Friday, May 6, 2011

Not good enough

Well the AV vote has failed but that was kind of expected anyway because the Yes campaign was so poor and the No campaign effective but negative... but at least visible.

In the light of regional elections Labour has to be rather disappointed i would have thought. I certainly am. OK we win Wales but Scotland is lost and as for winning English councils, well Labour did that throughout the 1980s for all the good it did. The Tories actually won some councils in any case.

The government is unpopular, the Tories have been successful in setting up their Lib Dem coalition partners to be the fall guys but even so, the Tories should have taken a hit so why haven't they?

Granted the effect of their cuts has yet to be felt but much of the publicity has been negative. However there has been little positive narrative from the other side for people to grasp onto. What do Labour actually stand for? I don't know and neither do the party to be honest. People afraid or distrustful of one side will stay with the Devil they know if there is no perceptible alternative. It is that alternative that Labour has to provide and fast.

The party has to come up with a vision, an alternative. The election was lost a year ago yet still Labour are trying to defend their record. No one cares. The Tories and their media lapdogs will attack anyway. Labour needs to set out its vision for rule, a positive vision in tune with the times. A vision that fills the void of hope, that can bring about a fairer society yet one that doesn't punish people just for existing.

So hurry up Ed, the speed at which the Lib Dems are imploding you might need to be coming up with a general election manifesto sooner than you imagined.

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