The Labour Humanist

Tony Blair wants friend of the Saudis to raise money from faith donors and discuss policy with them - are we really that keen on political suicide?

So this must be news to just about every single Labour Party member, but apparently we are about to have the very definition of a man hooked into privilege and a regular liaison of ethically dubious international organisations, not to mention vile governments (strong links to that lovely bunch, the Saudi Royal Family), Anthony Bailey, having a big say in how we as a party raise money AND reach out to faith communities. That is, it is very likely he could be involved in both discussing getting money from religious donors and discussing policy with them at the same time.  From the report in the Guardian:

"...is to chair Labour's Faith Task Force when it launches in July. Separately, he will also tap his network of contacts for donations to boost Labour's depleted coffers."

If you search "our" Labour Party web site for any details of our new "faiths task force" you will find nothing, but Jamie Doward of the Guardian says Tony Blair wants him to chair the task force. (Thanks for the legacy Tone!).

Read this biography of Bailey and see what you think. It looks he is already a governor of three secondary schools (wonder how many meetings he gets to?) through his role in the United Learning Trust which has remarkably been given the right to run 12 city academies with more in the pipeline.

You know, I've only just seen this story but on first reading it's hard to see any positives for Labour coming out of this but you can imagine it stirring up a shower of s*** - and for what reason?  If this appointment goes though I fear it is a ticking time bomb on our prospects of winning the next general election. In fact, Gordon Brown better show some early signs of enlightened leadership and block this appointment asap.

Harriet Harman opposes "more faith schools"

Nice to see Harriet Harman declaring her opposition to "more faith schools" in a debate at the Institute of Education this week.

Meanwhile is Alan Johnson doing enough to block the Church of England's plan to take over another 100 of our community schools so they can preach and violate the freedom of belief of local school kids. From this report in today's Guardian the answer seems to be no.

We all know the majority of labour activists are opposed to the rapid expansion of faith schools, often replacing community schools which are a more popular option for parents who want new schools, we can only hope that the deputy leadership campaign will help senior figures in the party to speak out more now that the chief proponents of sectarian schools - Tony Blair and Andrew Adonis - are soon to depart to the scene.

Gordon Brown to take first steps towards disestablishment of the church?

Among the rather too many outdated and discriminatory quirks of the British system of government is that we have a nationalised state church and that British Prime Ministers have a leading role in shortlisting and appointing Church of England bishops and archbishops.

We were all rather hoping in 1997 that Labour would move away from this Henry VIII inspired charade, but strangely Tony Blair embraced the whole process and even vetoed candidates for the post of bishop of Liverpool.

But there seems to be some reasonably well informed speculation from Christopher Morgan of The Sunday Times writing for Religious Intelligence that Brown "has told senior colleagues that he intends to give the church control over its own senior appointments."

It's a small first step, but with Christianity in substantial and prolonged decline in this country, surely not the last step towards a modern secular democracy.

Hazel Blears: Some good ideas, but obsessions with youth leaves Labour adrift from the real activist gold mine - older people

Hazel Blears in her deputy leadership campaign has published a policy manifesto. In this document Hazel argues the case for prioritising young people in building the Labour Party's activist base:

We must appeal to the ‘facebook’ generation. We need a renewed effort to encourage more
young members, building on, respecting the traditions, and maintaining the independence
of Labour Students, Young Fabians and trade union youth sections. We need as a priority a
dedicated youth officer at Labour HQ, and more support for Labour Students in establishing new
Labour Clubs and maintaining existing ones. We need a new Labour Academy to train young
people in political organisation and ideas. We need a major emphasis on the party’s youth
work championed from the top.

I don't have a problem with any of this, it sounds like the nurturing of our party's grassroots that is so badly needed now the leader who seemed to not like us very much is finally moving on. But we know Labour is strapped for cash at the moment, so if there are "hard choices" to make on our priorities for new staff at hq, is this the right one?

Hazel has good ideas but they are unbalanced and a bit youth obsessed? This is not to single Hazel out for any special criticism, because an emphasis on youth is ingrained deep into the traditional language of political renewal and I fully expect other candidates to talk in similar terms.  A far more compelling case could be made for a major emphasis on the party's work with older people that should be championed from the top. The under 25s will only account for between 6 and 8% of voters in the next few elections. The over 65s will account for over one in three votes cast. If you include the over 55s in the "grey vote", very soon, in the next 10 years they will make up over half of all votes cast in general election. If we remain blind to this transformation of British society then we will surely suffer at the ballot box.

The Tories have opened up a big lead amongst older voters. We should be making not just equal, but far more strenuous efforts to reach out to older voters than we do to the young. Why not a Labour academy to train older people in the latest know-how on political organisation and campaigning? It's a fact of life that our older members and supporters have more spare time on their hands. Older people are the backbone of volunteering in this country. What are learning about community interaction from their experience? Retired members' sections of the major unions a full of incredibly energetic and keen activists, why isn't the party training and guiding their efforts?

