SOCIALIST UNITY

Following the loathesome role played by Paul Staines of Guido Fawkes in smearing William Hague, it is worth recalling this classic demolition of Fawkes

From the Spectator, an extract from Blair’s book that contains just too much information:

Not just a Prime Minister, not just a global statesman, in A Journey Tony Blair also demonstrates he knows how to treat a girl:

CHERIE: “I DEVOURED HER LOVE”

“…that night she cradled me in her arms and soothed me; told me what I needed to be told; strengthened me; made me feel that I was about to do was right … On that night of the 12th May, 1994, I needed that love Cherie gave me, selfishly. I devoured it to give me strength. I was an animal following my instinct, knowing I would need every ounce of emotional power to cope with what lay ahead. I was exhilarated, afraid and determined in roughly equal quantities.”

What an absolute treat. It is hard to imagine how a radio programme could ever be better.

Bill Kenwright interviewed Priscilla Presley about her life with Elvis, and looked back at his career and music. Bill made the interesting point that following Elvis from Britain in the 1960s was difficult because he received very little radio play time, was not on TV, and never performed here live (the Colonel opposed the idea of a British tour). Priscilla consented to this rare interview for the BBC as a tribute to the loyalty of Elvis’s British fans.

Available on listen again here

You can catch me on BBC Radio Wiltshire at 5:00 pm tonight discussing Tony Blair’s interview last night, and the Iraq war.

Blair’s interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr last night revealed the extent to which the former prime minister occupies a parallel universe, one signposted with moral absolutes and blind faith in his own divine mission to shape the world, regardless of the human cost.

Safely incubated from reality in a bubble of self delusion, one which, if anything, has grown rather than diminished in his time out of front line politics, last night Blair set about the hoary task of rewriting history for the benefit of middle England, the only constituency he ever truly embraced. Interspersed with warm and fuzzy insights into life inside Number 10 were spine chilling pronouncements of moral certainty over the decisions taken on Iraq, attributing the violence which resulted not, as any rational human being might, to the principle of cause and effect, but to that good old fashioned savagery common to all subject peoples who’re in desperate need of a little civilising.

Not content with that, with customary messianic glee he then went on to assert that not only did he not regret the decision to go into Iraq, he would do it all over again when it came to Iran.

By this point in proceedings you would have been forgiven for expecting to hear the flapping of white coats in the background. But, no, it soon became clear than not only is the man mad, he’s a mad man on the loose, allowed to travel the world as Middle East peace envoy spreading his Manichean worldview like Dr Strangelove on steroids.

Comparatively benign titbits such as the fact he had a feeling a month before former Labour leader, John Smith, died that he would, well, that he would die, thus paving the way for his path to the leadership and Number 10, seemed almost rational coming from him. And of course, the ban on foxhunting and the Freedom of Information Act were brushed aside as ill-thought attempts to tinker around with complicated issues like foxes being ripped to shreds by packs of dogs in the countryside, and government being able to fabricate excuses for going to war without having to worry about meddlesome citizens and journalists getting in the way.

As for his analysis of the current political scene, nothing really new was revealed. Tony Blair remains to the marrow of his bones the Tory we always knew he was. In fact, it would not have come as a surprise if he’d announced that David Cameron was in fact his long lost younger brother.

The bulk of the interview, and, it appears, the central thrust of his book, was devoted to his relationship with Gordon Brown. Here, nothing was held back as he set about destroying the personal and political reputation of his former chancellor, even to the point of taking credit for the major economic decisions that were taken during his tenure in office. Over the past year a slew of New Labour epigones have gone to bat attacking Blair’s successor, with words like imbalanced, unstable, and worse used to paint a picture of a man who’d plotted and schemed that much to get into Number 10, he’d become deranged in the process. It was a disgusting attack by Blair on his former friend and colleague, made worse by the fact he used it to launch a barely concealed endorsement of David Milliband as next in line to the throne.

One of the few redeeming features of the Roman Empire was that whenever an official in high office disgraced themselves, they were given the option of taking the honourable way out.No such custom now exists, but at the very least surely now somebody somewhere should take out a restraining in order to keep this lying warmonger away from political office of any stripe.

