The shameful behaviour of New Labour

Bob Thomson's letter in today's Herald
Gaun yersel Bob!

The shameful behaviour of New Labour

Your Letters August 02 2006

I will have been a member of the Labour Party for 43 years next month. Over the past few years I have considered resigning, as half the membership, more than 200,000, has done. But I took the view that it is our party, not Blair's or New Labour's, and would stay in to campaign to win the party back to its democratic socialist roots.
Nonetheless, I have never been so ashamed of this New Labour government as now. Its lack of condemnation of the Israeli government's illegal attack on Lebanon and, even worse, its complicity in the transport of weapons of mass destruction from the US to Israel is appalling. To think that a bomb transported through Prestwick could have killed all those women and children at Qana is deeply distressing and disreputable.
The deafening silence from most Labour MPs, MSPs and MEPs, including the First Minister and other Ministers, is shameful. The similar silence from LibDem Scottish Ministers is unsurprising; they, too, are as much chancers and hypocrites as New Labour.

I had the misfortune first to meet Blair in 1991. I didn't think much of him then, and my view has steadily gone downhill since. In my and many others' opinion, he shouldn't be in the Labour Party, far less leading it. He has involved us in more wars and conflicts than Churchill, malignantly interfered with the Scottish Parliament referendum, introduced tuition and top-up fees, is privatising health and education in England, corrupted the honours system and has saddled future generations with the costs of the private finance initiative.

Blair is Prime Minister by virtue of his leadership of the Labour Party. Despite party rules on nominations, he has not had to stand for election since 1994. Even banana republics go through the motions of elections.

Labour's share of the vote is in steep decline. At last year's General Election we received four million votes fewer than in 1997 and our lowest share of the vote since 1929. Next year's Scottish and Welsh elections don't look good. If Labour is to regain its radicalism and connect with the electorate, then its elective representatives, constituent trade unions, other affiliates and remaining individual members must act now to ensure there is a leadership contest at this year's party conference in September.

Bob Thomson, past Chairman/Treasurer, Scottish Labour Party, 741 Shields Road, Glasgow.