Labour isn’t working: it’s plotting

The attempt by two forer Cabinet ministers to topple Gordon Brown 6 months before a crucial general election was opportunistic and wrong. Patricia Hewit and Geoff Hoon should be added to those on the list accused of contributing to apathy towards politics and disillusionment with the political class. 

Much more important than the turbulence inside Labour caused by the failed putsch is the impact of such moves in the pre-election campaign. The Conservative Party has a slick leadership and a carefully crafted media image – but its political substance has hardly changed over the last decade. Worst, it seems bereft of ideas on how to re-balance public finances without penalizing the worse off and its social agenda is little more than G.W.Bush’s ‘compassionate conservatism’ rebranded for a different audience.

Labour needs to get back to the business of government and steady itself for a long and crucial election campaign. Labour’s modern-day elites should be taught a lesson or two from Tony Benn, whose support for Brown and commitment to a Labour victory the day after the putsch plans  bear testimony to the man’s principles and proggressive instincts. And that from a man who could not be further from some of Brown’s decisions over the last 12 years.

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