Blue Glasman turns on Red Ed

One gets the impression that this is going to be a difficult year for the Labour leader Ed Miliband.

Already under pressure from unnamed members of his party over his performances against David Cameron and still struggling to define exactly what the party should be opposing and proposing,Maurice Glasman has taken to the pages of the New Statesman to air his concerns about t.he party's leader.

He writes that

Labour is apparently pursuing a sectional agenda based on the idea that disaffected Liberal Democrats and public-sector employees will give Labour a majority next time around

and goes on to critique what he sees as its Keynesian orthodoxy in denying that its spending policy in the latter years has not had some effect on the current state of affairs that the country finds itself in.

Some argue that his attack is not so much on Miliband but on the shadow chancellor Ed Balls.

Glasman sings praises for part of what Miliband is trying to do

He was right, too, to distinguish between predatory and productive capital. Finance capital, outside of all relationships and calling the shots, is by nature promiscuous and exploitative. We need to call time on its nasty ways.

he writes but then adds that

The problem with Brownite political economy is that, even though it was true that a 3 per cent deficit was not excessive in the context of economic growth, it was debt that was growing at the time, rather than the real economy. A vast, sustained expansion in private debt fuelled the financial sector throughout Brown's tenure as chancellor and then prime minister. There was not enough investment in the productive economy, not enough private-sector growth.

So maybe not the start to the New Year that both Eds had in mind but at least he has some supporters among the former grandees

As the Guardian reports

On Twitter, however, the former deputy prime minister John Prescott said: "Glasman. You know sod all about politics, economic policy, Labour or solidarity. Bugger off and go 'organise' some communities!"

Is Hain making a leadership bid?

Former Cabinet minister Peter Hain's comments in the Independent on Sunday will be no doubt seen as further evidence of a growing movement within the party to replace Gordon Brown in the run up to next year's election.

Under the headline,Gordon, you are without a narrative,Hain says that

because Cameron's Tories do not actually offer the progressive change

there s still an opportunity for the Labour party to set the agenda however there is a problem

Despite Gordon Brown's best efforts, Labour has not had a clear enough narrative right across government. Ministers have developed a habit of making technocratic speeches where the very purpose of Labour gets lost

The article does not directly criticize Brown but the intention is surely laid bare.So is Hain suggesting that he is the beacon to carry the party to 2010 and beyond

Where are the leaders? asks Richards

Steve Richards stirs up the Labour sucession battle in his column in the Independent this morning.

With Yvette Cooper rumoured to be being pushed to stand against any Harriet Harman move he points out that

Cooper is married to Ed Balls. Suddenly we have the prospect of husbands and wives along with brothers – the Milibands – battling it out in a contest of fraught emotional intensity. I am exhausted already. Goodness knows what it must be like as an aspiring candidate with close members of your family breathing down your neck.

However this early positioning could well be in vain as he says an election is at least a year away.

So much so that the real potential candidates have not surfaced yet,

Of the aspiring leaders, Ed Balls, is the only one who has played a major role in shaping economic policy, but that was behind the scenes. He remains a pivotal confidant on economic matters, but still below the radar.

A bolder agenda and a perfect start

I like this post from Labour home.

It is a clarion call for the party to be focused on its principles and the author Michael Ion reflects that he joined the party

because I was (and still am) interested in ideas and becuase I wanted to help shape a fairer and more just world

Therefore he argues that these could form a bolder agenda

1. Create a 'People's Bank' in every High St and village and call it ... The Post Office.
2. Abolish hospital car parking charges in England.
3. Lower the voting age to 16
4. Give all cancer patients access to the drugs they need (regardless of where they live)
5. Create 0-14 schools and 14-19 colleges and end the needless transition at age 11

One grassroots Labour member is clearly not happy

As a former Chairman of a Labour Constituency I'm dismayed at the lack of fight that is currently being displayed by Cabinet members. The prospect of a Cameron Government in the current economic climate should be concentrating the minds of all Labour supporters and helping to build a broad determination to deliver a fourth term of office. But some cabinet members appear to be positioning themselves in the event of a Labour defeat at the next election, rather than avoiding such a calamity.

Those are the words of Kevin Cochrane writing over at Labourlist.org

Kevin who is clearly a grassroots angry member continues that

At present, we have not shown that we have grasped the level of public antipathy towards the faceless bureaucrats who benefited from the great Thatcherite sale of public industries which led to less choice and poor delivery coupled with rising prices.

A good year for political debate

This morning's Independent leader looks forward to the year as being one for clear political battles and division lines between the two parties.

At last,I can hear the political commentators cry.After years of seemingly consensus politics we finally,thanks in no small part to the global financial meltdown,three parties that have clearly defined an distinct strategies.

On the one side,Labour says that

Government spending and tax cuts are needed to help pull us out of the downturn

.

The Tories believe

there should be no extra public spending, nor tax cuts in the immediate term.
What the Government should be doing instead is establishing aNational Loan
Guarantee Scheme, to encourage the provision of credit to the economy.

Whilst the Lib Dems

echoed Mr Brown's justification for a fiscal stimulus in his own New Year
message, but criticised the form of the Government action taken thus far. Mr
Clegg wants tax cuts for the low-paid and substantial public investment in clean
energy infrastructure.

It will surelyh be a good year for political debate

Clarke urges Labour to forget about Blairism and move forward to survive

Charles Clarke has some harsh words for his party and any attempt to return to Blairism in the New Statesman this week

the term "Blairite" is being deployed to characterise the policies and personalities of some who question the party's current direction and urge Labour to face the future.

said the former Home Secretary

The party must move on from Blairism whose tax cutting agenda he blames for the debacle over the 10p tax rate.Blairism will also not help the country during the economic downturn according to Clarke.

there is no Blairite plot, despite rumours and persistent newspaper reports. There is, however, a deep and widely shared concern - which does not derive from ideology - that Labour is destined to disaster if we go on as we are, combined with a determination that we will not permit that to happen.