Included in 5, there should be a point on commitment to Housing (which I guess you can interpret as being part of investment for the future generations but I think it needs emphasising). The depletion of council housing stock during Right To Buy was bad, but the lack of replenishing that stock asap was also poor. When people don’t have to worry about keeping a roof over their heads, they can devote more time to improving their lives and their children. And investment in housing is difficult to lose – asset creation is a positive thing.

So yeah, we must put more emphasis on housing. It barely came up during the election campaign.

Excellent Ken. I agree with each and every point.

Now what Labour needs is someone who speaks like a human able to articulate them to the public in an intelligible, normal way, without sounding like a detached uber-intellectual automata who triumphed at a Child Prodigy School.

And, also, without the typical think tank-produced hollow formulas that became the only backbone to New Labour: “third way”, “tough times ahead”, “the scale of the challenges”, “important job to do”, “deep thinking”, “fairer Britain”, and all the rest.

Agreed with @1 about housing.
Labour needs to rediscover empathy. The election campaign glossed over the 86,000 repossessions of the last two years; the housing crisis; bills and other issues that are close to consumers (consumers=all of us).

1) Yes let’s blame Blair as well, you know the guy who won three elections and would have won a fourth if there was any loyalty in the LP

3) Yes, the banks need controlling but frankly bonuses are small beer compared with public spending, which Brown allowed to get out of control

4) “Adventures”; plural, what are you complaining about ken?

5) We had 13 years to create an energy policy and failed

6) See (2) “We need a policy that leads the whole of society”

Livingstone and Balls – the dream team!

Seven, it needs to end its draconian and authoritarian attacks on civil liberties.

Eight, it needs to end its kowtowing to the demands of the right wing tabloids.

“We had 13 years to create an energy policy and failed”

One of the reasons it needs to draw a line under the past.

There is a seventh as well. Resolve the issue of immigration, although this one is largely about perception. They lost votes because the tabloids created the impression that they were soft on the issue, even whilst they tried to appease the tabloids by passing incrementally harsher legislation including locking up children. There is essentially a strategic question here; what do you do to address concerns held by sections of the electorate that have no basis in reality, and when the concerns will continue to be held regardless of what you do.

Actually, what I suggest Labour needs to do is to get in touch with the grass roots of the party again. Their local activists normally hold perfectly reasonable positions when it comes to things like the Iraq War and ID cards, it’s only the leadership which is illiberal and authoritarian.

Re. “protecting investment”. Unless Ken is suggesting that we should continue to run a budget deficit in perpetuity, then he needs to offer a mechanism for funding our public spending. Otherwise it is nothing more than theft from the young by the old: the aged (who use the most public services, especially health) will be paid for by those who are now too young to vote.

Labour was too timid to reform the tax code in any meaningful way that would have created a disincentive for the speculators who do nothing for the economy. In fact, GB (or possibly Darling?) changed cap gains tax to end taper relief, which removed any incentive that there was for long-term investors. Instead they paid at the same rate of tax as day-traders and financial engineers.

Someone in the Labour party needs to grow a pair and be prepared to tell the truth: that we cannot have excellent (and therefore expensive) public services without someone footing the bill.

I was there last night and thought that Ken made a great speech and good points afterwards. Pity he’s not an MP as otherwise he would be a good candidate.

“Eight, it needs to end its kowtowing to the demands of the right wing tabloids.”
Ken himself said something similar. You have to get on with the job and not allow the press to knock you off course and dictate your agenda. Once you do that, you are lost.

SEVEN: Labour needs to distance itself from identity politics.

Reflex accusations of ‘racism’ against anyone who tries to raise issues specific to a minority group / groups must stop.

20th Century formulas e.g. ‘racism=prejudice+power’ that mean only white people can be called racists must be publicly repudiated.

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If anyone else appreciates how important this is for winning back lost voters, please re-quote the above.

One and Two, pretty sensible, fairly obvious.

Three is rather simplistic. Scapegoating the dreaded bankers again.

Four, not even sure what he means. Bush has gone so how do we make the error again?

Five, fair enough, except the planet will look after itself, it’s the future of the people we should be concerned about.

Six, is interesting. So Ken thinks Trades Unions are democratic then? In theory maybe. I’m a member of Unison and in my experience it is far from democratic.

K Livingstone has spent his career alienating craftsmen working in industry and agriculture, many of self employed, shopkeers and those running small businesses. Ken’s influence on ILEA and education in London did much to persuade aspirational people to move. D Abbott sends her son to public school, Blair, Harman and Kelly send their children to selective state schools. Camden Girls Schoool is slective by the cost of buying a home in the catchment.

Ken has played with identity politics ever since the GLC days .