Surely.

from AVPS 

While Iain is currently rattling off the annual Top 100 politics blogs, it’s time to look at the real stinkers polluting political blogland. This list was compiled from those who voted in the 100 Worst UK Politics Blogs poll that ran between 10th July and 11th August. There have been a few exclusions: three BNP blogs were voted on, but as this blog has a policy of not allowing them space they were duly excised. A couple of American blogs were nominated too. *Sigh*, some folks are incapable of following simple rules. And readers may note my refusal to name one top 20 blog. The description in its place is all I’m going to say on the matter.In case someone gets a touch upset or takes their inclusion personally, here’s the usual disclaimer: this list doesn’t necessarily reflect my own views. There are some excellent blogs in the mix that shouldn’t be there, so blink away the tears and think of the modest boost to your Wikio ratings

100) Conservative Party Reptile
99) Hopi Sen
98) Burning Our Money
97) Liberal England
96) Norman Geras
95) Through the Scary Door
94) Oona King
93) Chris Paul: Labour of Love
92) Alex Hilton
91) Bob Piper
90) Melanie Phillips
89) Byrne Tofferings
88) Nosemonkey’s EUtopia
87) David Miliband
86) Mr Eugenides
85) Raincoat Optimism
84) Stroppyblog
83) Bracknell Blog
82) Everyone’s Favourite Comrade
81) The F Word
80) Michael’s Thought for the Day
79) Mars Hill
78) Solomon’s Mindfield
77) Mike Ion
76) Modernity Blog
75) Richard D North
74) The Salted Slug
73) John Redwood’s Diary
72) Donal Blaney
71) Tim Roll-Pickering
70) Leftwing Criminologist
69) Back Towards the Locus
68) The Stilettoed Socialist
67) Edmund Standing
66) Martin Kelly
65) Samizdata
64) Rantin’ Rab
63) Daniel Hannan
62) Pickled Politics
61) Chicken Yogurt
60) Shot By Both Sides
59) Butterflies and Wheels
58) Duff and Nonsense
57) Nick Robinson’s Newsblog
56) Though Cowards Flinch
55) Mac Uaid
54) Islamophobia Watch
53) Who Goes Home?
52) Welsh Bloggers
51) Al Jahom’s Final Word
50) Elliott Joseph
49) Luke Akehurst
48) Benedict Brogan
47) The Exile
46) Blurred Clarity
45) spEak You’re bRanes
44) LabourList
43) Aaronovitch Watch
42) Craig Murray
41) Andrew Allison
40) Archbishop Cranmer
39) Freedom Central
38) Nile Gardiner
37) TaxPayers’ Alliance
36) David Osler
35) Bickerstaffe Record
34) The Lone Voice
33) Liberal Smithy
32) Blairy England
31) The Very Fluffy Diary of Millennium Dome, Elephant
30) Dylan Jones-Evans
29) Mr Civil Libertarian
28) ConservativeHome
27) Penny Red
26) The Spittoon
25) Cllr Terry Kelly
24) Tom Harris MP
23) Anna Raccoon
22) The Devil’s Knife
21) Dick Puddlecote
20) Tax Research UK
19) Boatang and Demetriou
18) Old Holborn
17) Bloggerheads
16) Thanet Life
15) Nadine Dorries
14) Shiraz Socialist
13) James Delingpole
12) A particularly litigious blogger I refuse to link to.
11) Tory Bear
10) Liberal Conspiracy
9) Socialist Unity
8  Dizzy Thinks
7) Lenin’s Tomb
6) Alastair Campbell
5) Obnoxio the Clown
4) Tim Worstall
3) Iain Dale’s Diary
2) Harry’s Place

and the winner is ….. ….. Guido Fawkes

For the lies, the awful politics, the nastiness, the smugness, the comment boxes, the cartoons (the cartoons!), and despite the best efforts of his stable mates on the “libertarian” hard right, Paul “Guido Fawkes” Staines’ stinking turd of a blog is in a league of its very own. So, well done Paul. … If you keep your execrable standards up you’re in with a good chance of winning next year!

Courtsey of Richard at Lenin’s Tomb

You can’t call peaceful Muslims a bunch of genocidal fascists any more… posted by lenin

…it’s political correctness gone mad. (Hat-tip, and context. Bad news for Harry’s Place).

