AULC Updates

Summer is upon us and most people are away back home, on holiday in foreign lands or working and living in Aberdeen. There are various different news updates that you all may be interested in. Firstly, the Labour Club met in May to elect a new committee. I (Daniel McCroskrie) am the new chair of the club. Scott Carle is our new Vice Chair, with Jason Butcher as Treasurer and Amy Robertson as Secretary. Members were elected to various other positions and they can be viewed on our Facebook page.
Also we have a Labour leadership contest in full swing. David Miliband, Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham and Dianne Abbott are all out canvassing for Labour member support and this is a very exciting time for the party. However, the work that Gordon Brown did for the party was extraordinary and he should be remembered for his firm handing of the UK economy for 11 years and the work that he displayed in getting Britain out of recession.
Conference season is also fast approaching with Labour National Conference in Manchester being held at the end of September and the always enjoyable Scottish Labour Conference in Oban which takes place at the end of October.
The club will be out in full force at Fresher's Week and the year ahead is looking positive!

It is not over till "The Fat Lady Sings The Red Flag!"

Give up now. There is no point. Tories have won, Labour are heading for an other 18 years of oblivion. Darling and his economic advisor's did the budget on the back of a fag packet and we are heading for Third World status.

The media want us to believe this, the Tories are RELYING on us believing this and some of our own are starting to think it is true.

Comrades nothing could be further from the truth. The budget on Wednesday was a bitter pill to swallow in terms of debt but it was also the most heartening moment of the year. A Fabian headline of this year has been "Fairness now more than ever in Recession". This is essentially what the budget will deliver. Not cutting with a Cameron chain saw but offering help and support for those who need it most at an acutely difficult time. The fact that we are asking the wealthy to prop up these policies with a new top rate is a bonus.

Normally in times of economic strife the rich and wealthy while losing a % of their income can afford to carry on as normal without much effect on their lifestyle. Those with middle and modest income on the other hand get hit with the same economic punch but have not got the means to recover. This is why asking the rich to help out more than normal is entirely justified and "Fair". Exactly what a Labour Chancellor should be.

I am not an economist so I will leave the number crunching to others (something tells me Nick Robinson's number crunching is rather biased though) . Instead I want to concentrate on the political fall out.

One impact of all the negative media coverage of the budget is that people are automatically thinking the Tories will win the next election, it will be 1997 all over again and we are heading for disaster. People like Ian Dale getting a hard on and asking his disciples to hand in petitions to get rid of Brown and predicting that we are in our last days forget the oxygen we are getting from the Tories reverting to type and having no solutions of their own. You cannot win an election solely on mumping and moaning about how bad the "other lot are".

Our policy of action (as opposed to Tory inaction) has protected people's savings, protected people's mortgages and offered them protection from the worst excesses of free market capitalism. Can we imagine the position the country would be in if as the Tories wanted "we let the recession run it's course"? I shudder to think. This election in 2010 has all the hallmarks of a close run thing with distinctive battle lines drawn for the first time since 1997.

Our position is not favourable but it is far from desperate. Darling's projection of growth by the end of the year coupled with people our policy of help for families has a potential to unite us around a solid message of hope. This will be entirely in contrast to our Eton chums who will demand a return to an economic model which has been found severely wanting. John Prescott today also highlighted the sham of the "caring conservatives"

Locally this budget has taught us one thing, the SNP are a nigh on irrelevance. If letting "the recession run it's course" makes you shudder , being independent and trying to bail out RBS, HBOS etc would make a the most patriotic Scot seek asylum on the moon. Salmond yesterday said "IF we were in Government.." either that means he has forgotten he runs the Scottish executive or he is more of a lunatic than we thought. I wont grudge him this free tip - use the powers you have before demanding more. This is not to say we should ignore them as an election threat but merely highlighting how in a time of Global economic crisis their calls for independence are borderline insane.

An exciting year lies a head. There will be peaks and troughs more bad news and renewed hope. I am confident Mr Darling will steer us through with as little pain as possible , receiving the kudos for it and bolstering our poll percentages. We must build on the message Wednesday's budget sent out , one of fairness and hope while understanding that difficult decision must be made and ensuring that the voters realise they will be made with compassion and consideration. The Tories will promise ravaging cuts " to stabilise the economy" forgetting that its hard to stabilise an economy if your cuts lead to mass unemployment.

So there we have it, come away from the cliff edges, bridges and roofs, go back to your constituencies and prepare for the battle of a lifetime. I will meet you in the early hours of Friday June 4Th 2010 , a whisky in hand joining the "fat lady" as she belts out the Red Flag celebrating a Labour victory.

SNP Lose again

I have just logged on to the computer and went and read the news as i normally do and lo and behold I find a story of another SNP policy dumped, only this time its the cornerstone to their domestic policy.

As you see here they have decided to drop the proposals to introduced a local income tax, the CBI, the FSB, The STUC and not forgetting the Labour Party told them it would be madness to introduce but they said they would do it. The tories joined labour and made it almost impossible to get it through parliament, but still they went on so what changed.

Maybe it was the fact that they lost on the budget recently or maybe the rising legal arguments that it was actually illegal to set a tax at national level as that is not then local and therefore against the Scotland act.

I dont care what changed all I know is that it has and the mad idea of a local income tax set nationally is gone hopefully for good.

No Ifs, No Buts, Give up the Bonus

The Go4th campaign to win Labour a fourth term has a new press release from John Prescott on the huge bonuses that certain banks want to pay out to their executives despite having to be bailed out at the taxpayer's expense:

Prescott launches online grassroots campaign to stop bank bonuses


John Prescott today (Sunday Feb 8th) called on people to join him in an online grassroots campaign to stop RBS and other banks that have been bailed out by the Government giving out bonuses.

