with.

Off post rant over.

I will not be around for a while.

So the Left have lost the taxpayer funded lollipop that justified their existence. I am not surprised: this is the nightmare I envisaged thirty years ago. Like Provisional Sinn Fein before the hunger strikes they refused to listen so what do I care. I have had enough of the postures and the posing. They are all fools and deserve what is to happen to them. To hell with them all.

Only where does this leave us the people of this country? Well, have you not felt the frisson of the last few days? People clearing playgrounds of snow so that the children can get back to school, people clearing roads and footpaths so that all may get about in the wintry conditions, people being people once more and no longer the victims of an irrational system that forces roles upon them.

We don't need politicians of either left or right: all we need is their power and we own that as our birthright. Stuff them all: take control! As far as this country is concerned we are the people: there is no other.

I think you were closer to reality in reviewing Jerusalem

You obviously spend too much time in the village and not emough seeing where people are at, and I dont mean parachute jobs.

NONE of this bears any relation to people's real lives, however you slice up the Labour Party cake.

They could not be further from what people expect from a government - a group of people committed to doing their best for the people of the country. Simple.

But this would be a very novel, and foreign, idea to any of the people you have mentioned.

Things have to get cataclysmic, apocalyptic, for Labour to look up. Is this possible before the election?? Only if anything can happen. And if someone does something drastic with the people hanging onto power in there now.

But every bit of patching up and pretending that happens works against and delays this sine qua non cathartic change. So dont celebrate them. Otherwise it will just be non.

Could it be that the 'Blairite glue' that has held New Labour together has finally worn off?

And after all - How the heck did Blair manage it?

No one is happy now it seems - the 'big lie' that was New Labour is nearly over!

In 1978 Labour faced an economic crisis of rampant inflation and wage control. Strong unions and collective bargaining and the social contract. Today, its the deficit and the banking crisis. But, it is now an uneasy society. Although not polarised by an over-powerful trade union movement we have an economy and significant proportion of workers dependent on government consumption and a concentration of wealth in a relatively small section of society. The recipe for societal division is there.

at least now we can clearly see the positions - who are the centre-right holding the cuckoo-court in NuLabour, and that the Left is *finally* mobilising behind a strong social-justice message - and hopefully Leader.

how can Gordon - and Lord Meddlesome (i've heard his enemies are calling him "Meddley"... :) ) justify to themselves destroying the entire Labour Movement for their own selfish desire for power?

THE MALE ETHOS WRIT LARGE (#10)

My conclusion is that any team of MEN embodies that 'Animal Farm' equality quality. In the final analysis, they are all out to be topp. Co-operation is a means to individualist ends.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in politics - for those who have eyes to see. However, if the 'Dave poster' is anything to go by, the entire country - proles and meeja alike - have either not noticed it displays an 'avatar' or else, if the have noticed, the IMPORT just does not register. We do seem to be in 'The Last Days'. Stay away from graveyards.

I've come to the conclusion that the Hewitt and Hoon activity occurred to get the change of message and sort out the campaign team.
Given the level of overspend the public sector currently has I'm surprised anyone thinks not talking about cuts is a goer.


It's the graph on the right that means there have to be cuts - the pink dots is the important line.
We've borrowed over 10% of GDP for non-exceptional Public Sector spend.
Admittedly GDP has fallen some 6% ( but that can only account for half the rise.

Comparing the movement in Public and Private sector employment since the start of the recession. (These are adjusted for 220k odd bankers who became public sector works when we essentially took over Lloyds and RBS who I've taken out the public sector and put back in the private sector - oh, if only).
2008Q1 Private Sector 23.7m employeed, 2009Q3 it's now 23.0m (0.69m jobs lost - it'd index at 0.97).
2008Q1 Public Sector 5.76m employeed, 2009Q3 it's now 5.87m (0.11m jobs created - it'd index at 1.02).

Public sector wages haven't been impacted in the same way as private sector

The second paragraph - public sector wages are rising at twice the rate of the private sector.

The public sector hasn't really felt the pain in this recession - in fact it's been picking up the slack (well bits of it have - it may be that councils have had to keep it tight whilst central functions haven't). The private sector is not going to pick up quick enough to right the imbalance by improving GDP, so there is no option but to cut public sector spend, and unfortunately that probably means job cuts.

#11 barriesingleton

Is this a call for all male politicians to be neutered? I thought that was mandatory already?

WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOU CROSS A WEASEL WITH A SNAKE? (watch Chilcott)

In the last minutes before lunch, they asked Campbell about '45 minutes'.
Ex-media man Alastair, stated he did not see the 45 minute claim as anyting special, and (by inference) had NO IDEA it would make the headlines. HE WAS NOT ASKED IF ANYONE THOUGHT OF ISSUING A CORRECTION, TO THE PRESS! (Perhaps like the correctional tirade Alastair Campbell delivered to Channel 4, regarding Gilligan's 'falsehoods'.

Ah - Martha has just declared Campbell did not lose his temper. Really? So he must have got out his pram (as I watched) to go for a pee then.

At one point Campbell said he would never criticise Scarlet 'for whom he has a huge regard'. Duly noted . . .

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