Our appetite for cuts is abstract. Ask the median voter if they support ‘balancing the books’, and of course – as Jon Cruddas’ independent review into Labour’s election loss points out – the answer will be a resounding ‘yes.’ The intuitive analogy of household budget and national economy has been honed by the Conservatives for […]
Posts Tagged ‘Jon Cruddas’
The Cruddas review doesn’t undermine Corbyn – it shows an anti-cuts, pro-growth message can win
Aug 7th, 2015 by Nathan Akehurst.Is Labour doomed? Not if we end austerity
Mar 17th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Tucked away in a barely-publicised corner of The Telegraph’s web edition is this piece forecasting Labour’s possible extinction. There isn’t much to the article, the paper quotes Jon Cruddas (who else?) speculating about the possibility of Labour’s death before moving on to attack Ed Miliband’s pledge to introduce compulsory profit-sharing schemes. Let’s come back to Cruddas. In the context […]
What to make of the ‘profound dead hand’?
Jul 7th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.The election situation is clearly febrile already, but the secret recording of a speech by John Cruddas at a Compass meeting which was then leaked to the media is pretty low stuff even by Tory standards. But the real question is, is it true that, as Cruddas hinted, there is a “profound dead hand at […]
Labour’s policy process: Ed’s five mistakes and the “dead hand” of central control
Jun 30th, 2014 by Jon Lansman.This weekend, the Sunday Times front-page (£) splashed details of what Labour’s so-called ‘policy coordinator’, Jon Cruddas said at a Compass gathering last weekend: that Ed Miliband’s inner circle are wielding a “profound dead hand at the centre” to stop the party adopting bold policies. Wide-ranging imaginitive initiatives proposed by Cruddas’s policy review groups and external think […]
What’s the welfare state without universalism?
Feb 28th, 2013 by Tom King.A few weeks ago, Jon Cruddas appeared on Newsnight to float a number of policy ideas mostly related to the future of the Welfare State. On the whole there was little to give comfort to the millions of people suffering from brutal Tory austerity – the take home line was “foodbanks are here to stay”. […]
Some initial thoughts on Labour, patriotism and Tim Soutphommasane
Aug 12th, 2012 by Carl Packman.It has been the contention of some that the Englishness we speak of today is rather bleak and shrill, “based on loss and abandonment”, as Jon Cruddas recently put it. But the nation today will be in the throes of national ecstasy, nearing the closure of the Olympic games with 29 gold medals under our […]
Ten good reasons to welcome the appointment of Jon Cruddas
May 16th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.It’s been a while since Jon Cruddas was a Labour Left pin up boy and even then the status was contested by some sections of the Left — his campaign for the deputy leadership being seen as a distraction from the non-event that the main event turned out to be. Since that campaign, he clearly […]
Shadow cabinet reshuffle – another step forward
May 15th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.Ed Miliband has announced his minor re-shuffle following the departure of Peter Hain. He has clearly decided to hold off making any major changes at least until the Autumn. However, he has removed Liam Byrne from the role of coordinating the Policy Review, bringing in Jon Cruddas to perform this role, and appointing Angela Eagle […]
Ed Miliband: against factionalism… except for certain factions?
Apr 22nd, 2011 by Jon Lansman.Ed Miliband is against factionalism. Succeeding Blair and Brown, he has to be. As has been pointed out, the “paradox of post-factionalism” is that everyone counts heads to make sure he is. And to be fair, he’s even opened the door to some of those whom the Blairites judged unpersons — though he hasn’t shown […]
Compass and the Leadership
Sep 2nd, 2010 by Jon Lansman.“By this week-end, three quarters of the votes in the 2010 Labour leadership election will have been cast. The contest will effectively be over.” So Dan Hedges at Labour Uncut points out. And the effective end of the contest neatly coincides with the announcement of the result of the Compass ballot on who they’re going […]