Elections

John McDonnell Enters the Race for the Labour Leadership

Martyn Richard Jones — Thu, 20 May 2010 09:39:30 GMT

John McDonnell Enters the Race for the Labour Leadership.

This week, Labour Members of Parliament are faced with a choice: either one of the former frontbench who've been committed to the New Labour experiment for the past 16 years or a return to traditional Labour values like community, co-operation and hard work.

Whilst the Labour government has undoubtedly been responsible for some triumphs such as the Minimum Wage and the rejuvination of the National Health Service, our time in office as been marred by what many of our core voters present and past feel to be a desertion of their values.

Millions of pounds have been spent pursuing wars in the Middle East which were opposed more vociferously by the voters who entrusted the nation to us in the hope of fairer representation than by anyone else.

We cannot afford to rely on those who now claim to see in 20/20 hindsight the importance of listening to the public, but who had dismissed the opinions worries and fears of the progressive community we were all elected to represent.

Our history is one of giving a voice to the voiceless. Of supporting the masses of hard working British citizens in their endeavour to gain the right to have their voices heard in the work place. Of helping to make Britain a country in which people are paid decent wages to do the jobs which contribute to creation of a strong economy for the nation as whole. And of making sure that those who benefit most from the infrastructure, from education, to hospitals, to roads contribute fairly to the cost of those services.

Labour is at a junction. Through our incarnations we have been given the opportunity to interface with different sectors of society in different ways. New Labour gave us more opportunity and more traction to communicate with the business community on a new level. But we must never forget that whilst business provides the country's footprint globally and is the crucial power behind sustaining our economy, the people who must be looked after first are the people on the shopfloor, the people in the back office and the people facing the customers.

We are faced with a golden opportunity now to unite not merely workers with each other, but workers with their employers, too.

New Labour is no longer 'New'. But we can all work together to ensure that Labour is ready, willing and able to lead this country and for MPs to be worthy of the faith that the position reflects.

John McDonell for Labour Party Leader

Martyn Richard Jones — Thu, 20 May 2010 09:37:30 GMT

John McDonnell is the best hope for Labour supporters, for a fast return to an honourable, decent, democratic, egalitarian and inclusive Labour Party. John McDonnell is the best candidate, and one of the very few potential leaders who can avoid a humiliating six or more years in the wilderness, consisting of in-fighting, bickering and destructive abrasion between New Labour factions/sects.

Get back to Labour basics, bring back the Labour party of real values, kick out the spin, the superficial policies of surfaces, the meaningless sound bites and more importantly, scrap notions such as "doing what the market wants, because".

In a democracy, the politicians should dictate policies to the market, not the other way around. This is what New Labour ignored. This is what a John McDonnell leadership will bring back to the party and to UK politics.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/19/ed-balls-john-mcdonnell-labour-leadership-contest

The Guardian

Elections in Iran - More heat than light in the media

Martyn Richard Jones — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:25:00 GMT

Elections in Iran 2009

Ali Ansari and Thomas Rintoul, writing in the The Guardian's Comment is Free online blog on Monday 22 June 2009, seemed to be claiming that there is strong empirical evidence to suggest that the recent Iranian elections were in fact rigged in favour of the incumbent candidate.

In the article, "Magic numbers: Our analysis shows that some official figures of Ahmadinejad's win in Iran are hard to swallow", the charge of downright fraud is veiled in words that would not be out of place in he mouth of the mythical talking weasel.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed a victory that many find difficult to believe: 64% of the vote on a turnout of 84% in Iran's election. The provincial breakdown of the results – obtained by the University of St Andrews and Chatham House from Iran's ministry of interior – show some statistics that are even more surprising.

The full article from The Guardian can be found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/22/iran-election-voters-numbers

Anyway, enough from them. Here's my take on the election and the results.

From one perspective, it's hard to imagine Ahmadinejad getting more than a handful of votes. Would I vote for him? Good grief no, and not in a month of Sundays. But that isn't the issue is it. If the voting choice and election in this case had been based on the international projection of what Ahmadinejad has supposed to have said, and what he is supposed to be plotting, and that instead of Iranians going to the polls, it was the vote of western critics that mattered the most, then I would agree. I would agree that the outcome of the election is completely unexpected.

