Were to draw the line and what ever happened to left wing

In the recent General Studies paper it asked something along the lines of:
'Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems, they are all the same, theres no point in voting' 
Discuss wether it is worth while having different political parties. 
The entire premise of my EPQ is about the different philosophies and policies of different parties so this question spurred me into some what of a frenzy of defining political parties, historical examples. Hopefully which will give me quite a good grade at the end, although you can never tell with General Studies and most peoples view on the subject (not mine) are summed (if not a bit roughly) by youtuber: RichandPoor. 


Yet upon coming home I noticed this article: 

Lord Owen 'could vote for Labour' under Miliband

Lord Owen was one of  the key founders of the SDP party that broke away from labour in the 1981s to eventually merge with the Liberal party to found the Liberal Democrats. The fact that he would not support the Labour party makes a complex situation more difficult. 

There was a time when Labour and the Conservatives were clear cut (not that i was alive to remember it)  and it was not too hard to define the Lib Dems but now drawing the political line is very hard! 

Historically Labour were left wing, Conservatives were right wing and the Lib Dems were central left yet right now the Lib Dems are in coalition government with the right wing Conservatives. 

Oh but how right wing are the Conservatives, replacing a flaming touch with a green tree signalled a so called reinvention of the Tory party to the centre. David Cameron trumped the 2010 emergency budget as 'fair' and progressive, but their  polices don't seem to much of a far cry from Margate Thatcher. Experimental economic policy (crowing out theory and PSNCR priority) and downsizing the public sector is classic Tory policy.  Even the Conservative command acknolages this,  this we know thanks to Wikileaks. 

Yet tweaks to the Conservatives to make them friendlier and more electable seem like nothing compared to Tony Blairs New Labour. The reinvention of Labour Party sifted the party of the Unions into a central  Party to Govern Briton for just under 13 years. Tony Blair was named 12th most infuential right winger in the telegraph! Nick Clegg leader of the 'central-left' Liberal Democrats came 3rd!!

What happened to left wing!?

Well Mr Milliband is not leader of the labour party and it seems he is brining back the left. Elected by the Unions Ed is not new labour which means he could just be left of centre? 

If your looking for the true left wing its actually within the right wing government, if you ask me I would say it those Liberal Democrats that risked peerage to vote against the tuition fees. In time we could see the end of the coalition, if the Lib Dems don't break under pressure they will dissolve back into two parties! 

Ed Miliband Receives Grilling on Jeremy Vine

In brutal interview did Ed hold his nerve?

The interview:
The Previous Government: After a blazing intro Jeremy gave Mr Miliband a chance to blame the past Labour Government and differentiate away from them, to which he defended the past Government. To the argument that they spend to much he said it was wise investment, although not prefect. He said the borrowing was responsible and said he paid off debt.
A caller attacked Mr Miliband first off in a petty manner about his voice then moving on to state the previous Labour government brought the country to its knees saying Labour wasted the governments money. He responded pointing out investments like the NHS to which she responding saying her mother had died of MRSA. Despite the onslaught he kept his cool using rational arguments such as 'for the most part people feel they have a good standard from the NHS' then twisting it to a Conservative jibs like their cuts to the NHS.
Others placed the sole blame for the financial meltdown on him which was also implied by Jeremy, he held off and stuck to the argument that it was not their fault because it was global.
His personality: When a calling with an alternative political view asked Mr Miliband to show some passion and heart in fighting the precent government, he said he would fight harder and picked up on her arguments backing them up, arguments such as 'we will never get playgrounds back'.
He was then accused of being faceless and 'shafting' his brother. He said his and his brother were best to stand against each other and fight fairly rather than back door deals such as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He said that both of them 'had something to say'.
When questioned about not being on his childs birth certificate he put death to such rumours by saying he is now and it was due to not being married to the mother (his partner) and responded to why he was not married by saying he plans to but he did not want to marry for political gain.
Tuition fees: His response to tuition fees to was push forward his graduate tax. He said that the Conservatives were ruining the next generate which he would not. He said he did not join the marches because he had other means of protesting such as in parliament. He also again reached out to the young party by saying he supporting votes for 16 year olds.
Banks: He said he would help the working family by not implementing the VAT and benefit cuts by getting money from elsewhere such as higher bank levies. He offered an interesting solution to bonuses by saying further regulation of banks by making them disclose more information would reduce bank bonuses by letting share holders know more and thus putting them off from paying out. This is an interesting idea, although to me this just seems like shifting pay from bank workers that actually work to shareholders that don't.
War: He supported the Conservative policy on Afganistian and said that it was right because many terrorist bases were around that region.
Religion: When asked to stop faith schools he pointed out that many faith schools pre-date public schools and said most do a good job.
Finally interesting Jeremy was attack for attacking Ed on personal grounds not political, to which Ed responded by asking the caller to explain why he voted Lib Dems rather thus letting Jeremy off the hook.


 My response:
Ed held his nerve, no slips ('bigot') even against deep personal jibes and hard questions. He has some interesting and inventive policies although the idea he is too vague still holds up. Its refreshing to see him agree with some Con-dem policies and just valid defences. I agree that the finical crisis was not labours fault and investment is good, although perhaps running such large deficits is not responsible, its clear to make the destinction that an economy is not like a household and debt if very different to nations.
At very least I can say he is a good politician although  he appears to have developed that catchphrase 'let me just say'.


