GORDON BROWN is reaching a tipping point with his party. He is facing three tests which together constitute a critical mass in the equation determining the future relationship between Labour in government, the party in the country and its trade union base. In short, this is about the future of the party itself. The tests are the appointment of a general secretary, protection of agency and temporary workers and the historical link with the unions.
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Tribune Comment: Testing times for Gordon Brown
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, February 28th, 2008Fetch McCoat and McHat, I’m looking for a job
By Tribune Web Editor /Monday, February 25th, 2008Chris Proctor – Brainwaves
I TREMBLE sometimes at the appalling standard of careers advice in this country. Even at the very top we are letting down our citizens. Regard the sad fate of the former Prime Minister. How poorly he has been advised.
Kosovo independence all comes down to reality
By Tribune Web Editor /Sunday, February 24th, 2008Ian Williams – Letter from America
THE bluster about the illegality of Kosovo independence begs some questions. If you want legality, perhaps someone should ask Moscow to point out the United Nations resolution that gave the Russian Federation the former Soviet Union’s permanent seat and veto on the Security Council. There isn’t one. Sometimes people find it best to accept reality.
Tribune Comment: After Castro – hands off Cuba
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, February 21st, 2008WILL the departure of Fidel Castro open the way to a new settlement not just in Cuba, but for the whole region? Ominous but predictable signs of how the opportunities seen by Washington, American businessmen, Cold War veterans and Miami exiles are immediately apparent. But what exactly does Downing Street mean when suggesting Gordon Brown sees Castro’s retirement as an “opportunity” for Cuba to progress towards democracy? Without further clarification, this simplistic contribution risks fitting all too neatly into America’s hegemonically-driven determination to settle old scores. For the restoration of democracy, read the re-taking of Cuba as a commercial outpost controlled by the United States.
SDP renegade Scott is back to haunt the Labour Party
By Tribune Web Editor /Sunday, February 17th, 2008Paul Routledge – Out of the cage
DEREK SCOTT was economics advisor in Number 10 for most of Tony Blair’s premiership. It was a largely honorary role, since the economy was run from next door, with little interference from Tony’s Del Boy or anyone else.
Sorry view of the sky at night
By Tribune Web Editor /Friday, February 15th, 2008Oli Usher – Political science
NEARLY 50 years ago, CP Snow, scientist, sometime politician and mediocre novelist, gave an influential speech in which he decried the rift between what he called the “two cultures” of science and humanities. How could it be, he asked, that at a dinner party he had held, the highly educated guests’ eyes had glazed over when he asked them about their views on the second law of thermodynamics? He argued that they would never have admitted to such ignorance about the works of Shakespeare.
Tribune Comment: Still resisting nuclear nightmare
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, February 14th, 2008FIFTY years ago, Tribune became midwife, godfather and standard-bearer at the birth of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Its then editor, Michael Foot, has never wavered from the conviction that nuclear weapons are an unnecessary, unjustifiable and corrupting threat to world peace. And neither shall we.
Very nice work, if you can get it – and Tony Blair can
By Tribune Web Editor /Sunday, February 10th, 2008Kevin Maguire – As I Please
LIFE feels like one big roulette wheel, so it’s no surprise that some people win a fortune in the casino economy. It would be much better after 11 years of Labour rule if that wasn’t the case, if the country was fairer – a goal that’s hardly revolutionary and shared by Liberal Democrats and “one-nation” Tories, as well as what we once termed the people’s party.
Unequal cost of corruption in South Africa and Italy
By Tribune Web Editor /Saturday, February 9th, 2008Bryan Rostron – Out of Africa
TWO powerful politicians with serious fraud cases hanging over them circle like sharks around vulnerable governments in their respective countries. Both Jacob Zuma and Silvio Berlusconi can sniff the bloodied scent of power and are poised to strike.
Tribune Comment: Change course or the party’s over
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, February 7th, 2008SOMETHING is stirring in Labour’s political undergrowth and it is not pleasant. Recent headlines and comment provide a clue. “Ministers tell PM: we must wake up to the Tory threat” – The Guardian on a report from the “modernisers” of the Progress think tank. “Labour needs to take a good hard look at the opposition” – Guardian columnist and Tony Blair apologist Martin Kettle. “The party must show a new clarity of purpose to stave off the prospect of Tory rule” – Charles Clarke. The new head of the nation’s welfare policy, James Purnell, announces that the Government is “ideologically neutral” on private versus public sector involvement and immediately hails Gordon Brown as “the heir to Blair”.