Harriet Harman makes me cringe

During a particular party political spat of the sort that turns non-politicos off politics and makes me cringe, Harriet Harman gave Theresa May a wonderfully childish riposte recently. When defending her decision to take money from Janet Kidd (on behalf of Bob Abrahams) in Parliament she gave everyone confidence that she will remain in post by stating that "The honourable lady (May) can huff and puff but she will not blow this leader of the house down." Stirring stuff indeed.

Question time, Chuka Umunna and Kelvin McKenzie

I was delighted to see my good friend Chuka Umunna giving a great account of himself on last night's BBC1 Question Time. I was also sickened by the vile vitriol coming from Kelvin McKenzie's mouth. He seems to hate the fact that Gordon Brown is Scottish. Perhaps he needs to be reminded that we live in a United Kingdom. What I thought was interesting was his praise of George Osbourne for asserting "traditional" Tory polices. So The Sun might well support the Tories for going back into their core ground. However, this didn't work in any of the last three elections.

What was notable last night was that Chuka was the only panelist who dared speak out against McKenzie's racist drivel. The panel included Caroline Spellman and Harriet Harman.

Harman update

It appears that the police have tracked Harriet Harman down, after she admitted a speeding charge in Suffolk by post today. Hopefully now this is behind her she can set about filling whatever role the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party should be.

Where is Harriet Harman?

Fair enough, it has been the summer, BUT! When there was no contest for the Labour leadership, a great deal of media attention focused instead on the Deputy Leadership elections. When Harman was elected there seemed to be much speculation as to what she would actually do and whether Brown would pay any attention to the position. So far I have to say I've seen nothing. Does anyone know any better than I do?

The leftist CLP in the country?

According to one scribe, my CLP is "arguably a contender for the leftist CLP in the UK." Of course, this blogger is part of the Socialist Youth Network, to which I have never been interested in being a member of. It was interesting to read the thoughts of other readers who were surprised that INCLP voted for Gordon Brown (when he was the only candidate) and Harriet Harman for deputy. Perhaps this shows that the Labour Party remains pluralist but perhaps not in the manner that some who might like INCLP to be the leftist in the country want it to be. My CLP has always been comprised of a number of different political affiliations, far beyond the McDonnell and Campaign Group supporters.

Deputy Leader Hustings

Last night's Fabian - Progress Deputy Leadership hustings certainly helped me decide between the six candidates. When the carousel started I didn't see much between the candidates, though I thought that a Brown premiership should be balanced by a female deputy. My favoured female candidate was Harriet Harman, though I felt her performance was woeful.

When Harman spoke I switched off, she didn't show any passion, rambled and didn't grab my attention.

Blears = passion.
Hain = polished though not engaging.
Johnson = relaxed.
Benn = kept talking about international development. Not enough Party talk for me.
Cruddas = looked out of his depth.

You could tell it was a Fabian audience, I felt there was too much talk about education, though there was an interesting discussion about the 11+. Peter Hain said selection is not a socialist issue, Alan Johnson thought it electoral suicide to scrap the existing grammar schools and I agree. I'd like to see an end to selection, however Labour's electoral position makes that impossible at the moment.

Michael Crick thought Hazel Blears the winner of the night. I agree. She showed passion, desire and enthusiasm, exactly what the Labour Party needs to reinvigorate itself and campaign to win. At university I used to go to Salford Labour Party to phone canvass every week and she was infectious one on one as she was last ngiht in front of an audience.

Peter Hain came across as slick and polished, every bit the professional politician. However I didn't get the feeling from him that he was "one of us" - a party member in cabinet. I feel he wants the job for status, not for what Blears would do, to motivate the Party.

Alan Johnson, up to now, my choice, came across as relaxed and natural. I think he would make a very strong Deputy Leader. He had all the best quips and reminded those present that Labour needs to win elections to do anything, which is why some compromises have to be made.

I'm now undecided between Blears and Johnson, though I'm tipping in favour of Johnson. I do so because I think he comes across better in public. Blears can often come across as "media trained" and like a bit of a Blairite robot. That is harsh I know and she really isn't like that, but on TV it sometimes looks like it.