Labour’s Crisis
From New Statesman:
Labour is in the middle of its gravest crisis in 30 years. It needs to rediscover the radicalism that animated its founders
Articles
Interview with Politics.co.uk
From Politics.co.uk:
Jon Cruddas is absurdly popular in his party – standing firmly on the left while speaking in language that doesn’t alienate the right.
It’s a position that has seen him scurry endlessly around the Labour conference, attending fringe event after fringe event setting out an alternate policy agenda for the Brown government. politics.co.uk caught up with him on the conference steps, before he departed for yet another panel discussion.
The Man Who Won’t Be King
From Fabian Review:
The Fabian Interview: Jon Cruddas
Jon Cruddas is an intriguing mix of the blokey and the brainiac, a combination that has caused many across the Labour Party to identify him as the man to lead them out of their current woes. But he’s not likely to be persuaded: he likes things just the way they are. “I’m having a blast” he tells Mary Riddell.
Beware the liberal drift. Equality, always
From The Guardian:
James Purnell is right. Now is indeed the time to return to first principles and redefine what Labour is for. And these debates must allow for a plurality of views and debate to take place with courtesy and respect. Yet we also have to be brutally honest.
Time to come clean on cuts
From Sunday Mirror:
It’s going to get bumpy. The belt has to be tightened and the axe has to fall. People are not stupid. They know what lies ahead.
From Royal Mail to Post Bank
From The Guardian:
Lord Mandelson has announced that the market will not support the part-privatisation of Royal Mail and the bill has been dropped. But this should not be a decision based on the temporary fluctuations of markets. The idea being floated that Tesco should take over Northern Rock reinforces the suspicion that the government has a one-size-fits-all approach to public service reform; the market can take it or leave it. We know every little helps, but can’t we be more imaginative than just resorting to privatisation?
End this voting shambles
From The Mirror:
Call me old fashioned, but I was never one for all that voting reform and constitutional change malarkey. Those things were the obsessions of the liberal middle classes and we seemed to live on different planets.
I was too young to vote when Margaret Thatcher got elected in 1979 but had to live through 18 years of Tory rule. For me the key was to get a Labour government in, and then it was game on: we could build homes, protect jobs, help pensioners and create a fairer society. Electoral reform was just a side show.
Video: No Turning Back
From Compass:
Jon Cruddas gives the keynote address to the Compass No Turning Back conference.
The myth of the BNP ‘protest’ vote
From The Guardian:
Have we hit a political tipping point? In the early hours of yesterday the political landscape changed. The election of two BNP members to the European parliament has given fascism a foothold. Yet the political class describe it as a “protest” or even as a predictable response to the expenses crisis; rather than something profound at work way beyond the Westminster bubble.
A new path for Europe
From The Guardian:
The economic wreckage of market failure is spreading across Europe. The G20 summit has begun a global effort to repair the system, but there must be no going back to business as usual. Neoliberal capitalism is destructive and unsustainable - we must create a new economy that is secure, green and fair. To this end, we are launching our declaration for a social Europe: Building the Good Society: The Project of the Democratic Left.