Labour did not lose election because it was too left wing, says Unite chief | Politics | The Guardian
Here’s Len McLuskey, talking some sense:
He says Labour fell for the Tories’ austerity trap long before the election. He writes: “Ignoring the views of many economists, it accepted a need to balance the budget and eliminate the deficit, which left them playing on Tory ground. Once this was conceded, Labour was on a hiding to nothing – no one will ever believe that they would be more reliable cutters than the Tories.
“So Labour was left trying to protect the victims of the Tory cuts agenda while accepting its underlying premises, also depriving itself of a coherent narrative linking together popular individual policies.”
He adds: “Labour had no central theme, defining what it stood for. Something that could – as in 1945, 1966 and 1997 – unite working class and middle class voters around a vision for society.”
This blog will publish some thoughts about what Labour’s central theme should be – soon.
The Blairites have been getting their objections in first, and what they’ve said is akin to arguing that the USSR fell because it was too liberal.
Labour theme if there was one was not delivered in a manor that was understood by the people. Both UKIPs and that of the SNP’s campaign were fully understood and people voted accordingly
UKIP’s on immigration and the EU and SNP’s on the people of Scotland and how great Scotland is
conservatives theme was on working people but struggled to get any other part of there message across but overall was understood that if you worked this was the party to vote for and people did
And that’s it in a nutshell both labour and liberals lacked any kind of theme of conviction and kept drifting off with labour not very business friendly and the liberals going down a route of the mansion tax
You’re mistaken about the Conservatives. I agree with Simon Wren-Lewis in his Mainly Macro blog: “The Conservative campaign mainly focused on three themes: how inadequate Ed Miliband would be as Prime Minister, how bad Labour’s macroeconomic policies had been when they were last in government, and how Labour would be ‘held to ransom’ by the SNP. With all three of these, the arguments were not based on clear objective facts, but on political spin.”
The Tory campaign was a tissue of lies that the public fell for – hook, line and sinker. It had nothing to do with working people at all.
If you work, Labour is the party to support. The Tories are for the idle rich parasites who live on the profits made by working people – who are the REAL wealth-generators (supporters of Chuka Umunna need to remember).
That to mike and I agree with that also but i would class that as a negative campaign the running down of others is simple’ any fool could do that even me but you wouldn’t expect anyone to vote for me on that basis would you?
In addition, that brings about on what the public would vote for given a choice. I think if that question were asked of them they would be none the wiser and in all reality just show themselves up as a selfish bunch overall with very little moral fibre
I’m not going to criticise the electorate here!
I think the majority were misled by a cunning and conniving Conservative campaign team.
indeed they were mike. The only wise and sensible politician at this time has quit and that’s William Hague, Richmond says he wont’s to live near you mike and make his millions ?
That’s right, he’s coming to Powys. I have a feeling he won’t be showing his face anywhere near me, though.
For me, the most depressing part of election night was hearing a top Labour person saying they were amazed they hadn’t won Battersea because their candidate was excellent, worked in financial services, was a wealth creator.
Until Labour again truly understand who the real wealth creators are in a society, I won’t be rejoining them. No soul, no vision, no passion. Dragged ever further right through fear of the Daily Mail for 30 years now.