Help shape Britain's progressive future

Over the next few months, millions of people who care about Britain’s progressive future will help choose the next leader of the Labour Party – you can play your part today.

If you want to help shape Britain’s progressive future, you can get involved right now.

Thousands of people have already joined Labour because they want to be part of this exciting moment to have their say on the issues that really matter to them.

Join Labour now to get involved and have your say : http://www2.labour.org.uk/join

God Save The Queen - lyrics

God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen:
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the Queen.


O Lord, our God, arise,
Scatter her enemies,
And make them fall.
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On thee our hopes we fix:
God save the Queen.


Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign:
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice
God save the Queen

From every latent foe,
From the assassins blow,
God save the Queen!
O'er her thine arm extend,
For Britain's sake defend,
Our mother, prince, and friend,
God save the Queen!

Labour Generation — a poem by Marc Fortuna

That is not just any Nation

it is a kingdon mother of many nations

Be you from Scotland

Be you from Wales

Be you from England

You are children od Britain

Land of great expectation.

That is not just any Party

it is a party that brings great changes

The party of the NHS reform

The party of the minimun wages

The party of the Sure Start

We are Labour generation

Party of great realizations.

No matter whwre in the world we are

We vote Labour ´cause Labour is the best so far

British people united again

UK Labour Party the power will maintain.

It is not about to gain a fourth term

It is the mark for a new generation

Where the good work started in the past terms

Will fulfill the needs of our nlessed Nation.

I love Britain...

I vote Labour !

©Marc Fortuna (Lord Fortuna of Lancaster)

22/04/10 - 23h15m

Alastair Campbell : Public Speaking

Alastair Campbell is a sought after public speaker in Britain and abroad. Drawing on his experience of ten years alongside Tony Blair, and his considerable understanding of the modern media, he specialises in strategy, making change, dealing with the media and crisis management – often at the same time.

Dozens of testimonials from a wide variety of businesses, organisations and conference organisers have paid tribute to his skills as an engaging and innovative speaker able to apply his insights and experience to the work of others with wit and passion. He liaises directly with event organisers in advance so as to tailor a presentation to their specific needs. Often controversial, and always prepared to speak his mind, he is willing, indeed keen, to make a question and answer session part of his presentations.

He is towards the top end of the fee scale for paid public speaking engagements. But he speaks regularly, pro bono, for charitable, political and educational events.

David Miliband - Our candidate for South Shields

The first election campaign I remember was 1974. My Dad took me out to “knock up” the Labour vote in our target seat of Pudsey (we lived near Leeds at the time and the candidate was the aptly named Mr Targett). I can’t remember whether it was February or October 1974 and I can’t remember whether I paid the faintest attention to who won the election (I was nine years old), but in retrospect there were some important lessons: that there is no substitute to local, personal campaigning, and, whatever my disagreements with my Dad, he always knew the best outcome was always a Labour victory.

Anyway, there is a general election on the way. I’ve been doing quite a few days around the country – as well as in other countries – over the last few months. There is a buzz on the Labour circuit. As the election gets closer our answers seem to be sharper and the Tories’ fuzzier and weaker.

But for the election itself – the first really important internet election perhaps – there is no alternative to a campaign blog. If the BBC can have dozens of blogs I’m allowed one too. It will be a bit different from my Foreign Office blog. Not that diplomats (any more) are “sent abroad to lie for their country”. But the constraints of government and diplomacy kept me out of political controversy. This will by definition be partisan, but I hope it is still readable.

It seems to me the Labour Party has three jobs in this campaign. To show how far Britain has come and take on the myth that our country is in decline. Remember wages of £1.50 an hour, winter crises in the NHS, outside loos in primary schools, section 28, declining overseas aid spending? They have all been changed by Labour in government.

We need also to show we have ideas for the future. Whether on the economy, climate change, social care or political reform, today’s challenges demand a government that increases people’s power over their lives and guarantees their security. That speaks directly to the Labour Party’s purpose and one we are uniquely placed to advance in a world that demands policy answers rooted in social justice, mutual responsibility and international cooperation.

And finally we need to show the sham claim that the Tory Party has “changed” for what it is. David Cameron’s claim to have modernised his party is exposed as entirely false when you survey their prospectus of inheritance tax cuts for the super-rich, immediate spending cuts, bringing back fox hunting and an assault on Europe . The change he offers would take Britain backwards.

