Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman as candidate for November's elections. It's a bit far-fetched by there's the beginnings of a similar campaign starting among a few left wing blogs to unseat our revered leader in this country.They are starting to twitch with excitement at the prospect of a bloodbath at the Labour Conference in three weeks' time. Bob Piper mentions it and Luke Young reckons there will be a motion put to the conference obliging the NEC to start a leadership contest if Blair doesn't do the decent thing and announce his departure plans. He posts the text of the resolution which on first reading could spell real trouble for Blair - not as much as Inspector John Yates, perhaps, who may also come-a-knocking over the next few weeks.
Dave's Part Blog [admittedly he's a Trot, and has common cuase with me in this matter!] is keen to whip up some trouble and points out how the NEC will be forced to put the resolution to a vote.
For it to be taken, Labour Party members need to mandate their delegates to vote for it in the priorities ballot on Sunday 24 September. Failing that, STLP is appealing to individuals with Labour Party office to endorse the resolution in a personal capacity. OK, OK. I’m not a Labour Party member. And if I was, I would find it hard to back any resolution that commends that bastard Blair on his 'achievements'. But forget quibbles about the exact phraseology. The underlying message is clear. Here’s the resolution anyway. If you are in a position to push it forward, you should certainly do so.
Conference notes the call by the First Minister of the Labour Welsh
Assembly Government on 10 August 2006 for clarity over the leadership of the
Labour British government well before the Welsh, Scottish and local government
elections in May 2007.Conference notes with concern mounting electoral losses
and public controversy about the direction of both domestic and foreign
policy.Moreover, Conference notes growing public concern and interest in a new
constitutional settlement to ensure that future British Prime Ministers and
their governments are held accountable to Parliament and the
electorate.Conference commends the achievements of its Party Leader since his
election in 1994, and subsequently as Prime Minister through Labour’s three
successive British General election victories in 1997, 2001 and 2005.Conference
notes the Prime Minister’s previous statement that he will not fight the next
General Election as Party Leader or Prime Minister. Conference now believes that
the next Labour Prime Minister needs as much time as possible in office before
the next General Election, if Labour is to secure a fourth term.Conference,
therefore, calls on the NEC to use its powers under Clause VIII 3 (h)* to table
a resolution at Conference for debate and ballot on Wednesday 27 September under
Rule 4B. 2d (ii) to enable delegates to decide on a card vote whether or not
there should be a Leadership contest before the 2007 Annual Conference.
The campaign seems to be fronted by an organisation I have never heard of called SAVE THE LABOUR PARTY. Now I'm by no means an expert on the Labour Party conference rules, but let's hope this is the beginning of some sort of mutiny. At least it will make for an interesting September!
31 comments:
Not signed 'Polly' is it?
It's the sort of stuff she's been churning out - "Thanks very much, you've done a great job, but it's Gordon's turn now. And whatever you do, don't mention the war."
Contrariwise, most of the lefty blogs talk about nothing else *but* the war; they've been sold a pup with the 45 minutes/axis of evil thing, and boy, do they want blood, preferably seeping out from under the front door of No. 10. Quite a few were asking, recommending, begging for labourites to vote anything but Labour at the last election.
But the Welsh section now seem to be organising and that could make it pretty sticky to get any meaningful legislation through if they really get their act together.
Usually I don't take much notice of the Lab conference but this year it could be a real bun-fight.
They all seem very demoralised over at LabourHome...
kingbongo - that was very funny!
On Blair, I'm sticking to my guns. Gone by the end of September.
Can you see the headline?
"Prime Minister Tony Blair has been given a hostile reception by the Labour Party, who heckled and slow hand-clapped a speech he gave to their Conference."
But unfortunately they haven't the balls of the Women's Institute.
That Labour organisation is a growing force and has links with Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance which recently had 4 members voted onto the NEC by the constituencies (out of 6 slots). Anne Black (NEC) for example is a Member of both.
Alas the days of Blair are numbered as it would be better for Tories if he hung around longer, ironic?
Those of who you speak never supported Blair.
They won't support whoever replaces him.
Ten years on, it still hasn't dawned on them that the alternative to a New Labour Government is not an Old Labour Government, but a Tory one.
As usual with Labour/Union/Left motions, they are far too longwinded.
Here's a much better, straight-to-the-point wording, to be addressed directly to the First Lord of the Treasury:
You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately. Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!
