Labour's Lost Meaning

An extraordinary time in British politics. Cabinet ministers are resigning left right and centre, one of whom openly called for Brown to resign, Labour is being thrashed in the local elections, and the general fume from the aftermath of the expenses scandal has got everyone in a panic. Meanwhile in America, good times reign as Obama, being wonderful as ever, reaches out to the Middle East, doing with words what Bush never could with bombs. Britain needs its own Obama, but will be forced to wait as there is no one fitting yet on our horizon. I think Labour’s main problem, aside from a general lack of imagination, is that it no longer has a core message, thanks mainly to Tony Blair having eroded it, evidently considering that power was a more worthwhile goal than principles. James Purnell, now former minister for work and pensions having resigned, summed up what Labour should mean in a letter to Brown calling for his resignation. He said he believed Labour is “a government that measures itself by how it treats the poorest in society. Those are our values, not David Cameron’s.” If Brown had successfully communicated what Purnell has so eloquently stated, then his party might not have reached the mess it now finds itself in. The Labour Party is weak, and when the Conservatives inevitably win, thanks to Brown’s selfish thick skinned determination to hang on they will have a formidable majority, and will be able to do what they please and govern as selfishly as they like because there will be no credible opposition, and our democracy will be damaged. That will be Brown’s legacy.