He's back. Why? Andrew Rawnsley thinks it is to rescue the New Labour 'project' for posterity. For me, the whole point of Labour's change of leadership had to be a change of direction, not continuity. And as continuity goes this is certainly bizarre. Never mind the two forced resignations and the Millenium Dome, it is his politics that concern me. Very right wing, he was a celebrant of the zeitgeist that has just crumbled in the credit crunch. My faith in Brown's judgement has hardly been restored and my fears for the Labour Party have deepened. Depressing, deeply depressing.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Court politics
He's back. Why? Andrew Rawnsley thinks it is to rescue the New Labour 'project' for posterity. For me, the whole point of Labour's change of leadership had to be a change of direction, not continuity. And as continuity goes this is certainly bizarre. Never mind the two forced resignations and the Millenium Dome, it is his politics that concern me. Very right wing, he was a celebrant of the zeitgeist that has just crumbled in the credit crunch. My faith in Brown's judgement has hardly been restored and my fears for the Labour Party have deepened. Depressing, deeply depressing.
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2 comments:
Hmmm - I think Brown's latest strategy will probably fail but I wouldn't be so condemning as you. I think you're overly focused on the place Mandelson occupies on the political spectrum and rather forgetting the need every PM has to reflect in the Cabinet the range of opinion that exists in the Parliamentary party. Being a Scot, Brown in office has displayed the characteristics of the party up here, which is to reward loyalty above everything else. This has been a complete disaster for his Premiership. At the risk of defending the indefensible, his move to include dissenters and enemies in the Cabinet represents a break from this. Welcome, were it not for the fact that it is too little too late.
I am not sure whether Mandelson represents any range of opinion in the Labour Party. Rather than including dissenters as part of a careful strategy Brown seems to be going back to the comfort blanket of 1997 and a formulaic notion of how to win elections. I am still depressed, but then I have been since I worked out what 'the project' was all about.
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