By Paul Burgin
I think it's best if I start with a minor confession. Those who read my blog on a regular basis know this, but I think it's right to state areas where you are weak on a subject which you are about to pontificate on.
It's simply that I dislike George Osborne. He strikes me as not just an incompetent Shadow Chancellor, but an unpleasant, smug, self-satisfied, school sneak of a Shadow Chancellor, who cannot resist making occasional personal jibes about opponents which go a little beyond common decency. Calling Gordon Brown "autistic" is just one example.
"So what?", many of you will say, "We feel the same way!".
But one of the best, and simplest, things we can do in politics is to try and follow common rules of decency and fair play. If the Opposition want to play in the mud and stick with tabloid excuses for newspapers in the process, then that is their problem, because, win or lose, we'll be respected more by the public for running a decent election campaign.
Part of the reason I write this is that earlier this week I think I went beyond what I feel to be the boundaries of decency. Not far beyond, but I do wonder whether I put my foot over the fence. Having seen the "Davorge" video on YouTube, I immediately put it on my blog without stopping to think, simply because I felt it showed the Shadow Chancellor as a joke and that David Cameron wasn't prepared to ditch his old friend. I removed it when one or two Labour activists contacted me to complain about the ad, saying it was childish and didn't address any Conservative policies. On reflection I agreed and took it down. I realised I had been hypocritical in posting the video, if only because of my motives.
However it did make me think about negative campaigning in general and just how easy it is to indulge in it, how easy it is to remember every jibe, every insult, every attack made on our side and to want to get our own back on those responsible and in doing so. But that fails to remember the important facts: it is wrong, it also turns away voters.
At the moment I am reading Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope and in it he touches on negative campaigning and how it starts, snowballs, and turns people away from politics including the very people who need our help and support during times of hardship.
The next general election is less than eight months away. It's going to be a tough election with Labour fighting for that possible fourth term. The Conservatives will fight dirty, their supporters in The Sun certainly will and we need to stand firm, stay strong, and work out ways to communicate our message and why we honestly believe we would do better than the Conservatives in government in the future, without letting past memories get to us and cause a knee-jerk response.
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The IMF did send warnigs to our chancerlor , He done nothing apart from knight Sir Fred goodwin ( Services to banking) , I was peased when Mr Blair left office but am more dissapointed that Mr Brown has just followed on Mr Blairs path .
ricki
they never, they were happy not to.
even now from the outside the BofE do not seem to be pushing for more regulatory powers and after they messed up with BCCI ( i know a long time ago) I have no faith in them at all !
If the the BOFe is getting paid over 100 grand a year i would hope to trust them like MPs .
ricki
The torys oppoesed taking the banks power awy to check the banks , cant get into parliment site to copy from hansard (dodgy conection)
ricki
thing is we went with the popular option, do you think if went to the electorate and said we were going into heavy regulation we would have won as good ?
hindsight is a great thing but few were opposing what was set into motion.
Now we have to ensure we have the tough regulation, outlaw some products, cap mortgages to 3/3.5 times salary, stop 100% plus mortgages etc.
we have to grow the public housing stock get rid of the notion of an home owning democracy, that was always a false docrtine and always doomed to failure.
So Mr browns judgement was whatever the Americans was? That does not fill me with hope .I just checked and the torys where against it , Mr Blair and Mr Brown and Lord Mandleson have hijacked the Labour party and left the voters behind .
ricki
Ps Could you please type who you are directing your post to ?
He persuaded Clinton that less regualtion was needed, clinton was the one who removed the laws splitting domestic and 'casino' banks.
at teh time Brown was very close to the Americans and saw that and persuaded that for London to compete we had to accept what greenspan said.
That was the big mistake, we took the US philsophy, changed it a bit but generall took the same line and accepted these false products were geninue.
It was all an elaborate fake
that is why Sarkosy blamed the 'Anglo Saxon' free market for all this.
and don;t get me on the BofE regulation, Eddie George was fully supportive of the general direction, he would have done nothing to stop it. Mervyn King in that excellent BBC programme's 'love of money' admitted it
very few were against it, it did bring a decade or more of growth but whether we or the Tories were in power the same outcome would have happened, but the rescue would have been different.
