Labour Can't Afford to Lose the Likes of Harris & Bozier
Iain Dale springs to the defence of sacked Labour new media tsar Tom Harris.
16 Jan 2012, 13:13
The video that led to Tom Harris's Downfall
Tom Harris's sacking as Labour's new media tsar illustrates exactly what's wrong with modern politics. Basically, anyone who displays a sense of humour has to be got rid of.
Yesterday, Tom posted a Downfall spoof poking fun at Alex Salmond and one of his advisers, Joan McAlpine. Downfall spoofs are two a penny and it wasn't the first one Tom had created. And it was quite funny. But Tom has enemies in the Scottish Labour Party and they saw an opportunity to do him in and took it.
So we now have the ludicrous situation where a senior Labour frontbencher (Diane Abbott) kept her job for making a racist comment about white people, while Tom Harris loses his for making a jokey video. The hypocrisy of it should amaze me, but it doesn't. Some are pointing out that Tom Harris was a prominent supporter of David Miliband, and maybe that didn't help him. Who knows.
All I know is that the Labour Party can't afford to lose people like Tom Harris. Or Luke Bozier for that matter.The reaction from Labour supporters last night on Twitter to the defection of their former E Campaigns Director to the Tories was astonishing. "He's no one", they trilled. "Good riddance," shrieked others. The bile and venom displayed towards someone who apparently didn't matter had to be seen to be believed.
How bizarre that it is the Conservatives who were once dubbed the 'nasty party'. I think that accolade deserves to go elsewhere now.
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Iain Dale
Iain Dale is publisher of Total Politics, MD of Biteback Publishing & presenter of LBC's evening show.
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Comments (4)
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Luke Bozier was never an asset for the Labour party. He's in a party where he is far more comfortable now.
And the move is a good luck charm for Labour. Bozier joins Labour in 2006 and they lose at the next election; Bozier joings the Tory party and ...
16/01/2012 14:18As far as I can tell no-one was actually offended by his video. In fact the story only gained traction AFTER he'd been fired. Incompetence by Scottish Labour? Or like Iain says, political enemies simply smelling an opportunity to bring him down? I suspect it is the latter.
It looks like Labour is being driven straight into the arms of the Owen Joneses and Mehdi Hasans of politics. I consider myself a Labour supporter, but I would rather vote for Gordon Brown again than ever vote for a party under the reins of such far left fantasists.
16/01/2012 14:41Tom Harris is a perfect illustration of a labour politician any sensible person could imagine being in government; but the bad guys won in October 2010 and just as in the early 1980's they will carry on like this until they have reduced the parties voting base to Polly Toynbee, Eddie Izard and the national executive of the NUT.
16/01/2012 14:56Tom Harris' blog (And Another Thing...) was a must-read political blog. He was head and shoulders above his Labour contempories.
He is a real asset to his party who clearly have had two consecutive leaders who haven't realised this.
Tom - should you read this - PLEASE START YOUR BLOG AGAIN!!! PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP...
17/01/2012 20:31