…this isn't just about whether Harman was too rash or whether Woolas deserves a second chance; it's about competing visions of the future of Labour. It goes to the core of the party's soul.
Behind his support lies the belief by a number of Labour MPs that Woolas was right to be strident on immigration. It was the number one issue on doorsteps, they resolutely keep repeating (apparently no one cared about the economy)…To the dimwit Hundal, of course, immigration and the economy are separate things, matter and anti-matter, never to mix…
But this is a cop-out. It's a feeble response to the real debate that Labour wants to avoid: asking why immigration comes up.They know why. That’s why they don’t ask.
Sure, there are some who generally want to avoid people of other countries in their local area because it feels unsettling.Oh, really?
How can Labour respond? Being more honest with the electorate would be a start. If you sign up to the economic consensus on globalisation, free movement of capital and labour, free trade and an economy focused on reducing inflation rather than full employment, this is what you get. Of course, you also get inexpensive clothes, televisions, international food and dirt-cheap loans.And if the electorate wakes up, takes a good look around and says ‘Actually, I’d rather pay a little bit more for my stuff, and have less vibrant streets, thanks very much’..?
What then?
At this point in time, I'm beginning to wonder if the Labour Party ever had a soul. Certainly, it doesn't seem to possess a spine. Or a brain....
"An ex-minister wrote last week of how we needed to 'crack down on the welfare underclass'. Others argue for us to become the 'anti-immigration party'. A new kiss up, kick down politics that blames the victim. There lies political death for Labour. No language, no warmth no kindness; no generosity, vitality nor optimism. No compassion. If you seek to outflank the coalition from the right, you will turn Labour into a byword for intolerance."He does indeed represent them. But he doesn't live amongst them, does he?
That was Labour MP Jon Cruddas, who represents some of the poorest working-class communities in London.
This isn't about race; this is about Labour's soul. Phil Woolas symbolised the people who sold the party's soul. It needs a new direction to get that back.
Wouldn't Labour's soul be the working man? You know, the ones they've been kicking in the face for the past decade?
ReplyDeleteWe can no longer have happy hours at the pub (though we can have happy days). Alcohol must not be on offer as a raffle prize (I don't remember ever entering a raffle to be instantly sloshed). We can't smoke. We're actually at risk from cops and taxi drivers if we get pissed. Cops can now arrest people who won't leave pubs for trespass.
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember that all the above was generally sorted our by landlords and culture in 'locals' and such.
Just who was it changed all the nature of this game? NuLabour of course - now what did they do to get the 6 million semi-skilled jobs we need? Allowed the import of wads of foreign workers, of course.
If I say MPs should be stoned to death, would the cops arrest me 650 times?
Labour loves the working man. Sorry, I mean Labour loves the working man from another country.
ReplyDeleteNuLab imported loads of immigrants in the hope they would vote for them (fiddling around with the postal voting to allow the local imams to collect ballot papers and fill them in en masse helped).
But then the new NuLab fans aren't working quite as they thought they would.
Never mind. when Labour get in again tbey can try more social engineering. You never know, the next fiddle might just work...
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ReplyDelete'...inexpensive clothes, televisions, international food and dirt-cheap loans.'
ReplyDeleteI don't believe these things have anything to do with mass immigration.
Even if they did, they're a poor return for the extinction of the British race.
"Wouldn't Labour's soul be the working man? You know, the ones they've been kicking in the face for the past decade?"
ReplyDeleteThey decided that the old working man wasn't cutting the mustard, and a new, exotically-diverse pool of working men was needed..
"Alcohol must not be on offer as a raffle prize..."
It can't? Nobody better investigate my mother's social club then! :)
"Never mind. when Labour get in again tbey can try more social engineering."
Are we sure they ever left?
"I don't believe these things have anything to do with mass immigration."
Sunny is conflating free-trade with globalisation of the workforce.