Mr Greenspan is not in charge of our banking sector it was the fsa , the power to check banks was taken in 1998 from the BofE to the fsa by Mr Brown ( the torys opposed this move i think) , The IMF sent many warnings from 2003 saying we had problems but our leadership done nothing and enjoyed the taxes and the knighing of Sir Fred goodwin (services to banking).
ricki
Greenspan remember was warned about the selling on of the loans, he refused to act because he believed in the free markets. The Tories wanted less regulation, you always hear from them they want less regulation across the board.
The philosphy is that the market will always sort itself out, those that did wrong will suffer and collapse (Lehman's) but they have no compassion for those who get hurt badly by the consequence of this when they had no influence over them.
a pure free market would contain no regulation
It was not the market that caused this but a lack of regulation .
ricki
care to say where I am wrong ?
What Lamont said was not an off the cuff remark but what the Tory/free market philsophy is about, it is about supportig the strong and not the weak, it is about the strongest surviving.
so do you support the market philosphy that caused all this ?
I am confused as to where you stand
Yes Lamont made the most stupid and arrogant comment in the history of modern British politics; the rest of your post is drivel. Not really a conversation that I can be bothered with or judging by the polls the electorate.
Good night.
Have we heard a labour politican saying unemployment is a 'price worth paying'
When Lamont said that he ensured I would never vote for the Tories and that continues today. Because if they got in the first thing they would do is to make thousands unemployed in the name of so called effienceny.
I was 25 in 97 and I was unemployed for two years under the Tories I understand just how bad our country was, I know how few nurses we had and the awful state of our hospital. We should do everything to stop us going back to that.
Brown is not popular, there is no point burying our heads in the sand but the policies we will develop simply HAVE to benefit the working class, I will wait and see if they do.
Or perhaps not.
Make the NHS a major campaigning point. No matter how much the Daily Heil and tories wish to denegrate I know from the personal experience of my family and friends what a great improvement we have made.
Make it clear what we have done and make it clear what 'payment by outcomes' will do to people who want the riskier ops. Under the Tories they as shown by Hannan wish to destroy the NHS, Cameron pretends that this is not their policy but 'payment by outcomes' can only lead to the mess we inheirted.
It is our duty to those (the vast majority) of our population who are protected by the NHS.
The sad thing about such situations is that neither side forgets and some on both sides, understandably, want to get their own back. I am simply saying with my hands up that Labour activists who are responsible for negative campaigns must end this now wherever we have fallen foul and set an example. It's difficult, we are all human, but politics is about being grown up, not being in the playground
I have always felt anger at the disrespectful antics of Cameron & Osborne during debates in the Commons---
If you've ever visited Parliament(witnessed their demeaning behaviour)then you will be familiar with the slouching in their seat & feet up on the desk & shouting out against Ministers while talking & laughing amongst themselves.
I am not the only one to be shocked with their actions I have spoken to a few MPs & Ministers & they say they have never seen or witnessed such juvenile behaviour in all their long years in Parliament.
I don't believe senior Tories like it but they stay silent.
I thought Sir George Young looked very uncomfortable at the attacks from Cameron to PM during Queen's speech debate.
It is human nature to want to want to retaliate with personal jibes especially when the media is on Cameron's side & against PM.
When McBride & Draper were outed for emails that were found to be mischievous & personal & we seen how people reacted & the backlash that occurred it wasn't a good time for us.
We must stay clear & avoid Negative Campaigning
Let's share our enthusiasim (with voters) for everything Labour has achieved & for the help we will bring to ordinary peoples lives if we're re-elected.
first thing I would like to make cler is I will not be voting Tory come May so please don't tar me as stupid and irrelevant.
As for your points...
The Tories wanted an Insurance scheme to protect the Banks, something the Banks would have had to pay for and not the over taxed taxpayer.