Speaking to supporters at a rally in Manchester this morning he warned RBS, which is 68% owned by the Government: "We are all shareholders now and the shareholders demand you give up the bonus."


Mr Prescott is using Facebook to mobilise people into showing their anger against the bailed out banks. He already has more than 2,000 people signed up to his on going campaign called 'No Ifs No Buts, Pass On The Cut."

The campaign's aims were to get banks to pass on the interest rate cuts to customers and to turn the Post Office into a People's Bank.

Now the campaign is focusing on stopping the bonuses.

Mr Prescott is calling on people to send in their case studies and campaign ideas to his Facebook group No Ifs No Buts, to stop the bonuses.

Today in a speech to campaign supporters in Manchester Town Hall he called on those angry with proposed bonuses to join him in the fight.

He said: "This week President Obama made it clear to the US banks that it was the taxpayer that saved them. Some of you may have read my recent blog where I showed great admiration in him standing up to the bankers and proposing the executive pay cap.

"He has also been very successful in creating an online army to support his fiscal stimulus package through Congress - and we should use that people power here.

"We must utilise these same online grassroots tactics to force these greedy and indifferent banks that the taxpayer bailled out to give up their bonuses.

"We know that RBS, in which we own 68% of the shares after giving them £20billion of our money , is considering handing out £1b of it in bonuses to their bankers and traders. This is morally and economically outrageous.

"This is raw capitalism and this country rejects it. We don't want to hear that RBS has to pay out the bonuses because of 'contractual obligations.' If we hadn't bailed them out to save homeowners and businesses, their contracts would be worth nothing as they'd be out of work.

"So I'm calling on everyone who feels outraged by this to join me in the battle. It doesn't matter about what party you support, let's join together and stop this payout.

" We are all shareholders now and we the shareholders demand RBS give up the bonus. No Ifs, No Buts."

People are being encoraged to leave their support on the campaign Facebook page - No Ifs No Buts at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=41481071905 or leave comments at www.gofourth.co.uk

I'm going to higlight one particular excerpt of that (emphasis mine):

"We know that RBS, in which we own 68% of the shares after giving them £20billion of our money , is considering handing out £1b of it in bonuses to their bankers and traders. This is morally and economically outrageous.

That's right, RBS wants to give £1,000,000,000 of our money to the very same people whose reckless trading to led to us having to bail them out in the first place.

Phone banking made easy

Now you can help Labour win a fourth term from the comfort (or discomfort if you're in Hillhead) of your own home. Labour have just launched a virtual phonebank, and from what I've seen of it so far it appears to be fairly easy to use with a simple interface.

Labour have this to say:

Labour today launched an online virtual phone bank - which will allow our members to call voters from their own homes and enter the results of their calling directly into the phone bank online.

The phone bank is a key way of empowering our supporters to campaign for Labour, and listen to the views of the public, without having to leave their own homes.

Douglas Alexander MP, Labour's General Election co-ordinator, said:

"We have taken on board the lessons of the Obama campaign and the key aim of our web strategy is to give our supporters the tools they need to campaign for us both online and offline.

"As one example of this, the online virtual phone bank will allow our members to call voters from their own homes and enter the results of their calling directly into our database.

"In contrast the Tories just don't get online campaigning - despite being well-funded they seem to have wasted a whole lot of money on gimmicks."


Watch John Prescott talk about the new virtual phone bank here >>>>

If you're a member of the Labour party you can access the phone bank and start making calls here >>>>

Voter outreach is quite possibly the most important aspect of electioneering, and one of the main elements in individual electoral success. Especially given the media's obsession with only pumping out stories of woe and doom we Labour supporters have to take the responsibility for making sure our message is heard. If we're serious about a fourth term we've got to show it, and we can do that by exploiting tools like this new phone banking service to their maximum potential. If we do that we can win, if not...



Do you really want that?

Labour's Budget Proposal

The Scottish Parliament has just voted to reject the Budget, the SNP at the moment are posturing and blaming everyone but the people who are to blame and Mr Swinney we mean you when we say that.

They have also said that Labour did not offer anything constructive to the budget negotiations well on that point i am cutting and pasting what Labour suggested the SNP administration could change the budget to help Scottish people and the Scottish economy.

And if anyone wants to know the email was sent to party members long before the vote took place.

So here are Labours constructive suggestions :-

Labour proposals for the budget

1.Apprenticeships – we propose an additional 7,800 apprenticeships over each of the next three years. This would lead to an additional number of apprenticeships over the next three years of 23,400. These apprenticeships would be split amongst adults and those aged 16-19.

2.Apprenticeship Guarantee Scheme – a clear commitment from the Scottish Government to an Apprenticeship Completion Guarantee Scheme, which matches the commitment in Northern Ireland.

3. Partnership Action for Continuing Employment – a clear indication from the Scottish Government for significant new funding to help retrain people who lose their job

4. Town Centre Turnaround Fund – Labour submitted a detailed amendment proposing the establishment of a fund to the value of £50million last year. We are now one year further down the line and in the midst of a global economic crisis. The need for appropriate support is now even greater.

5. NHS Funding – Health money should be invested in front line services. We seek assurances that the total NHS Budget increase of 3.9 per cent will be reflected in full in the award made to the health boards across Scotland on day one of the budget, not held back for pet projects

So constructive suggestions for local communities, Local services and local people shame the SNP couldn't listen.

