'Out of power for a generation' warns Labour group
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Independent Minds
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.
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Comments
New Labour are finished. War-mongering, AIPAC-pandering, dosh-trousering, education-wrecking, criminals.
The Labour Party should be disbanded immediately, its leaders arrested for War Crimes, and the rest of them placed under a lifetime ban from any public office. That means *any* public office. If Prezza was put in charge of a Schools Pelican Crossing you'd find he was extorting sweets and pocket-money from the kids by the end of Week One.
And if the tories get back in, we can 'look forward' to funding more moat dredging, floating duck home inaugurations and 'honourable members' paying £100 000 at a time into their girlfriend's company (out of expenses).
Yes, what a fabulous "choice" :(
Is this an admission that they're pretty clueless and only really see being an MP as a job?
You surely can't say something like this and at the same time be in politics for the right reasons.
I find that almost as concerning as having to put up with Labour for any longer.
Why oh why does it have to be one of these two. Yo yo politics, agh I give up!
Gosh, what an exciting agenda. I think I'll see what's on the other channel. Any other channel.
Let's get some people in Westminster whom we trust, regardless of the rosette they wear.
But that said, failure too has a value in the sense that "sorting the UK Economy" is obviously the priority and once the Labour Old Guard have been defeated, a new Labour come LibDem Party might arise called the "Social Democrats R Us" or, whatever.
The truth is that Labour has lost, changing the Leader means nothing, we need a David Cameron Government right now, how things are dealt with will be tough but, necessary so let's just move on and if they shut their gobs, who knows, the Labour Party may just survive for another decade or so or, not as the case may be !
I believe that we, as taxpaying citizens, need to know in detail who, and by what means, Elizabeth Filkin was removed from office for doing her job too well! Once that story is known NO MP can say that their actions were 'within the rule' when the teeth of the Fees Office, as an independent source of control, had effectively been removed!
When will we hear from the individuals in this office what tactics were used against them by those in this Fraudsters' Parliament now bleating 'but the Fees Office agreed it!'
There have been lots of governments that mucked things up.
There have been lots of governments mired in sleazy goings on.
Lots of governments that made mistakes,bad decisions,and were inept.
But nothing like this bunch of scum.
From spending the taxpayers money on wars we did not condone or want,to inverting the benefits system so that the more you pay in,the less you get out.
You could perhaps forgive them for being incompetent,but there is one thing that as a working class person I will never ever forgive them for-
Flooding the country with immigrants-it is now irreversible,and they have ensured that one day in the future this will lead to a sort of civil war.
I won't be alive to see it-but perhaps my grandkids will have to live through it.
We can argue till the cows come home as to whether it was a good thing or not to allow (unlike Germany,and france etc) millions of eastern Europeans to flood the UK labour market.
My steadfastly held view is that it did nowt for ordinary working people,and was only of benefit to the well off,and companies looking to make extra profit by holding wages down.
The problem with this labour lot, is that they were nothing but a bunch of chancers-the old fake it till you make it in action.
Just look at their backgrounds-student radicals,nomarks,union reps,and college kids.
They have been an unmittigated disaster for this country,and the only ones left that will defend them are the bums,lifelong social security spongers,gratefull gays,and nutcases still holding a grudge against the admittedly awfull Thatcher.
This is my simple phrase to sum up labour,and its twelve years of administration-
'well you have well and truly done it this time
You have buggered it up so bad its almost beyond repair'
Or, despite Cameron's sharpness in expelling trough-snouting backbenchers (though, with the exception of Mr McKay, noticeably not his inner circle!) that they're any less corrupt?