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Written by Austin Mitchell
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27 September 2007 |
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Bad Conference is degenerating into a trade fair. The unions supinely gave up their power. They didn’t trouble the leader with votes. Conference was castrated. No bookshop. No ideas. Everything passed to the Policy Forum. Which is useless. Ruthless management of the old Stalinist style without the Blair charm.
Irrelevant The election was an elephant in the room. No minister talked about it. Everyone wanted it. Whatever Gordon decrees they’ll agree with . He’s deeply cautious. But with a strong streak of political cunning. So the song should be “Things can only get worse”. “I let my golden chances pass me by” will be the grumbling refrain if he fluffs this.
Gordon’s speech (which I loved and critics marked down) gave us the man who’ll dominate our lives from now on. Solid. Serious. Monolithically concentrated on three things: The Family, Education and the NHS and steamrollering over everything else. Iraq (no mention). Conservatives and Liberals (no mention). EU (glossed over). Paying for it all (bill later). And not being Blair.
That’s the future. Heavyweight leader pressing down on dutiful party. Serious pupularism. Debate not dissent. Am I temperamentally unsuited. You’ve got to be a son of the manse to get on in this man’s party.
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It’s been Wonkering Wonderland week for Millibands. Their speeches are usually jokes about other Millibands. Not so David’s on future policy. That was assistant lecturer level.
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Conference I enjoyed it. Lots of good things. Particularly Gordon. But nothing to make me think. No new exciting thoughts. No exciting policy ideas. No new dawn. So perhaps the mark is a B-minus conference. No Blair (gone and not remembered). No books. No blood. No Babble of Ideas. Just bloody, ruthless management and endless exposition from new kids on the block. Who mainly disappointed. Plenty about Brown. Building his principles round his life story.
New Labour is now an empty husk. We all wait to see what Gordon will put in it. His speech said “more of the same”. Which will do for an early election. We don’t have the big problem of paying for it before that. But afterwards, what? And where? |