An interesting new website

This is an e-mail I just received. I find it intriguing and I think it seems like an excellent idea. Hopefully this website can act as a forum to encourage our members to express their ideas and become more actively involved in the Party.

New website goes live - visit us and join the debate!

Good morning!

You may read in The Observer or Mail on Sunday today - or in various blogs online - about the new website LabourList. You can also read about us on the Guardian website.

We are sending you this e-mail either because you signed a LabourList form at last year's Labour party conference or because you are a member of Labour Students and agreed they could pass on your details to organisations you might like to hear about.

LabourList aims to provide a platform for debate for every level of our movement, and for those who disagree with us. To encourage this discussion, we’ll have access to and insight from government ministers; we’ll host voices from the fringe and from the traditional media; and we’ll have regular reports from the grassroots that make our movement so powerful.

LabourList will add to the already expanding network of progressive new media forces – Obama-style virtual phone banking drives, ministerial webchats and new blogs – that will help us spread our message and connect with people in this New Year.

As with the progressive movement as a whole, LabourList is in constant renewal. What you see today is not the finished version of our site, but a work in progress. Over the next few weeks we’ll be announcing more contributors from across the progressive spectrum and we’ll feature exclusive new video and written content. We’ll also be blogging live from this month’s Progressive London and Fabian conferences.

And we’ll be launching The LunchtimeList, a comprehensive daily digest made up of that morning’s news, views and analysis – sent directly to your email inbox. You will receive this, starting on Monday. Do let me know what you think of it by e-mailing me at mail[nospam]@[nospam]labourlist.[nospam]org.

If you are a Labour student you may be particularly interested to see the post by Sarah Mulholland, the Labour Students chair on top-up fees. Do join that debate.

Finally, as well as commenting on Sarah's - and other articles - we are always looking for new posters, so if you have something to say send me your article or your idea and I'll take a look at it. Also, do let us know what you think of the site, and how it might be improved.

Best wishes,

Derek Draper

Editor, LabourList

PS - If you like the idea of LabourList please forward this e-mail to any friends who might also like to know about us...

A review of 2008

I thought as we enter a new year that a review of the last year and what may happen in the new year was a good thing to do.

As we enter the new year, the first one that me and my significant other have actually spent at home in the time we have been together, their is a lot for a democratic socialist to be looking forward to. Last year we were so far behind in the polls that we Had about as much chance as me winning the London marathon, and for those who haven't seen me in the flesh think of haagrid from harry potter but with an additional 4 stone round the waist and you will get the metaphor, but today we are no worse than being projected to be the largest party in a Commons in a hung parliament.

We have a Prime Minister who was seen as a has been and just counting the days until the knight in blue came to the countries salvation came to power, to be replaced with a Prime Minister who has driven the world agenda and a leader of the opposition who is nothing more than a novice who would not know what to do if it jumped up and down in front of him and said look at me look at me.

I mean David Cameron is the guy who cycles to work, and very good that is, but I mean do you really need the official government car to drive your briefcase to the office, me I use a backpack i would have thought that might have been cheaper.

In elections the year started badly and we never thought it could get any better ever again, I mean to lose the local elections, Have Boris replace Ken in London and then the SNP win Glasgow East by-election was not exactly the best summer in politics I can remember. But after such a bad time then came Glenrothes and Lindsay Roy.

Who would have thought it 2 days after the election of a Democrat to the White House that the people of Glenrothes would elect a Labour politician to Westminster, I mean what great odds you could have got in July that neither of those things would have happened but both won by large majorities.

in Obamas case it was his message of hope and change, in Lindsay Roy's case it was more about warden charges and Alex Salmond claiming that he was the Scottish Barack Obama, I mean come that had to be the funniest photo of the year Alex Salmond on a roundabout saying yes we can, Less Obama and more Noddy.

So to recap they year has been an interesting one, Labour dead and buried at the start and now ready to fight and win whatever elections 2009 hold.

And in the club here at Aberdeen we have seen a 4 fold increase in our membership so we are heading into the New Year looking forward to the future.

It is true a week is a longtime in politics and a year is a lifetime.

So finally I would like to wish everyone who reads the blog be they of the left or the right a wonderful happy new year.

Public Sector Pensions ----------- THE TRUTH

A couple of weeks ago David Cameron made a speech where he argued that public sector pensions should in his opinion be reformed (this is code for take it off them as they don't deserve it) here is a report of the initial speech and its from the Telegraph so clearly its not balanced as it comes from the right.

At the same time I'm also posting this, which is a simple 10 point response to the initial story and thanks to Tom and Labouandcapital for posting it. The response is by Naomi at the GMB and as she points out,

1. Public sector pensions potentially keep 12million people from reliance on state benefits in retirement.
2. Public sector pension schemes, in particular the funded Local Government Pension Scheme, generate billions of pounds worth of investment in the UK economy.
3. Public sector pension schemes encourage retirement saving among 5.75m public sector workers – 85% of public sector workers are members of a pension scheme (compared with 40% in the private sector).
4. Lack of retirement saving in the private sector will lead to more poverty and significant pressure on state benefits in the future.
5. Greater poverty in retirement resulting from inadequate company pension provision in the private sector will lead to greater pressures on the NHS and local care services.
6. All workers pay for everyone’s retirement income. The price of goods and services includes the cost of private sector pension provision, just like tax levels include the cost of public sector pension provision.
7. State benefits are funded by national insurance and taxation paid by everyone and used more by those with lower incomes e.g. those with inadequate pension savings due to poor private sector provision.
8. Public sector pensions account for about 20% of public sector workers’ remuneration packages.
9. Public sector pension schemes are good quality and rightly so, the country needs private sector schemes to be as good. Lower pensions for all means poverty in old age for all.
10. ‘Apartheid’ was the official policy of racial segregation formerly practiced in the South Africa, involving political, legal, and economic discrimination against non-whites; it is not an appropriate description of occupational pension provision.

