The Labour Party always like a bit of soul searching. After any election defeat, the Party looks inwards and wonders whether it was left wing enough or whether it sold its principles just to get into Government. This didn’t happen after 2010 partly because the Party only just lost out, partly because they elected Ed Miliband who seemed of the sensible left and partly because the replacement of Tony Blair by Gordon Brown had made them feel better already. Brown was a man of the left in a way that Blair was not, so no need for an in-depth post-mortem. The 2015 defeat was different.
So what can we learn from the political news this week?
- Tony Blair is still listened to. The media still take note of what Blair has to say in a way that many in the Labour Party do not. His speech this week on the party’s leadership debate was not universally well-received and did manage to wind a lot of people up, not least John Prescott and Mhairi Black MP. She seemingly wasn’t happy about Blair’s description of the SNP as ‘cave men’!
- Jezza may win. There is still a long time to go until the Labour Party actually decides who it wants as its new leader. In the meantime, it continues to be Jeremy Corbyn who is leading the field and making the headlines. Pressure on Liz Kendall to drop out of the race has been ignored while Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper are fighting it out to be the ‘stop Corbyn’ candidate.
- George gets radical. Whilst Labour is busy looking inwards, the Chancellor is considering radical plans. If he goes ahead with the idea of merging income tax and national insurance then it will give further proof that all the political momentum is with the Conservative Party. To those engaging with Government it is also a clear sign that they should feel free to dust off the policies they once thought might be a bit too much for Government. That might be about to change.
- The cuts are coming. In preparation for the spending review at the end of November, the Chancellor is looking for departments to prepare savings plans, in other words ‘cuts’, of between 25% and 40%. So whilst none of the parties were very clear during the election campaign about where the cuts would fall, the detail will be with us soon.
- The expenses scandals won’t go away. It seems that whatever happens you can always guarantee that an MP’s claim form will cause outrage. Whether it’s 9 pence for a 352-yard journey or the travel and accommodation for the Speaker, the claims continue to contribute to mistrust in politics and politicians.