The Rye

Yo! Yo! Lets hear it for the Home Girl!

Lets have a big shout out to the Home Sec!  Word on da street is that Jacqui Smith has moved into Nunhead.  Damn fine decision I must say, its a lovely area...even if our constituency MP doesn't think so.

Don't Panic!

Now, come on, be nice.  I do applaud this and its the right move for voters and taxpayers alike - avoiding all the nonsense with Tax Credits etc which I was worried the government would use as a fudge.

Shame that it took six months, the loss of over 300 councillors, rumours of a leadership challenge and absolute terror over losing Crewe and Nantwich.  But hopefully, the government can begin to put the past behind them and get back to getting on with the job in hand.

Toot! Toot! All aboard.....

So the New Labour Gravy Train has well and truly departed, after all, whats more important...getting the sales for your memoirs or supporting your colleagues who helped you play a part in the story.

Words fail me when it comes to this sort of thing, is it that people have conscience bypass when they leave office or do they feel the need to adopt their supposed media persona?    Both Prescott and Cherie have come out with claims of the split between Brown and Blair this weekend, in their well timed memoirs.  In Prescott's case I would have expected him to demonstrate a bit more loyalty and as for Cherie....there is absolutely no doubt that she is a highly intelligent woman, with significant independent earning power...so why bother?   

At this rate we might as well give Samantha Cameron a set of keys to Number 10 so that she can decide on her choice of wallpaper.

Yesterday, all our troubles seemed so far away....

Just read a very good post on Tom Harris' blog.  This is so right and so often forgotten.  I joined the Labour party in 1991, so my first experience of politics was defeat.  I think this is the thing that we too often forget, political fortunes rise and fall constantly and this is to the betterment of our democracy.  The thought of any political party having a complete stranglehold on power, such as is the case in Singapore, should terrify us all.

The flight I think Labour has lost is with the youth vote.  During the 1990's people of my generation identified with Labour, in part due to the rising popularity of New Labour and also as a reaction against the corrupt and factionalised  Major government.    We are seeing a similar thing happen in reverse now, with a reaction against a government which many feel has become complacent after 11 years in office.  I remember chatting to an ex boss of mine in about 2004 who told me about how his 14 year old son had become enthused by the Conservatives.  This amazed me at the time, as I personally couldn't see what there was in the Conservative party for a young person to feel passionate about, not realising that youth have a natural tendency to rally against the establishment and, as far as he was concerned, that was the Labour party.

Ultimately, its pretty difficult to be 'edgy' when you are in government but to come out of the current situation Labour needs to explain why our POV is different, demonstrate success and start challenging the opposition on their policies, rather than trying to emulate them and getting into the pickles which Mr Brown finds himself in today.

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?

Well, any hopes that GB had of putting the debate about his position to bed following the local elections look somewhat dashed.   This morning's Times makes pretty grim reading and is reminding me rather too much of the dying days of the Major administration in 1995.  Perhaps the most worrying things is that, according to Populus, Labour is losing trust of public trust on issues such as the NHS - which is frankly disastrous.  I'm fairly sure that this is now our ERM moment, since when coupled with the shaky economy and the frankly stupid withdrawal of the 10p starting rate, all the government is left with is a lot of soundbites about 'working for Britain'. 

What also makes matters worse is the appalling communications strategy currently employed by both the party and the government.  The Conservatives under Cameron have been careful to learn the lessons of Labour pre. 1997, they are generally the first to comment and they ensure that there is a consistent Tory message even if they are often lacking in hard policy ideas.  We need an Alastair Campbell back, or at least someone who will dare to tell the PM what the public mood is and how present the government case more succinctly, otherwise we are going to find ourselves losing elections not just on the current state of the economy but the Labour crown jewels of the NHS, education and social provision. 

The King is Dead, Long Live the King

So where to next?  Have to say that I thought Boris' victory speech was rather good and, despite our misgivings, I hope that we are proved wrong over the next four years.  Reading the some of the blogs over on LabourHome there seems to be mood of "lets hope he screws it all up so that we can win in 2010".  So, not for the first time, I am going against my colleagues - I hope he does a cracking job for all Londoners and continues the good work that Ken started.  This is too important a city for it to be seen as a political football and with a full four years before the next GLA elections I hope that both Labour, Conservatives, Greens and LD's can work together to make London an even better place, while hopefully changing the ignorant viewpoints that caused the BNP to win their first seat in the assembly.

I also want the government and Gordon Brown to be compared with a successful London administration that makes a positive difference to the lives of all people in this city, not one the delivers failure providing a smokescreen for inadequate government at national level.   If, and I hope when, the Labour government wins a fourth term that must be done on the basis of good governance and Gordon Brown should expect and welcome the scrutiny that the higher profile of the Conservative Party will now deliver.

So I, as a Labour supporter since the age of 15, raise my glass to Boris and hope that this election serves to raise the standards that voters expect from government at all levels.

Cripes!*#!!

It looks as though Boris has done it, leaving Ken to a future of after dinner speaking and advisory posts.  Now we'll just have to see if the Labour Party listen to what the electorate has told them through the ballot box or if they just descend towards infighting.  My chief worry here is actually not for the party but for the country as a whole.  Don't get me wrong, I throughly enjoyed the 1997 election but the voters were cheated by the fact that we had an ineffective opposition while the Tories tore themselves apart.  Sadly, history tells us that we are probably headed for the same thing unless Mr Brown resigns and Labour unites behind a unity candidate....who? i don't know and the discussion is probably academic anyway.

And now, the end is near, the final curtain...

Election day has arrived and judging by the canvassers outside New Cross Gate this morning its a three horse race between Ken, Brian Paddick and the Socialist Workers party.  Sadly my sources tell me that this isn't the case over the rest of our fair city.  There are strong rumours that lunch bookings across the SW postcodes are at an all year low, as the ladies who lunch slap on their shoulder pads and grab hold of their clipboards to indulge in a bit of Boris Bothering.  The pavements are going to be a dangerous place today, I advise all sensible thinking people to try and slip into the polling station unnoticed and if addressed by one of these strange type to simply reply in whatever smattering of a foreign tongue that you can muster - they tend to leave you alone in these instances.

The London Mayor Election

With only two days to go before the GLA election, I'm getting increasingly concerned by the conversations which I find myself having.   At the beginning of the process I assumed that people, or at least the ones I associate with, would have got wise to Boris, especially having seen him puff and bluster at too many a hustings, but it seems not.  Seemingly sensible, well educated people have decided that having a TV comic as Mayor would be 'a laugh'.  After all, Europe's largest City, the world's largest insurance market, one of the world's largest stock markets and a budget of around £50 billion....yep I reckon 'a laugh'  is the perfect criteria for the job. 

I do agree its a bit of a Hobson's choice at this election and its a shame we haven't had candidates with decent board level, private sector experience putting their hats in the ring.  However, based on credibility and experience I can only see one decent candidate and thats Ken.  He has improved buses (i live in SE London, we 'do' buses unlike those Northern types); the tube is improving, the profile of our City has been raised abroad, the congestion charge is working and is being copied elsewhere....ok  the pet projects are a bit unfortunate but, taking the package as a whole, he's done a damn sight more good than harm over the past eight years.

Now I guess most of the debate is over and its up to the various PR teams to fight it out between the various polls and all I can do is hope that the Boris vote is flakier than the pollsters would have us believe.