Now I will declare an interest in this story, I am married to someone who is paying into a public sector pension scheme, someone who is committed to her job and who believes that the public sector and its workers provides a service for the all the people and not just those who can afford it.

So thanks dave for giving us all another reason to remember why tories bad, labour good, as Labour works for the good of the many not just the few.

What the...!?!?!?!?!?!

I hate being angry at a Labour government but crap like this pisses me off.

I especially "love" this bit:

"There is no positive obligation to create a structure for legal recognition or registration of same-sex relationships," it said, claiming that in other countries any such obligation may be out of keeping with the social, cultural and religious norms and traditions.

NO OBLIGATION TO PROMOTE EQUALITY!!!

The protection of the rights of citizens should be one of the main priorities of government. Thankfully they've dropped their challenge, but unfortunately they refuse to support a Europe wide pro-equality stance.

A nice video of Johann Hari taking a slice out of Richard Littlejohn

I think Johann raises a very good point; publications like the Daily Mail that constantly stir up bile against immigrants and Islam and whatever else they happen to hate that week create a climate in which that kind of behaviour is acceptable. Littlejohn's response tells you a lot about the man, he had no arguements with which he could defend himself so he had to resort to being patronising.

This article gives a good summary of quite what makes Littlejohn such an unpleasant individual. It includes this segment which quotes from one of Littlejohn's own columns:

But when another genocide was being perpetrated – this time by black Hutus against black Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994 – he wrote, "Does anyone really give a monkey's about what happens in Rwanda? If the Mbongo tribe wants to wipe out the Mbingo tribe then as far as I am concerned that is entirely a matter for them."

Note the (possibly subliminal) use of the word ‘monkey’. Note the implicit idea that black people’s ethnic identifications are ridiculous – from a man who constantly ridicules the “smelly” French and “dictatorial” Germans.

I find this kind of bigotry disgusting; the fact that he is completely unable to empathise at all with the plight of fellow human beings absolutely appals me. That anyone in modern bBritain could so easily dismiss the brutal murder of over a million and the rape of even more speaks volumes about how far we still have to progress as a society.

Wikipedia has a list of incidents involving him and people who share the same low opinion of him that I do.

Here's another quote from Johann Hari's article:

The brilliant Marina Hyde of the Guardian has helpfully compiled a log of Dick’s references to homosexuality. In 2003, he referred “24 times to gays, 17 to homosexuals, 15 to cottaging, seven to rent boys, six to lesbians, six times to being "homophobic" and four times to "homophobia" (note Richard's scornful inverted commas), twice to poovery and once to buggery. That's a mere 82 mentions in 90-odd columns.” In 2004, he excelled himself, and “referred 42 times to gays, 16 times to lesbians, 15 to homosexuals, eight to bisexuals, twice to "homophobia" and six to being "homophobic" (note his scornful inverted commas), five times to cottaging, four to "gay sex in public toilets", three to poofs, twice to lesbianism, and once each to buggery, dykery, and poovery. This amounts to 104 references in 90-odd columns.”

I think it is an important role of the Labour Party to fight against the casual homophobia that permeates through society. Many times I have heard people casually throw out homophobic slurs such as "poof" or describe someone or something as "gay" if they do something stupid or "unmanly".

The use of slurs creates an atmosphere in which those slurs are acceptable, by doing so it brings violence against oppressed groups closer to the main stream. it is for this reason why we as believers in equality must do more than simply believe in it. We must speak out against intolerance, not just in speeches or at political gatherings but in public and social settings as well.

This recent ad makes the point very well:



(What would we do without Youtube?)

Blast From the Past

While I was doing research for yesterday's post regarding Anne Begg MP I found an excellent speech from September 1999 (You know, back when the Moon was thrown out of orbit and we lost contact with Moonbase Alpha, you remember that don't you?) that articulates perfectly the great work Labour had done in just 2 years in office. Reading or hearing speeches like this makes me so proud to call myself a member of this great party. This is what sets us out, these are our values and this what we can achieve when we work together.

Today, I want to set out our vision for a new Welfare State.

How we are making a difference.

How we are already delivering. For families, for the disabled, for pensioners.

How we are tackling poverty and the causes of poverty for millions of people.

How we're already taking nearly a million children out of poverty.

But I also want to set out why we are making changes.

For me, it's quite simple. In the 1980s I saw poor people get poorer while the country got richer.

I saw children who were never going to get the start in life they needed.

And why? Not because they weren't the children of hard-working, caring parents.

But because they were born in the wrong place. At the wrong time. Under a Tory Government.

And in the 1990s, I saw the same people. Who by then believed that change could never come.

Well now we are making changes. For them, and millions like them.

And you know what makes me most proud?

Not that my Department will - from next April - be paying out a record increase in Child Benefit.

Though I am proud of that.

But that my Department is now part of a Government wide strategy to heal the scars of a nation divided for too long.

Child Benefit. Sure Start. New Deal. The Working Families Tax Credit - amounting to the most complete assault on poverty and exclusion in a generation.

That's a Labour Government delivering.

And last week, we launched our strategy to tackle poverty and promote opportunity for all.

The most radical and far-reaching campaign against poverty since Beveridge.

For the first time a government standing up to be counted.

Setting standards against which we'll be judged.

