Where now for Progressive London?

Ken Livingstone did Part two of his Progressive London project last Saturday. In case you are wondering, Pro-London is his vehicle for his mayoral bid in 2012.
The numbers this weekend were disappointing. Is it running out of fizz?
The main draw was Vince Cable of the Lib Dems.
Ken Livingstone and Vince Cable has competed for a Labour MP’s position in North London many moons ago, so there is history there.
Then, Ken won.
The dynamic on Saturday was about an attempt to stitch together a ‘progressive alliance’ behind Ken as Mayoral Candidate. i.e. why Greens and Lib-Dems should back Ken as ‘the man to oust Boris’.
Will it work?

I have my doubts.
First, in 2012 Ken will have been out of power for four years and there is no sign of Pro-London being anymore than a series of conferences – by itself not constituting a ‘movement’.
Second, Ken insists on inviting totally discredited Labour/New Labour politicians. For example, where does Geoffrey Robinson fit in to anything progressive? His performance was that of an apologist for the banks. In the first meeting, Ken brought over David Lamy(!), Harriet Harman (!) and other Labour politicians.

After the next election, there is no way Greens will ever contemplate sitting with these types of Labour politicians.
Similarly, with Nic Clegg having taken his party to the Right, there is no reason for Greens to ally with them either.
In any case, while the Mayor’s post is important, we will all face far larger issues – a Conservative government, an imploded New Labour, a continuing war in Asia, unemployment at 3.2 million (using govt stats), public sector cuts and social tensions over immigration.
For the rest of us, the 2012 mayoral election can wait.

Meanwhile, I wonder if Vince Cable may not turn out to the winner. He has carved himself a niche on economic competence – more for highlighting the dangers, rather than any radical solutions (he is after all an ex-economist for Shell) .
With Nick Clegg slipping up (a serial loser of by-elections), Ken may find his competitor is one level up on him and untouchable.
The Geoffrey Robinsons and David Lamys and other Blair/Brown/Mandelson crowd will quite happily join with the Lib Dems (1981 all over again)…. Where would Ken then go?
Green mayoral candidate? Kidding……………….. on the other hand…….

Farid Bakht
Parliamentary Candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow

The future for the Left

You may noticed a series of conferences going on, all about a ‘re-alignment of the Left.
Ken Livingstone started off with Progressive London, and returns with one on the economy later this month.
John McDonnell did his own version with LEAP a couple of months ago.
There was another COMPASS one a fortnight ago.
And there will be more. Lots more.
The bright spot is that the Greens are now not ridiculed and indeed sought out.
How times change.
Four years ago, Green politicos were restricted to cycle lanes and climate change.
Now, in its moment of doom, the remainder of the Left have discovered the Green Party as a Left companion…….

Two years after the demise of Northern Rock and the arrival of the credit crunch, the population of Europe has shifted to the Right.
The Left were decimated. We must face that reality.
Inaction: as in blowing trumpets expecting the walls of Jericho to collapse has not proved to be a viable strategy.
At the very moment when free market capitalism has been shown up for what it is, the Left have not only failed to take advantage… it is in full retreat.
The history of the 1920s and thirties show this as the most likely reaction – not universally, and not inevitable… but very likely.
Even Die Linke in Germany did not do well. In France, a new anti-capitalist party failed. Spain, the same. Holland – extreme right… Eastern Europe? Let’s not think about what’s happening there….

The UK?
Well, the UK also shifted right. UKIP now sets the agenda (which is how the Telegraph wants it) while preparing the way for the Conservatives to win handsomely in 2010 and unleash a horrible era of rising inequality and unfairness (basically continuing the Blair/Brown/Mandelson agenda).

The surrender by Labour’s Left this summer, allowing Brown to continue, cannot be brushed off.
After twelve years of invasions…. after betraying their principles … after leading like ‘Thatcher in trousers’, as put by Eric Hobsbaum, ….. is it not remarkable that Left Labour MPs have not resigned en masse and stood as independents?

The gall of some of these self-styled leaders of the ‘new realigned Left’ will be in evidence when they come knocking, suggesting that we ignore their collusion over what will then be thirteen years and line up behind them…..
Why?

There are broad similarities in economic policies (differing versions of the Green New Deal)…
It’s the intention that is in question.
So many union execs… so many Labour MPs…. are going to fight under
the banner of Labour….. for one last time… An election Too Far…

The end result will be 1981 – as the Blair/Brown/Mandy group allies with Clegg’s Liberal Democrats. – the SDP once again.
The rump Left will suddenly become radical…… Diane Abbott etc…. and even Green.. except they will expect to call the shots… and we are meant to be the footsoldiers….