This refers to a libel by Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle writing on the Spectator blog, where he refered to Islam Expo event as “a fascist party dedicated to genocide which organised a conference with a racist and genocidal programme.”

Jews Sans Frontieres reports that according to the Middle East monitor website:

the Spectator and Mr Pollard have undertaken never to repeat the allegations complained of and agreed to pay damages to compensate us for the damage done to our reputation by the article. They have also agreed to pay our legal costs.

Litigation was not and is not our preferred option and we prefer to deal with everyone on an open and amicable basis. However, when false and serious allegations are published that seek to discredit and damage the reputation of Islam Expo, and the publishers refuse to apologise, then we have no option but to take legal action. We are delighted with the eventual outcome in this matter.

We hope that in future third parties intending to write about us will attend our future events which remain, as ever, open and welcoming to all, and be fair and objective in their comments.

The source for Stephen Pollard’s article, and linked to by his Spectator blog, was a Harry’s Place article from July 15th 2008 with the rather cumbersome title of “Mohammed Sawalha: President of the BMI and Manager of the Political Committee of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United Kingdom”, written by David Toube.

As this issue has now been settled, the issue will not go to court, but surely the days when lazy journalists would regard Harry’s Place as a reliable source are now over.

On this first day of balloting in our Labour Leadership election we are writing to ask you to join us in giving your first preference vote to Ed Miliband to be the Leader of our Party.

Like Ed, we are proud of Labour’s successes — but we know that we can’t afford to return to the attitudes and politics that helped to lose 5 million Labour votes in the last decade. Instead, it is clear that Labour must refine and update our policies so that we are firmly focused on the realities of the present and the needs and potential of the changing future.

For the Labour Party, getting the right combination of relevance and radicalism is essential. It’s also vital to our task of making the broad and convincing appeal to voters that is crucial for victories at the next General Election and the local, Welsh and Scottish and European Parliament contests that will come before then.

Ed Miliband is the candidate who is most ready and most able to get that mixture of realism and new thinking.

More than any other candidate Ed Miliband understands that Labour has to change again to win again. That is why he consistently emphasises that:

• We must never think complacently of a “core vote”. We must understand the reality that — as Ed puts it — “the core vote is a swing vote”.
• Labour “must reach out to the squeezed middle” — a spectrum of voters that plainly embraces professional people and skilled workers. And we have to be the champion in opposition and in government of the great majority, which needs fair public provision for care, opportunity, security and justice — the essential components of the commitment to individual liberty which is central to our beliefs.
• The advance of equality of women and men, of races, of people with disabilities is far from complete and further progress must be achieved in the name of civil rights, social cohesion and economic success.
• Faced with the challenges and the lessons of foreign policy, we must shape our place and our duties in the World according to common sense enlightened principles rather than the ambitions of allies.

Ed has articulated the policies that give substance to these commitments. For instance, his campaign for the “living wage” of over £7 an hour (endorsed by hundreds of Labour councillors), for fairer funding in Higher Education, for a High Pay Commission, for an increased bank levy are all practical, all related to increasing social justice and economic efficiency. And throughout this Leadership campaign, Ed has repeatedly underlined the realism of strategies to cut the national deficit at a pace and in ways that don’t strangle economic recovery, sabotage vital public services or destroy jobs.

All of these qualities of Ed Miliband justify voting to make him Leader of our Party.

But Ed has further assets which clinch the choice for us. They are personal attributes which — vitally — equip him for the huge demands which we know he will have to fulfil as our Party Leader. They aren’t the result of tuition or rehearsal, they are simply natural:

He has the strength of character and conviction to listen, to learn and to lead. Ed has confidence but no arrogance. He is serious but never pompous. Even his opponents in politics and the press recognise his “emotional intelligence” and his ability to relate to people of all backgrounds.
He has the skill, the toughness, the tenacity and the loyalty to people and principles which give his politics strong purpose.

And he has the special ability to lift spirits and to motivate people — the capacity to inspire.

We are voting for Ed Miliband for all of these reasons. Above all, he will take our Party and the ideas which will inform our policies forward to meet the particular challenges posed by the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition, and then to beat them soundly.

So please, vote for a Leader of progressive change. Give your first preference vote to Ed Miliband.