Confronting poverty. Promoting opportunity.

Because opportunity for all is at the very heart of our values.

Labour Values

Our enduring values. Labour values. Of decency, merit, rights matched by responsibilities. Community. Fairness.

The same values that underpinned the founding of the Welfare State fifty years ago.

Without doubt, one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century.

We are proud of it and we are proud of what it's done.

It lifted millions out of poverty.

The Tory legacy

We're fighting a war against poverty. For 18 years, the Tories fought a war against the poor.

Ten years ago, the Tories claimed that poverty didn't exist. Last week, their spokesman, a man with two brains we're told, said it was too complex.

There's a clear difference between us and the Tories.

The Tories tell you why you can't tackle poverty. We'll tell you how we can.

Look at what they left.

1 in 5 people living in a household where no one worked. Twice what it was in 1979.

Nearly a million children living on benefits for more than 5 years.

Low skills. Poor housing. Rising crime. Mass unemployment.

It is morally wrong. It's socially divisive. And it's economically foolish to write off generation after generation.

And the Tories have learnt nothing.

Given a chance, they'd do it all again.

Even now the Tories are opposing every single step we are taking to confront poverty.

These Tories are the same people who left us, in the final years of the 20th century, a shameful legacy of poverty. A scar upon our country.

By the time they left office, 1 in 3 children were living in poverty. Three times more than in 1979.

Those were Thatcher's children.

Never again. We owe it to our children and the generations to come.

That's why we are the first Government ever to promise to eradicate child poverty in 20 years. And we will.

Today, as every day, 2000 children will be born.

But in these, the last few months of the 20th century, a third of them will be born into poverty.

And if we do nothing, these children will not only be born poor.

They will live poor. And die poor.

In a poverty of opportunity and in a poverty of expectation.

2000 children born. 2000 reasons why welfare reform is essential.

Supporting families

That's why we're supporting families. The largest ever rise in Child Benefit. Helping 12 million children.

And one million more children getting extra help through reform of the CSA. With mothers keeping more of the money they get.

And from next week, nearly £5 more for lone parents with young children.

Already, families with children are on average £740 a year better off.

Increasing opportunity

But fighting poverty isn't just about cash. It's about housing. It's about skills. It's about increasing opportunity for our children.

That's why we're investing an extra £19 billion in education

That's why we're supporting children in their early years.

Take Sure Start. Bringing healthcare, early education and childcare services together. To help support young children and their families. Tackling the root causes of poverty.

That's a Labour Government delivering for children.

Helping people into work

We also know that for families work is the best way out of poverty.

But for two decades millions of people were denied the opportunity to work.

In many areas we saw a second or third generation of people who have never known work.

Where people came to believe that their children would do no better than themselves.

That's why we've introduced the New Deal.

And it is working. Over 120,000 young people have found jobs.

The New Deal for Lone Parents. Who wanted to work but didn't believe they could. And 21,000 now in work.

The New Deal for Disabled People. For the million disabled people who want to work.

The new Disability Rights Commission.

Up and down the country, people getting the help to help themselves.

Making work pay

We're making work pay. The first ever National Minimum Wage.

From next week, the Working Families Tax Credit.

And from next week. Lone parents who get a job can keep their benefits for the first two weeks in a job. Helping bridge the gap between benefits and work.

Making sure that people are better off in work than they are on benefit.

Making work possible

And not only making work pay. But making work possible.

The first ever National Child Care Strategy.

And, for the first time, parents rights to time off to care for their children.

And I can announce today that we will help low-income parents take up these rights. By giving them access to benefits.

We're getting people into work. Making work pay. Making work possible.

Security for those who can't

But we're also providing security for those who can't work.

That's why we're introducing the new Disability income guarantee.

And security for today's pensioners too. Too many of them poor. Too many of them in cold houses. Too many of them worrying about their health. That's the Tory legacy.

That's why we've increased the Winter Fuel Payment five-fold this year. £100. Paid in time for Christmas.

We've restored free eye-tests. Cut VAT on fuel. Invested £21 billion more in the NHS.

The challenge ahead

We're meeting the challenges of today. And we've shown we can take difficult decisions.

Break new ground. Take on sometimes entrenched attitudes.

But there is still much more to do.

Take work. We are determined to break the spiral of despair, of a world where people were trapped on benefit. Trapped in poverty.

When we set up the New Deal, we said there could be no fifth option to stay at home when you could work.

People said that was harsh. It isn't. We've cut youth unemployment by 60%.

Now we're going further. For the first time we are bringing together the Employment Service and the Benefits Agency in the new ONE service.

Help to get a job. To get skills. Advice. But in return we are saying you need to come in for interview to see what's available.

A new culture. New rights. New responsibilities.

Some people say it's a tough approach. I don't. It's the right thing to do.

It's easy to send out a Giro. But a Giro won't get you a job. Or improve your skills. So we need to do more. We are doing more.

We are helping people to help themselves. Help that was never there before.

That's what people want. Their government working for them.

Take disability.

I know reform of Incapacity Benefit is difficult. But it's got to be done.

And let's nail this lie that we're cutting spending on disabled people. We're not.

The truth is we're spending two billion pounds more this Parliament.

And two billion pounds on top of that - because for the first time ever we're providing pensions for disabled workers and carers.

We're bringing the benefits system up to date. We're helping the very people who need that help most.

That's why we've raised the benefits paid to people disabled from birth by up to £26 a week. For life.

And we're tackling pensioner poverty.

Some pensioners' incomes have risen dramatically thanks to occupational pensions.

Pensions you fought for.

But the tragedy is that too many pensioners still face poverty in old age.

