Is Clare Short right?

[kyser_soze]

Maybe the old Stalinist/SWP lefty in her is coming out and she wants to choose how Parliament is made up...

 

[treelover]

mm, lots of old posters on P/P, Bruise, etc, good to have you back though, too many SWP'ers recently, we needed more balance

 

[TAE]

Sounds like Short has joined the long list of people who have given up on the parliamentry labour party.

Chosing to not stand as MP herself because she thinks a hung parliament would be better for the country is entirely honourable, but of course the labour loyalists will be outraged at her calling a spade a spade.

 

[Nigel]

Tony Blair- Neo Con!

There have been several articles and chapters in Books(sorry have'nt got references to hand) that claims that Tony Blair is one of their own.

Along with Many members of the Cabinet being ex-Trots and Communists, which you can see in their style of governence: Jack Straw Claiming that everything that he learned about politics, he learned in the CP, John Reid also being ex CP.

This similarity with the Neo Cons in America; Irvin Kirstol for instance studying at liberal; City College Of New York, many others at Chicago.

The ideological and administrative similarities between these two groups could be a liking for the apparent efficiency of Bolshervik style organisation and Neo Liberal Corporate Management.

Jacques Burzans' quote claim "Attempting To Combine Proggressive Values With Conservativ Concepts." and Anthiny Giddeons Outlook For instance>

 

[X-77]

Nice one Clare Short - she is certainly doing her best to make up for not resigning in the immediate aftermath of Iraq. All power to her...

 

[scott_forester]

Clare Short has announced she'll be quitting her job as an MP to campaign for a hung parliament.

Any luck we'll never see the annoying bint again.

 

[DownwardDog]

why not? do you see any major (sic) difference between their policies? and isn't DC as much an admirer of TB as TB is of MT?

I don't think we have a tradition of such consensus driven coalition politics in the UK due to the FPTP system. I agree that the ideological difference between the two parties is minute but I think the two tribes of Labour and Conservative just hate each other too much to work together. They'd kill each other's kids given the chance.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

When Clare Short suggests attempting to vote for a hung parliament, what she means is tactical voting. The difficulty with this is the possibly of tripping over the LibDems who have a tactical approach of their own which is based on campaigning against either Labour or Tory candidates who have small majorities by focusing on specific local issues that will appeal to those who previously voted for the candidate.

This confuses the electorate as to what LibDem policies really are in the round but it will be even more difficult for Clare Short to get across her ideas. One voice against the spin machines of 3 other parties is going to be barely audible, unless the media adopt her as an interesting maverick - a sort of Eddy the Eagle of politics. I would like to think that she would succeed in her aims but if it resulted in keeping the Labour Party in power with its existing polices intact, it would be a disaster.

If however it resulted in a mixed Parliament with a few Greens and Independents in a position to broker deals with the LibDems to stop the Tory or NewLabour majority from ignoring Parliament then it would be a good thing.

 

[audiotech]

Maybe the old Stalinist/SWP lefty in her is coming out and she wants to choose how Parliament is made up...

Witchfinder General par excellence alongside Kinnock in the eighties when dealing with Militant.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Witchfinder General par excellence alongside Kinnock in the eighties when dealing with Militant.

And we all thought that she was going to jump ship in order to join the SP.

 

[danny la rouge]

I'm delighted that 57.89% want all of them to be hung. Together with the 18.42% who want a proportion of them hung, that makes a healthy 76.31% who want to hang MPs.

I find that very encouraging.

 

[SuburbanCasual]

Not to mention the 41% who want one MP hung.

 

[danny la rouge]

Not to mention the 41% who want one MP hung.

Indeed, though it isn't useful to add that to the total because there may be some duplication, with multiple options allowed for.