tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post7005331195703100249..comments2024-02-04T09:15:50.839+00:00Comments on Mars Hill: DisloyaltyPaul Burginhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06718135185726733792noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-26212677974952960712008-05-15T09:22:00.000+01:002008-05-15T09:22:00.000+01:00Not at all. Basically I am saying we need to somet...Not at all. Basically I am saying we need to sometimes be critical of the governments actions without being personal and that the Labour government needs to radicalise itself and think on how to put forward a Social Democratic agenda for the 21st Century without being tied to Blairism, if there is such a thing!Paul Burginhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06718135185726733792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-56232453634821224162008-05-15T06:52:00.000+01:002008-05-15T06:52:00.000+01:00" . . .offer constructive criticism and work out h...<I>" . . .offer constructive criticism and work out how to bring forward a non-left, post-project, Labour government."</I><BR/><BR/>I've read this passage twice and I still don't know what it means.<BR/><BR/>Sorry for being fick in such matters.Imposs1904https://www.blogger.com/profile/04043116442576404667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-60739741715385418732008-05-13T10:48:00.000+01:002008-05-13T10:48:00.000+01:00This is a classic Labour mistake - blind loyalty e...This is a classic Labour mistake - blind loyalty even when the evidence so clearly points the other way. Remember this is what got you into this hole in the first place when you allowed Gordon to prevent an election contest for Labour leader ( and unfortunately for the country PM).<BR/><BR/>Personally I think Gordon Brown is missing a trick in not resigning to have some proper time with his very young family. He could then be an elder statesman and probably have more influence on the eventual direction of your party.<BR/><BR/>He is clearly out of control and it is very bad for the country to have someone who is demonstrably not up to the job as PM. So I hope he steps down.<BR/><BR/>But as a Conservative there is no one, with the possible hilarious exception of Harriet Harman, who I would rather be facing in a general election. If Brown is leader of the Labour party in two years time then David Cameron *will* be PM.<BR/><BR/>But you should put the country before party and call for him to resign. Or even better call a general election.<BR/><BR/>Paul Linford - Frank Field wasn't a failed minister - he was a sacked minister. Sacked for telling Gordon the things he didn't want to hear before he destroyed over 1 trillion pounds of our money on a bungled public service spending splurge.<BR/><BR/>Yesterday he was admitting to the balls up he's made of care of the elderly and how its paid for - Frank told him that 10 years ago.<BR/><BR/>The Labour party doesn't deserve Frank Field.Man in a Shedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00990902055642035293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-83082337746574607392008-05-12T21:12:00.000+01:002008-05-12T21:12:00.000+01:00I doubt if many potential Labour voters take a gre...I doubt if many potential Labour voters take a great deal of notice of what Levy or Prescott say; that may not be quite so true of Frank Field. But the real problem is that Gordon does not appear to have any realistic vision of the direction he wishes to steer Britain in, only those of a vaguely utopian kind. And some of his current problems are entirely of his own making, such as his decision to do away with the 10p tax rate.<BR/><BR/>There should have been better regulation of the banking industry, and a willingness to confront the absurdity of running an economy on the basis of credit secured against inflating property values. It's no good promising 'affordable housing' whilst pumping £50 billion of taxpayers money into sustaining the recent inflationary spiral. A politician who's been happy to claim the credit when economic circumstances were favourable must be prepared to accept responsibility now they aren't.<BR/><BR/>Iraq. We've no policy whatever other than to hope that sooner or later the problem will go away. There's no willingness whatever to accept our responsibility for the mess that Iraq has become, nor to find a morally acceptable solution.<BR/><BR/>Afghanistan. We're stuck there for the long haul (quite possibly in Iraq too). Again, no real idea of what we're trying to achieve, and probably even less likelihood than the Russians of succeeding in whatever vague objective we have.<BR/><BR/>I doubt if I am alone in having hoped that Gordon would have been different from Tony (I have not supported Labour in 3 elections now because I considered their policies unconscionably right-wing), but the only real difference seems to be that Gordon lacks the smarmy self-confidence that so endeared Tony to the electorate. He's certainly happy enough to keep dancing to the tune of the Murdoch and Mail agenda.<BR/><BR/>I don't think that Gordon has the political nous to get on top of events, and that's the problem. If he could turn the situation around, recent events would soon be forgotten, and his lack of charisma could even be an asset. But I don't think he can, and the longer he stays in position the greater the risk that Labour will find themselves condemned to a long spell in the political wilderness come the next election.<BR/><BR/>What we need are real and achievable policies, and they're conspicuous by their absence right now.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464069586293077271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-91478032447391858052008-05-12T18:30:00.000+01:002008-05-12T18:30:00.000+01:00Well anon there are several answers to that. The f...Well anon there are several answers to that. The first is I had the courage of my convictions to say what I did publicly and not hide behind an anonymous monicker. The second is that there is a difference. Gordon Brown is the PM and has not brought embarrasment to the Party machine either by incompetence or arrogance. He may have made mistakes, but they are ones dictated by circumstances. Plus I was careful in my choice of words when I said Peter Hain must resign. I mentioned my admiration for his achievements and the work that he did and I made my comments with sad reluctance. Gordon Brown's opponents on the other hand have a personal and political dislike of him and have no hesitation to stick in the knife and make barbed comments about his personality into the bargin.Paul Burginhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06718135185726733792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-62123717477290457462008-05-12T12:31:00.000+01:002008-05-12T12:31:00.000+01:00This is coming from you!?!?! You're the smarmy lit...This is coming from you!?!?! You're the smarmy little god botherer who demanded the Hain should go, on newsnight as a supposed representative of the grassroots. Hippocrite.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-20490787972335352322008-05-12T12:30:00.000+01:002008-05-12T12:30:00.000+01:00Couldn't agree more Paul.And who are these people ...Couldn't agree more Paul.<BR/><BR/>And who are these people who are twisting the knife? An ex deputy leader who was very lucky not to be sacked himself by Tony, a failed ex welfare minister who has borne a grudge against Gordon for the past decade, and a sleazy fundraiser whose activities did more than anything to bring disgrace on the party.Paul Linfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01977920120772282561noreply@blogger.com