However, the election wasn't in the purview of western right-wing and liberal intellectuals, or indeed the western media. I case some people didn't notice, it was an election in Iran, by Iranians and for Iranians - okay, there was also voting elsewhere, but that's a minor academic point.

Many election results are surprising, it really depends on the level of the surprise, and who is being surprised.

Jim Callaghan losing the UK General Elections in 1979, that was a surprise, not for millions of Brits, but I still found it hard to believe. Thatcher winning, again, even though quite few prominent members of her own party really despised her. Labour Party not only electing Blair as leader, but with complete free rein to wreak havoc. The reelection of George Bush jr. Berlusconi's comeback, ditto for Netanyahu, and Daniel Ortega. Next, Barroso will be reelected as head boy for the EU. Surprising? Not really.

I was also reminded by another commentator on Cif, of the case of John Major. Bizhan wrote:

May I also add to your list the really surprise victory of the conservatives led by the then plain Mr John Major in 1992 general election. If you recall no one expected him to win. If my memory serves me correctly, I seem to remember reading in the papers even the Tories were surprised and even shocked at that totally unexpected result. In fact one of the reasons why the now knighted former prime minister was chosen to replace Thatcher was that some senior Thacherite tories were so convinced that they were going to lose the next election that they settled on him to succeed their dear leader. The rest as they say is history.

In the reelection of Ahmadinejad there were a number of factors that worked in his favour. A coincidence of time and place, and prevailing local and international political, diplomatic and economic circumstances, all these factors, and more, have probably lead to him gaining more votes than would otherwise be the case.

However, one aspect that I still find quite curious has been that, for some media outlets, the biggest differentiator between the candidates was that the more moderate candidate, believed in a less strict dress code.

Now call me old fashioned, but I wouldn't have thought that the prospect of being denied a less strict dress code would be a catalyst for a revolution in support of popular democracy, eh?

European and Local Elections - June 2009

Martyn Richard Jones — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:16:00 GMT

Election Notes 2009

1. UK

The election results were not entirely unexpected. So, PR represented the will of the people who actually bothered to get out and vote. Whether you like the outcome or not, and there are things that I am not particular happy about, e.g. 2 seats for the BNP, but that's a part of representative democracy.

At the local level New Labour were pretty much wiped out when Blair was in charge, so no change there.

Interim elections (as distinct from General Elections) will almost invariably serve to punish the government, especially when the economy is a concern for many people.

Everybody who benefits from the results of these elections will claim that the vote was for them, whereas frequently it's a vote against rather than for,

Low turnout in elections is too a serious problem for the claim that the UK is a democracy.

2. Early General Election - UK?

There are many reasons why a government would call an early general election, and there are some valid reasons for placing a motion of no confidence before the Houses of Parliament, but the shrieking despair of a small minority of hysterical twits is not one of them.

Does Cameron have the courage to take on Brown in a House of Commons vote of censure?

If he does, all fair and good, if he doesn't then maybe he isn't up to the job of even leader of the opposition.

3. Brown and the critics

It's quite bizarre that a lot of the criticisms of Brown are as vacuous, inane or as daft as any concatenation of meaningless clichés from the likes of Prescott or Blears.

4. Tuscanny, Bali or Rhyl

Nobody wants to lead New Labour into an electoral defeat. It's as simple as that. Now, if they gave me the job I'd balls it up in no time - there'd be elections in August, when there's a heatwave and all the nobs are in Tuscany, Bali or Rhyl.

5. War, what is it good for?

He can go, but only after after a War Crimes Commission has started what needs to be done. If he can pull that one off, Gordon's place in history wont look quite so bad. IMHO

6. The heat is on

He should call elections for August. Never mind, whichever way the voting goes the Tories (Cons or NL) will get back in.

7. No confidence

I would rather that the MPs first place a motion of no confidence to the vote in parliament. A government that loses such a vote is typically expected to convoke elections.

If MPs don't have the courage to place the motion and then vote down the government, then the general election will probably be next year.