No way Jose……
There has to be a much more equal relationship….. reflecting the spirit of the times…….
All the horsetrading will take place in earnest over the winter of 2010 and early 2011, though I see no resolution for years.
This is the time for the Greens to campaign on its Agenda – Left of Centre in the true sense…. and lay claim to the ground which the Big Three discarded long ago…….. not centre ground, but Left.
This might have been political suicide at the start of this decade.
No longer.
Nationalisation of railways and banks are realistic and popular policies. And Green. I would add nationalisation of centralised energy utilities too, along with education and health.

Don’t worry, I am not going to end by saying ‘the future is green’… but you get the drift…..

Farid Bakht

Think again and again and again

The good news: we did better, increasing votes by almost a half. Places like Hackney & other parts of London are becoming greener. The Lib Dems are on the run.
The bad news: we didn’t make the breakthrough when all eyes were on us.
We almost did though. An MEP seat in the Northwest and the East would have made the Green Party the standard bearer for a genuine Left of Centre force, being anti-establishment but with solutions to housing, jobs and climate change.

Before we beat up ourselves too much, and get embroiled in tons of statistics………. let’s find what we need from the clutter.

The ‘Think Again’ was the highlight of the campaign. And there lies the problem and the solution.
The problem is that some strategists have beeen so desperate to gain media exposure that they almost ran to the TV studio or the phone to answer questions on the one subject the media wants us to remain: the environment.
Add the inclinations of some members who would like nothing better than to preach to the rest of the population about patio heaters and you see why a sceptical public liked us, but not enough to go the polling centre and stick an ‘X’ against our name.
The Good News is that the message of ‘Think Again’ worked – have we thanked the Media team?
It did not work enough to double our MEPs because you cannot change the direction of an electoral world in a few weeks.Well, you can…. if you are a Right wing party and the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail plus Sky publicise you…….

But for the Greens, the solution is clear….

…..Keep on banging on about the economy, council housing, Right to Rent, a million jobs, and democratic public control over railways, NHS, education (no academies & no student loans)….. and nationalise the banks to change their role and support a shift to a job-intensive/low carbon economy…

If we keep to this theme all over, in all regions and not get sidetracked, the electorate will shift to us.

Farid Bakht

BBC execs use agents to set their pay

What are the chances of an offensive against the BBC?
How do they spend the license fee? Is it true that Jeremy Paxman earns a £1 million a year. What about Radio 4’s Humphries – £600k?
The flipping and other MP expenses stuff pales in the face of the exorbitant salaries that the BBC top notch are paying themselves.
And why do they need agents to negotiate their pay?
Agents trying to get a larger slice of the pie for their clients (and their commission, of course). They are behaving like hedge fund managers.
The difference is that the money comes from the population, including millions of pensioners who can least afford the hikes in license fees.
We hear that the BBC needs to retain its talent or they will go. What nonsense.
I am sure there are good young interviewers out there who would love to do the Newsnight anchor role, for a 90% pay cut (and still receive £100,000). Paxman’s high point was his demolition of Michael Howard in 1997………
Of course, we do not officially know how much they pay themselves because they refuse to answer. Yes, in an age of CCTV and online surveillance, the public are not supposed to know.
So much for Freedom of Information.

The other line of defence is about how the BBC produces quality.
Yes, we saw that over MP’s expenses when they parroted the Telegraph’s campaign, joining in the frenzy with little thought or analysis.
The BBC is merging the World Service (high quality) with the ‘normal’ BBC and plonking them together in the White City (West London) HQ.
There will be lots of cuts. Probably for global reporting on Tamils (now that the war is over – yet another example of callousness by the BBC) and Bengalis too. And much of Africa.
It will not take much for a campaign to get going to destroy the complacent culture of the BBC high command.
MPs have been humiliated. Why not another part of government?

Farid Bakht

Euro results Tower Hamlets borough

Full result for European Parliament Elections for Tower Hamlets Number of votes cast:

British National Party 2158
Christian Party 756
Conservative Party 10393
English Democrats Party 437
Jury Team 341
Liberal Democrats 5080
No2EU: Yes to Democracy 626
Pro Democracy: Libertas.eu 192
Socialist Labour Party (Leader Arthur Scargill) 456
The Green Party 5406
The Labour Party 16138
The Socialist Party of Great Britain 127
United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) 2781
Yes 2 Europe 77
Gene Alcantara (Independent) 31
Steven Cheung (Independent) 211
Jan Jananayagam (Independent) 109
Sohale Rahman (Independent) 179
Haroon Saad (Independent) 93

