Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid

NorthernMonkey Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 08:50:08 PM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

Wendy Alexander sounds like my kind of politician. She delivered a no-nonsense "reform or die" message to the Scottish Labour Party when she launched her leadership bid today. It is clear that the Scottish Labour party does need to end its old-fashioned mentality and I'm pleased that it seems Alexander is prepared to make bold reforms to get us back on top.





A few quotes from the articles:

Today she told "activists that the party needs to embrace "radical and bold" policies if it is to stand any chance of winning back power from the Nationalists."

"She will not reveal exactly what radical policies she has in mind, but it is clear she wants a new relationship with Labour in London, almost certainly with more autonomy for the Scottish party to develop its own policies and ideas."
I think to succeed, the Scottish Labour party does need a bit more autonomy from Westminster - the trouble last time was that McConnell was seen as Blair's lackie and that did him no favours.

"Ms Alexander will want to change that to introduce a new dynamic into the party - mirroring the changes driven through by Tony Blair when he took on the UK Labour leadership in 1994. Indeed, her approach looks like being very Blairite in theme and content."
Interesting, given she's a Brown supporter. But radical change is probably necessary.

"What is clear is that she believes Scottish Labour itself needs a radical injection of new ideas and new blood. The contrast between the union officials and middle-aged party hacks who tend to make up most of the audiences at Labour conferences, and the younger, more enthusiastic crowds at SNP gatherings is becoming more marked."

Sounds good - she seems like the right person to take Scottish Labour forward and make the necessary changes.

Full article:

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1301102007


tags: , , (all tags)

Display: Sort:
Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid | 20 comments (20 topical)

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#1)

by grimupnorth on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 02:35:42 PM GMT

This speech is Blairite twaddle."Reform"  "renew" "radical"  but actually of  course meaning  marketisation, abandoning traditional  Labour values and all that goes with it. In Scotland, frankly, they won't  buy it. A recipe for disaster.....


Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#2)

by NorthernMonkey on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 04:39:55 PM GMT

Well the SNP beat us at the last election and economically in many respects they are further to the right than we are - they're known as the 'Tartan Tories' and they mocked us by saying people only vote Labour to keep their Dole cheques coming.

But the Scottish people voted for them and we have to face reality that Scottish Labour does look a bit out of touch and old-fashioned.

Alexander is a Brownite, like her brother, so presumably she wouldn't be adopting this Blairite tone without Brown's blessing. Clearly they must believe this is the way forward - I say let them give it a go.


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#3)

by Andrea on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 04:50:00 PM GMT

"Well the SNP beat us at the last election and economically in many respects they are further to the right than we are - they're known as the 'Tartan Tories' and they mocked us by saying people only vote Labour to keep their Dole cheques coming."

SNP look like a big tent (well, like other parties). They've some MSPs who are economically on the Right (for ex Fergus Ewing) and others who are on the Left (for ex Sandra White MSP sometimes writes on The Morning Star).
On social issues they've multiple views too...some MSPs like Roseanna Cunningham and Fergus Ewing are socially conservative (for ex Cunningham opposed gay adoption) whilst other SNP politicians are socially liberal (I have to check, but it can also depend on what area they represent: MSPs for rural areas more conservative than MSPs from cities or town)


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#4)

by NorthernMonkey on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 05:25:27 PM GMT

Yes, I'd agree that the SNP is quite diverse.

But considering Salmond keeps going on about how they're going to have the lowest corporation tax in Europe after independence, it strikes me that the SNP's official policy is to try and be a bit more right-wing and pro-business than Labour. I'm sure they picked up lots of floating voters from all parties by doing this.


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#7)

by Andrea on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 06:32:49 PM GMT

yes, in the last campaign they seem to have searched support from businessmen and co.  During the campaign I wondered if it could have damanged the movements towards them of the free falling SSP voters. However they seem to have got many of them anyway.


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#8)

by rwendland on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 06:39:31 PM GMT

Not sure low corporation tax necessarily shows a genuine right-wing attitude - it's just the standard thing a small country does in a customs union to feed from larger nearby countries, just like Ireland, Jersey, Gurnsey & Isle of Man. (e.g. Cadbury Schweppes relocating part of its UK operations to the Irish Republic to reduce taxes.) It's a more general problem - and points to a need for more EU tax harmonisation.


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#11)

by NorthernMonkey on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 08:11:08 PM GMT

I could never agree with tax harmonisation across the EU though. If the EU has control of monetary policy then that's fair enough, but to have greater control over fiscal policy as well would be disasterous in my view. It would prevent different countries having competitive advantages over one another in their own specialised areas. And it would fail to recognise that some countries need and/or want higher public spending than others.


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#12)

by rwendland on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 11:21:20 PM GMT

I'd prefer flexibility to enable more public spending (even socialism!). But there does seem competition between EU states driving corp tax down, and I'm not sure where it stops.

In 1999 UK CT rate was 30% and 4th lowest of the EU-15, but by 2007 UK (still at 30% ) is now 6th highest of the EU-15. Meanwhile Ireland has a CT rate of 12.5%. Can we endure this competition to the floor?

Big corps can easily transfer profits from where it is really generated to another state with a lower tax regime. Should we just accept this unfairness? In the end it looks to me like businesses, because they can easily move profitability, will have low taxes, and personal tax and VAT will have to increase?

Then don't non-EU investors (and those who hide identity in offshore trusts) do well at EU citizens cost?

