Politics
What is the future for Labour?
FOLLOWING Ed Milliband’s resignation after the General Election, The Labour Party has been doing a serious amount of soul-searching. Numerous reasons have been given for the party’s poor performance, even though they gained seats in England and only lost one in Wales.
The most common reason given from inside the party is a variation on the theme that under Ed Milliband, the party veered too sharply to the left. There have been numerous ways of expressing this, from Chuka Umunna claiming that the party needed to be more ‘business friendly,’ to acting leader Harriet Harman and candidate Liz Kendall refusing to vote against the Conservatives’ welfare bill because British people have real concerns about benefit spending.
This contrasted sharply with the experiences of many canvassers who felt abandoned by the parliamentary Labour party, which made constituency candidates something of a hard sell in places. Across the country, the emergence of UKIP as, if not a credible political force, then certainly one strong enough to influence the outcome of any seat, was largely at the expense of what Labour would have considered core voters in 1997. Anti-austerity parties to the left also benefitted from Labour’s perceived lack of opposition to Conservative policies.
The election of a new Labour leader was meant to be the fairest and most transparent to date in a party that has traditionallyprideditselfonadherenceto democratic principles. Jeremy Corbyn, described ad nauseum in the press as an ‘Old Labour dinosaur,’ and a ‘veteran left-winger’ was only put on the ballot after 35 MPs, many of whom had no intention of voting for him, decided that all facets of the party should be represented. That these MPs were subsequently described as ‘morons’ by one of Tony Blair’s former advisors shows the extent to which the left-wing of the party is viewed as an embarrassment nowadays.
A strong showing ofpopular support for Mr Corbyn has led to outcry in the national press. A YouGov poll recently put him on CHECK %, leading to claims that the poll was inaccurate, and leading people to predict a schism in the Labour party similar to that which occurred when Michael Foot was made leader – something Mr Corbyn has blamed for the landslide defeat in 1983. The Daily Mirror, the only remaining left-wing tabloid, has suggested implementing an ABC (anyone but Corbyn) strategy, while on the other end of the scale Toby Young has suggested that those on the political Right join the Labour Party and vote for Mr Corbyn as a way of bringing down the Labour Party.
Mr Corbyn is certainly different to any leadership contender since the early nineties, if not before. Having said that, John Smith was considered to be on the centre-right of the party then, which shows how much the political landscape has shifted. The public spending cuts that Ed Balls claimed he would not alter if Labour were elected would have had an old One Nation Tory like Ted Heath spinning in his grave. Mr Corbyn has claimed that the role of leader should be more about facilitating debate rather than developing policies. He is known to favour the abolition of student fees, scrapping Trident, and the renationalisation of the rail industry.
There has been uproar in the Labour party about this. Apparently Labour should not be a party of protest but a party of government. It appears that from an opposition perspective, this means agreeing with most of what the party in power proposes, on the basis that they were voted in and are therefore what the electorate want. It may be facile to suggest that this makes the concept of an opposition moot, but certainly the parameters of debate will be narrowed.
Interestingly, a journalist for the Independent checked out the YouGov poll results for Mr Corbyn’s policies, and found that the public were heavily in favour, with 60% in favour of nationalising trains, for example. It appears that the claims that the Labour party has already suffered a split between the grass-roots supporters and the metropolitan ‘elite’ may have some basis in fact. A point which appears to be overlooked is that ‘three-time-winner’ Tony Blair still had the support of Labour’s core vote, until it began melting away over the New Labour years. Without this support, and without any way of either working with the SNP or encouraging Scottish voters back into the fold, the ‘swing seats’ targeted in ’97 will be increasingly irrelevant.
Andy Burnham, the politician many party insiders would like to see get the nod, is nominally on the left of centre, in the same way Yvette Cooper is slightly to the right. Mr Burnham is the only candidate to say that he would serve in a Corbyn shadow cabinet. Liz Kendall, considered one of the Blairite faction’s big hopes, has performed poorly, and is fourth-placed by some margin. A spoof facebook page – Liz Kendall for Conservative Leader – had nearly as many ‘likes’ as her own page before it was deleted. A problem appears to be the unwillingness of the other three candidates to commit on issues, for fear of jeopardising their shot at the top job.
Whoever emerges as Labour leader in the coming months will be in an unenviable position. They will have to reconcile those on the political Left and Right, and attempt to appeal to disillusioned Labour voters, as well as trying to take votes from the Conservatives and UKIP and, in all probability, having to work with the SNP and possibly Plaid Cymru in Wales, both parties with a broadly left-of-centre manifesto. It is far too early to tell what sort of a party will emerge at the other end, the outcome of a leadership battle fought across such a wide spectrum, and the ensuing rise in the number of party members, many of whom are looking for a credible alternative to the Tory-lite policies of the last two decades, will mean the party will indeed be living in interesting times.
