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Another drubbing for Labour.
Will it have the ironic result of
forcing them to hang on?
James Irvine
Editor: www.land-care.org.uk
Filed 08 Jun 09
©www.land-care.org.uk
The results of the Euro elections were bad for Labour throughout the UK. Not only were they bad, they were very bad.
Labour came third after the Conservatives and UKIP. Labour's share of the vote fell to a miserable 15.7%, only a little above the Liberal Democrats on 13.7%. It was Labour's worst defeat since the Second World War. They even managed to loose Wales to the Conservatives. They even managed to loose in parts of the West Central Belt in Scotland, and to come second to the SNP in national Scotland. Coming an overall third in the UK after UKIP must be particularly humiliating for Labour. Labour was thoroughly trounced. It was not the bloody nose that they expected. It was a massacre.
Yet senior Labour figures still came out to say that they are the ones to sort out the problems. The problems that they themselves were substantially involved in the making. Their failure was not due to the global credit crunch, nor to midterm blues of a government in power. Other governments of other major countries within Europe did well, in spite of the fact they too were in midterm and their economies were in big difficulties.
Labour's political professionals, always looking for someone else to blame, were clearly ignoring reality. And with such obvious self-conviction to make it a serious case of that well recognised mental condition known as denial. A condition that all too often can lead to fatal delays in starting effective treatment.
"Rally round the leader",
was the instruction from unelected "deputy prime minister" Lord Mandelson, at a time when ministers were resigning from the cabinet and others were turning down an invitation to join. A few were brave enough to openly say why they were resigning (quite apart from those who rather obviously had their snouts in the trough). But most Labour MPs were apparently cowed by the power of the Labour executive at an obviously well manipulated meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on the evening of Monday 8th June.
Reports say that the Prime Minister was backed by those whom he had managed to keep and attract to his Cabinet. Allegedly such as ?Baroness Glenys Kinnock. (Remember the disastrous Kinnock days?) The Chair had the privilege of choosing who would be asked to speak. This manipulative tactic is not infrequently seen in other walks of life. It may intimidate members into obedience, only for them to flare up even more angrily later.
Symptomatic of the situation is the case of Janet Kennedy, the latest to turn down a position in Gordon's new cabinet. That is, after a whole string of others in the previous few days.
"I was asked if I wanted to stay in government and if I did, would I give an assurance that I would support Gordon Brown?"
she told the BBC when interviewed on TV. Since she felt that she could not give that assurance she was not re-appointed.
"I have been unhappy for some time about the briefings against individuals, leaks, smears against colleagues"
she explained.
Somehow that carries a ring of truth when it is remembered that not so long ago when Damian McBride, a close adviser to Gordon Brown, was summarily dismissed for concocting slanderous emails about members of the opposition (and even one of their wives), and encouraging others to do likewise. Was this just part of the culture of the Labour Party? Are others still at it?
Cabinet Minister James Purnell put his head above the parapet when, on resigning, he told the PM that he should do likewise. But nobody had the courage to join him.
So we end up with the worst of outcomes. A hugely unpopular government struggles to stay in power, instead of effectively managing the current double crisis. A crisis not only in the economy but another regarding the probity of politicians, especially Labour ones. Labour MPs couldn't muster anyone to stand against their embarrassing PM, so they are stuck with him. All they got was a promise from him that he would behave better.
What is likely to happen is that more and more taxpayers' money will be thrown at the economy, while Labour maintains its oversized and wasteful public sector. The national debt will mount to even more gigantuan proportions. Labour might then be able to claim, just in time, that "green shoots" are coming. It is their only chance to save their own bacon for a little longer. Sadly, that would appear to be their prime motivation, whatever the rhetoric.
Such a course would be disastrous for the UK. How are we supposed to get out of such massive debt? But according to selfish Labour, that would be someone else's problem. They would be ignominiously thrown out no later than June next year by a very angry public. Will they really last till then?
©www.land-care.org.uk
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