Public Interest.co.uk

Leftoid John Harris has discovered his inner Melanie, and decided, on the evidence of the racist nature of the current New Labour by-election campaign that the formidable intellect that is the one-eyed Scotsman has lost his moral compass. It's time his pals told him the truth:

"Behind the scenes, they must surely alert Brown to a simple choice: cut this stuff out and rediscover that moral compass - or bequeath them a political husk so robbed of its essential identity that it will take at least a generation to even begin to revive it".

Wow. Twenty years out of power. The next Labour Prime Minister not yet born. Sounds good to me. And, talking of sound:

"David Cameron's recent pronouncements are not nearly as surreal as they sound: right now, the Tories really are sounding more progressive than Labour, and that way lies not just electoral defeat, but the prospect of complete wipe-out".

Two sounds in one sentence. Not sure that works, really. Still, that's the Guardian for you. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
But onto the larger point: I wish I could believe it. However, let's face it, there is a gap in the political market for a pro-English, Nationalist/racist left-wing party, and the BNP really hasn't played ball on this. Likewise the Tories. So it kind of makes sense. They tried it with Boris, albeit the other way, by smearing him as racist, but it didn't work then. Now they've gone the other way in Crewe, and I don't suppose it will work there, either.
I guess it's called shoring up your core vote. Labour's focus groups must really be telling it some interesting stuff right now.

|

One of the greatest strengths of blogging is that you can pursue a single interest with absolutely no concern as to whether anyone reads or even cares what you are going on about. And here's someone who really won't let it go. I think it's safe to say that, reading between the lines, he doesn't like the one-eyed Scotsman.

|

I actually went to the Love Racism Hate Music do the other week. It's only fifteen minute walk from us. My good lady wife is rather partial to Mr. Damon Albarn, so to satisfy our domestic peace we turned up for the last hour.
Aside from the dreadful feedback, the badgering ranting about "racism" and the repetitive denunciation of the BNP from goons who were clearly a bit too excited to be in front of a microphone, there was something lacking in the whole gig. And it wasn't just the peace and love hippies.
As the very perceptive Mrs. Public Interest remarked on the way home, "I think I've only seen one Asian face here this whole afternoon".

|

Meet the first victim of the Boris regime. I can't help but notice that the Gorgeous One still has a job there. Seemingly, he never uses it for partisan reporting. Heaven forbid!

|

Like a woman who hasn't seen daylight for 24 years, Polly Toynbee has finally crawled out of her cellar:

"It is Labour that has become the stupid party - dumb, directionless, depressing".

I don't know about that final adjective, exactly, but I get the general point. Gordon is no longer a Viking, it seems. Still, it's an interesting article. Considering who's writing it, and compared to all the other hand-wringing stuff of recent days. It sheds a bit of light on how Labour might get out of its plight, but on the whole, is a bit more reasoned than the hysteria of John Harris, say.
It's understandable. A year ago, Blair was unpopular, but Labour were still ahead of the Tories poll-wise. Then he goes, Brown takes over, goes ahead in the polls. Then, seemingly related to the election that never was, everything turns to dust. Yet the policies are basically the same. It's the same old same old. Yet Labour now is seriously unpopular. Must be Brown's fault.
Like I've said before, I don't think so. And I don't think, judging by the anti-Boris campaign, they can get it. Babbling on about picanninnies and Oxford only appealed to a hardcore of seriously hard-left PC slime mold who already vote Labour. It cuts no ice with floating voters, and if they try that with Cameron, and they will, they will get hammered.
The only alternative - that the floating voters are fed up with tax rises and aren't seeing any corresponding value for money that justifies them - is something they might just about sense, but they won't be able to tackle. They aren't going to cut public spending or face down the unions. Likewise, appealing to old Labour will only alienate the floaters more.
So, they're done for.
The question is, how much can Cameron capitalise on the disaffection?

|

Versus













There can only be one winner. Oh yeah, if you're threatening to leave London, then, for once, be men of your word, why don't you?

|

Deborah Orr:

"Not even the looniest socialist would now suggest raising the minimum wage as a means of alleviating poverty, as the world teeters on recession".

Barack Obama:

"As president, Obama would further raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation".

|

Okay, let's suppose Gordon Brown loses the vote on the ten pence tax rate thing. Quite a big suppose, I reckon, but suppose. The usual subsequent procedure here is for the opposition to call for a vote of confidence, the rebels dutifully fall back in line, vote for the government, and Brown lives on to fight another day.
But suppose he doesn't play ball. Fed up with being labelled a coward, and terrified of going down to a spectacular, humiliating, John Major-like 1997 loss in July 2010, maybe the one-eyed Scotsman would do the unexpected and go to the Queen and ask for a dissolution.
After all, the machinery must still be, albeit slightly mothballed, in place, after the September election that never was. He must also be dimly aware that it really would concentrate the minds of the electorate, whereas opinion poll data never quite does. Is the public really ready for Lord Snooty and his pals? Another two years of this, and the public will be ready for Cameron. But now...? Nobody imagines the economy is going to get any better over the next two years, do they? The more Labour stays behind in the polls, the more the likes of Charles Clarke and co will throw their toys out of the pram.
It wouldn't surprise me. A May or June election, even if lost, would surely not give the Tories a landslide victory like it might in July 2010. Moreover, if Labour were to lose now, how much blame would attach to Brown rather than the rest of his sorry crew? In 2010 it will all be his fault.
In this respect, the great procrastinator reminds me a bit of Sven Goran-Eriksson. A very cautious man, who, fed up with his reputation for caution, often did reckless things, like pick Theo Walcott. And then refuse to play him! I can well imagine that the idea is playing on his mind. Hey, that'll show them. I'm not the wimp, they say I am.
A bit like when he abolished the ten p tax rate in the first place.

|

In the world's most popular newspaper the Yazzmonster discusses the divine mystery that is Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson:

"Boris says whatever he thinks voters want to hear. None of it, nothing really matters. He must think people are fools".

She explains. In which case we won't vote for him, then, will we?

"Boris could well win. The public is gullible".

Make your mind up, love.

|