Peter Kenyon

Gordon still needs a Willie

Just before the PM's announcement of the terms of Second Iraq War Inquiry I blogged asserting among other things:

Any attempt to save his predecessor's blushes, his own or those of the opposition Conservative Party are unlikely to endear him to the electorate, or the vast majority of Labour Party members.

So it proved. Worse, the Sunday papers have outed the First Secretary of State m'Lord Mandelson and former Prime Minister Tony Blair as the main influences on what has proved to be another unmitigated PR disaster for Gordon Brown.

This has prompted me to think about how former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher coped when she was isolated. Step forward Willie Whitelaw. There is a rather good account of his role in a review of his official biography by Malcolm Rifkind published in the Staggers. Brown is of urgent need of a counterbalance inside the Cabinet to m'Lord Mandelson to reconnect with his Party, core vote and electoral coalition on whom his acclaimed place in history will depend. If the events of this week haven't persuaded him, we on the Left should all be worried. As if we weren't worried enough already.

Labour to win next election: G Brown

The Guardian newspaper is carrying an interview by Katharine Viner, deputy editor with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. I have just read it. Key angles for me are:

"To be honest, you could walk away from all of this tomorrow," he said. "I'm not interested in what accompanies being in power. I wouldn't worry if I never returned to all those places – Downing Street, Chequers … And it would probably be good for my children."

Note the use of the second person 'you'. So I take this as a warning - don't push me too far. Well, I'm sorry Prime Minister, but I think you are going to continue to be sorely tried between now and the next General Election. This leads me to the section of the interview in which he thinks Labour is going to win that election. The Guardian reports:

He thinks under his leadership Labour can win the next election, and perhaps because he's seen the tide turn so quickly, he thinks it can turn again. He is sure that, in time, his measures will turn the economy around. And he really believes that the age we're living in is a progressive one.

Mmmm...I think the electorate is going to need a little more persuading. A reference to the foot-soldiers would have been nice too.

Iraq war II inquiry: will it be open and wide-ranging?

I'm just hoping that the Prime Minister Gordon Brown is going to take everyone by surprise and announce an open and wide-ranging inquiry into the second Iraq War at 3.30pm this afternoon. Any attempt to save his predecessor's blushes, his own or those of the opposition Conservative Party are unlikely to endear him to the electorate, or the vast majority of Labour Party members.

UPDATE: 1600 - Open - NO, wide-ranging - POSSIBLY, timetable - too long, subject to parliamentary debate - NO. Personally, this is not a statement I could defend in public, given repeated statements from the PM about openness and accountability. Another lost opportunity.

Conflicts of loyalty?: the Salford case study

On Thursday it is reported the Right Honourable Hazel Blears MP former secretary of state for Communities and Local Government will face a motion of no-confidence at her Constituency Labour Party in Salford. This latest report in the Manchester Evening News states that she will win. Much more is at stake, I suspect, than local, tribal sentiment.

The outcome will be seismic whether she wins, loses or the debate is adjourned. The Labour Party's contribution to cleaning up British politics is in the spotlight. As a member of the Party's National Executive Committee, I wrote to the General Secretary expressing concern about the ramifications, in particular, for members of government arising from the NEC's unanimous decision on 19 May about how it would deal with the impact on them of the MPs' Parliamentary Allowances scandal. The contents of my letter were published on Labour's Membersnet. I have not had a reply as yet. In short, I thought that the Labour Party NEC Endorsements Panel could not consider any case concerning a member of the government until after the expected Cabinet reshuffle. Whatever it is, the NEC is not a politburo, and could not been seen to be dictating to the Prime Minister whom s/he should or shouldn't have in her/his government. That was over a week ago. Since when there has been an eerie silence.

Party members have been left with the uncomfortable knowledge that one backbencher, Dr Ian Gibson, has controversially been banned from standing as a Labour Party candidate at the next election, prompting his immediate resignation from the House of Commons and forcing a by-election. By all accounts if it had been left to his CLP, he might have got their backing. In the meantime, it appears that anyone in government who is believed to have questions to answer remains untouched by the powers that be, and in Blears' case the matter is being left to local members.

That was not the outcome I expected when I voted for the amended resolution setting up the NEC Endorsement Panel on 19 May. Nor do I believe it was what was expected by the electorate, whose support we wish to attract.

So I await news from up north later this week with exceptionally keen interest.

More prefer Labour government to Tory: Conservativehome

Buried at the bottom of this posting on Conservativehome is the following statement:

The only serious caution for David Cameron comes with a question that forces voters to choose between Labour or the Conservatives: "44 per cent would still prefer a Labour government and 42 per cent a Conservative one. This is despite 72 per cent dissatisfaction with Labour."

