Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Labour's Balls impaled on fence

Anyone watching the news recently would have seen the degree to which Ed Moribund has avoided answering the question about whether or not Labour supports the public sector strike today. Eventually, a journalist was able to crowbar an answer out of Little Ed. Apparently he is against the strike, well sort of anyway, in an I'm-comfortable-sitting-on-the-fence way. Basher Balls was at it as well this morning. He was pressured into admitting too that he is against the strike but very sympathetic in an I-think-you-should-be-on-strike-but-I-havent-the-balls-to-say-so sort of way. He demanded talks should take place (they are Balls - get up to speed) and said there should be give and take on both sides (perhaps he missed the latest offer from the government.) The impression however was left that Balls was fence sitting and couldn't move as a certain part of his anatomy was nailed to a fence post.

Though the national Labour leadership are opposed to strike action (even if they leave one foot in the pro-strike camp, I noticed that plenty of their local troops are all for it. I am on the bus heading back home from Gateshead where I have been taking photos of the union rally in the Civic Centre car park. I spotted a number of Labour councillors enthusiastically joining in the procession. One at least works in the private sector so has taken the decision to ignore her leadership's "opposition" to the strike.

Don't get me wrong - I don't support the strikes, I believe the Government is offering a sustainable deal that is fair to the nation generally. I was there simply to take photos. Yet I have a slight degree more respect for the Labour members who are making a stand for something they believe in (I think the motives of the union leaders are different but that is for another blog post) even if I fundamentally disagree with them.
The problem for Moribund is that he may try to make reasoned noises at the top but on the ground, Labour members have reverted to their old beliefs and comfort zones and have no intention of returning to the real world.
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