How dare the Tories criticise our pension reforms when they allowed hard-working people to work throughout their lives only to retire dependent on benefits from Day One.

That's why we introduced a minimum income guarantee. To help those who lost most.

After 18 years of Tory Government, one in three people working today will retire dependent on Income Support.

So we're making the changes we need.

Improving SERPS. A new State Second Pension.

Under SERPS if you don't earn much. You don't get much.

Under SERPS someone on £6,000 a year gets £13 a week.

Under the new State Second Pension, they get £46.

No-one is going to tell me that isn't an improvement.

And millions of hard-working people had no way to save for their pensions. So we filled that gap.

New Stakeholder Pensions. Helping up to 5 million people save for their retirement.

And we're making sure it's easier for pensioners to take up their entitlement.

Using modern technology to make sure people get easy access to the help they are entitled to.

We're making the system efficient, tackling Tory waste.

When we came into office two out of every five Income Support cases was wrong.

Now we're saving a billion pounds just by getting claims right. Helping to pay for more Child Benefit.

Under the Tories, the benefit system was part of the problem, when it should have been part of the solution.

Labour is delivering: the Tories still opposing

Labour is delivering. And we'll continue to deliver.

Just like the Tories will continue to oppose.

Like they opposed the New Deal. They're still calling it "expensive". "Unnecessary." "A colossal failure." Tell that to the 150,000 people who found jobs through the New Deal.

And they opposed the National Minimum Wage. They've always opposed it. And if they ever get into power, they'll abolish it. Two million people will lose out.

And they're pledged to abolish the new Working Families Tax Credit. An instant tax rise for the lowest paid families of £24 a week.

So don't imagine that what we have achieved is safe.

The Tories haven't changed. They're still stuck in the past.

But we are looking to the future. We're already modernising Britain. And it's already working.

Debate

We cannot predict the future any more than Beveridge could fifty years ago.

The principles and values that underpin the welfare state will endure.

But what it does and how it does it must change to meet the needs of the world of the 21st century.

We live in a changing world. And the welfare state must change with it. There are difficult decisions. And we've got to face up to them.

Not to do so would be to abandon the very people who trusted us to make a difference.

Our commitment is not in doubt.

In Durham, in July, the National Policy Forum showed that our Party is ready to face up to these problems.

And the policy forum called for a national debate.

Because if we're to make the welfare state as popular today as it was when it was set up, we've got to win the support of the people - not just here in this Conference Hall.

Not just in the Party. Or in Parliament. But in the whole country.

I intend to engage in that debate over the next few weeks and months. Which will be grounded in our fundamental values.

Let's discuss how we get a fair deal for people in retirement. How we tackle pensioner poverty. How we help carers. How we tackle exclusion. Just as we say in the Conference document.

But one thing is certain. We cannot stop and stand still.

For eighteen years, people waited for a Labour Government.

They trust us to deliver now. And we will.

We want to be remembered because we had the courage to change what needs to be changed.

Last week marked the beginning of a crusade against poverty.

Governments can make a difference. In 20 years the Tories tripled child poverty. We'll abolish it.

We always knew that welfare reform was going to be difficult. It will be controversial. But we have a clear sense of purpose and direction.

We've made a strong start. We're not complacent. We've only just begun. We're building a new Welfare State for the 21st century.

That's what we promised to do and that's what we'll deliver.

This speech was made at the 1999 Party Conference in Bournemouth. It was made by the then Social Security Secretary (Making him a predecessor to friend of the Labour Club and current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions James Purnell.). That MP, sadly now lost to obscurity,is an alumnus of this very University, one Mr Alistair Darling MP.

A History Lesson

Since its foundation in 1906 the Labour Party has been the most successful party of the left.

Our record is a proud one, the welfare state, Independence for the empire and a continual fight for equality, lets not forget that its under labour that the social reforms of the 60's took place, the death penalty was ended and indeed equal pay and equal rights at work for women became a legislative reality (shame its taking so long for business to realise).

So who were the people who made it possible for a small party elected with 29 seats in 1906 go on to record the largest single party majorities in parliamentary history and change the country that we live in for the better.

so here is part one of the list of Labour Leaders and the length of time that they held office as well as the seat they held in Parliament. Part one deals with 1906-1935.

James Keir Hardie 1 year, 11 months, Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare
Arthur Henderson 2 years, 3 weeks, Barnard Castle
George Barnes 11 months, 3 weeks, Glasgow Blackfriars & Hutchesontow
Ramsay McDonald 3 years, 5 months, Leicester
Arthur Hendersn 3 years, 2 months, Barnard Castle
William Adamson 3 years, 3 months, West Fife
John Robert Clynes 1 year, 9 months, Manchester Platting
Ramsay McDonald 8 years, 9 months, Aberavon then Seaham
Arthur Henderson 1 year, 1 month, Burnley then out of Parliament
George Lansbury 2 years, 11 months, Bow and Bromley

So there is the first part of the list and the interesting thing about it is that Robert Clynes was the first leader not to be Scottish, although Adamson was the only one to represent a Scottish seat he was the 5th Scot to lead the party.

Part 2 will be posted later and then some mini biographies of some of them will be posted.

I Make a Prediction

Over the last year I have been telling everyone that would listen that the Labour Party would win the next election by at least 31 seats. I have been laughed at, told not to be stupid and reminded that miracles don't happen, but as I have told members of the Parliamentary Labour Party trust me I know how we can do it.

So here it is the strategy to win the election by at least 31 seats, its simple really GET THE VOTE OUT, REMIND THEM WHAT THE TORIES ARE LIKE oh aye and govern effectively.

