An admirer of Gordon Brown, David Aaronovitch scans a barren landscape:
The Editor of The New Statesman recently wrote a poignant but vapid article in The Guardian asking: "What about the ideas? Where is the new thinking on public services? Where is the new thinking on questions of individualism, collectivism, consumerism, choice and equity?" It only needed the Editor of The Guardian to write a similar article in The New Statesman for the circle to be complete. One obvious solution was for The New Statesman to do the thinking itself.
But there would be a problem with that. There is a hole where any "left" alternative industrial and economic policy would sit. The poor would have to be protected, damsels rescued, folks given rights, spending increased and so on. But then what? How would wealth be created, jobs created, international competitiveness maintained? I am not joking when I say that, in years of reading left publications and attending left-of-centre meetings I have not once heard these questions tackled directly — other than by a minister. The Editor of The New Statesman may not deal with them because, being an intelligent rather than a brave man, he knows his readers wouldn’t like the answers.
As for Stephen Pollard, he's so bored with Labour conferences he's decided to give up his annual trip to the seaside:
More recently I've attended because, as someone who writes about politics, I had to. And through force of habit, I applied for and received my accreditation for the present conference.
But earlier this week, the penny dropped, and this year I will be anywhere but Brighton. Neither the conference, nor my presence there, any longer serve a useful purpose
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