Oliver says:
Tony Blair strengthened Labour after 1994 by abandoning the fiction of socialism and building a reformist coalition. But he simultaneously rendered the party unnecessary. Henceforth, elections would be fought between parties of similar aims and philosophical premises. They seek to win an electorate that has become less partisan and more fluid in its work patterns. Voters want the party that will most competently deliver the policies of the centre. Labour has failed to do that, and the price it’s paying is terrible. Why does it not move against a useless PM? Who knows?
Here is Norm:
How should Labour supporters react to poll findings suggesting that Thurdsday’s elections for the European Parliament may see the highest turnout in 30 years, and that Labour will do badly out of this because the anger producing the higher turnout is directed more at the governing party than at its competitors? With mixed feelings, I suppose – though I will have no mixed feelings, only negative ones, if UKIP and/or the BNP profit from Labour losses.
Read on.
