'Out of power for a generation' warns Labour group
Thursday 15 October 2009
Latest in UK Politics
On Facebook
From the blogs
More than half of Afghanistan’s families live in extreme poverty
Leila is watching her baby intently, as his mouth moves trying to swallow the small blob of yellow p...
Time for a new approach to alcohol
Ambulances were called and three drunk teenagers were brought to my care. One was so drunk we had to...
Bahrain: One year on
I am used to endless lies and criticism from the BNP and its favourite blogster, as well as Islamist...
Paul Volcker stands tall against the banking lobby
Why is Europe, which likes to present itself as an opponent of speculative "Anglo-Saxon" finance, li...
A new group of Labour politicians warned today that the party appeared “intellectually exhausted” and could be out of power for a generation unless it produces fresh ideas soon.
The group, including nine former ministers, fired a warning shot at Gordon Brown by urging him to ensure that Labour fights the next general election on a forward-looking manifesto. They denied that their joint pamphlet and “Labour Future” website was part of a plot to oust the Prime Minister before the general election.
The group’s opening statement said Labour faced a "strong" chance of being swept out of office for a generation, as it was during 18 years of Tory rule from 1979. Despite Mr Brown's efforts to set out his vision, there remained a "widespread perception that Labour... is intellectually exhausted.
"It is a strong perception and it needs to be countered with a positive agenda and intellectual confidence," it said, suggesting Labour lacked "a clear progressive agenda".
Malcolm Wicks, the Prime Minister’s envoy on international energy matters, who is leading the initiative, told a press conference: “We are not some partisan faction within the Labour Party. We have to be honest about it: we are in something of a malaise.”
He admitted that a betting man would not bet on Labour winning the next election. "We have got to come up with fresh thinking and fresh policies if we are to be credible as I believe we can be in terms of the next election,” he said.
Charles Clarke, the former Home Secretary, who has called for Mr Brown to stand down, insisted the new group was about stimulating ideas - not destabilising the Prime Minister.
"It is unfortunate and also inaccurate to interpret it as an act which is inspired by a desire to change the leadership. It is not," he said. "My views are well known on this subject and I am not resiling from them or repeating them. I don't think Gordon Brown would regard this as an enemy act. I think he wants to engage in this kind of debate and we need more of it.”
Ideas put forward by the 10 individual members of the group include reducing the role of the Navy and RAF to fund Army operations, a minimum alcohol price, scrapping child-related tax credits to provide universal services for young people, earmarked taxation and more charges for public services.
Although the group will avoid direct criticism of Mr Brown, Labour MPs are privately discussing his future again. He received a rough ride on Monday when he addressed their weekly private meeting and urged them to make any repayments demanded by Sir Thomas Legg, the former Whitehall mandarin auditing the claims of all MPs.
Some Labour insiders say the anger of the party’s MPs about the Legg review, ordered by Mr Brown in May, has increased the chances of a new push to topple the Prime Minister.
But others say that backbenchers, who have staged two unsuccessful attempted coups, would need heavyweight support from Cabinet ministers to succeed, and there is little sign of that at present. Some MPs believe the party will have a “final window of opportunity” to change its leader before the election after next month’s Pre-Budget Report.
- 1 No secularism please, we're British
- 2 Apple admits it has a human rights problem
- 3 'Drunk tanks' and minimum prices to help Britain sober up
- 4 Working as a jail torturer ruined my life
- 5 Lightning kills an entire football team
- 6 Reinstate Knox's murder charge, Italian court told
- 7 Caught in his own blast: an Iranian targeting Israel
- 1 Spotify: 1 million plays, £108 return
- 2 How Koscielny became prince of the Emirates
- 3 Apple admits it has a human rights problem
- 4 Mark Steel: If religion is 'marginal', I'm the Pope
- 5 No secularism please, we're British
- 6 Lightning kills an entire football team
- 7 Matthew Norman: There's always the Human Rights Act, Trevor
- 8 Special report: The hungry generation
- 9 I was born to be a killer. Every night I see the Devil in my dreams
- 10 Six Grammys, five years off: Adele puts love before career
Free trial of new Independent iPad app
Get your daily dose of the best of British journalism, sponsored by American Airlines
Win a three-week coastal jaunt
Spend three weeks exploring every nook and cranny of gorgeous Atlantic Canada.
Amazing restaurant offers
Three glasses of free champagne and a special menu at 46 top London restaurants.
Latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
Day In a Page
How an abortion divided America
Did they all live happily ever after? That's up to you...




Comments