Running up Billions of debts to prop up the Car Industry was a joke and you know it, and the VAT cut was not a great idea either.
printing money (in other words devaluing the £ in all of our pockets) in order to pay for the Goverments incompetence in having 8 million on benefits before the recession started. Also building up inflationary measures in our economy, so we will end up paying more for everything as we make nothing nowadays! we will also enjoy higher taxes and less Public services in order to pay for all this debt.
What qualifications did Gordon Brown have to be Chancellor? none, and look at the mess he has created which will guarentee Labours destruction at the next Election. The biggest debt in Centuries and as long as the UK Public is paying for Mr Browns total ineptness the Public will not trust Labour again!
Why do you think its all right for Public Servants to now be paid more than those of us in the Private Sector who generate all of the income? when you add in Public Sector Pensions (which most of us no longer have thanks to Mr Browns 5 Billion a year tax grab)the gap is even bigger. This stinks and whilst Companies such as mine who actually have to generate the Profits, are making cuts and savings to stay in business, whilst Mr Brown who promised to reduce Public Sector workers has allowed these workers to continue to enjoy on average 3% rise every year and employed another 230,000 since the Recession started! just so the unemployment figures don't hit 3 million by next May. Gutter and irresponsible Politics.
As for immigration only a complete and utter idiot will defend this Goverments record, the damage done is why the BNP vote is going up and in Labour areas, No BNP in the Southern Shires. The middle classes just fume, they do not vote for Racists.
As for your point on EU immigration, well we have no control over the 420 million people living in Europe who can all come here and work if they choose! not capping the numbers from the new members of the EU was without a doubt a negligent Policy of Mr Brown, fact.
We were not allowed to vote on Lisbon, where we? Mr Brown thought it was fine to sneak off and sign it and ditch his promise to call a referendum? because he and you knew you would lose. No Democracy here!!
Mr Browns short sighted position allowing millions to come here and undercut British workers or do the jobs our unemployed should have been forced to do, or work illegally for the Goverment in our Hospitals and Home Office!
If we had decent immigration Policy for the last 12 years we would not have seen the BNP rise, would we? we would also not be over crowded so we could continue given asylum to those in true need. Your Goverments Policies have angered the Public so much that they don't care any longer who should and should not be allowed in, they just want it stopped.
first thing I would like to make cler is I will not be voting Tory come May so please don't tar me as stupid and irrelevant.
As for your points...
The Tories wanted an Insurance scheme to protect the Banks, something the Banks would have had to pay for and not the over taxed taxpayer.
Running up Billions of debts to prop up the Car Industry was a joke and you know it,
printing money (in other words devaluing the £ in all of our pockets) in order to pay for the Goverments incompetence in having 8 million on benefits before the recession started. Also building up inflationary measures in our economy so we will end up paying more for everything as we make nothing nowadays! we also enjoy higher taxes and less Public services in order to pay for all this debt.
What qualifications did Gordon Brown have to be Chancellor? none and look at the mess he has created which will guarentee Labours destruction at the next Election. The biggest debt in Centuries and as long as the UK Public is paying for Mr Browns total ineptness the Public will not trust Labour again!
Why do you think its all right for Public Servants to now be paid more than those of us in the Private Sector who generate all of the income? when you add in Public Sector Pensions (which most of us no longer have thanks to Mr Browns 5 Billion a year tax grab)the gap is even bigger. This stinks and whilst Companies such as mine who actually have to generate the Profits, are making cuts and savings to stay in business, whilst Mr Brown who promised to reduce Public Sector workers has allowed these workers to continue to enjoy on average 3% rise every year and employed another 230,000 since the Recession started! just so the unemployment figures don't hit 3 million by next May. Gutter and irresponsible Politics.
As for immigration only a complete and utter idiot will defend this Goverments record, the damage done is why the BNP vote is going up and in Labour areas, No BNP in the Southern Shires. The middle classes just fume, they do not vote for Racists.
As for your point on EU immigration, well we have no control over the 420 million people living in Europe who can all come here and work if they choose! not capping the numbers from the new members of the EU was without a doubt a negligent Policy of Mr Brown, fact.
