Polly Toynbee talks a lot of sense about the damage that Blair and his cabinet are doing to the prospective Labour Party vote in Thursday’s council elections.
Awful, awful, awful,” one minister said just in from the doorsteps. “I felt we were holding on last week and then it just collapsed. Prescott was the last straw.” Another felt he had to apologise to local activists. “When I arrived at Labour headquarters in one city I had to say, ‘I’m from the cabinet and I’m really, really sorry.’ I felt ashamed in front of good people running a good council. They were on their eighth leaflet drop, proud of their council. What could I say to them?” A third minister said, “It was so utterly dreadful out there that it was pointless campaigning. How did we let this happen?” Some key London wards have asked cabinet ministers to stay away.
It’s just a shame that she spoils it at the end by resurrecting the old “nosepegs” argument.
Emailers ask angrily how else they can express their fury. The answer again, I’m afraid, is that old nosepeg. Don’t use good local Labour councillors to get your revenge on the PM. His MPs look determined to see him off this time, roughly if need be, should he be foolish enough not to go soon.
I would love to vote for my Labour candidates. I’m sure they’d make great councillors. But I know that every vote for a Labour candidate will be see (by Blair, at least) as a vote in support for him and his policies. And I can’t risk that. It’s too late now anyway, I’ve already voted by post (not for Labour).
Hopefully the complete collapse of the Labour vote on Thursday will be the last straw and Labour MPs will finally insist that Blair goes.