I'm not an economist, but this is how it seems to me. Maybe I misunderstand. Is there a solution other than harmonisation?


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#13)

by NorthernMonkey on Sun Aug 19, 2007 at 02:07:05 AM GMT

Plenty of fair points there.

But it is usually the smaller countries who will adopt lower corporation taxes as they are usually the ones who need to take drastic action to attract businesses.

Larger countries tend to be able to keep businesses with relatively high corporation tax because they have other benefits - larger populations, more infrastructure, more educational establishments churning out more skilled workers etc. If companies only based their decision on corporation tax alone, then every UK business would switch to the Republic of Ireland instantly.

So some EU states (typically eastern European ones) need to have lower corporation taxes than others to compensate for the disadvantages they have elsewhere. Also for example, countries suffering from a recession or high unemployment may choose to run a fiscal deficit (tax less and spend more) to stimulate the economy as they can no longer alter interest rates as they are now set by the ECB. Some countries may choose to have higher excise duties on alcohol if they suffer from a binge drinking problem. Some countries may want to adopt more forms of congestion charges if they have problems with traffic etc.

So no tax harmonisation allows flexibility to suit each country's needs and this flexibility helps to create stability as countries can react to economic shocks quickly and appropriately. A one-size-fits-all monetary policy across Europe is difficult enough to manage. But having a one-size-fits-all fiscal policy on top of that across 27 very diverse EU countries would be catastrophic.


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#18)

by rwendland on Mon Aug 20, 2007 at 01:56:02 PM GMT

You make some good points.

So perhaps it would be fair for Scotland to set a lower corp tax, drawing in some profits from England, to compensate for geographic and other disadvantages.

I can see the argument that there is a balance for mid-size states. As their own businesses expand there is less incentive to hold corp tax low, as the state loses more than in gains by attracting external profits and growth. But I don't like the micro-state position (Jersey, Isle of Man, Luxembourg etc), which just seems to take advantage. And I'm troubled that state tax-competition seems a general influence toward right-wing tax policy.

But this is certainly more complex a situation than my amateur economics can master!


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#19)

by NorthernMonkey on Mon Aug 20, 2007 at 08:39:23 PM GMT

Lol!

The only argument I'd have against a lower corporation tax for Scotland is that it gives Salmond yet another string to his bow. He'll say if Scotland can set it's tax completely differently to the rest of the UK, then Scotland may as well split away altogether.


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#5)

by grimupnorth on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 05:31:45 PM GMT

I say  Wendy is a Tartan Tony and if i lived  in Scotland I would want a contest......


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#6)

by NorthernMonkey on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 06:13:17 PM GMT

Contests are always preferable of course.

But it hasn't done Brown any harm being coronated - I think once the new leader is in the job, everyone forgets how they got there.


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#9)

by grimupnorth on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 07:47:34 PM GMT

Brown  is  admittedly fine at the moment....but I certainly  haven't forgotten how he got there and a repeat perfromance in Scotland is hardly a  good idea.


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#10)

by swatantra on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 08:08:01 PM GMT

Wendy sounds like a breath of fresh air, just whats needed to resusitate Scots Labour; get rid of those fusty old back room fixers and inject new blood into the party.


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#14)

by Andrea on Sun Aug 19, 2007 at 09:24:46 AM GMT

There's a new Yougov poll on Scotland:


Westminster: 40% Labour (no change on 2005), 31% SNP (+13%), 14% Conservative (-2%), and 11% Lib Dem (-12%).


Holyrood...constituencies: 32% SNP (-1%), 32% Labour (no change), 12% Conservative (-4%), and 12% Lib Dem (-5%).

Regional vote:  35% SNP (+4%), 32% Labour (+3%), 13% Conservative (-1%) and 12% Lib Dem (+1%).


Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#15)

by NorthernMonkey on Sun Aug 19, 2007 at 02:24:01 PM GMT

Is the 'Westminster' part referring to Westminster constituencies in Scotland only?

It's not surprising to see the LibDems do so badly, but with the SNP up 13%, how will that reflect on the actual seats? Will Labour be likely to lose a few or will we stay the same and the SNP will simply take loads off the LibDems?


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#16)

by Andrea on Sun Aug 19, 2007 at 02:58:46 PM GMT

yes, sorry, for Westminster, I meant they asked them (Scots) how they would vote in a GE if held tomorrow.

As for seats, there aren't actually many Lab/SNP marginals at Westminster level as SNP didn't do well in 2005 GE. Lab most marginal seat over SNP is Ochil & South Pertshire (1.5% majority), then the next most marginal Lab/SNP seat on 2005 results is Dundee West (14.6% maj) followed by Des Browne's seat (19.something maj). All other Lab seats with SNP second are 20%+ majorities (Livingstone was a 29% maj on the GE, then reduced to 9% in the byelection after Cook's death)


[ Parent ]

Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#17)

by jonesythered on Sun Aug 19, 2007 at 03:34:07 PM GMT

My own thoughts on the situation:

<a href="http://www.laboursfightback.blogspot.com/">http://www.laboursfightback.blogspot.c om/</a>


Re: Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid (#20)

by Peter Kenyon on Wed Aug 22, 2007 at 09:21:56 AM GMT

So we can look forward to monthly publication of Scottish Labour Party membership figures to monitor her performance attracting 'new blood'? These will show age, gender breakdown by constituency including resignations, lapsers, movements in and out?


Wendy Alexander launches leadership bid | 20 comments (20 topical)