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Would you take Tony back? Or Gordon? State of the Party, June 2012

June 27, 2012 7:21 pm

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State of the Party

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Right on schedule the State of the Party survey is back – your No.1 monthly barometer of Labour Party opinion.

As well as gauging your opinion on the shadow cabinet and Ed Miliband, this month we’re asking you:

Should Labour back Nick Clegg’s House of Lords reform?
Would you take Tony Blair back as PM?
Would you take Gordon Brown back as PM?
Is the Labour party serious about internal party democracy?
If you could – would you avoid tax?

It’s your party. Have your say. Vote here.

John Dore

Brown and Blair are yesterdays men.
- http://twitter.com/mistyblulabour dave stone
  
  Who do you think is today’s person?
  - John Dore
    
    Probably Ed or David. Both of them are head and shoulders ahead in my estimation.
Hamish

What counts as tax avoidance?
I have savings in NS&I bonds, interest on which is tax free.
I own some Premium Bonds, prizes from which are tax free. (Chance would be a fine thing).
I contribute to a number of charities, which claim back the tax I have paid via Gift Aid.
Am I a tax dodger?
- DonRob
  
  No, tax-free savings were set up by parliament. You are supposed to use them for such end. A tax dodger is someone who avoids tax via ways that were not set up by parliament for that end. Re, Alan Carr. He was not investing in a thye production of a British film; he was tax dodging. Simples!
  - Duncan
    
    Alan?
  - Hamish
    
    My point is that I don’t think it is that simple, just black and white.
    I chose examples that most people would agree to be acceptable.
    But Venture Capital Trusts and the like were also introduced by parliament, with the laudable aim of encouraging investment in new business enterprises. The trouble with such schemes is that it is very difficult to frame the legislation to achieve the desired effect without leaving what some term ‘loopholes’.
    I commend Ed M for refusing to join Dave C in trying to claim the ‘moral’ high ground. I would like to see HMRC and frankly the Fraud Squad coming down hard on tax EVADERS, who are guilty of a criminal offence. And government should think twice about introducing tax breaks which can easily be exploited.
Politique

NO
AlanGiles

The more the Blair saga drears on, the more it reminds you of one of those old Hammer horror films. The monster appears to have been slain on page 5, but 25 pages on, when everyone has almost forgotten about it, it emerges slavering from the graveyard to cause more damage.

If Blair cared about the party more than himself, he would walk away. Seeing him again just reminds you of Iraq, the erosion of civil liberties, cronyism, sofas, cash for peerages, false expenses claims etc Blair = Sleaze
- Daniel Speight
  
  Strange that the uber-Blairites who give the impression that, as realists, ‘power is everything’ can’t see the toxicity in Blair. This is a man who can’t sign a book or sit in a courtroom with attracting a protest.
  - treborc
    
    Blair has stated he pays the going rate ion Tax….. I wonder.
Amber Star

Tony Blair, no way. He wore out his welcome in 2005 & has done nothing to redeem himself since then. He is still blathering on about New Labour, the importance of courting business, being tough on the Unions & reforming (aka privatising) the public sector! And if this nonsense wasn’t enough for us, he also added some drivel about not managing reality but creating reality. A bit like the banks not managing wealth but creating it… & we all know how that turned out.
- AlanGiles
  
  “he also added some drivel about not managing reality but creating reality. ”
  
  Only a very wealthy man, insulated from real life, or somebody not the full ticket, frankly, could come out with nonsense like that.
  
  Perhaps in this self-created reality he really does believe he could be an asset to Labour again, but I think when true reality kicks in, and the public as a whole have heard his reheated solutions from his own mouth again, the self aggrandising, the air of injured innocence, the self-justification, and the opinion polls either stay static or actually decrease in Labour’s favour, even he will get the message.
  
  He is very thick-skinned, and I think it appalling that either he doesn’t have the self-respect to realise his time has gone, or somebody very senior in the party told him to his face. Though I am no longer in the party and never was a senior figure, I’d be more than happy to take the job on, if they don’t have the backbone to do it themselves. He ruined our party post 2003 and if he gets the chance he’d do it again.
  - treborc
    
    Says more about Miliband then Blair does it not.
    
    Is new labour dead.
evelinev

If Labour wants to make sure it loses the next elections, by all means, bring Blair back. He is one of the most detested politicians in Britain.

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