Loving Red Ed’s “I’m a socialist and proud of it”!

Reading 22 Days in May, I have an even higher respect for the Liberal Democrats and their leader Nick Clegg. They are extremely organised and disciplined with a meticulous attention to details and a far sightedness that even rivals the Tories. Whether this is the LibDems post Clegg or that’s who they’ve always been does not make an iota of difference because for now it makes them the biggest threat to the Labour Party!

Since the election and after their coalition with the Tories they have been getting bad press from the left media and it is reflecting on some of the public opinions’ of them. That opinion is mainly instigated and fuelled by Labour comments and insinuations that the liberals have abandoned their election promises. Of course it’s rich coming from Labour or any party for that matter because throughout history most parties have abandoned a policy or two at one time or another.

Labour’s shock at the LibDems’ coalition with the Conservatives is one of those surprises that you saw happening before it did but still can not come to term with, and that’s where Labour is at the moment. That kind of perplexity, unfortunately for Labour, is very paralysing and its consequences in the long run are dire. However, dare I say it’s what the LibDems are hoping and patiently waiting for!

I also believe in time the public will see the liberals as the selfless better alternative to Labour on the progressive left. Strikes, demonstrations and the continued disruptions to peoples’ daily lives not to mention the destruction that follows it will eventually turn middle Britain against Labour and their unions. Unlike the 1980s where there has been a clear left right divide in political ideology, the lines are now somewhat blurred and although “greed” is no longer good (Gordon Gecko’s famous 1987 Wall Street catchphrase) the majority of people have no trouble with making money or those who do.

After 13 years in office, Labour is unfortunately now out of touch and does not have a clue what makes the public tick. They will argue that they do, and profess that’s why they governed for all that time but they’ll be wrong! Because governing and being in opposition are two very different things, two separate tasks that require different sets of skills. Also if we compare how Labour came to power in 1997 with how the Coalition came to be in 2010 we’ll see a common denominator, the centre ground. Both had to move from their natural base to occupy the centre to become electable.

Strikes and industrial disputes might have worked and put pressure on governments in the 70s and the 80s but decades later that style of heavy handedness is out of date and draws contempt more than sympathy, we saw it in the Fire-fighters’ strike, the students’ rioting and the London Underground industrial action, all those event passed by with very little public sympathy or support. Due to the economic downturn, the mood is also very different now, people are more worried about losing the jobs and the businesses they already have – many are happy to job share, cut their working hours and reduce overheads than become all together unemployed. People are more anxious and eager to make the jobs they have work and stay working and don’t have time or pity for cry babies who want more when there is little to go around to start with.

All this together will gradually turn people from Labour and its socialist stance to the LibDems who I predict will ultimately be the big winners of the current “Beyond New Labour” mayhem!