Thank you,

Neil and Glenys Kinnock

The Daily Mirror has today announced that it is backing David Milliband in the Labour Party leadership contest. In what has to be one of the most politically myopic decisions by a Labour supporting newspaper, it cites one of its reasons for doing so as: ‘…the party must reconnect with the people. The Mirror firmlybelieves David Miliband is the man to steer Labour to this recovery.’

In essence, the Mirror has succumbed to the myth that Labour needs to reconnect to middle England rather than its core vote and the working class. It echoes the New Labour line, espoused by Blair in today’s papers, that Labour lost the last election not because of New Labour, but because the party wasn’t New Labour enough.

This reasoning is contradicted by the facts. Over the course of three elections, Labour lost in the region of 5 million votes, while voter turnout successfully decreased during Blair’s tenure in office. In addition, the party’s membership collapsed from an all time peak of 405,000 in 1997 to 176,891 just ten years later, thought to be the lowest since the party was founded.

The strategy of triangulation, promoted as a way of transcending the ‘old’ divisions of class in society, could and can only ever succeed during a boom, as experienced during the nineties and early noughties. New Labour’s entire existence was premised on this false economic and ideological framework, which as soon as the credit crunch hit in 2007 collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions. Even during the boom years, however, New Labour’s idea of redistribution and social justice were largely symbolic, such as the minimum wage, set far too low to do anything other than institutionalise low pay.

An alternative and redistributive economic programme to the one being implemented by the Tories and Lib Dems is now essential in the coming period. Ed Milliband at least recognises that huge swathes of the working class turned its back on Labour at the last election, due to the demoralisation caused by the previous years of betrayal and the righward shift which saw Labour only succeeding in out-Torying the Tories on too many key issues.

Surprisingly, in the Mirror’s endorsement no mention has been made of the importance attached to the ability of the next leader to embrace the trade union movement as a cornerstone of Labour values. If David Milliband does get elected, the pattern whereby the unions are treated as an embarrassing older relative will continue. This will have disastrous consequences for progressive politics in this country, especially during a period of recession and a Tory government.

The Mirror with its endorsement of David Milliband has got it woefully wrong.

Salman Shaheen of the Third Estate talks to Diane Abbott

As the Labour leadership contest enters its final leg, party members will be receiving their ballots in the post today. But while the national media is zooming in on a two-horse race between the two Milibands – one the candidate of continuity, the other of modest change – The Third Estate talks to Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, sofa star of This Week and the only contender for Brown’s vacant throne offering genuine left-wing reform.

Drawing on her experience as a trade union official, a councillor, an MP, a member of the national executive and a veteran of many grassroots campaigns, Abbott believes she is better placed to engage with ordinary Labour party members than any of her rivals.

“I want to build on the best of the New Labour years, but I am the only candidate offering a fresh vision for the party,” Abbott says. It’s a vision that ranges from greater internal democracy to putting civil liberties back at the heart of its politics. At home, she wants to challenge, not just to the timing of government cuts but their scale, while abroad she wants to see new thinking about Britain’s place in the world by scrapping the Trident nuclear deterrent and withdrawing British troops from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, advocating bringing the railways back into public ownership, Abbott seeks to address one of the core failures of New Labour. “We need to admit that the market is not the answer for everything,” she says.

Labour’s defeat in May’s election has ushered in a new period of reflection for the party. But while most of her rivals are seeking to trim around the edges, pushing for centrist reform, Abbot is clear about her party’s mistakes and how they must be addressed.

“Ordinary people thought that New Labour was not on their side,” Abbot says. “Increasingly it seemed like an elitist project trapped in a Westminster bubble. New Labour became increasingly undemocratic. The Prime Minister was not listening to his cabinet and the Parliamentary leadership was not listening to its own members and supporters or the general public.”

Abbott argues that if ordinary party members had had a real say, Labour could have avoided some of its most damaging mistakes.

“Scrapping the 10p tax rate, the introduction of tuition fees, the failure to regulate the banks properly, the attempt to introduce 90 days detention without trial, locking up children in immigration detention centres, the failure to bring the railways back into public ownership, creeping privatisation in the NHS, and, above all, the Iraq War. These are all things that contributed to our defeat at the last election.” (more…)