This tried and tested wording worked when used by Oliver Cromwell, and then later, also by Leo Amery.
On a similar theme - but with a Labour perspective, I've just posted 'Tony Benn, spin and some facts...'
bt writes: "and boy, do they want blood, preferably seeping out from under the front door of No. 10." You don't have to be Labour to see the appeal ...
I can see your reasons for wanting to fan the flames on this, but the two bloggers you mention are either:
a) largely unknown/read (as evidenced by the lack of comments).
or
b) not a member of the Labour Party.
"There's nothing like sitting round a table with a glass of brown ale..."
It's a bottle of brown ale, you toff, you.
The Save The Labour Party website is registered to a Peter Kenyon of Finsbury Park Road, North London - does anybody know who he is?
Should we be intruding on private grief? Absolutely - we owe them.
Peter Kenyon is the Secretary of Cities of London and Westminster CLP (my CLP, as it happens, although I go to meetings in Westminster North CLP because that's where I'm a councillor).
fairdealphil
The same type of people were doing the same things, minus the internet back in 79. You look old enough to remember this. Also remember what happened for the next 18 years.
Your Nazi stile government has given your party big wiggs a longer stay in the Limos of power, then Old Labour would have. But here is the rub.
3 Labour terms has given a whole generation an education on what a Labour government REALLY meens. Not what a bunch of useless lazy colledge boy Marxist twitts thinks it meens.
Tony Blair becomes more like a cross between Oswald Mosely and Napolian Pig, and Labour party ministers more like a bunch of stropy suited farm animals everyday.
Rest assured dictators like Tony Blair dont get pushed anywhere by anyone, until they are ready. To many skeletons left in suspect places. The prisons and courts are crowded enough right now.
TB will not be going anywhere until he can present Iraq as a victory at least. Or when he becomes certain that Labour dont have Miliband in hells chance of getting a 4th term.
If the Labour party really want to get ridd of him, I sugest they tell their friends at the BBC to start putting a possitive spin on the war for a change.
Back this up with a special highly paid job in Europe. One that will give him an excellent chance of becomeing the first president of Europe. Then old Labour might have their chance of really screwing up their party and the country for eternity.
I would cut your loses now, 3 terms only and you might be one day forgiven. 4 terms and its the end of the British Labour movement, as a form of government forever.
So, from a purely selfish point of view, are folks hoping Blair gets the push now or that he'll hang on in there until next May, drawing out the pain for the Labour Party?
And when he goes, who do people most hope/fear will succeed him, again, looking at it from the point of view of who will be good or bad news for the Conservative Party's electoral fortunes?
I'd have thought that it would be in the Tories' best interests to have Blair in Downing Street for a while yet, with his party getting more and more unhappy and mutinous, and then have him succeded by John Reid, who'll ensure the fighting goes on and will make most Labour supporters, I'm sure, even more unhappy than will Gordon Brown. But I defer to the judgment of others on this.
Fairdealphil - I definitely prefer the alternative you say will happen. Can I put down a motion for conference for this please!!!!
Interesting aspect of the conference is heckling.
Now that Mr Wolfgang has been voted on the NEC will people feel more confident to shout down Tony Blair?
My prediction is that no one in the Party can even summon up the courage to cross their arms in front of Tony.
Serves them all right if their ship sinks without a trace.
garypowell said..."3 Labour terms has given a whole generation an education on what a Labour government REALLY meens. Not what a bunch of useless lazy colledge boy Marxist twitts thinks it meens."
Now, I'm hardly one to pick up on spelling mistakes... but it seems that all those years of Tory education were wasted on our gazza.
By the way Iain... Luke Young was generous enough to credit the source of his posting... so why weren't you? Surely not because you didn't want to refer your readers to a site which had mildly criticised you?
I'm as Tory as they come, but I like to keep an eye on what the Third Estate is up to. There was a full article on "Save the Labour Party" in the Grauniad on 7 April 2006. I warn you , it's very long.
Bob, I think you must have got out of bed the wrong side this morning! I will happily add you in. No offence intended. I think you will agree that I have been very good in providing links to your blog in the past!
