tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1861503191739164916.post2723306491439163159..comments2023-10-26T16:15:10.261+01:00Comments on Aberdeen University Labour Club: This coming year...Aberdeen University Labour Clubhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06076425203772932895noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1861503191739164916.post-61090264992304938642009-09-22T12:12:09.291+01:002009-09-22T12:12:09.291+01:00Personally, I find this talk about socialism, demo...Personally, I find this talk about socialism, democratic socialism etc irrelevant. To paraphrase Deng Xiaoping "It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice". Pragmatism should be the modus operandi and we have seen that in order to become electorally viable (the main aim of a political party) the Labour party has had to make some shifts away from it's dogmatic past. Being born in 1987, I can't say what that dogmatic past was like, but i am certainly New Labour because I believe in justice, fairness and equality of opportunity yet I don't believe in antiquated systems of analysis to find out how to ensure these beliefs come into fruition. <br />However, I do feel remorseful. We should have gone further - there is a pensions black hole that needs plugging, our education system needs continually reforming to allow it to adapt to a changing globalised economy. And i don't think we have done nearly enough, nearly enough to tackle the problems of social exclusion, social deprivation and injustice in the UK and abroad. And I'm ready to tackle these with fresh ideas and fresh approaches. It would be great if, rather than trying to outsmart people on who knows more about the definition of socialism, we work together to bring new solutions to these problems.<br />Just one example (a personal example) of what New Labour has done. I am 22 years old, I started high school in England in 1997. Since then, that high school has been equipped with three new computer rooms, there are many more teachers and assistants, it has received extra funding for its science and technology. When I went to sixth form, I received the EMA meaning I could focus on studies rather than try to work as well. I gained 2 A's and a C. In my home town, new social housing and home ownership laws means that people have a sense of worth about our town. But the biggest thing for me is that now at uni, I can work for £6.64 an hour. That would have been unheard of in a Tory government. Yes, there have been mistakes, yes we haven't achieved everything. But we haven't finished, so lets not fight, lets work together so that the Tories stay out of power and we can continue to work for good.Kyle McGregornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1861503191739164916.post-61069625441290348612009-09-21T11:30:23.783+01:002009-09-21T11:30:23.783+01:00As for alternatives I think it is right to point o...As for alternatives I think it is right to point out there is a massive void left in the left-of-centre at a UK level as the many political parties crowd the centre to right-of-centre part of the spectrum. The Lib Dems (as flawed as they are) seem to be generally to the left of New Labour however, and therefore perhaps could be seen as best of a bad bunch. In Scotland it has to be said that the SNP in government have implemented many admirable social policies such as vastly increasing construction of social housing, reintroducing free education, freezing council tax (thus alleviating the strain on societies least well paid) and phasing out prescription charges. Whether we like it or not it has to be conceded that their behaviour in government has been closer to the ideology of Wheatley, Hardie and Bevan than Labour governance both at Holyrood and Westminster has displayed for many, many years. Greater home rule or even independence is surely not something we should be frightened of given the potential for developing an internationalist, progressive, social democratic sovereign nation such as demonstrated by our Scandinavian neighbours? Furthermore, proportional representation at Holyrood makes votes for other leftist parties such as the Greens and even the SSP more likely to yield elected representatives. A compelling argument for electoral reform at a UK level surely?<br /><br />I recognise there are many social democrats that remain in the Labour Party with the hope of steering it back to a genuine left-of-centre position in the political spectrum. I fully respect those people. However, I would respectfully suggest that those who defend the ideology and record of the New Labour Party whilst proclaiming that they are proud democratic socialists are the ones who should be looking up the definition of socialism.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1861503191739164916.post-60892493286614708022009-09-21T11:28:36.195+01:002009-09-21T11:28:36.195+01:00Anonymous 2