Everything still to work for, which is why Save the Labour Party is calling for an emergency Labour Party NEC.

Inertia v. activists – Labour’s NEC put to test

I was elected to the Labour Party National Executive Committee (NEC) in a ballot last year. Arch loyalist and grand dame of Labour First, Maggie Cosin, when she heard I was standing, asked me why I wanted to waste my time.  I wouldn't quarrel with her assessment of the NEC. What excites me is its potential. Never has there been a greater opportunity for constituency and trade union NEC representatives to exercise influence.

In my capacity as chair, Save the Labour Party, I wrote to the Prime Minister Gordon Brown ahead of the Parliamentary Labour Party meeting on Monday suggesting that he should be supporting an extra meeting of the NEC to review the recent election results, strategy and organisation.  That's long-hand for General Election - how can we win?

You can help secure that meeting. Get your branch and CLP to back the call. My own branch discussed my letter to the PM and came up with the following resolution:

"City of London Labour Party calls on the chair of the NEC to convene an extra NEC meeting before the end of June to review the results of the European, English county council and new unitary authority elections, party strategy and organisation; so that:

1. all party members are fully involved in current and future policy making

2. the next manifesto fully reflects Labour values

which are both essential if the Party is to mobilise all members and supporters in the forthcoming General Election campaign."

It was composed following debate, rather than being tabled to force an outcome - so it's a consensual resolution. Now the question is whether other party units and activists agree that the NEC should meet sooner, rather than later. Alternatively, the Prime Minister could be left to govern the country. leaving the question of whether that is sufficient to win the next election to the electorate.

Is this symptomatic of what's wrong with the Labour Party?

Sifting through the quotes from members of the Parliamentary Labour Party in the wake of last night's meeting I have been searching for mentions of those of us who deliver leaflets, knock on doors and devote time voluntarily to get Labour representatives elected.

This one takes the biscuit.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the BBC: "The Parliamentary Labour Party has reached a settled view about the leadership. The Labour Party does not want a new leader. There is no vacancy. There is no challenger."

Note the hop, skip and a jump. PLP = The Labour Party. Excuse me. Until the nomination papers are issued under Rule, with respect, Foreign Secretary [sic] you have no right to say: "The Labour Party does not want a new leader."

Not a mention of Labour Party members

Politics Home's Latest on Brown's leadership

1. Westminster expects another coup | PoliticsHome
2. Ladyman: Brown must reconnect with the public and the PLP
3. Tony Lloyd: Brown support not a question of bullying
4. Miliband: My generation will not throw away privilege of government
5. Rebels recognise they have lost, says Ben Bradshaw

Shum mishtake shurely?

An open letter to Gordon Brown

Save the Labour Party (STLP)  has sent an open letter to Gordon Brown encouraging him to involve Labour Party members in addressing questions about his Leadership. STLP has already called for an emergency meeting of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee, which is not scheduled to meet until 21 July.

Salient extracts include:

Remaining party members will appreciate the opportunity to have their say. You have a chance to confound your critics by demonstrating in a practical way that you are a democratic socialist, and not just clinging onto power thanks to quirks in our British constitution....

.....As the next step we hope you will agree these matters are ones for the Party as a whole, and not just the PLP. We hope you will support an extra NEC meeting now to review the election results, strategy and organisation and for you to share your agenda and discuss how we can better involve the wider party. In the meantime, you might consider announcing at the PLP tonight your readiness to face a challenge if your opponents can muster the necessary 71 signatures for an alternative candidate, and that you would be happy for CLPs, TUs and socialist societies to submit nominations for you continuing (or others contesting) as Leader and Harriet Harman as Deputy Leader. Provisions for this already exist under Rule 4.2.B.ii.

It either this or a lingering sense that we are being told to accept he is the best man for the job of Prime Minister.

Euros: What's in Westminster water?

Having just seen the declarations in Wales and Yorkshire and the Humber, I am wondering what's in the water in Westminster and the City? Labour was down 12 % points in Wales and 7.5 % points in Yorks and Humber.

City of Westminster 2009 (2004)

Conservative 42% (38%)
Labour 18% (21%) - down 3% points
Green Party 13% (9%)
Lib-Dem 12% (14%)
UKIP 8% (10%)
BNP 3% (2%)

Turnout 28.76% (35.63%)

City of London 2009 (2004)

Conservative 33% (32%)
Lib-Dem 19% (18%)
Labour 16% (20%) - down 4% points
Green 15% (12%)
UKIP 9% (11%)
BNP 2% (2%)

Turnout 34.56% (36.97%)

Perhaps its because we have been out campaigning fairly regularly.