A small comment on todays news.

It's been about 5 minutes and I'm already starting my second post. Quick work. However, first I need to make a apology for the terrible spelling in the first post. I sadly suffer from dyslexia and it appears there is no spellchecker on here and nor can I copy it onto word straight off the post-box, therefore it'll take a while for me to edit the post to make it more legible. I think I've got the worst of them now.

Moving swiftly on and into today’s news that the Tory lead is now up too 10 points according to the poll in the times. This news has been a matter of jubilation for many of the Tory bloggers and commenter’s out there, particularly on sites such as Conservative Home. I can understand why, it looks like the Brown Bounce is finally wearing itself out and we're falling back from the Tories again.

Naturally this isn't good news and we can justifiably be worried by this loss of support but one swallow does not make a summer and I won't be really worrying unless we a trend of polls like this over a couple of months. All things considered, including the traditional downturn in government support at New Year, we're doing rather well really. After all, we are a government of 10 years, with a stuttering economy and an unpopular war going on. Its a testament too how well we're getting our message out that we aren’t further behind; and too how poorly the Tories are at making their attacks stick.We're nowhere near the 20 point deposit of the summer, nor are we riven by internal divisions like the Tory government of 1995. As long as remain united and within 10 points we can win the next election and that is quite incredible for a government in our situation; a testament too how well we've done over the last 10 years.

This is not too say that we will win when Gordon chooses to dissolve Parliament. Far from it, I am sad to say I expect us to lose. For all our strengths we are a government that has been in power for over a decade, we are a party that has lost some of its most committed members and we do not have the most telegenic leader. We are facing an opposition who are motivated, have money and have a fairly impressive media operation. We are behind in the polls.

We are not, however, doomed. We still have a strong core support and a leader who is far more competent on the key issue, the economy, than his opponent. More than that we have an opposition who appear to have a remarkable knack for tearing themselves apart and shooting themselves in the foot. For all Cameron’s strengths he has not managed to unite the Tories behind his reforming agenda (indeed, they have appeared to regressed back to the old cutting party they once where), the divisions are still there and have been repeatedly shown up. Europe. Ken Clarke. Grammar schools. These are all issue where the Tories fear to tread, for fear of dividing themselves once more. Look at the furore that has been kicked up by the possible return of Clarke to the frontbench with major donors threatening to leave the party.

So, all is not lost and we can win the next election. We need to target the divisions in the Tory party and hit them hard where they are weak. Show up the cuts they'll make. But more importantly we need to get people on the ground, knocking on doors and reminding people of what Labour does for them. We won in Glenrothes thanks to such old fashioned methods and we can win the next election using them.

A inauspicious first post

So. I decided to create a blog. I'm not entirely sure why I'm wasting valuable revision time doing this, or what the actual point will be but while I was reading some of the posts on LabourList.org I decided that I wanted to have a forum to put my own thoughts on the current situation down in writing. This is the result, a hurried couple of minutes where spent finding this site and setting up the thing. It may prove to be just a short term fad, one of those things that I do for a couple of weeks and then never look at again or it my become something that I update regularly and really get into. Its hard too tell at this stage.

So. What will I attempt to gain some insight onto on this blog? Politics appears the obvious thing to write about, its my area of greatest interest and also my area of greatest knowledge. But beyond that I might find time to jot down a few thoughts on other matter; Philosophy, music, sport, university life or whatever else suddenly interests me. As with the above its hard to tell at this point.

There are a few things I can guarantee though. I will try to be honest and bi-partisan. I won't just blast the Tories or rant for pages about how unfair the world is. I will try to be intelligent and thought provoking and I'll try to respond to any comments I am lucky enough to get. Please don't come on here and just blast me or troll, its not pleasant, it doesn’t look good and, to be honest, it just makes you look like an idiot.

Anyways, thanks for reading my first post, if you've managed to get this far. Leave a comment if you feel particularly interested by what I've said here (unlikely) or what I might say in the future. Who knows, this thing might actually be a success....

Cheers,LabourLad.