I had a letter in yesterdays' Citizen in response to Parmjit Dhanda MPs' article exclaiming the wonders of Mr Blair. Mr Dhanda talked about how Mr Blair had created a fairer society but while poverty has been reduced slightly we are more unequal than at any time since the 1930s - there is never enough space in a letter - had wanted to write much more. Mr Blair has been disasterous - not least as I say in the letter for his decade of rising CO2 emissions.
Mr Blair has repeatedly said that climate change is our greatest threat yet has done so little - even the easy actions like insisting on new developments having renewable energy and efficiency standards like Scandinavia still haven't happened - instead we see plans for road and air travel expansions......however while I welcome him moving on I can't say I relish the prospect of Mr Brown taking over.
Mr Brown has certainly made little effort to go green, his budgets haven't tackled emissions with any seriousness, he wants Trident, has supported Iraq, Afghanistan, PFIs and more. Indeed it is a sad day in British politics when the fate of the nation rests on a back room deal made in a restaurant in Islington 13 years ago.
Brown may well be PM for the next 2 years - but he has not had to fight for this post. The rule for 45 Labour MPs to publically nominate a challenger is too high a bar. It has virtually guaranteed the death of democracy in the Labour Party - and, as in this case it leads to an unelected Prime Minister, increases the democratic deficit in a British system already suffering because of first past the post, centralised power and a lack of a written constitution.
As another Green said to me: "New Labour are fond of talking about respect, but what message does this send the British people?"
Blair and Brown have decided between them who would lead this country - and when - a long time ago. It is a great pity the challenger McDonnell didn't get in - he campaigned for trade union freedom and for council-house building - important policies which we in the Greens support as a way of creating a more equal society. He spoke out against the madness of the Iraq war, Trident and the arms trade. He acknowledged the severity of the ecological crisis, most obviously in the form of climate change. Above all, he recognised that Gordon Brown represents, even more than Tony Blair, a politics obsessed with the free-market dogmas of PFIs, privatisation and worship of corporate heroes.
But then again it is the economics of evermore growth that red, blue and yellow support that got us in this mess and are making it worse. McDonnell however would have been able to shift the debate back more onto some of the issues that really matter.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
The very unholy alliance between the political and economist "gurus" is overdue for its one way trip to a landfill site (or incinerator).
Using the economist theories developed originally by a couple of paranoid schizophrenics at the Rand Corporation during the cold war is no basis for policy applications to our society that now faces the consequences of their verbal assertions that "there is no other way".
Due to peak oil and climate change our survival as a species is now in question and its so because of the wasteful activities inherent in the pursuit of money and dominance that sits at the heart of the economic development/capitalist dream. No political party can give the needed responses to alleviate the disaster that is oncoming, only a cross party alliance of international scale for human survival can. And the action for this begins at grass roots level. Whats needed now is for a new breed of brave politicians to give the truths to the masses and act (not pledge action) to change our fate. We all can initiate change by doing all the carbon reduction measures we can at home and work, and then only voting for politicians who see the need for doing this as something far bigger than their (or their party's) own image.
Corporate bending of government policies through financial support for political parties is basically corruption, would you leave your dinner on the floor with a dog in the room? Our society has to start championing the people who see success for all as an essential survival policy and sideline the so called champions of wealth generation because their activities are shamelessly self destructive to all our futures.
Yes, I agree that the Labour Party could have done with a debate if only to get some of the arguments and alternatives out into the open, in the mainstream press.
There is an unholy alliance of politicians, big business and the press, egged on by international organisations, pushing relentlessly for economic growth and thereby steering the political agenda to suit this purpose.
I wouldn't attach too much blame to one politician or another. There is only so much they can do, which is why Blair or Brown or Cameron won't make a lot of difference.
The electorate have to change if anything radical is to be achieved which is why non-government organisations and environmental groups are so important in civil society.
And why we need a Green party more than ever....showing politics can be different, arguing the case in Council and Government chambers and more.
Post a Comment