So it is a case of dazed, disorientated and confused LP members meekly accepting Labour’s defeat at the next election, staring defeat in the face…But hark, what is that charging forward? Jon Cruddas riding in to the rescue clutching some ‘progressive’ policies. Hurrah! For we are saved!
Jonny-come-lately along with his new intellectual friend, James Purnell. They have ventured forthwith out of the ivory towers they had retreated to and have come to spout the word of re-cycled NL.
Cruddas states that we have lost our language, our empathy, our generosity, because we have retreated into a philosophical framework of the right.
Deja vu… I recall him saying that at Compass conference 2008, just a couple of days after he supported the government on 42 days yet the Cruddas cheerleaders gave him such a thunderous applause.
The problem with Cruddas (and he is still on course to morph into some hideous Kinnock clone) is that he spouts left but votes right. Reading his vision for the Labour Party along with this championing of social democracy are just …words. The man has had so many chances to severe his ties with the NL leadership but when it comes to showing some backbone he fails. Why would anyone have any faith in him? Why would anyone trust him? I certainly didn’t vote for him regarding Deputy Leader as for me he was still a war monger who claimed he was ‘misled’ over war in Iraq (ah, c’mon Jon…millions of people globally saw through the lies, lies and more damn lies over WMD so why couldn’t you?!). Many assumed he had a road to Damascus conversion with his seemingly ‘left turn’ in the Deputy Leadership contest but he has time and time again proved himself to be a loyal courtier of NL. The litmus test for me was his support for the Welfare Reform Bill (see his voting on the various amendments)
And now have we the nightmare scenario of the Cruddas/Purnell ticket to look forward to? Is this the best last hope we can look forward to…? I can feel my gag reflex kicking in already….
Oh, and I like this post by Dave on the media intelligentsia and especially the Toynbee One.
I think Kevin Maguire or some other Lab-journo needs to get a better grasp of the phrase ‘the mask is slipping.’ In the case of Cruddas, no one has dared to reveal the man under the mask.
Hyuk! Excellent post, Harpy.
Cruddas Shut Your Mouth, indeed.
Thanks MM, it would do the world a big favour if Cruddas did shut his gob!
[...] Cruddas’ most recent words. Sunny at LibCon has a ten point plan to save Labour; HarpyMarx is not impressed with Cruddas but Raincoat Optimism is. The Guardian on the other hand manages to write the most [...]
I, too, am aggravated by the way Cruddas voted on the welfare reform bill, but there is more to his turn than there is of Purnell’s, as can be seen here; there is nothing in Purnell’s turn to suggest that large corporate wealth interferes with the structure of society or public institutions. Therefore to conflate the two together is erroneous.
Raincoatoptimism: “Therefore to conflate the two together is erroneous”
Does that include voting record?
Unfortunately, they are similar, but ideas from the left communitarian camp seem to ring more in line with my socialism, than Purnell’s so-called left republicanism. These are are all mad words at the moment, but Cruddas is far more in touch with the left, it seems rather more trouble than its worth criticising him for ideas that are frankly exciting in the Labour party at the moment.
I get what you are saying but central to this is whether you can actually trust Cruddas? He makes these grand speeches with left/social democratic ideas but he doesn’t deliver? I can certainly see him morph into some Kinnock clone.
We can only speculate so far, but it is high time leftist ideas made it back to the fore, I think he has hit gold by discussing what distinguishes and what binds socialism and liberalism.
I’ve been trying to figure out what bugs me about Cruddas, and you’re onto something with him. He says some useful things, and obviously he got the shock of his life having to deal with the BNP in Dagenham… but then there’s no follow through. I think that annoys me in some ways more than if he was a simple Blairite clone. You get these flashes of potential, but he always and inevitably lets you down.
Don’t despair. All is not lost. Some people are still standing up and telling the truth to power.
Lots of wonderful and excellent progress in the Welfare Reform Bill debate in the Lords yesterday. Thanks to everyone who campaigned to get a soupcon of protection for very vulnerable people. The wonderful baronesses did it. Well that is it’s still a terrible Bill but they got as much protection as they possibly could for the sick and mentally ill.
Disability is now linked to the lone parents issues – lone parents had charities fighting for them all the way and the Disability Benefits Consortium finally woke up and joined in.
Disability type with proper medical diagnosis is now back at least in the monitoring and is due cause for appeal against sanctions.
So medical diagnosis got back on the face of the bill. Conventional medicine is no longer abolished by this government any more than boom and bust was – it’s been let back in and rehabilitated.
Hansard link and edited extracts at -
http://carerwatch.com/mhealth/
Zero press coverage. Everyone was following some poor fascist called Nick Griffin instead of watching the really dangerous politicians bringing in the Welfare Reform Bill.
[...] others were waxing lyrical against him (Dave, Louise, Ten%, all of very sound mind, and who I admire and have complete respect for) I decided to stand [...]