8. War crimes inquiry now!

The best thing that Brown can do is to launch a massive inquiry into the Iraq War. Including traces on all telephone calls made, emails exchanges, messages, documents produced and circulated, etc.

Lst's get to the bottom of this, even if it means putting people on trial for war crimes, sedition and propaganda used to support war crimes.

Go on Gordon, these obnoxious people are gagging for it. Stick it to them.

9. Prats in public places

The first job is to persuade the Home Office that it is working for the British people, not against them.

Persuade? If they don't like it, keep sacking them until they get the message. Start at the top, work down. The elected MP doesn't need to persuade, they need to lead. They have a mandate, the civil service do not.

10. Come on, call a vote of no confidence, if you think you're tough enough

If the Tories think the Government should call early elections, then they should place a motion of no confidence before Parliament.

If they don't want to do that, because of a belief that their motion would be defeated, then there is no legitimacy for the Tories to simply call for early elections.

There are parliamentary procedures for removing a government, the rigged clapometer is not part of these procedures, nor should it be.

11. Right said Ken

Ken Livingstone, on this, you're bang in the money. Good riddance to right-wing rubbish, it's about time some left-wing policies were implemented, like, protecting those who are most likely to suffer from the economic crisis, who did not contribute to the crisis, and who did not really benefit during the good times.

12. Blairites out!

The only reasonable solution is to expel Blairites from the New Labour party, and to convert the party into a real social-democracy party. The pernicious influence of the Blairites has been more destructive than any militant tendency ever was.

New Labour are rubbish. So what if Purnell resigned, what difference does it make?

Absolutely none.

13. More lies about who is responsible

The lie being perpetrated is that Brown is directly responsible for the financial and economic crisis. The fact of the matter is that the New Labour government shoukd have done much more to regulate the financial sector in the UK, however, regulation of the The City would not have averted the global financial and economic crisis. Simply stated, New Labour may be responsible for many reprehensible policies, but the problems associated with the free and easy availability of credit should also be laid at the doors of those who availed themselves of over-borrowing and under-saving.

14. Liars poker

If we were experiencing an economic boom, most people wouldn't even bother to comment on some expense fiddling, beyond the usual .. "Politicians! What do you expect?" and "we're all at it". In times of economic crisis there are far fewer people willing to take a liberal view of some dodgy expense claims, for as relatively small as they may be.

Well, what is going on is some pretty blatant righteous indignation mixed with heavy doses of political opportunism, and a lot of gratuitous aggression - albeit, just in print. Which is hardly surprising, given the circumstances.

15. Fiddling with the seats

I don't think that it is reasonable to expect political parties not to be able to select the candidates for election. These candidates are also chosen to represent the party, it's values, its principles, but more importantly it's manifesto commitments with the electorate and for the party. The UK has a party political system, to pretend that this is not the case would be foolish, to try to change that fact by tinkering with the system as it is, would be counterproductive and damaging.

In my view, parties must be legally obliged to follow a democratic process for selecting candidates. That is, parties must not be allowed to dictate to constituency organization who they must choose as their candidates. But this is not the same as saying that there "must be no lists where parties get to choose their candidates". This only works in one party, multi-faction states, such as the USA and China, and to be quite frank, although it might make common-sense for the USA and China, this is not the sort of political system I want to see introduced to anywhere in Europe.

16. Right-wing Hysterical Twats

Just when you thought the European and local elections were over, the hysterical decide to go into over-drive. Are the detractors so afraid that the public may look at the facts of the matter?

To paraphrase Mister Angry Dick from Someplace-Not-Worth-Mentioning, "I'm not interested in facts, I find they tend to colour my judgment, I prefer to rely on instinct and blind prejudice".

17. Hobbes, Nobs and Cobblers

Where have we seen this before?

New Labour are like GIs in Vietnam, without a clue about what they are supposed to be doing there, what they fighting for or who they are against?

No wonder everyone in NL is worried about friendly fire.

MartynInEurope

08 Jun 09, 12:03pm (1 minute ago)

The New Labour leviathan is eating its own.