Electorate: 148,970

Ballot Papers issued: 46,016

Turnout: 30.89%

New Labour want to hide

Tonight Labour MPs bottled it. A speech by Gordon Brown about his apparent willingness to listen was enough to persuade MPs that they should stick with him.
Translation: labour MPs know they will be wiped out in an early election.
If they changed leader they would have to have an immediate election. It was a P45 moment.
So they decided to ignore the public, forget about the recession, and the spin and betrayal. They want to hang on to the bitter end.
Even john mcdonnel, the lefts standard bearer in Labour persuaded himself that a slowdown in post office privatization is enough for now.
The attempted coup has stalled. The death of new labour isn’t – it’s been postponed.
The Daily telegraph engineered a UKip triumph and a shift to the Right. They however weakened but so farn failed to klll off new labour and force an early election.
The last 48 hours has been shameful for New labour.
They are responsible for the rise of the BNP and they have shown no morality or principle.
They are fighting it out solely for position.
With results the worst since World war one, they have lost their dignity.

Farid Bakht

Why are they in politics?

The voting is over. The circus continues.
Ultra Blairite, James Purnell, resigned and stuck the knife in his Prime Minister. It wasn’t a case of ‘E tu Brutus?’ since Brutus was supposed to have done the dirty deed to save the republic against dictatorship.
These ex-ministers (inc Blears and Smith) are not going because of principle.
It’s not as if they are resigning over an issue such as perhaps against an illegal war.
They are jumping before being pushed or as one tabloid puts it: rats leaving a sinking ship.
Other New Labour MPs are also doing a lot of calculations. If they ditch Brown, they would be bumped into an early election and certain slaughter.
The Spectator even speculates that some Ministers would rather leave now, and bag £120,000 in payouts because it’s almost certain rules will change and MPs/Ministers will not in future get such bonuses.
What have we come to?
Why did n’t these people just join a multinational or an Investment Bank if money is all they crave?
Purnell moved into media & PR (public relations, not proportional representation!). His contacts would have provided lucrative jobs. Why go into politics at all?

Becoming a Minister in the Cabinet was once the pinnacle of achievement. A position of power and influence.
Like sterling, it’s been devalued. The quality of ministers is pitiful. How many will you remember in a year’s time?
Which New Labour politician is thinking of public service? Thinking about what’s right for the constituency, voters and the country?
Are they fighting an ideological war over how to rescue the country from a generational economic decline?
Are they arguing over how we should regain democractic control over the economy?
No. Of course not.
What a naive question.
And of course who do Cameron and Clegg think they are fooling with their false posturing?
They want an election to get some power. Then what? The same free-market unsustainable capitalism which has plunged the people and government alike into monstrous debt?

We are back in 1832 in the age of the rotten boroughs and rotten politics.
It’s all about looking for Number 1.

Farid Bakht

Xenophobia, MPs and the truth about the Euro election

This has been an angry election. Very unlike any Euro election. Then again, this vote has very little to do with Europe.

It’s seems to be about two issues:
(a) public revulsion with hypocritical MPs - anxious to come down hard on benefits claimants by pushing for the Welfare Reform Bill. Basically, it means chasing single mothers and reducing welfare handouts. All the while, MPs were seeking devious ways of playing the property game and gettings tens of thousands of pounds.

(b) the deteriorating economy – yes that thing which was on our TV 24 hours a day when bank after bank was collapsing. People are being driven to vent their anger on MPs playing around with a couple of million quid perhaps in total. Meanwhile, bankers and the wealthy continue to enjoy the public’s generosity in a grotesque bailout of the banks. A million against a trillion.

The three main parties have shown no bravery in speaking the truth and ditching free market capitalism and globalisation. So the public know it’s wrong but see no alternative.
So, the Telegraph and the rest of the media find that a banking crisis is a perfect back drop for the ‘Clean Hands’ or “Anti-politics” campaign.
i.e. destroy the credibility of the political class.

What then takes its place?
It looks like the UKIP agenda is what is in play.
The operative word is ‘agenda’.

No one wants an UKIP administration.
What some powerful quarters would like is to see their agenda become new mainstream thought.
This means ultimately getting the Conservatives and Labour to become even more anti-European and Atlanticist (code for US’s faithful ally).
Add incendiary debate about cutting immigration and you see how ugly this could get – did you see this week’s Newsnight and UKIP’s MEP calling for immigration to be cut back?
Even David Dimblebey had to remark that talk like that was very close to what the BNP was thinking. Then, the BNP (barring an improbable late surge) seem to have been the bogey – a non issue made into the number one preoccupation and making UKIP extremists seen as some sort of cuddly, traditional English gentlemen.
The acceptable side of xenophobia perhaps for Middle England?

The untold story has been the quiet resurgence of the Greens for those who can see through New Labour and see the Greens as the only Left of Centre Party remaining.Greens are in double figures in the latest polls and are looking to double or triple the numbers of their MEPs.
Is it not unusual to see Greens on 11% while New Labour are on 16%?

