Some ministers are positioning themselves for election defeat – we need to be working to avoid that calamity

By Kevin Cochrane

As a former Chairman of a Labour Constituency I’m dismayed at the lack of fight that is currently being displayed by Cabinet members. The prospect of a Cameron Government in the current economic climate should be concentrating the minds of all Labour supporters and helping to build a broad determination to deliver a fourth term of office. But some cabinet members appear to be positioning themselves in the event of a Labour defeat at the next election, rather than avoiding such a calamity.

How many Cabinet ministers have made themselves available for media interviews at national and local level to refute the Tory allegations re: a return to ‘boom and bust’ – the statement most associated with Brown and his claim to have ended this cycle? Which minister has declared his irrevocable support for the PM? Which minister has said only Brown’s policy of direct intervention is the correct approach to the downturn?”

Alongside this, Labour appears to be hoist by its own petard, with the Blair-Brown adoration of the City having led to our present predicament. We also appear to be ignoring the implications of direct state intervention, i.e. a return to nationalisation of public assets, as too much to stomach.

At present, we have not shown that we have grasped the level of public antipathy towards the faceless bureaucrats who benefited from the great Thatcherite sale of public industries which led to less choice and poor delivery coupled with rising prices.

The prime example is the Government’s attitude to Transport. The fact that such a key portfolio has been handed to the unelected and die hard Blairite Andrew Adonis tells you all that you need to know regarding the Government’s indifference to poor service and extortionate prices suffered by commuters, especially in the marginal seats of Southern England.

The failure to address people’s anger at the blatant profiteering of the Rail company franchises is evidence of the Government’s failure to connect with the real, daily concerns of voters and to understand how such issues have cumulatively impacted on living standards for many people.

Eleven years in office has widened the gap between Labour and the voters’ fears, needs and desires which – whilst understandable given we are in uncharted territory for a Labour Government – spells a clear and present danger.

It is imperative that Labour recognises the new public mood, which clearly acknowledges the need for Government intervention in all sectors of the economy, and ditches the infatuation with financiers, the City and the wealthy in exchange for a return to traditional Labour principles and values.

This is not a return to Old Labour; it is a recognition that those values that led us to join the party should be elevated to their rightful place above those principles that were accepted during the Blair hegemony as the new orthodoxy.