18. Dismal indictment of a failing democracy

The dismal turnout has not only been a blow for New Labour, but it's also been a terrible indictment for any self-respecting party that considers themselves to be predominately democratic.

As for the leadership of the Labour party? Well, that's neither here nor there. What could be better than having Brown as PM for the next 11 months? A dead-beat Blair-lite clone? That's not change even worth getting out of bed for.

Simply stated, the government must either lose its majority in the House of Commons, lose a vote of no confidence, or lose a General Election. The rest is not even academic.

If Brown has any sense he would rush through constitutional reform, so at least, come May 2010, there would be a chance to use PR to obtain a House of Commons that is far more representative of the will of the people.

That could well serve as the basis of wide-sweeping and much-needed constitutional change.

19. Sally Keeble says

This is an open letter to my constituents in Northampton to explain why, after 12 years of complete loyalty to my party, I am withdrawing support from Gordon Brown as Labour leader.

This is not a letter to constituents, it's an opinion article on The Guardian's blog site.

I withdrew my support from New Labour more than twelve years ago, when I first started noticing the measure of the new candidates.

This article comes as no surprise, quite frankly I would have expected more.

The Labour party needs purging of Blairites in much the same way it was purged of the Militant Tendency.

For all his faults, I was never ashamed of Michael Foot. You lot are just a bunch of potential war criminals.

20. Denis MacShane Says Something Else

Ten lessons for the left from Europe

Developments such as a rise in racism, the collapse of faith in the left and the recession have changed the political landscape:

Denis MacShane
guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 June 2009 19.30 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/08/europe-elections-lessons-learned

The problem is, the right think New Labour are left, New Labour think they are left, and me on the left - maybe more than just me - think NL and the extreme right are insufferable twats.

New Labour has tried to play both sides, and has succeeded eventually in pleasing few, especially those greedy and reckless troughers who were quite happy with New Labour during the boom times, even when NL went to war - on more than one occasion.

What needs to be done.

21. Media Coverage and Analysis of the UK Elections has been Rubbish

The biggest problem of the last elections revolves around one central issue: low turnout.

I'm surprised that political commentators would prefer to piss around with peripheral and inconsequential nonsense rather than to try and address the tough issues, the core issues. What the story is really about.

Media commentary in the UK, by and large, has been pathetic, shallow and reactionary.

MartynInEurope

09 Jun 09, 4:05am (6 minutes ago)

Well, I don't remember the Graun having any problem in supporting this nauseating bunch of Blairite bastards, who are now deserting the ship and then rebelling - trust a Blairite to even get that sequence wrong.

22. More than 50% of the voters stayed at home

It's pretty stupid extrapolating some sort of "mood of the country" conclusions from the EU elections apart from: most people were not arsed enough to go and vote.

How can there be a surge in vote for almost anyone when most of the individual parties vote went down?

That's not analysis, that's wilful stupidity in the face of statistics.

23. More valid representation is just a facet of reform

PR, and not just any old PR, is what is needed. But that's only a small part of the raft of constitutional reforms that must be made in order to give the UK the type of robust and representative political system that can lead to more decisions being made closer to the people those decisions affect, and government and opposition that represents far more closely the will of the people.

24. Stupid and pathetic "political analysis"

Ian Black, writing in The Guardian : http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/13/ian-jack-labour-party-comment

Last week in the Rhondda, ex-miners and their children voted Tory. In Glasgow, the sons and daughters of shipyard welders switched to the Scot Nats. In Lancashire, the descendants of mill workers stayed at home and let in the British National party. These are the landscapes that laid the foundations of Labour. It seems incredible that their ancient political loyalties should have withered so quickly and completely.

When will these twats come up with some reasonable political analysis? It was an appallingly low turnout, this was not a normal election, it was not a general election, many of those who turned out were the Tory loyalists and the protest voters, how difficult is this to understand?

There have always been Tory voters in the Rhondda, but a Tory is more likely to get out and vote, come hell and high water, than a socialist, especially when the socialist has really nothing to vote for.

You cannot compare apples with pigs ears, it doesn't work.

It's not rocket science after all, is it.