I'm a bit perplexed at your rathe...Anonymous 2<br /><br />I'm a bit perplexed at your rather myopic reference to an obscure and defunct political party with no relevance to modern politics. Social Democracy is an international modern political ideology, part of the pantheon of Socialism. I would have thought that someone claiming to be a socialist would know that. Indeed it can be credibly argued that Social Democrats and Democratic Socialists are really more or less the same thing. Certainly any differences between us should be regarded as negligible. We should be on the same side, singing from the same hymn sheet.<br /><br />However, the problem is that it is very difficult to see any justification of referring to the Labour Party as in any way "socialist". At best Labour is centrist. Indeed in several policy spheres it can be shown to be centre right and even, alarmingly and unbelievably, to the right of the Tories in some areas such as civil liberties!!!<br /><br />You claim that Labour provides opportunities and support to people that other parties don't. Sadly, this doesn't square with the facts. Regardless of what good policies Labour have introduced since 1997 (such as the minimum wage) there are still fundamental failures regarding the gap between rich and poor and levels of relative poverty across the UK. The improvements since the desperate Tory years have been nowhere near good enough. Arguably this is entirely due to Labour lurching to the right in order to try and retain power in the deeply flawed first past the post Westminster electoral system. This has stifled any attempt to implement real social democratic policies and make the difficult decisions required to make a real difference. This current UK government is closer to Thatcher than Atlee. That is a shameful indictment on the New Labour project. <br /><br />There have been mistakes over the past 12 years. You expect that from any government. However, I’m not talking about mistakes per se. I’m talking about fundamental policy positions which should surely repulse any individual whose political opinions are founded on a desire for social justice and internationalism. Unflinching support for ID cards in the face of cuts to front line services for example, support for the multi billion pound imperialist folly of nuclear weapons in the face of mass unemployment and widespread relative poverty. Above all continued justification by the Labour government for the appalling illegal war in Iraq which saw so many of our fellow global citizens die. To dismiss these as merely “mistakes” is frankly an insult and demonstrative of the deep malaise in the modern Labour Party.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1861503191739164916.post-76222172468906953472009-09-19T11:20:06.933+01:002009-09-19T11:20:06.933+01:00Dont you just love the line "as a GENUINE soc...Dont you just love the line "as a GENUINE social democrat" i wonder if that is in relation to the british SDP that split from the Labour Party in 1981 and helped thatcher stay in power for so long.<br /><br />I am proud to be labour and i am proud to be a democratic socialist, someone who supports the oridinary people of our country and wants to bring them out of poverty and give them oppertunities that they will enver recieve under any other party but Labout.<br /><br />Yes over the last 12 yrs the government has made mistakes and has done things that supporters find hard to swallow but look at the alternative, a lberal party that wants to cut harder tahn the tories and a tory party who want to cut public services to fund an inhritance tax cut that will only help their natural base.<br /><br />So if you are a true social democrat then to NOT vote labour shows that you dont know what those 2 words really mean.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1861503191739164916.post-58724782853660910512009-09-19T01:12:22.303+01:002009-09-19T01:12:22.303+01:00Still no contrition then Kyle?
