Miliband made ‘terrible mistake’ in ditching New Labour, says Mandelson | Politics | The Guardian

Last Updated: May 11, 2015By

Here’s a lot of nonsense from a man who should have kept his nose out. Peter Mandelson reckons Labour members were told to go out and shout for the poor against the rich, not mentioning anyone in between, does he? What about the “squeezed middle” that Ed Miliband was so roundly criticised for discussing?

The last thing Labour needs is a return to Mandelson’s centre ground – because Mandelson’s centre ground is in the middle of Tory territory, and nobody wants Labour to be ‘Tory lite’ apart from the SNP.

Intervention from key architect of New Labour comes as Chuka Umunna and Tristram Hunt signal interest in running for party leadership, with Liz Kendall first to clearly declare intention

Source: Miliband made ‘terrible mistake’ in ditching New Labour, says Mandelson | Politics | The Guardian

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25 Comments

  1. Jeffery Davies May 11, 2015 at 9:56 am - Reply

    Still blaire babies cry out to the right to the right when all around sais the left hum I think we are doomed those ninty nine percent who aint rich to have no voice in parliament has the blair babys pout about going to far left yet they doom many has they have that bug greed firmly entrenched by their leader blair jeff3

  2. Bioman May 11, 2015 at 10:02 am - Reply

    Much as I hate to disagree I do. “New Labour” or no, it is about striding the middle so as to prevent others from coming in and from disadvantaging you through their strict mannoevre across the ground. This includes you, the ratchet in the turning mechanism that is obviously not SWP but a social endeavour to wake people up.

    Such acts as Tulra and Turerra will never be repealed even if they do indeed succumb to being Thatcherite. And as such it is clear that they will need to be involved in the dispute. but it is so and herefore it need to be recognised as such. No Golden Rule will gainsay the need to be a fair and just society for all. Not just the unions which have a history of being closed shops as the witnesses of the Bristol bus drivers dispute of the ’60’s will vouch for.

    It is for the youth of today to understand that there are alot of things to take into acocunt not least the stem of the tide called the end of the foreign interest in the British endeavour called the union and the vote. Too much foreign intervention and foreign Aid associate-anger.

    It is not the rule but the way, to be a fair and equal society and it is not for the right to send us to the front of the war on Aids for instance – it is for the rest to do so and not be so cool and clever about it. If it is in the interest of the rest then it is so but unless the rest call for it then it should not be done. That includes green theory which is premarketed as being Labour intensive but is in fact a nuclear attack upon the rich and famous for their misnomer called the aparthieid of the soul. Their beleaguer is to be in the front of the war without being in the soul of it. The green theory works to shop and drop but it doesn’t answer the call for more and more to succeed in getting the rest of the world’s population ahead. Which is what the Labour Party want. To see the advancement of all, not just the Labour of the British. Which takes control of the home ground first.

    • Mike Sivier May 11, 2015 at 10:12 am - Reply

      The problem is what people call the Middle Ground – because of constant neoliberal policies, the general public now believes the Middle Ground is somewhere to the right of the policies of Margaret Thatcher. People have lost sight of what Middle Ground politics looks like – including those in Labour who are calling for a return to it.

      • Bioman May 11, 2015 at 10:19 am - Reply

        Sure – I have not lived in the European States, I am a child of the British politic of the ’90’s so I unyield to the true value of the left. I see what it is and that is the end of the real way thorugh this morass of integer thinking and not the real one that is the true one – that is to be afraid to change as one did in the ’90’s when TB was in power. In power he led the change to a mass produced society that is now in ful tilt for the right without check. It is not as he had planned however it is the result. It is not the real one or the old, it is the new and it is here and it is not sustainable in the affluence of the liberal ideal. So – I agree with you tho I question whether you intended to call Thatcher’s choices to be “left”.

        • Mike Sivier May 12, 2015 at 3:04 pm - Reply

          I didn’t say Thatcher’s choices were to the left – I said the parties at the moment are to the right of her. SHE was also right-wing. My point was that the centre-ground is a long way away from anyone at the moment.

