Now is no time for faint hearts – those of us here because of belief will fight on

By Julian Ware-Lane

Once was the time when Disraeli’s maxim “never complain and never explain” was enough to see one through troubled times. Those days are long gone. Now it appears that long periods of navel gazing and claims of “unworthy, unworthy” are de rigueur. Well, this unabashed socialist is not yet ready for a visit to Hairshirts-R-Us.

Any party that does not listen is doomed. I wonder, though, who some are listening to. If Gordon is about to be marched off to the ex-PMs club I do not expect a chorus of “I’m Gordonicus” (a la the Kirk Douglas film) as a gesture of blind loyalty, but let’s not bury him yet. Mark Twain’s famous line “reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” comes to mind.

Iron resolve when shells are exploding all around you may be difficult, but ask yourself what did you expect after twelve years of Government? If nothing else, the news media must have its story, and more of the same will not sell as well as change.

Yet we must resist. Those of us here because of belief will fight on.

There is nothing inevitable in politics. In an ever changing world the future is always being re-written. Today we may see defeat and despair ahead, but it does not have to be so. One can either give up or take the fight on. Those of us here because of belief will fight on.

We fight on because the alternative is to see hardship brought to those who need us in Government. The opposition did not want the minimum wage, civil partnerships, record investment in the NHS, and a decent minimum income guarantee for pensioners. They have opposed almost everything we have done. Whatever warm words may be emanating from the opposition, their deeds have spoken louder.

Now is no time for faint hearts. The Labour Party was never intended to be an eleemosynary institution, dispensing succour to troubled activists. It exists as a progressive alternative to a pseudo-Darwinian worldview.

Remember section 28, hunting with dogs, unemployment as a necessary evil, freezing pensioners, cuts to services. These are all history because of our Government.

The future is not yet written. Join the fight and please shut up.