The heart and soul of the party?
Rumours that Alan Milburn is contemplating putting his name forward as a challenger to Gordon Brown are rife across Westminster and the Labour blogosphere. If they are true then we will witness a contest that will not simply be about who should lead us, it will be struggle to about the heart and soul of our movement. In September 2006, writing in the Times, Alan Milburn argued:
'New Labour was formed as a modern centrist progressive party through a genuine process of debate and renewal — not just a new leader but a new constitution, new politics and new policies. After a decade in office it is time to debate and renew again. The priority now is to determine Labour’s post-Blair purpose and policy. '
The renewal that Milburn signposted is yet to happen. The next few weeks will not only determine Gordon Brown's future, it may well determine the long term future of our movement.
So Mr Ion is now peddling wild rumours about our Honory President standing against Gordon and changing the whole course of the future of our movement. Is this the same Mr Ion who was urging us to "Calm down, calm down!"?
Posted by: Stan Rosenthal | May 21, 2008 at 02:22 PM