Alasdair Cresswell
28th September 2009 at 21:24
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Firstly, this has been my first conference as a Labour member. So whilst I’m nowhere near the seaside and Brighton all I can take interest in is what’s available to watch on my tv screen. What’s being shown to me hardly fills me with confidence.
Perhaps the defining moment so far came today. The man being branded as a “saviour” made a rip-roaring speech. It seemed brilliant, humour with ample Tory-bashing, plenty to please those that filled the conference hall.Yet there it was. In between all this, he made sure to remind those listening that he was here to protect the “centre” ground in politics.
Whilst I accept the circumstance the party finds itself in, I could not help being scared by the cheers that Lord Mandelson recieved for his defence of the policy that has seen an abandonment of the working class vote from the Labour party, and with it,maybe its chance of electoral success in future decades.
So as a young member, with little experience and increasing impatience, I ask what do you see the party as? Is it pushing itself to the point of no return to the extent that we on the left will find our position in the party as untenable. Then comes the question, are we doing enough as the real left of the party to establish ourselves in time for one of the most critical periods in Labour’s history?
Tags: conference (1) | future (1) | labour (1) | mandelson (1) | new labour (1)
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