As I said before i...Still no contrition then Kyle?<br /><br />As I said before in the past 12 years there were some decent achievements (Although your artificially long list contains more than a few very tenuous claims). However, fundamentally you have failed badly on social justice. The gap between rich and poor is greater now than in 1997. The legacy of Labour misrule is 1 in 4 children and 1 in 5 pensioners in Scotland living in relative poverty.<br /><br />Still you support ID cards, PFI, “British jobs for British Workers” and the obscenity of nuclear weapons. <br /><br />Still no apology for the illegal war in Iraq.<br /><br />Whatever good policies you have implemented are overshadowed by your failures on social justice and your shameful and destructive neo-con foreign policy.<br /><br />Sorry guys, as a GENUINE social democrat I would never ever dream of supporting Labour. You have let the people down badly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1861503191739164916.post-85444233092475526092009-09-17T01:02:35.794+01:002009-09-17T01:02:35.794+01:00Well said Kyle!!!Well said Kyle!!!Nahuatlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01695947489412687926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1861503191739164916.post-33594158260606589822009-09-16T23:12:49.082+01:002009-09-16T23:12:49.082+01:001. Longest period of sustained low inflation si...1. Longest period of sustained low inflation since the 60s<br />2. Low mortgage rates<br />3. Introduced the National Minimum Wage and raised it to £5.35<br />4. Record police numbers in England, Scotland and Wales<br />5. Cut overall crime by 35 per cent<br />6. Record levels of literacy and numeracy in schools<br />7. Best-ever primary school results<br />8. Funding for every pupil in England to double by 2008<br />9. Employment is at its highest level ever<br />10. Written off up to 100 per cent of debt owed by poorest countries<br />11. 85,000 more nurses<br />12. 32,000 more doctors<br />13. Brought back matrons to hospital wards<br />14. Devolved power to the Scottish Parliament<br />15. Devolved power to Welsh Assembly<br />16. Dads now get paternity leave of 2 weeks for the first time<br />17. NHS Direct offering free convenient patient advice <br />18. Gift aid was worth £625 million to charities last year<br />19. Restored city-wide government to London <br />20. Record number of students in higher education<br />21. Child benefit up 25 per cent since 1997<br />22. Created Sure Start to help children from low income households<br />23. Introduced the Disability Rights Commission <br />24. £200 winter fuel payment to pensioners & extra £100 for over-80s<br />25. On course to exceed Kyoto target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2010<br />26. Negotiated the historic Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland<br />27. Over 30,000 more teachers in England schools<br />28. All workers now have a right to 4 weeks’ paid holiday<br />29. A million pensioners lifted out of relative poverty<br />30. 800,000 children lifted out of relative poverty<br />31. Introduced child tax credit giving more money to parents<br />32. Scrapped Section 28 and introduced Civil Partnerships<br />33. Brought over 1 million social homes up to standard<br />34. Free school milk for five, six and seven-year-olds in Wales<br />35. Banned fox hunting <br />36. Cleanest rivers, beaches, drinking water and air since the industrial revolution<br />37. Free TV licences for over-75s<br />38. Banned fur farming and the testing of cosmetics on animals<br />39. Waiting times for operations halved<br />40. Free local bus travel for over-60s<br />41. New Deal - helped over a million people into work<br />42. Over 1.5 million child trust funds have been started<br />43. Free eye test for over 60s<br />44. Five, six and seven year olds in class sizes of 30 or less<br />45. Free entry to national museums and galleries<br />46. Overseas aid budget more than doubled<br />47. Cancer death rates down by 12 per cent, saving 43,000 lives <br />48. Cut long-term youth unemployment by 75 per cent<br />49. Free nursery places for three and four-year-olds in England, Scotland and Wales<br />50. Free fruit for all four to six-year-olds at schoolKyle McGregornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1861503191739164916.post-88693088885700617032009-09-15T18:44:21.458+01:002009-09-15T18:44:21.458+01:00"Labour members are deservedly proud of our r..."Labour members are deservedly proud of our record"<br /><br />Yes there have been some progressive policies which are very welcome such as the minimum wage and civil partnerships. But in 1997 we anticipated MORE than a half dozen or so positive policies in 12 years!!! There have been far too many failures and there are too many right wing policies that frankly eclipse any positive steps you may have made. For example:<br /><br />ID cards<br />Support for Trident renewal<br />Support for PFI<br />Support for the council tax (which disproportionately hits the poorest in society)<br />Tuition Fees<br />Opposition to Scottish fiscal autonomy<br />An increased gap between rich and poor<br />Removing the 10p tax band<br />A continuation of Thatcherite economic policy<br /><br />and of course, worst of all, the illegal war in Iraq where tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters have been killed.<br /><br />You may have some things that you feel you should be proud of. I however think you have much, much more that you should be absolutely ashamed of.<br /><br />Thanks to your party's unforgivable lurch to the right and your government's incompetence you have left us doomed to face another period of Tory rule. Mind you, your lot have behaved like the Tories in government so at least we'll be prepared for it.<br /><br />Pride??? A wee bit of contrition would be nice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com