Originally published @ 7:20 am, Fri 8th Jul 2011
Labour have thrashed the Conservatives in a Derbyshire County Council by-election yesterday in Long Eaton, a town bordering Derby where 1,400 job losses at the Bombardier train factory was announced this week.
The swing of 9% from 2 years ago, (and perhaps 5% from the district elections this May) was down to Labour fielding a strong candidate with things to say, good canvassing and good organisation on the day. The Conservatives put up the leader of the District Council, so a strong campaign was needed. But the loss of local jobs for local people was a significant factor in the final week.
The Derby Telegraph splashed a front page with the headline "Auf Wiedersehen Pet" when it found out that Siemens are already exploring whether workers from Derby would be prepared to move to Germany to help the company meet the train order. In our part of the Midlands, "Auf Wiedersehen Duck" would have been more appropriate.
Meanwhile, Douglass Alexander claimed last night on the BBC that when it was becoming clear that Hitachi was winning the High Speed Train contract, the Labour gov't moved to have the assembly jobs in Britain.
Another indication that only 4 months after holding a full cabinet in Derby to demonstrate their commitment to manufacturing and engineering, the Conservative gov't, stuck on their new Edwardianism of serving the landed gentry and the people in the money markets whilst slashing public spending, have had no focus and no idea when it comes to fighting for manufacturing in Britain.
So
· "Auf Wiedersehen" to a Tory District leader;
· "Auf Wiedersehen" to Cameron's claims to care for British manufacturing; and
· "Auf Wiedersehen" to Cameron's "new politics".
Cameron’s former key media man is set to be arrested today, in connection with his previous employer (“The News of the World”) paying people to hack people's telephone messages and pay Police officers. The public are appalled and Cameron did not or could not grasp that an award of control of BSkyB to News International would leave people aghast. As has been widely commented, Ed Miliband did well to make this clear, and to call for Rebekah Brooks to consider her position.
And whilst there is a growing consensus for public inquiries to look into these matters, I wonder if some legislation on the press. including replacing the Press Complaints Commission, won't be needed before such inquiries can report. If anyone suggests that such action negates such inquiries, then let the inquiries also cover the subsequent government responses. It is interesting to see how politicians are concerned about changing the way the press works because of their respect for a free press in a free society, and so it follows that such change such come from recommendations of an independent judge. But just how long will it all take?
It's reported that Gordon Brown feels that if such criminal acts alleged against people close to the heart of David Cameron's operations had been public before the General Election, Labour would have won in 2010. There is a clear sense of injustice concerning the dramatic efforts the Metropolitan Police went to over "cash for honours", which was missing from investigating allegations on phone message hacking.
But on a day that Labour's most southern Derbyshire County Council Division became Sawley in Long Eaton, we should recognise that Labour's 4 former County Councillors from South Derbyshire may well have remained on the council if the scandal had been known in 2009.