The Observer today touts Alan Johnson and Jon Cruddas as a future leadership team, with the backing of the unions, to stop Miliband's aspirations and get Labour back on track. They predict a fairly swift move for a contest!

It seems like John McDonnell is gearing up as the stalking horse.

A year ago I was in touch with many of you on behalf of John McDonnell MP’s campaign for the Labour leadership, a campaign in which I was very proud to have played a key role.

Westminster correspondents love to reduce everything to a personality contest. It's all about Brown v. Miliband (just as before it was Blair v. Brown). Their concerns are not those of Labour members, trade unionists or socialists. And yet too often we allow those correspondents to set our agenda and the parameters of our debates. Think back 12 months. To many in the movement there was no alternative to Brown. One reason for that was that the media deemed it so. Any suggested alternatives were based around personal grudges rather than around real differences in policy ideas. For that reason, the correspondents refused to take the left challenge seriously until the last minute: there just wasn't a personal angle. The very fact that McDonnell said it was about policy and not personalities rendered it a non-story for the lobby press pack.

(Also on Labour Left Forum)

A LANDSLIDE victory is being celebrated by the Labour Party after their candidate won the Townfield By-election.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/27/gordonbrown.labour1?gusrc=rss&feed=commentis free

some very interesting and valid points as usual from John...

The first LEAP conference will take place, at Birkbeck College, London.  Book now to participate in essential discussions about economic policy.

As I mentioned at the beginning of my previous article, the Socialist Youth Network held their conference yesterday, with Joanne Parry and John McDonnell as the guest speakers. There were 16 motions debated, plus two changes in policy, plus the re-election of the Executive of SYN for the coming year. Though I anticipated quite a dry day, it wasn't so boring as that. Largely I think John himself was responsible, but I'll come to that

Well 2007 has come to a close, and I wanted to briefly look back on these 12 months in Labour history, from a left perspective.

My CLP voted overwhelmingly last night against Brown's plans to abolish contemporary resolutions. Many others I know have submitted thoughts along similar lines as part of a "consultation" which has been railroaded through without proper  consultation.

Very glad to report that Jon Cruddas is venturing out once more beyond the comfort zone of COMPASS. Since almost getting the deputy leadership Cruddas has been very quiet

John McDonnell is still blogging regularly, but the new address is:

http://www.johnmcdonnell.org.uk/

The Socialist Youth Network is launching the COalition Fighting Unfair Pay - a campaign to fight for a real Living Wage for all workers.

A new YouGov poll for the Sunday Times has revealed that both Labour party members and trade unionists are drastically to the left of the party leadership.

I'm furious. Absolutely. Bloody.Furious. UNISON Labour Link has just announced it will be backing the Dear Leader and Alan Johnson for the Deputy Leadership.
UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis and some equally furious NHS workers protested at last year's Labour Party Conference. I was there. NHS workers were angry at the privatisation of NHS Logistics. They were angry at privatisation and PFI. They have campaigned tirelessly against marketisation and pay cuts

why should anyone on the left vote for Cruddas? If he and his supporters had swung behind John McDonnell we would now be engaging in the most important debate the left has had for a generation.

Did someone forge Marsha Singh signature on a nomination paper for John McDonnell? Why are some of JM supporters waging vicious and very personal “Kamikaze" attacks against Jon Cruddas? Rumour mill is going into overdrive, I have been doing some digging but as a Westminster village outsider, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of such reports. But they do reflect what many people appear to believe.