Date published: 2006/08/31
The BBC says:
Labour has alienated many of the key supporters who brought it to power in 1997, says former Home Secretary Charles Clarke.
...
Mr Clarke points to five fault lines for Labour:
- Failure to reach a deal with local councils on the division of local and central responsibilities, putting "a distance" between ministers and councillors and others
- Concerns among the business world, much of which swung behind Labour in 1997, about regulation, tax, value for money in public services and failure to adopt the euro
- Lack of confidence among environmental campaigners in the party's commitment to green issues
- Doubts about the party's determination to complete constitutional reforms, such as changes to the House of Lords, and fears for civil liberties amid anti-terrorism legislation
- The government's approach to Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East "has alienated many".
Mr Clarke also criticised Labour's decision-making over the next generation of nuclear power plans and the decision to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system.
In a side-swipe at the way Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have addressed the two issues, he says: "They cannot simply be dealt with as an aside at the CBI's annual dinner or a half-sentence at the Guildhall."
The first "fault line" is irrelevant, and the second to fourth are not that significant, except for the wholesale removal of civil liberties (which only arouses the ire of a few). What really matters is Iraq. If Blair had not been so stupid as to get Britain sucked into that illegal war, then the government would still be doing quite well. But he was that stupid.
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