Wednesday 25 January 2017

Let The Potter's Wheel Turn Again

Where is the candidate at Stoke Central who is both pro-Brexit and pro-NHS?

Where is the candidate who will vote for Article 50, but only on condition of that extra £350 million per week for the National Health Service, the promise that decided the referendum?

Such a candidate ought easily to be the First Past the Post.

Forces in any sense to the right of the Conservative Establishment have managed to elect anyone to Parliament only three times, re-electing two previously Conservative incumbents on all three occasions, but one of them twice.

The Right could not get a candidate onto the ballot for Leader of the Conservative Party even after the EU referendum.

The Remainers simply installed a Prime Minister of their own devising.

Whereas the Left's record in the present century is really rather impressive.

Mayor of London twice, the first time against Labour, the second after having forced Labour to readmit Ken Livingstone or face a second humiliation at the polls.

The Blaenau Gwent Assembly seat twice, from which its standard-bearer retired undefeated, and the Blaenau Gwent Commons seat twice, too.

Bethnal Green and Bow, and then Bradford West.

The Labour Leadership Elections of 2015 and 2016.

The EU referendum, which was won in the old industrial areas on a promise of additional funds for the NHS.

And now, Stoke Central? Why ever not?

Failing that, though, it is going to have to be a Labour vote.

The debate on the EU, as such, has very largely been and gone. Leave won.

But the debate on the NHS has only just begun.

1 comment:

  1. The Labour Party must hold a special National Conference to make policy decisions. If it does not it will be torn apart by the right wing suicide bombers and a left that refuses to fight.

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