I was going to write a post on what comes next for the Labour party, however I then found this article in the edition of The Times that will go to print on Saturday.
It’s an interesting comment concerning the next steps for the Labour party in the wake of Thursday’s election defeat. A sizable excerpt follows:
There will, nonetheless, be a thesis expressed within the Labour Party that runs as follows. If we are not losing many votes to the Conservatives, its advocates will assert, then we must instead have discarded them to parties perceived as standing to the left of Tony Blair. The best and fastest way to reconcile those electors would be to move in their direction. New Labour should thus forget the “new” and concentrate on the “Labour”. In the most extreme version of this blueprint, the Prime Minister himself should be sacrificed as a peace offering (in more than one sense of the term).
This would not merely be an overreaction, it would be madness. To abandon the middle ground in a desperate attempt to appease those who have flirted with the Greens, the hard Left such as George Galloway’s Respect or even the more pacifist parts of the Liberal Democrats would be to court disaster come the general election.
The article really has to be read if you want a sound and intelligent view of Labour’s options. Just as well too as anything I write could easily be dismissed as the desperate flailings of a stricken Blairite.
Put simply, to abandon Blair would be the single most idiotic action the Labour party could take now. We’d court the votes only of the easily distracted anti-war movement at a time when unfolding events appear to be capable of reeling them back in. Abandoning the centre by discarding Blairite New Labour would be disastrous to the one aspect of domestic politics where our lead over other parties is seismic in proportion - our Public Services record, as was demonstrated by the BBC polls on Election Day.
Thankfully the cabinet now is empty of idiots willing to rock the boat with enough force to dislodge our PM; Short and Cook had their chances and failed, although Robin Cook’s action was far less malicious and rather more dignified. Blunkett came out swinging in defence of Tony Blair as did Prescott and John Reid, so it’s not much of a worry at a cabinet level.
However the Labour party still harbours the same elements of back-biting self flagellation that rendered it incapable of mounting a credible opposition, even against Major’s weakest government performances. There are some who would now choose to discard Blair and instead shift to the left to pick up Saddam’s useful idiots and Galloway’s coven. Politically it would be tantamount to lunacy, but that is not beyond the left-most members of the party.
I pray cooler minds prevail.
Later
John
Posted by John Swaine at June 12, 2004 01:26 AM | TrackBack