Labour party

I don’t mean to pick on Tom Harris. After all, I think it a very good thing that MPs should have their own blogs. And, as it happens, I have no firm opinion either way on the desirability or not of a third runway at Heathrow airport. But I thought this a telling part of Mr Harris’s latest post on the matter: I’M DISAPPOINTED by the announcement that we’ll have to wait until next year to get a decision on a third runway at Heathrow. But I concede that 70,000 submissions to the consultation will have to be considered and that might take a little while. And given that a

Tom Harris’s blog is a very useful creation. Now as it happens I don’t think that parliamentary democracy is under threat because Damien Green was arrested, disgraceful though that arrest certainly was. Nonetheless, there’s little doubt that this government has, time and time again and to an extent that may be as modern as it is largely unprecedented, ignored ancient parliamentary procedures and consistently demonstrated a contempt for “old-fashioned” concepts of liberty and the rule of law. Thus Mr Harris’s latest post is usefully illuminating. He writes: As the right-hand man to Shami Chakrabarti the then Shadow Home Secretary, David “Remember him?” Davis, Dominic [Grieve, the Shadow Home Secretary] did

I’ve too much respect for my friends at The Times to ask if Rupert Murdoch dictated that this Peter Brookes cartoon appear on the paper’s front page today… The Thunderer’s leader column makes it pretty clear, I think, that the Times will not be endorsing Labour at the next election: Tony Blair and Gordon Brown both promised reform of public services that might have allowed the quality of services to be maintained at a lower rate of spending. In the absence of that reform, high spending and the maintenance of a large public sector workforce became the only way of maintaining servive levels. Yet such spending has proven unsustainable. It

It’s all very well and good getting excited about the American elections. But let’s face it, they were but the appetiser before today’s Westminster by-election in Glenrothes. The Kingdom of Fife is a strange place indeed, a sentiment confirmed by the whispers we now hear that Labour have managed to hold the seat. On the face of it, defending a seat against the 14 point swing needed for you to lose is no great triumph. And yet on this occasion it is, in fact, a rather spectacular victory for Gordon Brown. True, it’s his back yard (he represents the neighbouring constituency) and both he and his wife have campaigned in

I’m glad Trixy reminded me about the startlingly daft speech Hazel Blears, the Communities Minister (whatever that means), gave to the Hansard Society the other day. Though the irrepressible Mrs Blears was correct to bemoan the rise of a political class with no hinterland beyond Westminster (this also applies to the media classes, of course), it was her comments about blogs that were the purest Class A piffle. Apparently: Until political blogging ‘adds value’ to our political culture, by allowing new voices, ideas and legitimate protest and challenge, and until the mainstream media reports politics in a calmer, more responsible manner, it will continue to fuel a culture of cynicism

Campaigning is underway in the Glenrothes by-election. Yesterday Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister’s wife, made her election debut, knocking on doors in, of all places, bonny Cardenden. How did that go? Not so well, it seems. My friend Stephen McGinty has a fine, entertaining account in today’s Scotsman: SHE was supposed to be Labour’s secret weapon, but Sarah Brown ended up being so “secret” yesterday that no-one from the press was allowed to ask her any questions. It was clear from the moment she arrived in Cardenden to campaign on behalf of the Labour Party that she was not there to speak to the ordinary members of the public. The

Peers reject the notion that it’s fine to lock people up for six weeks without even telling them why and how does the Home Secretary respond? Well, yet again, by impugning the motives of those opposed to granting the state these extraordinary powers: “I deeply regret that some have been prepared to ignore the terrorist threat, for fear of taking a tough but necessary decision.” And so the Labour party adopts the bullying thuggery that characterises much of the modern Republican party’s approach to security issues. Power corrupts, of course and Jacqui Smith should be ashamed of herself. Curiously, those ignoring the terrorist threat included not one but two former

The issue of whether the state can lock-you up indefinitely  for up to 42 days without even the courtesy of telling you why is back. Happily, the House of Lords seems certain to reject the government’s plans, sending them back to the Commons where, again hopefully, they will finally die. Here’s Labour MP Tom Harris, however, explaining that if you opposed giving the state these powers you’re a “civil liberties” (feel the sneer with which he writes these words!) nutcase and if there’s another terrorist attack on Britain, it will be your fault… It’s no secret that, along with the great, wise majority of our nation, I support a radical

As expected, David Cameron’s speech has been well received. In the Telegraph, Iain Martin says this was the moment Cameron “came out as a Conservative”.  Indeed so. But amidst the sobriety and the resolution, there were moments of populist blue meat too. The BBC’s mini-focus group particularly loved this passage: For Labour there is only the state and the individual, nothing in between. No family to rely on, no friend to depend on, no community to call on. No neighbourhood to grow in, no faith to share in, no charities to work in. No-one but the Minister, nowhere but Whitehall, no such thing as society – just them, and their

Jackie Ashley argues that Gordon Brown deserves the extra time she thinks he bought with his speech yesterday, even though she concedes it won’t be nearly enough to save him in the long run. But I was also struck by this: His wife Sarah’s appearance was touching and starry: she is truly his greatest asset. Iron rule of politics: anytime hacks start referring to the leader’s spouse as his/her “greatest asset” it’s time for sentient folk to head for the lifeboats. cf,  Laura Bush. A good wife (or husband) is not enough. Sarah Brown’s appearance introducing the Prime Minister was a) obviously borrowed from American politica and, more importantly, b)

So, Gordon Brown’s speech to the Labour party conferene wasn’t terrible. By which I mean that it clearly pleased his audience. And his “This is no time for a novice” line was an entertaining slap aimed at both David Cameron and David Miliband. But that carries danger too: Brown is trying to make the case that only he can be trusted to implement necessary reforms. He is betting that, come the election, voters will choose “experience” over “change”. Does that sound familiar? Well, it didn’t work for Hillary Clinton did it? And I’m not sure it’s going to work for John McCain either. Nor does Brown have the luxury of