          • Bioman May 12, 2015 at 3:26 pm

            NOW I know why Europe wanted to join the UK – cos of Madame T.

          • Mike Sivier May 12, 2015 at 3:31 pm

            I don’t understand. Do you mean Europe wanted the UK to join because of her? That doesn’t work – the UK joined in the 1970s.

          • Bioman May 12, 2015 at 3:35 pm

            This is getting better. Next you’ll be telling me that Nelson Mandela was a terrorist after all his trial was in the 60’s and he stayed in prison through the left 70’s of Britain. The Winds of Change.

          • Mike Sivier May 12, 2015 at 4:10 pm

            No. The two things have nothing to do with each other at all.

      • charles philip May 11, 2015 at 1:41 pm - Reply

        Agree with that Mike…. I also think that the reaction to this election is not really accurate as far as Labour are concerned. Scotland obviously voted against ‘Westminster’ rather than the Labour party as Labour weren’t in power for the last five years and the SNP ran on an anti austerity platform….with more than a dash of future Independence thrown in…
        If you take out the Scottish vote you will see that the Tories and Labour actually gained the same number of seats ,24 each…… and the Lib Dems lost 47 seats….. so if you ignore the SNP seats it was the \Lib Dems who collapsed and the Tories and Labour shared in the gains from this….. That is why there should be a sensible debate (within the Labour movement) around the Tories victory rather than Labours loss… It’s still a mystery to me why people earning less than £150 K a year would vote Tory…..

  3. hstorm May 11, 2015 at 10:08 am - Reply

    More to the point, the centre-right ground Mandelson and Tony Blair are calling out for is the current default of the Liberal Democrats. And look what happened to them…

  4. Chris Bergin May 11, 2015 at 10:14 am - Reply

    New Labour and the lean to the right was the problem not the solution! We made ahalf hearted attempt at socialism but havenow hobbled and denied it by not supporting the social inclusive endeavours paid for by our taxes. New Labour abandoned the principle of social ownership so the people who paid for Hospitals and NHS and railways etc. ended up robbed by the deceit of the media and the wealthy. Swithch of your TVs and think for yourselves!

  5. justin May 11, 2015 at 10:16 am - Reply

    the establishment will never allow labour to become socialist again sadly,we need party’s that are totally different,how can labour be socialist when its leader is an Eaton toff? the MP’s and leaders need to be ‘the common man’ union men or those who were brought up in a council house struggling,how can anyone know the suffering of the proletariat if they have never experienced it?

    • Mike Sivier May 11, 2015 at 11:43 am - Reply

      Labour’s leader has never been an Eton toff, as you put it.
      Who did you have in mind when you wrote that?
      I disagree about the Establishment’s ability to influence Labour but, other than those matters, you make interesting points.

  6. Charles Norman Hay May 11, 2015 at 10:39 am - Reply

    Labour lost this election not through the SNP as the tory party would like you to think but through a badly run campaign with a rather plastic unsympathetic leader as was the Tory and Liberal democratic leaders the only leader who communicated with the electorate was Nicola Sturgeon, the problem is not being in the middle ground but they cannot produce a positive manifesto for the future only a simple copy of the Tory propaganda, the way forward is to appel to all of the people but you first need to have good sound policy in place with people who are prepared to mix with the voters and not stay aloof of the voters then they might get somewhere but i doubt if they will ever win Scotland back .

    • Mike Sivier May 11, 2015 at 11:46 am - Reply

      Labour will get Scotland back in 2020, after Sturgeon falls on her backside. Did you see her after the election, making promises to hold the Tories to account that she knows she can’t keep?
      Your comments about Labour are coloured by your sympathy for the SNP, it seems. However, your statement that the way forward is to appeal to everybody with good, sound policy in place, is useful.

  7. Jim Round May 11, 2015 at 11:36 am - Reply

    Labour will shift to the centre-right for one reason, and one reason only, power.
    Because they were elected when they covered that ground.
    I keep saying it, England will not vote in a left government.

    • Mike Sivier May 11, 2015 at 11:41 am - Reply

      Labour is already in the centre-right. You mean it will shift to the right – where the Tories are.