From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00d4khs - (disappears on 13th of Jan)

Rebellions and Promises

Tuition fees are to increase to up to £9000 
Yet not with out heavy resistance. 
28 Lib dems voted Yes
21 Lib dems voted No
8 Lib dems abstained or were not present 
This means that less than half of the Liberal Democrats passed the proposals. Full list here.
Also 6 Conservative MP's also rebelled against the fees. All in all the pass of 323 votes to 302 votes was very small. This raising underling problems within the coalistion, as predicted when tested the Liberals Democrats have split. With the Liberal Democrats being an  initial merge of the SDP and the Liberals back in 1988 and now the a divide between the Socialist of the party and the Orange Bookers, is it too unlikely that we could see a break down of the party? Having seen a number of deffections and resignations today so a number of higher profile Lid Dems leaving their posts, mainly Michael Crockart, who quit his government role. This rebellion has further to go.
Mean while Ed Millibands Labour party voted against it the change and is now speaking out against it trying to capitalize upon the situation. 

In the streets
Outside parelment things were far more open and violent! Protesters attacked Prince Charles car, attacked statues, the treasury and battled with police. Police Cavalry charges and protestors throwing  missiles were seen in public violence that would be hard to match in the last 20 years. Who is to say what will happen next? Should further Unions join strikes in 2011 when budget forms sink in it could have devistating consequences. 

Labour gathering attack plan

The fall of the Old (New) Labour

Having been truly beaten in the 2010 elections, Gordon Brown and New (now Old New labour?) Labour seemed well and truly down and out, from an outside perspective it seemed the Labour party was in ruins. The media had pinned the Credit Crunch on them and much more, they had been well and truly turned scapegoat.
On the other hand, the country is now in the hands of the double team of the sometimes annoying yet undeniably charismatic Clegg and Cameron (CC for short). It seemed the Conservatives and the liberal democrats had come up trumps. The Conservative party had wrestled back control of country after 13 years and the Lib dems had more power than they had had in officially ever! Although now it seems quite the contrary the coalition (or collision as I keep miss spelling it) is being brought back to reality as are voters and after a fiery yet civilized leadership contest Labour are gaining strength in the back ground to come back strong. Allow me to explain.

The Poison Chalice
The debt is spoken of as a time bomb but in fact the whole government is now ticking down to disaster, I would not go as far as saying that the Con-Dem government has inherited a poison chalice, it was all a set up.
The Conservative Government in its ethos was bound to execute harsh cut backs and try to slash back the bloated public sector, which is no bad thing. However in a very uneasy economic recovery it’s a recipe for double-dip recession and causing a recession is the best way to shatter voter trust.
I’ve been asking myself what exactly the change is? “Change” “New Politics” New conservite? So far its looks like benefit cuts, public services depleted and increases in regressive taxes (VAT), classic Tory stereotype? There’s already a sense of discontent at the fact the banks and top end of the income scale seem to have escaped, this is only likely to fuel this and maybe pin point it at the conservitive party. As for the Lib Dems they were all too easy to enter into a coalition that does not fit. Liberal Democrats: Center- Left Conservative: Right. Granted there is some policy over laps but how many policy are been implemented behind the Con-dem banner that are polar opposite to Lib Dem philosophy. How can a party that not long ago wanted to abolish tuition fees now sit in Government with a party tripling them? I don’t know, but maybe the answer is no. The political system allows a backbench rebellion and the growing detachment between the top of the party and the bulk of it is clear to see.

The New Labour that is in fact the Old Labour but now new.
Either way you want to look at it the Labour party is now very different, they have sheded Brown and move on with the past stigmas left behind with him. The Labour party are looking like they will come back strong and they have two plans for it.


Plan A – Milliband Number One

Ed Miliband is leading labour down his own path, old system yet new labour. Building his shadow cabinet from Alan Johnson, Harriet Hardman and Ed Balls Ed’s Labour party is seems to be portraying a more credible image.
The Labour party is now talking about the new generation; they talk about reforms and youths.
This is very cleaver, as I mentioned in another article it’s the young that are being hurt but not only this but it’s the young that are lost in politics. Many that were swept up by the Lib Dem ideals now find them selves ‘unclaimed’ by a party as they loose faith with the Lib Dem due to the coalition with the Tories. The young are the future voters and it’s a long-term investment to target them epically when the next election is a long way away. Also the idea of reform and being ‘true’ reformers is a knife in the back of the Liberal Democrats that said they were to bring reform and are yet to deliver. The labour party is trying to soak up the lost voters, detracting from the past bringing back those that left and stealing voters from the other parties.

Plan B – Miliband Mark Two?

What happens if Ed’s plans don’t work? Labour has a second chance, a life. They can bring in David Miliband. If all goes wrong David can return to try again for labour and all remains of New Labour can be gathered together to create new new labour! The Labour party has an attack plan and a back up, while the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives struggle with the debt and the economy! The party out of power is the party in the best position at this time.

Goodbye Mr Brown

Today we see the end of new labours grasp on UK politics, amongst the chaos of the hung parliament I for one would like to take a moment to think of Gordon Brown.
Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister of the country and of the Labour party at 7:20pm on the 11th of May. As long serving chancellor and PM through a recession Gordon Brown could perhaps be most remembered for reviving Fiscal policy offer people the chance to post bellow the GOOD things about Mr. Brown and his service the country.
Now we must watch look to our new PM David Cameron, will he serve as a good PM? Can he hold together a coalition with the Lib Dems? What of Gorge Osborn I for one will go into this new era open minded, I hope for a brighter future of reform and stable real ecological economic growth.