Labour's parallel universes - Part 3 - Brown's government

There was a modest crowd outside the gates to No. 10 as I pedalled up Whitehall last Saturday afternoon. What was the attraction? A street property masking the seat of power and patronage that plagues the land. In my day as a lobby correspondent for Reuters, I used to walk up Downing Street most mornings just before 11 am. No security passes, metal detectors or body searches. They were just a group of excited tourists jostling for a glimpse.

Vauxhall and the London Labour manifesto consultation were a world away. Ken Livingstone had been fulsome in his praise of Labour governments enabling him as Mayor to deliver for Londoners. Whatever enmity there had been between him and Gordon Brown (and there was lots) was forgotten in the pursuit of serving Londoners through Labour policies. Members in Wales and Scotland could describe other Labour parallel universes.

In the third part of my 24-hours of activism, I was headed for the Royal Academy. Oh, yes you might wonder what's that got to do with Labour Party activism? Well, I'm married and to do what I do depends in my universe on the goodwill and understanding of my wife, Patricia. She loves her art, and as RA friends we were meeting to see the From Russia exhibition. As well as being a fabulous exhibition, it's a primer in class politics. Rich, exploitative, textile barons' art collections sequested by the state for the benefit of the workers? No, that's not what the the guide says. But read between the lines. Oh, and don't forget our Labour government had to slip a piece of special legislation through Parliament before the exhibition opened to stop relatives of the rich, exploitative, textile barons laying claimed to their long-lost wealth. Who said class politics was dead?

Just as I'm in danger of being ower-awed by the art, a tap on the shoulder. It's someone who looks very familar, but who? Quick as a flash (he must have seen my face), "Hugh, Brownswood Ward". We know each other by the Labour Party branch of which we were both members! But the best was yet to come. He has just volunteered to become Branch secretary in the CLP where he now lives with his wife and son, with another child on the way - another local Labour parallel universe in the making.

As I cycled home, the political light years warped into focus. Saturday's Times reported Labour Finance director to by-pass General Secretary. They couldn't, could they? If the lessons of the last eight months are any guide, oh, yes they could. It would be entirely in character with a man for whom appearances rules, as I wrote in Chartist ahead of the 2007 Conference.