  8. Nick May 11, 2015 at 11:57 am - Reply

    i believe mike it’s down to personality and labour could only ever win again if that was achieved

    I know that is the wrong way at looking at it but you have to remember that the next prime minister in 2020 will be Boris Johnson why ? because he has personality even if you don’t like it he has it and it will be on that basis alone on how this country will be run in going forward

    every part of the media is based about personality who reads the news weather etc and politics is no difference

    A small example just supposed a young alf garnett came along for labour who could fight the sick and disabled corner with humor yes they may seam odd but as i say at the end of the day it will be your personality first and four most on how the public take to you and not what you say as any fool can speak the same words

    • Mike Sivier May 11, 2015 at 12:04 pm - Reply

      Are you seriously suggesting that Cameron’s personality is acceptable to the British people?

      • Nick May 11, 2015 at 10:02 pm - Reply

        over the likes of UKIP and the SNP leaders then yes mike

        David Cameron painted a very dark picture if these 2 were on board in a coalition that just in itself would have panicked many and spit the votes all over the place just getting rid of Simon Hughes proves that point you don’t get rid of one of the best mp’s irrespective of your political viewpoints

        getting rid of him proves the public in Bermondsey were in some sort of mental turmoil and were not thinking clearly and i believe that train of thought process went on throughout the country

        Why the public voted conservative was because they in the main are the workers who own there own home or with a mortgage and with such low interest rates it was a no-brainer

        if interest rates still stay low then in 5 years the conservatives will win again and so on

        the errors made over the past 5 years were both of their making both liberal Democrats and conservative just punishing one without the other is just to silly for words you couldn’t make it up

        It will be at least 10 years before labour get to grips with what went wrong and for me it was as i say just the low interest rates with those in steady work that voted conservative

        where i live in gatwick/crawley if i stood on a conservative platform i to would have one even if i were deaf and dumb true it it would be a small majority but the none the less a mp i would become

  9. Leslie Moore May 11, 2015 at 5:00 pm - Reply

    I do not agree for 1 minute that it was Labors rejection of the right that cost the labor party the election it was in fact the opposite, do you really think that the 8000 mostly ex miners in Millibands Doncaster voted for UKIP because all of a sudden they became right wing, it was the same reason this crap is being pushed that labor lost, UKIP said it was going back to coal and it would have a referendum on the EU, and the peoplestill want that. Cameron saw the danger and offered a referendum to his supporters, Lesson listen to what the people want and stop lecturing them on what you want them to vote for simples realy,

  10. Michael Lloyd May 12, 2015 at 9:29 am - Reply

    Credible socialism was rendered unconscious with “son of Thatcher” Tony Blair, climbed into its death-bed with zionist Gordon Brown and was only stirring limply in its death throes during Student Union president Ed Milliband’s tenure as “Labour leader.” Credible socialism – fully capable of inspiring and uniting honest working people in all social classes and running a just and prosperous society – now requires conscious leadership from people with a credible record of hard work and wealth creation to displace the lost-in-the-clouds Old Etonians now pervading UK government who have no connection whatsoever with the hard, financial reality of the daily lives of 99% of the population, and will continue robbing the poor to feed the rich until we stand together and stop them.

    Conscious Socialism is born today, will grow to full maturity in the next 5 years with the grateful support of conscious voters all across the country and will gain popular victory at the next general election.
    You read it here first.

    Please visit the Conscious Socialism community page on Facebook. Thank you!

    • Mike Sivier May 12, 2015 at 2:41 pm - Reply

      Gordon Brown, a Zionist? First I’ve heard of it. Let’s see your evidence.

      I’m interested in the rest of your comments though, and will visit the Conscious Socialism page to see what it’s all about.

    • John Gaines May 14, 2015 at 8:30 am - Reply

      Credible socialism – fully capable of inspiring and uniting honest working people in all social classes

      Not if I can stop this nonsense…is this another one of The Prince of Poison’s girlie fancies, surely we have had a bellyfull of this self obessed tw*t.

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