We were not allowed to vote on Lisbon, where we? Mr Brown thought it was fine to sneak off and sign it and ditch his promise to call a referendum? because he and you knew you would lose. No Democracy here!!
Mr Browns short sighted position allowing millions to come here and undercut British workers or do the jobs our unemployed should have been forced to do, or work illegally for the Goverment in our Hospitals and Home Office!
If we had decent immigration Policy for the last 12 years we would not have seen the BNP rise, would we? we would also not be over crowded so we could continue given asylum to those in true need. Your Goverments Policies have angered the Public so much that they don't care any longer who should and should not be allowed in, they just want it stopped.
Huh? In what way is the Conservative Party not the do nothing party?
Fact: The Tories would have let the banks collapse, which would have crippled the economy.
Fact: The Tories would not have applied the stimulus that the OECD says has helped "cushion" the effects of the recession
Fact: The Tories would not have used QE which has helped liquidity of money in the economy
The Tories have made no secret of the fact that they would have done nothing. You have to give them credit them for sticking to their principles (wrong as they are, but at least they stuck to them).
but until he is actually tested
Huh? Are you serious about this? Are you saying that it is acceptable to give someone a chance at the second most important job in government (and the most important position with regard to the economy), just to try him out? Seriously, that is the worst argument ever. You could be justified in saying that St Vince should be given a try since he actually has been an economist for a billion dollar company. But I am not hearing you say that, you are suggesting that someone that even the City think does not have enough experience should be tried out.
The rest of your post is Tory nonsense. May I remind you of the effect of the "social contract"? That wages constraint was brought in because we had double digit inflation, so something had to be done. Let me remind you that we have low inflation, so there is no need for such a drastic action now. I do give you credit for putting the limit higher than Osborne's but in effect you are saying that we should do what the inexperienced Osborne has suggested.
Your comment on immigration is veering on BNP territory. But two things should be pointed out. First, the large increases in immigration over the last few years has been from EU states, which were perfectly legal, and beneficial to the country. Second, it would be shameful and inhumane if this country turned away refugees, but maybe you are thinking what Michael Howard was thinking at the last election?
Yes all the lessons on Campaigning we learnt have been thrown in the toilet from crap advice, from crap "advisors".
I couldn't agree more with the comments on Osbourne, he reminds me of piers, Alan B'Stards lackey, heh heh but until he is actually tested we will not know if he is up to the job.
The problem for Mr Brown is he rubbished his own Chancellor and his own record as Chancellor has now been proven to be a disaster. I would imagine most people will assume he can't possibly be worse than the pair that have racked up over a Trillion in debts, so attacking him simply won't work.
To win the next election Labour would have to do the following...
1.Replace Gordon
2.A Referendum on In or Out of Europe, lets actually try once and for all to convince the UK Public that the EU is good for us.
3.A 5 year pay freeze on all Public Sector earning salaries above 25K. We cannot continue to defend Public Workers now earning more than the people in the Private Sector paying for it, and this comparison does not include Pensions Provisions. This cannot go on as it is simply outrageous.
4. Withdrawl from Afghanistan.
5. Close the borders until the immigration mess is sorted, we cannot take any more people unless we get rid of the illegals and visa overstayers.
With these Policies there is a chance, without them Labour is doomed.
Negative campaigning can and does turn people off and it distracts from what we are trying to do; getting across our message about why votes should vote for Labour candidates. We need to spend time discussing with voters the benefits of have strong local Labour representatives in the area , the achievements in the local area under this Labour Government and how things will be different under a Conservative Government.
Look in the mirror mate. Is `school sneak' not a rather unpleasant personal jibe, for which you have absolutely no evidence? Judgemental without foundation, and presumably the sort of stuff you'll be throwing around with much venom over the next few months.
Get a life and work on real issues please. Such a turn off for decent people.
The leadership where not complaing when the sun backed "New Labour", However i agree neagtive ads/campaining puts people of politics ,But so does spin (the queens speech) , When will the leadership put the country before there lust for power?
ricki