Globalisation really has made the world a small place. I am currently in Africa, and last night was speaking with an African minister well connected to a group of New Labour’s senior black activists. He told me that David Milliband has been talking with his brother, two other cabinet ministers and Alan Johnson about how to ditch Brown if New Labour come fourth in the European Elections, behind the Tories, Lib Dems and UKIP.
There is a view now inside New Labour that coming fourth is a very real possibility, and would trigger mass panic among MPs and possibly a spiral downwards to electoral annihilation next year. They fear the Lib Dems traditionally poor performance in Euro elections will be outweighed by a failure of the New Labour core vote to turn out. There are also tensions over the Hazel Blears strategy of trying to motivate the core vote by talking up the BNP threat, with many in the black community feeling this was counter-productive in giving the BNP extra publicity.
Obviously there is an element of Chinese whispers here, but I have no doubt that his account is broadly true and does reflect what it now feels like to be inside as New Labour implodes – as witness the appalling revelation that 52 New Labour MPs have formally requested to be appointed for life to the disgusting croneyism that is the House of Lords.
I wonder if Uzbek government spokesman Andrew Dismore MP is one? No way he’ll hold Hendon, thank God.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2009/05/andrew_dismore.html#comments
Good article on New Labour’s rush for the Lords by Andrew Kettle. Comments are even better.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/28/labour-reform-a-new-politics?commentpage=1
I wouldn’t worry about the boy David Milliband. The floor is currently being wiped with him courtesy of William Hague.
Moreover, I’m one of the unfortunate people who suffer from dailysex (dyslexia). There are millions like me who whenever they see the name ‘David Milliband’ they read ‘Bland Livid Maid’
More pearls of wisdom at http://plonquer.blogspot.com
The Andrew Kettle article links* to something by everyone’s favourite fascist David Blunkett about how PR is a bad thing because it results in bad governments (not like the one we’ve got now, then…). Nice to see Blunkett completely taken apart across four pages of comments (including some pointing out that he’s outright lying in places). Restores some of my faith in people.
(*The URL is messed up and refers to an internal Guardian server, but if you change the first part to http://www.guardian.co.uk then the URL works.)
Could UKIP really beat New Labour into 4th place? The allowances row seems to have affected the Tories as much as Labour. I can see the LibDems making big gains at their expense, but I thought that UKIP was just a fringe movement like the ill-fated Referendum Party.
The only large Billboards advertisements I have seen have been from the “Fringe” parties. Is it possible that the plug has been totally pulled from the mainstream parties with regards funding?
Most people simply won’t bother voting, but I wouldn’t be surprised that those that do will vote for anything other than Tory, Labour or Liberal.
It would be hilarious if UKIP came in the Top 3 – and I think it is a distinct possibility.
What are the bookies quoting on them coming second?
Who the Hell are The Jury Team?
Tony
@Tony: I believe the Jury team are a collection of “ordinary people” who want to do politics without party constraints. Website here:
http://www.juryteam.org/
I am not convinced it would work but given the corruption in the present Commons, most alternatives are worth looking at! For those thinking of following Craig’s advice and “voting for good people, not parties” then this may be worthy of research. However I looked at a selection of their candidates for my area (West Mids) and found them somewhat reactionary and business-as-usual. Nothing about foreign policy at all, I am afraid.
Jon,
If someone from ANY of the “Fringe” Parties comes knocking on my door – I will listen to what they say.
If anyone from the Tories,Labour or Liberal Parties comes knocking on my door – I will politely decline a conversation – unless it just happens to be our MP – who I just happen to have Massive Respect for.
Tony
The best MP in my area is undoubtedly Labour – one of the old guard – but hell will have to freeze over before I vote for the Blair/Brown War Crimes Party! In terms of the Euro elections I expect to abandon the main parties altogether, or perhaps the Lib Dems at a push for strategic reasons.
Unfortunately fringe parties don’t have the resources to send flyers and reps out to large numbers of constituents – but the main parties do. Unfortunately you may just have to discover who is standing in your area, and do your own research on them, balancing personal beliefs with strategically sensible choices.
