The ShortList – December 12th

From @LabourList

Catch up with the highlights on LabourList over the last week with the ShortList…

First, check out this week’s PPC Profile, which features lawyer Jeremy Miles of Beaconsfield.

News
The PBR – Fleet Street reacts.

The PBR had its heart in the right place, but its spending is based on optimistic forecasts, writes Alex Smith.

LabourList joined up with Left Foot Forward, Liberal Conspiracy an Touchstone for a PBR WebChat. You can still see what was said here.

Expenses are back: all 3 leaders are as bad as each other, says Alex Smith.

In the West Midlands, Labour won two stunning by-election victories on Thursday.

Guido says he’s bigger than Labour on video stats – but can he reach a TV audience of millions?

Four years after Cameron was elected Tory leader, Alastair Campbell asks: what do people think?

Poll List: in the latest poll, Labour have narrowed the gap to 8 points…

Party, People and Policy
“Smarter Government”: how will Labour look to reduce the cost of running the country?

The Audacity to Win: Mark Glover reviews David Plouffe’s new book and says Labour must learn to empower the grassroots.

Labour’s Volunteer Task Force has already started empowering people in the Midlands – Claire Spencer shows how.

And Thomas Fairfax asks how we can rebuild a mass membership movement…

Darren Rodwell tells us how, in Barking, Labour are building a base of 1,500 contacts in a day.

The Fabians invite David Cameron to respond to their new evidence, showing poverty increases with an inactive state.

Emma Burnell of SERA debunks the myth that government aims merely to increase its revenue through green taxes.

Look at the statistics: which party created welfare dependency really?

Opinion
Dr Jhund says scrapping the NHS IT system now would be a massive waste of money – and potentially lives.

In the minds of the voters, class divisions are not between Labour and Tory, but between politicians and everyone else, says Michael Merrick.

Back on the class issue, Labour’s election coordinator Douglas Alexander says the Cameron jibes aren’t about where he’s from – but where he wants to take the country.

And Laurie Penny says Brown was right to play the class card – as long as he plays it with integrity.

Paul Richards asks: where are our British political romantic heroes on TV?

***

Previous editions of the ShortList
Brown comes out fighting – December 6th, 2009.

The Chilcot Inquiry – November 29th, 2009.

The Queen’s Speech – November 22nd, 2009.

Glasgow North East by-election – November 14th, 2009

Blair and Miliband to Europe? – November 8th, 2009.

Europe and the Primary debate – November 1st, 2009

Griffin on Question Time – October 25th, 2009

Tory numbers – October 17th, 2009

Conseravtive conference – October 10, 2009.

Labour conference – October 3rd, 2009.

A Britain where everyone has a stake and a say – September 5th, 2009.

Teddy Kennedy: a good and decent man – August 29th, 2009.

Election strategy – August 22nd, 2009.

We Love the NHS – August 15th, 2009.

Green shoots are not enough – August 8th, 2009.

Debating ConservativeHome – August 1st, 2009.

Cruddas and Purnell – July 23rd, 2009.

The Ken Livingstone interview – July 18th, 2009.