A good week for the Labour Party

The Paul Richards column

The next few weeks are dominated, not only by weddings (Wills & Kate, Ed & Justine) but also by anniversaries. This week was the first anniversary of the general election being called. That means, of course, that the first anniversary of the television debates, the Mrs Duffy moment, the coalition negotiations, and the ‘civil partnership’ in the Downing Street gardens are all coming soon, to an unimaginative newspaper column or blog post near you.

As Nick Clegg sobs uncontrollably listening to his radio, he must wonder how it went so wrong, so quickly. He’s gone from golden boy to pantomime villain in less than twelve months, with another four years to go. There’s a funny song, by the way, by James Sherwood on YouTube which speaks for many: ‘I’ve forgotten why we liked Nick Clegg.‘

Over his head, the vultures circle. Chris Huhne has given up on any pretence of halting global warming, and instead spends his nights sticking pins into a Clegg voodoo doll. Huhne is the Chief Inspector Dreyfus to Clegg’s Inspector Clouseau. Then there’s Tim Farron, who I first encountered as the only Liberal Democrat member of the National Union of Students (NUS) over twenty years ago. He obviously fancies his chances, as a kind of cross between Joe Grimmond and a thin Cyril Smith. And never far behind his leader with a ‘who me?’ expression is Simon Hughes.

If Clegg is found murdered on a train with a knife sticking out of his back, it won’t be hard to detect whodunnit from a line-up of senior Lib Dems: they all did. Nick Clegg is the Ramsay MacDonald of the Liberal Democrats: the man who sold a party and its principles for a sniff of power and a chance to play with the big boys. His place in history is assured, not as the man who took the Lib Dems back into government, but the man who split them apart.

There’s a real sense that the wheels are coming off this government. Talking to shadow ministers this week there’s a returning confidence and zeal. Andrew Lansley (the ‘manky codger’ as MC NxtGen would have it) has been left twisting in the wind. John Healey’s calm and authoritative performance in the commons in response to Lansley’s humiliating reversal of his NHS reforms was a masterclass. No shouting, no crowing, just a deliberative dissection of the hapless health secretary. The energy bill (which parliamentary clerks refused to let be called the ‘energy savings bill’ on trade descriptions grounds) has been delayed. Greg Barker’s comments, skillfully exposed by LabourList, on the scale of the cuts programme are hugely damaging. They undermine the central argument of the government – that the cuts are necessary – and reveal the truth: the cuts are political. One of Margaret Thatcher’s first white papers said ‘public expenditure is at the heart of Britain’s present difficulties’. Cameron believes it, but dare not say it. Barker has let the mask slip.

And soon, we have the local elections. Over at Southern Front you can see how well Labour has done in standing candidates in the crucial regions of the south, south-east and east of England. The enhanced numbers of Labour candidates on the ballot papers is a sure sign of high morale and active local parties. I don’t believe the hype that Labour will win a thousand seats, but I am confident we will do well enough to feel the fight back is well underway.

I even thought the ‘Ed Miliband the Movie‘ election broadcast was pitch perfect last night. If your leader is a largely unknown quantity, it’s only polite to effect an introduction with the voters. That’s what the PEB did, without over-sentimentality or cheese.

This has been a good week for the Labour Party.