Rocky times for Gordon Brown. His Government lost a vote on Gurkha residency to a Liberal Democrat motion, the MP expenses reform proposals had to be watered down awaiting independent review and half of his MPs are now ready to rebel over plans to sell off a stake of Royal Mail.
The Labour Party has steadily drifted to the left, as was evident years ago with the Trident renewal debate. On that occasion the Government was saved by the Tories voting aye and trumping 88 Labour rebels. Today we see a punitive Budget disenfranchising successful entrepreneurs, consultants and other high earners, smashing the trading gates of the country, and plunging the country into debt.
And despite deputy leader Harriet Harman denying she's vying for Labour leadership (God save us), there is speculation from Times columnist Rachel Sylvester that the party's moderates may see their patience snap. It would definitely help Labour's prospects in the next election.
Looking back at 12 years of Labour rule, we can hardly deny that many policies clearly haven't worked. Top-down management of the NHS has undermined one of the rare examples of good public sector health care, top-down targets in education have driven standards into the pit, solutions to growing youth crime are a farce, immigration is a joke, multiculturalism has failed, the pension fund is bust and the working class is still as miserable as ever. What Gordon Brown proposes is more debt, more taxation and more government.
Labour needs to find a new sense of direction to counter the rising Tories. The false security of leftist politics will eventually kill off Labour, probably prompting defections to the Liberal Democrats among the electorate and even, as rumored, among Labour MPs. Whether or not defections actually happen, the Party is fatigued. Twelve years in government and the failure of their policies have taken their toll: those who should lead can't envision a future anymore.
A moderate takeover of Labour is absolutely necessary. David Cameron will have to contend with a party caucus that's veering to the right should he win the next election in a landslide. Caught between the hammer of an intransigent back bench and the anvil of a leftist Labour, Cameron's number 10 tenure may be very short. And then the country would plunge into a battle between extremes where the golden middle ground of fiscal responsibility and personal liberty will be lost for a long time.
Brown has given himself an additional year as PM (conventionally the general election would have been today) as Parliament isn't due to expire until June 2010. Within this next year he has to either grow cojones and break with the leftists or succumb to Peter Mandelson.
1 comment:
The treatment of the Gurkhas has been atrocious. They have been unfailingly loyal to the Crown. They have served Britain well. They should be allowed residency. As for Gordon Brown. he is hopeless. His last budget a disaster. I hoep he stays on for the next election. Labour should be all but wiped out. If they elect a new labour leader theywould be obligated to immediately go to the polls. How many unelected labout Pms in a row should the UK tolerate.
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