It's time for Labour strategists to stop thinking of "pensioners" as passive voters who need targeting through fiscal measures and instead see older people as a huge pool of active talent who we need to cultivate and activate.

Thanks to Luke for the heads up on this one.

The death of (another) trade union activist

I never "forget" how in so many countries trade unionists are persecuted, but maybe, I should write about it more on this blog. So thanks to Harry at three score years and ten for reminding us of the sad murder of Moaaid Hamid who was the vice president of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW).

The Islamic extremists who are currently engaged in an orgy of killing and cruelty in Iraq find it very easy to hate their fellow human beings for all kinds of reasons. One category of human they don't like is trade unionists - salt of the earth, on the side of the little guy - trade unionists.

No matter how wrong the invasion of Iraq was, it gives absolutely no justification for the persecution of trade unionists by the religious nutters currently swaggering around that poor country.  It also reminds us of the hostility of many religious activists around the world to people coming together in trade unions.

Ian Gibson MP to "passionately" fight against proposed faith academy

Labour MP for Norwich North, Ian Gibson, is campaigning against proposals to create a faith academy school in Norwich jointly run by self-proclaimed Christian businessman Graham Dacre and the Bishop of Norwich.

Ian Gibson's local newspaper reports him as saying: “I feel faith schools are discriminatory and are against what the vast majority of people want in this country. They take away from and weaken other schools in the area, and the local education authority could do just as well to build its own schools and they could all work together with other Norwich schools.

“I feel the county council is taking the easy option with this. There is no evidence that these schools are more successful, and I will passionately fight against it and I urge the public to get behind me on this.”

He was backed by the Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk, Norman Lamb, who said: “I'm not a great fan of increasing the number of faith schools, even though I acknowledge that there are some excellent ones around.

“It's questionable to split people on the grounds of faith. I would not like all Christians, say, or all Muslims to attend only Christian or Muslim schools. I think it can be dangerous in terms of dividing society. Just look at Northern Ireland as the ultimate example of that.”

So why'd they go and shoot Olof Palme Why'd they go and gun that good man down...

Today is the 21st anniversary of the tragic assassination of Olof Palme. As leader of the social democrats and prime minister of Sweden Palme championed a number of progressive causes, and a new archive of his speeches and papers is being built at this site. However, to mark his memory let's hand over to the Jazz Butcher (old 80s 90s alternative popsters) and the lyrics to their song "Olof Palme":

"...I have always believed that if you're lucky enough
To have a leader who is friendly, decent, honest and just
And not a Tory
You'd better keep him alive

So why'd they go and shoot Olof Palme
Why'd they go and gun that good man down.

Well, you didn't read about him in the English papers much
But he used to govern Sweden with a magic touch
Everybody liked him even though the liquor prices were high
And my god are they high

But all the taxation helped to pay the bills
For stuff like better work conditions and the curing of ills
It made sense, and ladies and gents that's why...

That's why I think we ought to have a drink for Olof Palme
Yes I think we ought to drink one to his name
(Pat Fish: Everyone except Max, who's playing guitar)
(Max Eider: Oh Gawd!)

Oh, what'd they have to go and shoot him for
Plenty of Prime Ministers deserve it much more
He was only coming home from the Cinema
And they shot him

Well, I don't know much about your politics
I only pick up stupid little bits that stick
But I wish they hadn't shot Olof Palme
Oh yes I wish they hadn't shot Olof Palme
Oh yes I wish they hadn't shot a good man down." 

 

Election campaigning 2.0

John Denham is asking all the right questions on his blog:

"In the Labour Party (and I suspect in other parties) there’s a growing view that the old activist mass membership party model has had its day. People talk about virtual parties in which passive supporters receive regular e-bulletins and, perhaps, the chance to take part in an occasional consultation on terms determined by the centre.

But surely the new media requires the opposite approach? If the most interesting and dynamic areas of debate are where individual communicate with each other, then influence will lie with the political parties that can generate the largest number of active supporters who can propagate the broad values of a political party without reference to the centre. And we won’t develop activists like that unless they feel that they are more than the passive recipients of a party line. It’s not yet clear the Labour has begun to take this challenge on board."

Labour needs to find a 2.0 way of campaigning for progressive change and it will need to involve something terribly unfashionable...party members. Denham raises these issues in relation to younger voters - but they will only account for 6-7% of the vote on polling day. New strategies ignore older voters and the silver surfers at their peril.

For one example of how modern campaigns are changing, have a look at this recruitment page for Senator John Kerry's campaign to end the war in Iraq. Really, at the moment we're not even at the races on this one.