The main players in both Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives are SIS stooges; Blair was merely the prime example. The Telegraph and Spectator are basically SIS fronts, virtually in-house magazines. The SIS (and the SS) have journalists on the payroll in every sector of the national media. This is not confabulation on my part. Prominent national journalist, David Rose admitted as much, in print. During the 1960s and 1970s, most of the industrial correspondents in the UK were on the MI5 payroll.
The whole thing – all of this ‘expenses row’ – is a big game of musical chairs. I want to turn the music off and smash the machine. Now THAT is fantasy. Unfortunately.
Miliband the B rated student whom wound up in Oxford (the dead legs of his father carrying him well) and a B rated politician, whose “mitotic” rise to power was kick started by Tony Blair on one sunny afternoon in No 10 Garden, asking him; “How long have you worked for me?”, and then deciding it was time for Miliband to move on up, and into the commons.
Miliband was parachuted into one of the labour safe seat, rotten boroughs, and presto he was an MP. His promotion to foreign Secretary came upon little troll Lord Janner’s ceaseless lobbying, that included the many Sky News appearances to promote the; “clever boy”, whom was rumoured to speak more than one language ;Yiddish (is to be an official language one of these days) and English. Clearly a very clever man indeed, and suited for the job!
Fact that the rotten borough he represents is so far gone down the drain that the local rag for the borough has been steering clearly away from any brouhaha on the expenses, regarding the thirty odd thousand pounds; gardening, kitchen, duvet, designer chair expenses, and instead has been busy reporting on a rent a dissident story.
This “exiled Iranian”, whom incidentally only travels to Iran for a holiday, thrice a year to visit his relatives (nice exile terms if you have them) as per the story, that also carries a nice photo of the “dissident” (obviously very frightened and wishing to remain anonymous) setting up a paste table and carrying a placard, asking for; ” Human Rights for All Iranians”, from our Foreign Secretary of course!
Then the story taking a weird turn, regurgitating memri (the Mossad disinformation outfit, staffed by comedians, and retired Mossad colonels) stuff about Iran, which is passed as the FOC report on Iran by the Foreign Secretary, ending with his coming meetings with Iranians which no doubt our esteemed and capable foreign Secretary will give a stiff talking to them. (Ironically Iranian elections are under way, and the rent a dissident was not asked, why is he campaigning here in UK, instead of campaigning over there in Tehran?)
This is taking place whilst the North Koreans are detonating nukes, and the world is going to hell in a hand basket, alas the issued permits, for the said rent a dissident event, and the choreography of the great leadership in action had not taken into account the wider world problems, than a school operatic society digging into a tried and tested story like Oklahoma, or some other oh what a lovely war musical kind of story.
Hence the story is a credible one, given the extent of preparation and line inchage in the local rag of his constituency, although some one should be on standby to NHS direct, in case whilst stabbing Brown, foreign Secretary coincidently cuts himself too, given the garde B Machiavellian plots which are unfolding.
Elections (video)
http://tinyurl.com/n5z8eg
transcript;
H: And now, finally, a word with the man who is at the centre of this bye-
election mystery: the voter himself. And his name is Mr. E. Bla–
Mr. Blackadder, *you* are the only voter in this rotten borough…?
E: Yes, that’s right.
H: How long have you lived in this constituency?
E: Since Wednesday morning. I took over the previous electorate when he, very
sadly, accidently brutally cut his head off while combing his hair.
H: One voter, 16,472 votes — a slight anomaly…?
E: Not really, Mr. Hanna. You see, Baldrick may look like a monkey who’s
been put in a suit and then strategically shaved, but he is a brillant
politician. The number of votes I cast is simply a reflection of how
firmly I believe in his policies.
H: Well, that’s excellent. Er, well, that’s all for me — another great day
for democracy in our country. Vincent Hanna; Country Gentleman’s Pig
Fertilizer Gazette; Dunny-on-the-Wold.