Why Labour needs to lay of Nick Clegg.

I must declare from the off that I have been one of the worst offenders in attacking Nick Clegg since he betrayed his party and his principles to become the deputy Prime Minister (just can’t help myself). It was I who came up with the twitter tag #toxicclegg and ran a campaign to find out how many local Liberal Democrat associations omitted #toxicclegg (sorry force of habit) from their local election literature. Alan Johnson summed it up when he said that Clegg had ‘changed his mind from the ballot box closing to the Ministerial car door opening”, inferring that his beliefs and moral compass had been skewed by the desire for power over principles. This may all be true, however, the time has surely come to start attacking the ball and not the man, as there is a hidden danger that lays waiting to bite us on the ass.

When Margaret Thatcher’s tenure as Prime Minister was at its end, the country was wound like a dangerous spring coil waiting to snap at any moment. The electorate was fed up of the state of the country, fed up of false promises, and fed up of divisive and dangerous policy that attacked those most vulnerable in society. The public had witnessed the Poll Tax riots and been scarred by the graphic images that were flashed across the TV screen of Police and protesters alike with horrific injuries. It is even rumoured that Her Majesty the Queen remonstrated with the Iron Lady over her handling of the miner’s conflict, concerned that she was slicing the country into two.

When she was eventually thrown out of Downing Street, tears et al, her replacement was the mild mannered John Major who started to unwind the coil that Maggie had levered to breaking point. Mr Major, although a great intellectual mind was no Tony Blair, he didn’t have the charisma or the charm that Tony had in abundance, however he was the antidote that was needed for the Tories, and it was this antidote, amongst other things that won the Tories the general election of 1992.

So, my point and argument is this. Although you could never compare Nick Clegg to Margaret Thatcher or John Major, the circumstances of his demise and the state of his party have a resemblance. The Liberal Democrats are in a mess, and the membership is starting to realise that. Their current poll ratings would see them losing half of their MP’s and they are still the lightning rod for Tory economic policy. But the leadership carries on regardless. Now I am told that Nick Clegg will be gone by 2014. A nice cosy EU commissioner’s job awaits him, which would see him going back to where he started. Of course there would have to be a leadership election and I personally believe that Tim Farron would get the job. There would then be a rapid repositioning of the current state of the parties politics and they would move slightly to the left of where they currently are, a position which they are much more comfortable in. A major rebranding exercise would then commence, and Farron would be seen to be removed from Clegg . The danger is that if Labour keep on attacking Nick Clegg and not his parties ‘policies’, we may find ourselves in a situation not dissimilar to the Thatcher – Major takeover, where Mr Farron or whoever becomes the antidote, therefore making them appealing again whilst being able to distance themselves from #toxicclegg.

Yvette Cooper and why she is my first lady of Labour.

To set the scene....... It was a cold night in Derby, I was sat in the Socialist republic of the Silk Mill pub, beer in one hand, nuts in the other, and mind on leadership matters. The open fire was roaring in the corner, and the crackle of wood and smell of smoke meant that my thought quickly forgot about the cigarette I was craving to who should be the next leader of the Labour Party.

A mental list started to appear in my mind, and the first person it thought of was Yvette Cooper. To be honest, I can't remember and don't know why she was the first on the list. I think it was a muddled mixture of why she wouldn't stand because her husband Ed might (I still think this is why she didn't stand, and I totally respect that) Going back to my mental list, I thought of the usual suspects, the Mili's, Burnham et al, but I could not get out of my head why I would like Yvette to be on there.

I have only met Yvette once, and that was to say a quick hello at the recent Leicester South Parliamentary by-election. However, previous to this I have watched her in may TV interviews and Parliamentary debates. In the latter she is confident, self assured and speaks with great authority. The Tories are frightened to death of her, and usually have very little in the way of reply to her constructive arguments. In the former she shows great leadership and refuses to be bullied by what are usually hostile, testosterone filled male interviewers. Now before you read too much into this, I am not asking her to challenge the current leader, nor am I saying that Ed is doing a bad job, as I don't think he is. I am merely saying that I think that if we are to adopt Harriet Harman's idea that at least one member of the leadership team should be a woman, then I am of the opinion that it should be Yvette. On the other hand, if Ed decided after a year that enough was enough, then I would certainly have no hesitation in calling Yvette and asking, nay begging for her to stand.