Now on the first part people no longer appear to be scared to say that they are voting Labour and that is thanks to the latter. And I have to say who needs to remind the country as to what a Tory government would be like as they are just doing that themselves (so thanks David, George and Damien).

But its not just that it is also based on a falling Libdem vote and that is happening as well so I stand by my prediction, but what has led me to posting it here in the blog, well that is thanks to a Comres opinion poll which puts Labour 1% behind the Tories and gives us a majority of 10 seats but even better than that is the lead was a 1% lead for labour it would win by Wait for it 32 seats so OK not my 31 but not bad for the big guy.

Who is your Labour Leader

Last weekend at the Scottish Labour Students conference, a conference where I had the honour of becoming Vice Chair of this great organisation, we had a discussion over some fermented pear juice to discuss who was the greatest Labour leader.

Some believed it was Tony Blair, others Gordon Brown and at least one John Smith (I wonder who that was). What is clear is that you relate to the leader who helped you find your political legs.

Many SLS members joined the party under Tony Blair and to those members he is the man who defined their politics, some have joined in the last year and for them Gordon Brown has helped them find out who they are politically.

In my case I joined the party when Neil Kinnock was leader, at a time when the big fight was not against the tories but for the heart and soul of the party, but it was with the election of John Smith as leader that I can honestly say that I found my Labour Party feet.

His vision of a Britain with social justice at its core, a Britian where co-operation was at its heart and a Britain that would be at the heart of europe leading he fight for a better world.

Now even though lots of what John advocated Tony Blair delivered on and I rejoiced at every one there were times when even I could say that he had taken decisions that I did not agree with and even though John Smith was leader for only 2 years I can honestly say that I agreed with every decision he made.

His death was something that had a profound effect on me as just a few months before he left us I had the pleasure of spending a few hours in his company and realised that this was a guy who actually believed and wanted to achieve everything he was saying, a bit Like Gordon is now.

So the question is: Who do you think your Labour leader was?

Blogorama II: Though Cowards Flinch

“We all know what happens to those who stand in the middle of the road — they get run down.” - Aneurin Bevan

For the second Blogorama we're covering a blog run by a group of young bloggers called "Though Cowards Flinch". They write very intelligent and thought provoking articles on a variety of political subjects. For example here skewering the Right's ridiculous use of political correctness:

More and more it seems that the term “politically correct” is a bludgeon to be arbitrarily wielded against the entire Left, simply by virtue of being Left. The wonder of the whole thing is the implicit manner in which this construct of faulty reasoning is attempted: lefties are against hunting so it is politically incorrect. Lefties are scroungers, so having a job is politically incorrect. Lefties love abortion, so opposing it is politically incorrect.

Miles uses ‘political correctness’ at one point as a means of referring to toeing a line of consensus, in which case all creeds of politics are in some form guilty of political correctness and the term becomes essentially meaningless. She also uses it in the ideological sense mentioned above, reducing it to a doctrinaire battle-cry for the Right. No doubt the woolly thinking of Miles hasn’t considered quite so deeply this question, since beside such vacuous utterances on political correctness, she can record how she hates that Palin’s daughter is a cheerleader.

As a feminist I particularly appreciate their articles on gender issues, and I'm sure that those West Wing fans in the Labour Club will appreciate the reference in their recent article on polling.

From a blogging perspective they seem to hold the same goals as this blog; to create a community of bloggers, and to improve the efficiency of the disbursement of information by the Labour Party, and to raise the level of participation of members. The internet holds a myriad of opportunities to draw people together and allow people to interact without the logistical difficulties of time and place. It also a fantastic tool to teach people about our ideals, goals and achievements and in the process increase our supporter base and fundraising potential.

They make these points and more in this about on the use of "New Media". An especially vexing problem for bloggers, especially as compared to traditional media outlets which have large staffs and fact finders spread all around the country, is their difficulty in being able to get information about industrial disputes and other important events across the country. It is this fundamental stumbling block that can be overcome by the simple means of co-operation between bloggers in geographically disperse bloggers. However saying it can be overcome belies the difficulty of effectively co-ordinating a large group of people all of whom have differing levels of information and time available to participate. It is this difficulty that I hope to tackle working for the Scottish Labour Students Committee.

This spirit of co-operativity is summed up best in the penultimate paragraph:

These are some of the opportunities offered by heightened communication between bloggers and by the additional technology open to us through Web 2.0. I’d like the opinion of some of my fellow bloggers on just these subjects, so I’m going to tap Peter Kenyon, Mil, Paul [That's last week's blogorama subject and the person who suggested Though Cowards Flinch], Susan, Tom, Stroppybird and Penny for their own comments or articles, because I think each of them will have a distinctive point of view ranging from those of feminists to community activists to internet-lovers to ideologically aware Marxists. Also, The Yorkshire Ranter seems to have given this some thought already.

They also covered some of the same stories as this blog, take for example the releasing of the BNPs list of racist wankers members; here and there.

So why not head over there and see what you think for yourself. On a final note I found Though Cowards Flinch through being recommended it by a poster in the comments of last weeks blogorama, if anyone else has ideas for blogs we can cover or just interesting blogs in general please do tell us.

New SpringWidget

For our 50th post, an economics leson for Cameron

There's an excellent page at the labour homepage that dismantles the Tories ramshackle and disjopinted economic "policy". (Maybe George Osborne should spend more time thinking about the economy and less time with Russian businessmen.) Sadly David gets an F for this piece of work.