"Could the Blogs Force Blair To Go the Same Way as Joe Lieberman?" Er, no. But it wasn't the blogs that did for Joe - his opponent, a very wealthy man, spent almost his entire fortune on ads and also ruthlessly exploited and channeled the current anti-war feeling in the US. Expect a bloodbath in the upcoming Senate elections if this is replayed elsewhere, which is a possibility.
In the UK, there is no alternative candidate prepared to do that, as Cameron and the Tories are basically pro-war. The Libdems are a busted flush on this subject also; nobody really believes they are anything other than unprincipled opportunists in their so-called "anti-war" stance, which Kennedy has admitted he never really believed. So where does the anti-war vote go, to Respect? Puh-leaze.
And should we be encouraging withdrawal from Iraq? If the US doesn't have the heart for the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, which I think will be an increasing issue nearer the election and especially before and after the next Presidential, should Little Britain be sending under-resourced and under-equipped servicemen and women out there with a bad mandate, no real interest from the self-obsessed NL cabinet and every chance of being killed? No matter how much it's obviously in our national interests to suppress Islamic extremism, something that nearly all of our resident Muslims support, despite claims to the contrary, as the real polls show.
The future does not look bright, regardless of which lot are in office after the next general election. In fact, there is a good case for arguing it might be best for the Tories not to be in government next time around to avoid the taint of inevitable and massive failure.
once again hat tip to Bob Piper. But just to clear up, the Resolution has nothing to do with me other than that i'm a member of the Labour Party.
Blair has led the party to three wins and as a result the Labour Govrnment has been able to help millions.
But, I do recognise the need for strong and effective leadership at the top and believe that the PM should step aside before next May's elections. (if you wish to see why please feel free to read further into my blog.)
As far as the Resolution at conference goes,as i said in the my post, I don't believe that holding a gun to his head is going to help anyone.
Iain... you most certainly have been extremely generous with credits... and I am eternally grateful... which was why I was surprised on this occasion. I knew it wasn't deliberate, just teasing you up a bit.
top one kingbongo, and thanks Iain for reminding some of your dimmer readers that any Trot is likely to have common cause with you as you are a Tory
luke young presented this astonishing statement as fact: "Blair has led the party to three wins and as a result the Labour Govrnment has been able to help millions."
Hmmmm. And yet yesterday's (Sunday's) papers reported that the poor are now £531 per year worse off under Labour. This raises the question, who has Blair helped - other than his best friends, and, of course, the Blairina?
Dear Tone, what you need to convince people you must stay as Führer (woops, leader) is the right kind of catchy slogan.
Here's one that worked well back in the 1930s:
Tony ist die Partei, und die Partei ist Tony!
Now if you could get that nice Ms Riefenstahl to make a movie of the party rally (sorry, conference) there would be no holding you back...
2br02b - V good - in a sinister kind of way. The thing is, I can honestly picture Blair in the Adolf role, strutting around in a uniform, the histrionics into the microphone, the messianic look in the eye. Someone should do a UTube.
"yesterday's (Sunday's) papers reported that the poor are now £531 per year worse off under Labour" and Verity quotes the Sunday papers as absolute fact..... not sus at all!
Look, feel free to try and rip apart the government and i'm sure you will, but being from a family that has been helped greatly since 1997, and i can assure you Blaina is far away from middle england, I know that in many areas (politicallly and geographically) the Labour run governments of Wales and the UK are still making a difference. Don't try to paint me as someone that follows the party line 24/7 without thought. I say what I think needs saying, for examples feel free to look at my blog.
Verity: This raises the question, who has Blair helped:
Stumbling and Mumbling explains; essentially, Blair seems to have reduced the share of benefits received by the poorest quintile and increased their burden of taxation, to the benefit of middle-income voters. This, the article explains, makes good political sense since the middle-income earners are the people politicians need particularly to court.
I can sort of see Toni as Maximum and Glorious Leader for Ever and Ever. Worrying thing is - so can he. I wonder how he looks in uniform?
Remember way back in the far, far distant past, even before most had started suspecting that Toni had psychopathic tendencies, they were talking about 'The Project'. And one of that mob opined that it meant that it would be impossible to vote Conservative ever again. At the time it seemed an odd way to phrase it, but these days I'm taking the worst, most malefic interpretation I can come up with. I really think that they thought they could control everything and everybody.
If true they've failed spectacularly, but they've done an awful lot of damage along they way.
Blogs aren't enough. Peoples Tribunal, anyone?
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