Quite. This could be very messy. This could, in fact, turn in to a vote of no confidence situation. We'll have to wait and see what happens with Tory fundraisers first, I suppose.
Hmmm - d'ya reckon? The thing with Labour is do they have a mechanism for getting rid of Blair if he digs in and refuses to go? Does the PLP even have the will to to press for it? Unlike the Tories, Labour have always been a bit crap at knifing their leaders.
Shuggy, you're right: according to the Labour constitution, the only way Blair could be forced to resign is by a card vote at the Labour conference, if I remember rightly. But this isn't just a matter of the Labour constitution. No Labour leader who had lost the confidence of the Parliamentary Labour Party could survive for long; and if Levy is charged Blair is going to have one hell of a job retaining the confidence of the PLP.
I'd be as pleased as anyone to see Blair step down, but it will be a bit of a weird one if he has to stand down over THIS.
This is hardly corruption on a grand scale. It's a symptomatic of a failure of all political parties to adapt to the changing demands placed upon them (decline in memberships / increased demands placed upon them).
If we didn't have such a shallow media, this story would have gone away the day after Levy was questioned.
4 comments:
Quite. This could be very messy. This could, in fact, turn in to a vote of no confidence situation. We'll have to wait and see what happens with Tory fundraisers first, I suppose.
Hmmm - d'ya reckon? The thing with Labour is do they have a mechanism for getting rid of Blair if he digs in and refuses to go? Does the PLP even have the will to to press for it? Unlike the Tories, Labour have always been a bit crap at knifing their leaders.
Shuggy, you're right: according to the Labour constitution, the only way Blair could be forced to resign is by a card vote at the Labour conference, if I remember rightly. But this isn't just a matter of the Labour constitution. No Labour leader who had lost the confidence of the Parliamentary Labour Party could survive for long; and if Levy is charged Blair is going to have one hell of a job retaining the confidence of the PLP.
I'd be as pleased as anyone to see Blair step down, but it will be a bit of a weird one if he has to stand down over THIS.
This is hardly corruption on a grand scale. It's a symptomatic of a failure of all political parties to adapt to the changing demands placed upon them (decline in memberships / increased demands placed upon them).
If we didn't have such a shallow media, this story would have gone away the day after Levy was questioned.
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