A decade of Blair... Labour on its knees

This from the Grauniad by Neal Lawson, I idn't notice till today. Always refreshing when the Blairites recant.

A decade of Blair has left the Labour party on its knees | Comment | Guardian Unlimited Politics: "The answer takes us back to Labour's fourth election defeat in 1992. At that moment, the party sank to its collective knees and vowed to do whatever it took to win next time. "

This is correct, apart from the fact that it was 1987, not 1992 when the sinking to the knees moment happened. That was the point where Kinnock brought Mandelson in closest to the throne.

In my own personal experience people like John Reid and Tom Sawyer were completely broken men in 1988, 1989. I know, I spoke to them and was amazed at their attitude. "It's all over, socialism is off the agenda, we can never win..." I paraphrase...

They, and such as them, were ripe for Blair. John Smith, though, got in the way. He moved Mandelson back outside the leader's tent - a good call. Surely no-one doubts Smith would have won in 1997? I completely disagree with the "Blair the best political communicator of his generation" bullshit. That's just starry-eyed stuff (now stary-eyed, of course). I could have won that election, so could you.

But by then Smith had died and Blair moved in on the broken men who were to become the "outriders". Then Blair and Mandy fucked Labour. Now here we are having wasted an unprecedented amount of political capital in war-crime blood and privatisation tears.

Hell mend us for letting Blair in.

Talkin' bout a revolution (again)?

BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Moscow's suburb for billionaires: "How exactly these people have got hold of such vast wealth in such a short time is a very good question, and one many ordinary Russians would like answered."

And

""They're all thieves," she said. "All that money is stolen from the people."

It's a view millions of Russians would agree with. Fifteen years ago everything in Russia was owned by the state. Today a quarter of Russia's economy is owned by 36 men. "

First time I have seen the question posed as clearly as this in a mainstream media article. What gives...

Jackie Sparrow

YouTube - Jackie Sparrow

Tracy Beaker Gets Real, King's Theatre, Edinburgh, Sat 7 April 2007

Published in the Morning Star
(Wednesday 18 April 2007)

Top kids fun in stage debut

Tracy Beaker Gets Real

King's Theatre, Edinburgh

EDINBURGH'S beautiful old King's Theatre is packed with kids and their parents - or, perhaps, their carers - and it's buzzing as hundreds of young paws rustle sweet packets and cartons of juice.

They're all on their best behaviour, though, because tonight Tracy Beaker Gets Real. As the lights go down and the curtain comes up, the hundreds of bright eyes are rapt.

The children's publishing phenomenon of Tracy Beaker has made her creator Jacqueline Wilson a rich and respected author. Rightly so - the books are brilliant and the BBC TV show is required viewing for kids with attitude from five to 15.

The eponymous heroine lives in a care home which she and the other inmates call "the Dumping Ground."

Tracy is, in the jargon of her straightlaced social worker Elaine the Pain, "hard to place" on account of her sassy attitude, which undermines her unending quest for a foster family who will love her, but which also makes her irresistible to readers and audiences.

Much of the drama in the story springs from Tracy's fantasy visions of her ne'er-do-well single mum, who in reality has left her in care, and it translates powerfully and movingly to the stage.

This first-ever theatrical adaptation, written by Mary Morris and realised by the Nottingham Playhouse company, had a successful premiere and short tour last year.

Its April run in Edinburgh kicked off a marathon trek around theatres in towns and cities across the British Isles, continuing throughout the summer.

The production is certainly true to the essence of the first book, The Story of Tracy Beaker, published in 1991, and to the look and feel of the BBC series.

Pippa Duffy, the young actress playing Tracy, nails the stage part with an authority matching the benchmark set by the TV show's star Danielle Harmer.

And not just one but two performances of real merit are put in by Emma Thornett, who plays both Tracy's reprehensible mum and her soppy care-home friend Louise so effectively that you might be surprised to find that it was just one actor in these very different roles.

The play is a musical and each character gets a keynote song. The music is mainly bright and lively, with an excellent band.

The words are sometimes a little quick and complex for younger children, but the acting telegraphs the meaning effectively.

Even Elaine the Pain (played by Natasha Seale) has a showstopping number towards the end and joins in a group hug. A must-see show for Beaker fans and their parents - or carers.

On tour now. Plays Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold, from April 24-28. Box office: 0845 330-3565. Then Malvern, Wolverhampton, Aberdeen, Belfast, Buxton, Poole, Nottingham, Hackney, Tunbridge Wells, Leeds, Manchester and Milton Keynes. Visit www.tracybeakertour.co.uk for full tour schedule, box-office information and other details.

MALCOLM BURNS

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Unions back Labour by single vote

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Unions back Labour by single vote: "Unions back Labour by single vote

Labour has narrowly retained the formal endorsement of Scotland's trades unions for the Holyrood and council elections.

The general council of the STUC has agreed by one vote to back a Labour victory as being in the best interests of workers.

Public service union Unison was among those which refused to support the STUC taking a party political position."

oh dear oh dear

"Scotland turns its back on Labour..."

Scotland turns its back on Labour, and on Brown | Special Reports | Guardian Unlimited Politics: "Labour is now desperate to avoid its first election defeat in Scotland in 50 years. It wants to concentrate on investing in education, its 'full employment agency', new community courts, and the SNP's 'dangerous and disastrous' economic policies. But the voters seem intent on punishing Labour on May 3: the polls which give the SNP a lead also show fewer Scots would support independence, the SNP's core demand, so it is not nationalism driving its popularity."

Not nationalism - and not the economy, stupid. So what? Step forward Tony. It's you and New Labour. Looks like you've blown all that political capital in just 10 years.

Bang, crash, stab...

The sound of McNuLab imploding...

The Sunday Herald - Scotland's award-winning independent newspaper: "A new survey, carried out for Scottish Opinion, put the Nationalists on 40% of the constituency vote, ahead of Labour's 28%. It also gave the SNP an 11% lead on the regional list vote, with Alex Salmond's party on 39% and Labour on 28%.
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A seat projection carried out for the Mail on Sunday put the SNP on 56 seats, with Labour behind on 40.

The results come on top of Labour's internal polls, which are finding the party at least five points behind the SNP.

Labour pollster Philip Gould admitted the deficit at a briefing last week, at which McConnell said: 'We're behind. Our private polls show us behind.'"

Oh dear, once more...

Britain delivers damning verdict on Blair's 10 years | Politics | The Observer: "Despite some independent evidence that services have improved and the economy has performed well compared with other industrialised nations, the poll shows how damning the public's verdict is on Blair and his government.

The poll, carried out for The Observer for a special supplement on his decade in power, will increase concerns among Labour's high command that the party is facing electoral defeat in the crucial national elections in Scotland and Wales and the local elections in England next month. It could also mean that Gordon Brown, if he wins the subsequent leadership election, will be handed an almost impossible political legacy to deal with.

The poll reveals that almost half of voters consider the outgoing Prime Minister as out of touch, untrustworthy and overly concerned with spin, while 57 per cent think he has stayed in office too long. And despite the billions of pounds poured into health care, more than half rate the government's performance on the NHS as poor or very poor in a sign that even Labour's traditional strengths are becoming dangerously eroded."