And through the power of the internet we can see quite how badly he did on this very site:

[Edit]: Well that was the idea at least, but it would seem that the blog isn't wide enough to display it properly.

Hopefully in the future we'll see a lot more of this excellent use of technology, and a fantastic and intuitive way of presenting the Labour message.

The Labour Blogosphere: Blogorama I

I believe that Labour is the best party to lead Britain. I'm sure that a lot of people reading this agree with me. However, not everyone does. That's why communication of ideas and campaigning are so important in politics. The ability to reach out and affect the thinking of voters, and to persuade people to support you is key to any political campaign. During Barack Obama's year long campaign for the White House he was supremely successful at building up a grassroots network of supporters and fundraisers using the internet.

At the next general election, and especially as time goes by at future elections, the internet will play a far greater role in informing people about the policies of the Labour party, what we have achieved in office, and what we plan to do in the future. And that is what this post is about; using the internet to transmit ideas, mostly via blogging but also through e-mail and video.

At the Labour homepage you can access membersnet the homepage for members of the Labour Party. Here you can browse a directory of members' blogs. I think that the widespread involvement of members in actively discussing politics is something to be encouraged. So every Wednesday from now I intend, conditions permitting, to introduce the readers here to a new Labour blog. This new weekyl segment is to be called Blogorama.

For the inaugural Blogorama we are going to visit the remote, rarely travelled reaches of darkest West Lancashire, specifically the town of Bickerstaffe. The blog in question is the Bickerstaffe Record, which is written by the local Labour Councillor, a man whose supreme intellect and refined tastes are shown by the fact that he has read posts and commented on this very blog. ("One month on" and "Why do we do it?" for those who are curious.)

In particular I wish to draw your attention to a very good post he did in the last few days about unemployment figures. A topic which may seem very dry, but is of the utmost importance not just to those who have unfortunately lost their jobs, or are in danger of unemployment, due to the current global economic problems, but also to those of us that wish to refute the untruths propagated by the Tories and others. Specifically that the current economic situation is as bad as, or getting to be as bad as, it got during Thatcher's time in office.

"IT ISN’T! THE WAY UNEMPLOYMENT IS MEASURED HAS CHANGED, roughly by the same proportions that we changed from inches to centimetres, but which didn’t mean we suddenly got people who were 20 feet tall."

That quote from the blog links back to a previous post he did on the subject which explains what the problem is with regards to the reporting of unemployment figures:

"The BBC, then, carries as it’s headline figure the unemployment total (end of September) of 1.82 million. Responsibly enough, it also quotes the latest claimant count at 98,900, but this latter figure is likely to get less coverage in days to come as the media focuses in on the higher figure.

It’s important first to make the difference between the two figures clear. The unemployment figure (1.82 million) is based on the International Labour Organisation definition, which the incoming Labour government said it would use when it came into power in 1997. It is measured by the Labour Force Survey of (from memory 57,000)households, and even though it is based on a sample and there open to samplinig differences, it is generally reckoned to give a more accurate representation of unemployment because it measures the number of people who ‘want to work, are available to work, and are actively seeking employment’, whatever their benefit status (including those not claiming benefit).

As such, it is generally considered more accurate than the ‘claimant count’, which is simply the number of people seeking unemployment-related benefit, as well as being comparable internationally. For a summary of the differences between the two measures see here.

The important point is that the Conservatives used the less accurate claimant count when they were in government. Thus, when we talk about the ‘1 in 10′ jobless figure of the mid 1980s, we are referring to 3 million people on the claimant count alone. The ILO figure was much higher."

The Tories would like people to believe that Labour's strong record on the economy (In large part thanks to our extremely capable Chancellors) is not as solid as it seems. They aim to do this by their manipulation of statistics to make labour's record seem as dismal as their own, but as this post so ably demonstrated that just isn't the case. One of the major differences between Labour and the Tories as I noted in the post yesterday is the manner in which we react to unemployment and insecurity in the job market. We do something about it, the Tories simply close the shutters and sit snugly in the warm whilst those left in the cold have to fend for themselves.

Recently when John Prescott was in Aberdeen he gave an excellent speech about campaigning which was attended by members of the Labour Club. One of the things he stressed was getting the truth out about Labour's record in government. That's what this post from the Bickerstaffe Record does. It may not have the readership of a national newspaper but it is directed and engages with local people. All we need is a blogger in each constituency providing direct and accurate information about all that Labour has achieved and all we can achieve and to refute Tory and SNP misinformation, and we can make sure that we are ready for 21st Century campaigning, and we can make sure that we are ready to Go 4th and win again.

Thursday 6th November

Yesterday as we now know was a great day for Labour.

We won 2 council by-elections against stiff opposition in Glasgow and Edinburgh, I know the new councillor for the Forth Ward in Edinburgh personally and I know that Cammy Day will represent the people of Forth brilliantly.

In Glasgow we won in an area that the SNP now call their own, Baillieston is in the heart of Glasgow East a constituency that we lost just a few months ago, in a By-election in the same council ward just over 2 months ago the SNP held their vote but today we won and fought back the SNP tide.

And as has been posted already the victory in Glenrothes is stunning.

To not only win, in lets remember is a seat that Alex Salmond was prediction that the SNP only had to turn up take, but to do it with an increase in Support over the 2005 election is stunning.

Now i could sit and blog about the reasons behind the victory but to be honest their are too many to mention, but i will just make comment one one.

Lindsay Roy

What a stunning candidate, a man who has a love for the constituency and who has a vision for the future of Glenrothes.

A great headteacher who has been an inspiration to so many.

His loss to fife education is our gain.

Linsday you've done us proud mate.