Time to Fight the Real Enemy

OK. Enough of the whinging and bellyaching. For some time now I’ve been obsessed with the Labour Party’s lack of an elected leader and I have to admit that it’s been distracting me from the real fight; a fight against an enemy who will destroy all the good work done by Labour in the last twelve years.

For those of you who have either forgotten or, like me, have been distracted by internal matters let’s have a quick recap. Firstly what was life like under the Tories? Remember the NHS before Labour transformed it? Crumbling hospitals, patients dying before they had even seen a consultant, a criminal lack of investment in staff and facilities. What about schools? Remember when you had to save all the scrap paper from work and take it to the local school because they had nothing to write on? Under the Tories state schools were simply dumping grounds for those whose parents couldn’t afford private education. We can’t allow Cameron and his Old Etonian cronies to return us to the misery we suffered under Thatcher and Major.

As for Labour’s achievements outside of the NHS and schools how about the minimum wage? The Tories said it couldn’t work and they would get rid of it as soon as they came to power. If they had their way the lowest paid workers would still be taking home less than £2.00 per hour. Pensioners would be even poorer than they are now and the gap between the richest and poorest in this country would have widened even more than it has under Labour.

If the minimum wage isn’t enough to convince you how about relative peace and stability in Northern Ireland, free TV licences for the over 75s, free bus travel for the over 60s, free swimming for under 16s and over 60s,  or free entry to national museums and galleries? We even have a Prime Minister who is revered in the rest of the world for the way he has the led the fight against the global financial crisis.

What I don’t really understand is how this situation came about. We are almost guaranteed a Tory government next time around and, if the worst actually happens, it will be the people with most to lose who will drive the final nail into Labour’s coffin. In recent elections, whether local or national, Labour’s core vote has stayed at home and gifted victory to  the Tories  without them having to increase their vote. Maybe these traditional Labour voters are like me and have become disillusioned by what can be perceived as lost opportunities or maybe, again like me, they have never come to terms with why we were duped into invading Iraq.

Whatever the reason for staying at home in parliamentary by-elections, council elections and the complete waste of time and money that the European Elections represent, people need to realise that a General Election is not the time to stay at home or register a protest vote. By doing so traditional Labour supporters will allow the Tories to gain power and destroy everything that Labour has achieved whilst in power and for that I will never forgive a single one of them.

Not Alone!

I’ve been getting a fair amount of stick recently from other Labour members over my apparent lack of loyalty http://theredimp.wordpress.com/2009/06/13/over-optimistic-or-badly-served/ so it was nice to receive the following letter from a friend whose commitment to the party goes back way further than mine:

“Sorry about the green ink. It’s just that many of my friends are joining the Green Party (teachers mainly) due to MPs not listening to the concerns of local Labour branches, and the way some Branch Secretaries treat female members as if they are a piece of dust. I’m afraid it’s just not good enough.

“In 1997 Labour inherited one of the West’s most unequal societies from the Tories. Far from reversing this trend the Labour Government has allowed the gulf between rich and poor to widen.

“Labour’s insistence on upholding Conservative economic/monetary policies of deregulation and de-unionising the work force has led to a heightened pattern of greed by those at the top but downward pressure on wages, benefits and pensions for those at the bottom.

“The Labour Movement’s all important principle of democratic accountability has been dramatically eroded by the increased use of ‘Commercial Confidentiality’ and the insistence of ‘rolling back the state’ as seen in Government policy on privatisation. I believe the root cause of the current economic problems is the bankruptcy of the prevailing political dogma of past and present Governments.

“Therefore I am calling on the Labour Government to show greater respect to the Labour Movement by:

- allowing CLPs full rights to select MPs and deselect those that they judge to have behaved in a fraudulent or unethical manner

- restoring the democratic traditions that allow the rank and file member to participate more fully, thus reducing the dramatic decline in membership

- discussing future policy meaningfully with CLPs, the Co-operative Party, Trade Unions and other affiliated bodies

- working with other international Governments to ensure that tax havens comply with required economic disclosure

“One of my greatest concerns is that Gordon Brown can appoint unelected people, e.g. members of the House of Lords, to the Cabinet. I would like to see the National Executive Committee and MPs campaign for an immediate end to this undemocratic policy.”

I’ve published the letter in its entireity because, as the saying goes, I couldn’t have put it better myself!!!