News
County Hall lights up to mark Holocaust Memorial Day
COUNTY HALL in Haverfordwest will be lit in purple on Monday January 27 to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
This year Holocaust Memorial Day marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, and remembers the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust and those killed in genocides that followed.
The theme of this year’s commemoration is ‘For a Better Future’ and focuses on what everyone can do to create a better future.
This includes speaking up against Holocaust and genocide denial, challenging prejudice and encouraging others to learn about the Holocaust and more recent genocides.
Pembrokeshire County Council Leader, Cllr Jon Harvey, said: “This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day is particularly poignant as we remember the moments that Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated and the horrors of the Holocaust revealed to the world.
“We all have an opportunity to take action for a better future. A better future where people are not suffering prejudice or persecution because of their faith, ethnicity or other characteristic.”
Council Presiding Member, Cllr Simon Hancock added: “On Holocaust Memorial Day, we remember the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and all the others who suffered under Nazi persecution and the genocides that have followed.
“As we honour their memories, we also pledge to fight prejudice, discrimination, and antisemitism in society today.”
You can see more information on Holocaust Memorial Day at: https://hmd.org.uk/
News
Pembrokeshire cottage extension expected to be refused
PLANS adapt an outbuilding at a north Pembrokeshire cottage, which has had two previous extensions, to provide additional space for visiting family members are expected to be refused.
In an application recommended for refusal at Pembrokeshire Coast National Park’s development management committee meeting of January 29, Mr and Mrs Lewis seek permission for the park to allow habitable rooms in a consented building, along with a link to the existing dwelling at Lleine, near Moylegrove.
A supporting statemen through agent Harries Planning Design Management says: “This planning application follows a previously submitted planning application for extension to the dwelling and the rebuilding of existing outbuildings.
“It also follows a pre-application advice enquiry for an extension and to allow habitable rooms in the outbuilding and a refusal for an application of a similar nature. Following the refusal, we met with officers at the [national park] offices in Pembroke Dock to discuss a way forward for this proposal given the reason is to enable relatives to stay with the family. We therefore have followed the advice of the officers and provided amended plans following their response.”
An officer report for planners says Lleine, on a minor coastal road linking Newport and Moylegrove, is a traditional single-storey cottage that has been extended on two occasions previously.
It adds: “This application seeks consent to allow habitable rooms in an outbuilding which previously gained planning permission, together with the erection of a link to the existing dwelling. The current application follows the refusal [of a previous application], which also sought consent to allow habitable rooms in the previously consented building, and the construction of a link to the main dwelling.
“It was considered by officers that the proposal represented an over-development of the original dwelling by introducing additional accommodation and built form over and above that which was granted.”
It says that while the revised proposal is smaller, “it is still considered that the further additional built form would be an over-development of the existing dwelling, which already been extended extensively”.
The application has been brought to committee consideration rather than decided by officers at the request of the local councillor.
News
Pembrokeshire Coast Path walkers campsite plans submitted
A CALL to approve a new campsite close to a Neolithic burial chamber for Pembrokeshire coastal path walkers, at which building works have started without permission, has been made to county planners.
In an application to Pembrokeshire County Council, Raffale Colella is seeking partly-retrospective permission for a proposed 12-pitch campsite at Tir Fynhad, New Hill, Goodwick.
The application is partly-retrospective as part of a concrete and timber facilities building for the site, near the chambered tomb of Garn Wen, a scheduled ancient monument on land owned by the applicant, has already been built.
A supporting statement through Johnston Planning Ltd says the applicant “seeks to establish a high-quality, all-season facility which will cater primarily for walkers on the Pembrokeshire coastal Path who currently lack any meaningful accommodation of this nature in the locality”.
It adds: “The scheme proposes some 12 individual camping pitches set on a north-south axis on the site divided by an access track running the length of the facility with the proposed welfare building set midway along the eastern side of the site.
“In this instance the proposal relates to the establishment of new camp site on the periphery of a recognised settlement. The proposal will fulfil a recognised need for low impact and financially competitive tourist accommodation along the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park which is amplified somewhat by the recent restriction of temporary camp sites under the ‘28 day rule’ in the nearby Pembrokeshire Coast National Park (and the anticipated introduction of a similar measure within the plan area).
“The provision of temporary visitor accommodation in this location will lead to increased spend in the settlement of Goodwick helping to underpin the service function of that town and having general indirect benefits in terms of social and economic sustainability.
“Ecologically the development proposes significant enhancement measures in terms of planting that will have clear positive impacts in terms of habitat creation and foraging habitat for a range of inset and animal species.”
The application will be considered by county planners at a later date.
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