Gordon Brown back in Liverpool for TUC Congress, third time lucky?
Gordon Brown will be in Liverpool tomorrow to address the TUC Congress.
It will be his third time in Liverpool in the space of a year, but will it be third time lucky?
Last September Brown was in Liverpool at a time when his premiership was under threat.
I remember going up to St George's Hall to interview Mr Brown, the huge La Machine spider was hanging off the side of Concourse House when he arrived.
The same morning former Home Secretary Charles Clarke had done a pretty good job of rubbishing Brown on Radio 4. He was photographed next to a box that had "jokebox" written on its side. It was not a good day for Brown.
In January he brought his entire cabinet to Liverpool as part of his bid to reconnect with the electorate.
At the time giants like Woolworths were going to the wall. A school boy asked Mr Brown why if he could save the banks couldn't he save jobs like those at Woolworths and the like.
The night before the cabinet visit he cut a relaxed figure at Liverpool's Newz Bar.
Broadly speaking the entire visit went fairly well. But since then of course there have been untold number of disasters, MPs expenses being just one.
This time round Brown will face the unions with an unpopular message - that cuts in public spending are necessary.
It may not be what unions want to hear, but it is the reality.
If he is to regain the initiative from the Conservatives the argument has to be made in a convincing manner that is credible with the electorate and that means being completely frank about the scale of cuts that will be needed.
4 Comments
Leave a comment
Dale Street Associates
David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
Read My Posts »
Just for the record, The Cabinet visit cost the Liverpool ratepayers an enormous sum for what turned out to be a series of staged photo-ops and not much more. I doubt that Brown's latest visit will be welcomed by the TUC rank-and-file, particularly given that he's going to use the "C" word - cuts. No self-respecting Trade Union leader in the public sector unions will accept anything less than pay rises in line with inflation - you've only got to see whats happening locally with the union negotiations over the bin service. A return to Old Labour v. Old Unionism perhaps? For once...just once, it's time for you to put the Labour Leadership under real scrutiny and cut through all their hype and rhetoric. Demand the truth and ask which sectors will face the cuts or, instead, why don't they scrap ID cards, Trident upgrade and so on.
Or better still, perhaps its time to put the city's Lib dem leadership under the microscope, cut through all their spin, and ask them what they are playing at and why they haven't intervened to sort out the bins dispute and get the rubbish picked up. Is no one in charge at the MO? Or has the fireman gone off to las vegas, or cannes, or shanghai again at council taxpayers expense? after all council taxpayers are forking out for a refuse service which they are not getting....
Typical how the apologists for Labour always seem to have a short memory when it comes down to the bins dispute. The plain fact of the matter is that the bins dispute could have been settled days ago had Ian Lowes [ex-GMB Branch 5] not accepted binding arbitration. Yes, the same Ian Lowes who worked hand-in-glove with Derek Hatton to bring the city to its knees during the winter of discontent. Let's not forget, Militant were part of the "the Labour Party...the Labour Party". Make no mistake, the Liverpool Labour Party will do their best to distance themselves from their Trade Union comrades when it comes to emptying the bins. It's the old "blame the Lib Dems" game again.
Instead, I ask the question again even though Labour activists would rather try and ignore it or wish this would go away. How will Gordon/Alistair implement the now-admitted cuts in public services to balance the books?
.....................................silence.
Oh, I forgot, they won't be in power come May 2010. How convenient. Neither in Government or in power in Liverpool.
Remind us again what the cost of policing was for the Lib Dem conference?