A year ago now Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair as the leader of Great Britain and the Labour Party. Like a phantom he slipped into the corridors of power under the cover of darkness, known little by the general public. He was a politician so talented and able that no leadership contest was needed, let alone a general election. After two terms of Blair bling it was time for Britain to usher back in some stiff upper lip to the political arena. The stage managed New Labour revolution under Blair had run its course and people seemed ready for some straight-laced politics, they were itching for a change, someone who would tell them how things really were. Gordon Brown was their anointed one, a man of substance not spin.
A year down the line the man who came to power to ‘pull down the curtain of celebrity in politics’ is a seriously wounded political animal. Brown was put into power to strengthen the political backbone of the Labour Party, but now he has done exactly the opposite. The party is on the ropes and in danger of being knocked out all together. The recent local election results showed the true horror for the men in red ties. In short, they are sinking in political quicksand.
The mystery of Brown’s rise to number ten is one filled with unanswered questions. Did the left think the New Labour, Americanized machine spun too far, thus in selecting Brown they could revert to an older style of British politics, or did they party have a have a genuine believe in this dour Scotsman? The jury is out.
There is a lame duck aspect to the whole situation one year on. With Labour’s current position it would not be politically expedient to get rid of Brown, risking a general election that they could well lose. Its do or die time for Brown and his apparatchiks. In reality they have little to lose as public opinion is laughably low already. Fresh, radical, kamikaze decisions are going to have to be made in order to pull themselves out of the abyss.
I am only a humble armchair political observer, but I think there are some policies that would free them from the shackles of obliteration, and jolt them forward into an electable party.
• Pull troops out of neo-colonial occupations that are illegal under international law?
• Stop the march towards the big brother state and abolish I.D card plans and the NHN database scam. We are innocent until proven guilty, not the other way round.
• Wipe out the draconian 42 day detainment ruling remembering how this failed so miserably in Northern Ireland.
• Tax those who have gotten filthy rich under New Labour and begin the distribution of this wealth through a fair and balanced taxation system.
To be any kind of force in the future the Labour Party are going to have to get out their history books and learn from former political gaffs. As Edward Gibbon said ‘I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging of the future but by the past.
A brighter future is possible.
Think about it Mr. Brown
Pikey
2 comments:
for me, the most damaging thing the labour party has done is not listen to the public. It has had majority rule for so long it has been able to ignore what the public wants and go with what they want to do instead (the war in iraq being the most devastating example). I think brown was forced on this country, and most people didn't actually want him. but who cares? the labour party knows better. or so they thought. they are now being rewarded by a pull away from them.
at a basic level, the reason why change is forced is when people cannot see an improvement in their lives. labour were voted in in 1997with the hope that 'things could only get better' but for many people my age we're worse off then people a generation older than us. compare that with somewhere like china where there is huge optimism and people are seeing their standards of living rising year on year and you see why it is over for new labour.
i agree with you that people of our generation are experiencinh the economic frighteners at the moment. things have not got better under new labour, all they have done is try to put a pound sign on everything in this country, and further the frog march towards cetralisation of power and authority. they got elected on terms that they have not met and with america are using a 'war of terror' as an excuse to do whatever the fuck they want. is a sad state of affairs and one that is going to be very difficult to reverse my any government because of the shere multitude of draconian legislation that this government has enacted.
A the governemtn wants are obedient consummers, ploughing their way into more and debt, working all the hours god sends and spouting their bulshit propanganda, and absorbing the fear that they flood the mainstream media with.
as bill hicks said so well
'you are free to do as we tell you, you are free.'
absolute travasty.
pikey
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