Posted by Jon Trickett

Austerity has failed Greece and its people – just as it is failing people here

Austerity is failingIn our country austerity is imposed by an elected government. In Greece, however, a government was elected to try a different way out of the crisis. But the will of the people is being thwarted by a troika of largely unelected institutions: the IMF, The European Council and the European Bank.Austerity is endangering the social fabric in Greece and it is not working to reduce the deficit because the actual debt has increased from 120% of the GDP to 180%.

Most gravely, Greek unemployment has reached 28% (60% for young people), and average income decreased by 40%. These levels are unsustainable which are unsustainable  will mean that even with the best will, the debt levels which their government has to deal with cannot be resolved. Continue reading →

No going back: Labour needs a clean break

no_going_backHistory, Marx remarked, often repeats itself. The first time as tragedy and the second time as farce.

If we don’t understand history we will certainly be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. And so it is that we can learn a lesson from the Conservatives.

Mrs Thatcher showed the Tories how to win elections after a period of opposition. Mr Blair did the same for us.

But the Tories made the mistake of attempting to find leaders who reproduced her politics. This was a serious blunder, and they lost three subsequent elections under the Thatcherite clones – Hague, Duncan Smith and Howard.  They failed because they didn’t understand that the country had changed fundamentally and that it had moved on beyond Thatcherism. Continue reading →

Why any Labour leader who can’t reach working class voters will lose again

working classThis is a defining moment for the future, and arguably the survival, of the Labour Party. In the coming months there will be much debate about what went wrong and where next.

In 2005, I produced evidence that Labour had lost 4 million voters since the election in 1997. A substantial part of these missing millions were traditional working class voters. This pattern has continued over the last 10 years.

In a minor tidal wave of what looks like pre planned statements, a group of commentators have argued that what lost the election was a failure to tap into the hopes of “aspirational” voters. Continue reading →

At the ballot box, we’re all equal for a moment – let’s vote to keep it that way

ballot boxTonight I came home to find my ballot paper waiting in the letter box. Tomorrow I will be able to cast my postal vote for my Labour candidate (me as it happens). In voting I will be joined by millions of others.

Stop and reflect a minute. Because my vote only has the same weight as yours and any other citizen. For once in all our lives no one person is any more powerful than any other. Continue reading →

No truth and justice as decision on Orgreave investigation stays secret

OrgreaveI have written to the chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) requesting an explanation of the continuing delays in determining how they will proceed in the investigation of the events at Orgreave during the miners’ strike, 30 years ago. The miners that were there, their families, campaigners and the local communities are not primarily pushing for compensation for what happened, or even an apology. They simply want the truth.

Last week the Wakefield Express newspaper reported that the IPCC had made a decision as to whether there will be a full investigation into what happened at Orgreave in 1984. However, this decision has been kept secret. Continue reading →