John McDonnell campaign siteMalky x said...
Of course, probation in Scotland was not being privatised last night, and it's not run the same way here anyway. But the New Labour ideologues in charge of the party here are still forcing through their privatisation drive - and indeed it's now fronting the Scottish Parliament election campaign.
Under the heading "Nationalists warned over PPP" today's Herald (biggest Scottish quality daily paper, published in Glasgow) reports:
"Labour clashed with the SNP yesterday over funding for new schools and hospitals, with ministers claiming that Nationalist opposition to private finance would result in cancellation of hundreds of projects."
http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.1226688.0.0.php
Yep. We're aguing privatisation is good. They're arguing that it's not (there are plenty of problems with what the SNP is arguing for, but that's for another discussion).
Unfortunately for NuLab and McNuLab, privatisation is still obviously putting voters off in droves. The same issue of the Herald contains the latest poll results:
"On the constituency voting intentions, covering 1004 people between 23 and 26 February, ICM put the SNP on 34%, Labour on 29%, and the Liberal Democrats and Tories each on 16%.
"That represents a change on ICM's findings from January of a one point gain for the SNP, two points down for Labour, with the LibDems down one and Tories up three. The smaller parties shared 4%."
You can read that again. Labour 29%. In Scotland.
Our election campaign here is in crisis. The usual scare tactics about breaking up Britain are no longer working; the First Minister's top backroom election adviser quit last week to spend more time with his family; and high profile visits by Blair and Brown seem (how strange) to have only confirmed the SNP lead in the polls.
And here is what the actual MSP candidates think, according to Herald Political Editor Douglas Fraser: "Labour may wheel out big election guns but MSPs want it local"
"...ask those MSPs hoping to return to Holyrood after May 3, and many say they'll be running local campaigns. Would they like a visit from Tony Blair or Jack McConnell? Er, thanks all the same, they say, but that really won't be necessary.
"Instead, they want to play on Labour loyalties, firming up a vote that feels soft. Reminders of the current leadership won't help."
http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/holyrood/display.var.1220774.0.0.php
Indeed talk and planning now appears to be for damage limitation. The Labour vote *is* now incredibly "soft". Even in Scotland "our people" are ever less enthused about voting Labour. The usual expectation would be for the Labour vote to firm up as polling day approaches. But the candidates are nervous, more nervous than ever. We might be about to lose comprehensively in Scotland for the first time in generations.
John's analysis on this blog is spot on, and confirmed in what is often supposed to be natural labour territory up here in Scotland. NuLab has squandered the opportunity of 10 years ago, yet marches blindly forward towards its self willed precipice.
Blair is a liability. So is Brown (even up here - viz Dunfermline West by election disaster just over a year ago). It's not all about Iraq by any means, though clearly that's destroyed trust in the government; we need to start representing our people again - and we can't do that by the kind of right wing "cost of everything value of nothing" public-bad-private-good neocon market ideology that has led us to this dismal situation (and of the kind we can only imagine Clarke and Milburn will promote with their "stalking elephant" website).
John's calm, reasoned and moderate campaign, based firmly on democratically agreed policies and a wise socialist interpretation of the daily realities faced by the vast majority of people, stands in clear contrast to the swaggering but empty and vicious snake oil peddlers in charge now.
Keep it up John. You are doing a great and essential job for the Labour Party. It's a pretty messy stable to clean up, but we have to start somewhere.
Get on the telly. Get on the radio. Get in the papers. Get in the blogs.
Get on the ballot paper.
And then we'll get the public debate which we need.
12:04 PM
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