This is a quiet revolution. Merely the start of a realignment in the politics of this island.
I will develop this theme in the near future.
It is important to realise that what we have been seeing is not a media circus to attack a few unscrupulous MPs (however deserving of our opprobium).
Note how David Cameron has quietly aligned the Euro-Conservatives with hard right elements in Europe. You get the picture.
The last few weeks have been the opening shots of what might become the nasty decade.

Farid Bakht
Parliamentary Candidate for Bethnal Green & Bow

“Cuts” is a four letter word

The budget has come and gone. The same cannot be said for the worst recession since World War Two.
Both New Labour and the Conservatives are playing games. They are not being straight with us. With both eyes on the election, they think they can continue to patronise us and take the public for fools.
People are deeply worried. They are hanging on their jobs and juggling their bills. What they need in times of trouble is for political leaders to level with them.
Brown and Darling have become fiction writers, with their absurd claim that the economy will grow at 3.5% in the year after next. They also would have us believe that the UK economy will resume growth in 2010. The IMF (itself too slow) says the UK will shrink by more than 4% this year.
So why are Brown and Darling doing this? They need to get the bond traders to buy a few hundred billion pounds worth of Government Bonds (IOUs) because with unemployment set to rocket and businesses go to the wall, the government will receive less money. To fund their spending programmes, they will need to borrow.
Unfortunately, the Bankers and Bond Traders are back in the driving seat. They will demand higher interest rates on the IOUs. If not,they will “go on strike”.
To avoid this catastrophe, two things will happen:
a) the government will cave in and pay higher rates (the other side of the election)
b) they will make breath-taking cuts in public expenditure (again after amay 2010)

Both the Conservatives and New Labour are playing a game – instead of CUTs they prefer to say “efficiency savings without touching frontline services”.
In real terms government sdepartment pending will fall by around 3% every year over the next decade.
This means hammering education and health – the first to suffer will be the public sector workers with pay freezes or worse (the propaganda is that only the private sector is under the cosh while nurses and teachers are apparently up their with bankers in terms of pay and benefits!)
In 1976, the IMF and the City of London forced Old Labour to make dramatic cuts .. “as a sign of intent”.
In 2010, both will insist on the new Conservative government to do the same. Brown would do the same in the unlikely event of returning.
Meanwhile, voters are going to have a think about this one – if you shift your vote from Brown to Cameron or back, what will be the point of you putting your ‘X’ against either party?
The recession is going to get a lot worse by election time. And the main political parties will continue to spin and fabricate.

Farid Bakht

What are they afraid of?

The police, as the advance guard of the state, have come down hard.
Do we blame Boris or should it be New Labour? Does it matter? Both parties aren’t exactly divided on the issue.
The G20 protests were built up as a violent demonstration. Unknown ‘anarchists’ were rolled out in BBC Radio and other media weeks before to create a sense of fear among people who might have turned up.
Then, the Police were given the task of using brute force to ‘bring order’.
It didn’t seem very different from what I have witnessed in South Asia. In place of the lathi, it’s the truncheon. Same result.
Had people been allowed to protest peacefully, they would have embarrassed the G20 leaders. And why not?
Those same leaders are happy to meet in the seclusion of Davos. If all they want is a photo-op, why not go there instead?
Of course, Gordon “Dirty Tricks” Brown wanted to ’save the world’ and be seen to be doing it.
Unfortunately for him, all that effort seems to have been wasted.
People are more concerned with how Gordon can allegedly hire thugs (with keyboards rather than weapons) to consider writing fanciful stories about affairs among the Tory leadership.
Voters have forgotten the glitz of the G20, though unable to forget the police action given the stream of new pictures and suspensions. And they have seen the seamier side of New Labour.
This is so reminiscent of 1996. Mr. and Mrs Hamilton and David Mellor seem so tame in comparison. N
ew Labour should be very afraid if other people reach this same conclusion about New Labour sleaze and muck-raking. Even Gordon’s scowl resembles that of Nixon!
In comparison, a few thousand protestors clamouring for economic and environmental justice should not have frightened anyone in Government.
Perhaps the Government is afraid we may have rumbelled them about their bailout for bankers, and cuts for the rest of us.
Ah, now I see the point.
We all know about duplicity and incompetence.
So the best thing to do is create confrontation and turn the victim (people) into the criminal, and turn this into a re-run of 1968, to scare @Middle England’
It will not work. Middle England (if it exists) is also getting stuffed as they see their pensions, houses and jobs ebbing away.
We all hope New Labour return to trying to clean up their economic mess and not play with fire. They are on their way out. Could they but make a graceful exit.

Farid Bakht