It was the Manchester Hustings (Or the #manchustings on twitter.) today, and several things occurred to me. We’re blessed with 5 candidates for the leadership that truth be told are all talented passionate and labour to the core, and as such I’d be happy to get behind whoever wins in September. All five of them are wonderfully talented in their own way. Andy Burnham on Health, Balls on Education, Ed Miliband on Climate Change, David Miliband on Foreign Policy and Diane Abbott is good on where we went wrong in the last 13 years of Government. Whoever wins were going to have a very good leader at the helm, a leader who will take the fight to the Coalition government, fighting against the unfair cuts and the anti-democratic agenda.
Yes electing a new leader is a vital thing that we need to do as a party, but I think there is something equally as important, the party activists, its councillors and unions, the Labour party isn’t just a typical Westminster Party, it’s a movement, a movement that should be both self-critical of the mistakes of the past while looking to change for the better in the future. As a movement we have sacred principles, the NHS and Comprehensive Education, Fairness across the board for example on Fair Pay, and together we should fight for them, and I have faith that we will do.
Jason
July 31, 2010
Well said.