Lib Dems should raise two cheers :
Now the challenge is to get serious
Leader
Sunday September 21, 2003
The Observer
As the Liberal Democrats gather in Brighton, they have multiple
reasons to be cheerful, the most recent and the most obvious
being their by-election stunner at Labour's expense in north
London.
The victory in Brent East tops off an impressive run for them.
Their MPs and peers have been doughty guardians of civil
liberties against some of the panicky depredations rushed at
Parliament by the Government. This newspaper did not agree
with their position on the invasion of Iraq, but it was healthy for
our democracy that at least one of the mainstream parties
questioned the case for war and has gone on doing so since.
The occupants of the Lib Dem frontbench are often much more
impressive than their Tory counterparts at searching out failures
to deliver on public services.
They have the further satisfaction of being ahead of the curve of
some debates. The Lib Dems have always emphasised the
local. This long-standing commitment to decentralise is now
being aped by both the Tories and Labour. And the party has
continued to be a distinctive voice by championing the
environment and the pro-European cause. In Charles Kennedy, it
has a leader who may be sniped at in the Westminster bubble,
but who comes over as highly attractive to many voters,
including those who don't currently support his party.
With 54 MPs, as well as power in many councils, the Lib Dems
have become much more than a between-elections dustbin for
anti-Tory protest votes. The triumph at Brent East is important
because it proves that Mr Kennedy's party can also harvest
discontent in traditionally rock-solid Labour seats.
All the ensuing cheer should be laced with a big dose of caution.
Many times before, from Orpington in the Sixties and onwards,
by-election sensations have been hailed as mould-breaking
moments for the third party. Many times before, these new
dawns have proved to be false dawns. As long as the
Conservatives remain as unpopular and Labour as untrusted as
they are today, it is easy to conceive of the Liberal Democrats
adding more MPs at the next election. What the party is still a
long way from being is a plausible competitor for national power.
To begin to look and sound a bit more like that, they need to
spend their week in Brighton thinking harder than usual about
the crucial issues of tax and spend. This will oblige them to
confront their most acute strategic dilemma. The Lib Democrats
are increasingly to the Left of New Labour, yet eight out of 10 of
their target seats are Tory.
They are short of the signature policies that define parties and
sing to the electorate. We report today that their conference will
debate getting rid of all National Health Service charges by
putting up tax. While superficially attractive, and certainly
headline-grasping, this free-for-all is not self-evidently the best
way to target help on the most needy or to run the health service
most efficiently. There are Lib Dem frontbenchers interested in
making public services more responsive to those who use them.
There are others who too often sound like mouthpieces for the
producers rather than champions of the users.
If they are shrewd, the Liberal Democrats will treat the victory in
Brent East not as a reason to be self-satisfied, but as a spur to
get serious.
observer.guardian.co.uk
Election defeat piles pressure on Blair
Nicholas Watt and Sarah Hall
Saturday September 20, 2003
The Guardian
The government last night admitted that it had received a
"bloody nose" from the electorate after suffering a crushing
defeat in the Brent East byelection.
The result left Tony Blair's critics upbeat ahead of what promises
to be a difficult Labour conference and Downing Street sources
promising sweeping changes to the Labour party to give ordinary
members a bigger say in policymaking.
Sarah Teather, a 29-year-old teacher, swept to victory on a 29%
swing on Thursday to become the Lib Dems' 54th MP, and the
youngest in the Commons.
David Blunkett, the home secretary, described the Lib Dem
victory as a "bloody nose" for the government. Such soul
searching delighted the Lib Dems, who were ecstatic after
capturing what was seen as a safe Labour seat.
Charles Kennedy, whose personal involvement in the Lib Dem
campaign will silence his critics for the moment, said: "We're
now on course, steadily and with perseverance, at least in
principle, to overtake the Conservatives as a political party in
opposition."
The admission that New Labour must alter its ways - though not
its core philosophy - came after Labour's first byelection defeat
in 15 years.
Downing Street was last night working on changes which it
claimed will heed the concerns of MPs, trade unionists and
voters. The most eye-catching will be a shakeup of Labour's
national policy forum, originally designed to give grassroots
members a direct role in drawing up the general election
manifesto and a role in drawing up policies introduced between
elections.
Blairites believe party rows over issues such as foundation
hospitals have helped to damage Labour and could have been
avoided.
"There was no mechanism for consulting the party on foundation
hospitals, which were just flagged up in general terms in the last
manifesto," one said. "We have to find ways of being more
inclusive."
But there will be no backing down from the prime minister's
controversial approach to health and education. "Government is
about making hard choices," one well-placed source said. "We
will continue to make those hard choices because doing nothing
is not an option, although we will listen more."
The loss of such a rock solid seat, held by the late Paul Daisley
at the last general election with a 13,047 majority, was seized
on by the Labour left, which was delighted by the first sign of the
prime minister's mortality. The Socialist Campaign group said
Labour had paid the price for supporting "George Bush's war".
But senior party sources insisted Mr Blair would not repeat the
mistake of past Labour leaders who committed electoral suicide
by tacking to the left.
Stephen Byers, the former transport secretary, will reflect this
thinking tomorrow when he tells GMTV: "I think there's a danger
of self-indulgence in the party ... If [Mr Blair] adopts a safety first
approach I think it will be a big mistake."
Mr Kennedy described the the poll as a serious blow to the
Tories, who slipped from second to third place. "It's clearly a
blow for the government to lose a safe seat, but Iain Duncan
Smith should now realise there is a major question about the
future of his party: is it really relevant or credible?"
Mr Duncan Smith was warned by senior MPs yesterday that he
would face a rough ride at the Tory conference.
As the Tory leadership attempted to play down the significance
of the party's 16% share of the vote, MPs said some
constituency chairmen were planning to tell Mr Duncan Smith to
smarten up his act. Dissident MPs are relying on grassroots
Tories to step up the pressure on the party leader because they
voted him into office. Constituency chairmen will warn the
leadership that the party is in danger of heading to a third
successive landslide election defeat.
"Brent East shows that we have no strategy and no clear
message," one Tory said. "Iain says the party is in its best
shape for 10 years; I am crying into my beer."
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