This is what I will be talking to people about on the doorstep from now until the election. But I cannot visit as many seats as I would like, so I will also be phone banking to make sure Labour’s messages are getting out into communities and homes.

Through this site I hope you will join me. I will let you know where I plan to phone bank in advance and will ask as many of you as possible to phone people in the same constituency. I will blog about the kind of conversations I have had and what I have learnt. It would be great to hear from you too, so log on and post some comments if the mood takes you.

I know this work is being done already and I am not nearly the first. But I hope that this blog can make a small contribution to the work going on up and down the country. Please do also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Dmiliband.

Campaigning has changed in 36 years, but not the basic choice. Labour or Tory. We’ve got to have a conversation with the electorate that helps them to the right conclusion.

Ed Balls - Our candidate for Morley and Outwood

Ed Balls has been the Labour and Co-op MP for Normanton since 2005 and will be Labour’s candidate for the new Morley and Outwood constituency at the next election. He was appointed Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in June 2007 and was previously Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

Ed was born in 1967 and educated at Nottingham High School; Keble College, Oxford; and the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard.

Prior to his election as an MP, Ed was a teaching fellow in the Department of Economics, Harvard, 1989–90, and an economics leader writer and columnist for the Financial Times, 1990–94.

From 1994 to 1997 Ed was economic adviser to the then shadow chancellor, Gordon Brown MP. He was economic adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1997–99; chief economic adviser to HM Treasury, 1999–2004; and a research fellow at the Smith Institute, 2004–05.

Ed is author of a number of publications on economics and finance and is a member of Unite the Union, Unison and the Co-operative Party.

Ed is married to Yvette Cooper, the MP for Pontefract and Castleford. They have three children – Ellie, Joe and Maddy – and live in Castleford. Outside work his interests include music, cooking and playing football with his children.

Message from Peter Mandelson

Thank you for your response to the memo last week.

Because we are in the fight of our political lives.

We are the underdogs in this fight – always have been.

But, with as much as a third of the electorate still undecided, this election remains wide open. The polls are so volatile because people remain in a state of genuine flux.

So it is time to up the tempo and fight every inch of the way.

That is certainly what Gordon is doing. He has confounded expectations in the TV debates because he has shown his strengths – toughness, resilience, and most crucially, the man with a plan to meet the big challenges the country faces following the global financial crisis.

These challenges require a workhorse at the helm, not a couple of show ponies. It’s no time for novices.

Substance, judgement and leadership will prevail in this election

I sense that the focus is moving from the newness of the TV debates, and the performance commentary that inevitably surrounded them, to one of greater seriousness. Which party has the best policies that are going to make life easier and better? That is the question that undecided voters are asking. And which party can be relied upon to take the decisions that are right for the economy and which ensure fair shares and fair rules for all at a time of belttightening.

I had a strong sense of this happening in the second of the TV debates, and I expect the trend to continue, culminating in the final debate this Thursday focusing on the economy.

For the second week running, Gordon’s performance ratings rose where it matters – substance, judgement, leadership and the experience to lead Britain into the future.

He showed that on both foreign and domestic policy, he is the man who best understands the issues and has what it takes to take Britain forwards.

It is these attributes - leadership, substance, and values – that will determine this election.

This is where our focus will be in the days ahead – on the economy, on public services and on fairness.

The economy rightly remains the most salient issue, and our concentration on this will remain at the core of our campaign.

It is our biggest strength and the Tories’ greatest vulnerability.

The growth figures this week showed that we are on the road to recovery but the road is bumpy.

We cannot afford to take risks. And putting George Osborne in charge of the economy at such an uncertain time looks like the most massive gamble – one that British families just cannot afford to take.

What is at stake are people’s jobs, their mortgages, their businesses, their homes and their living standards. You cannot take a risk with these things and put them in the hands of Cameron-Osborne - a couple of kids in school trousers running around getting every judgement wrong on the recession and now calling it wrong on the recovery.

They want to cut the support for the economy straight away, pulling the rug from under the recovery when it is not yet locked in.

That would put the economy back into intensive care and it will be the general public who will pay the price with their jobs and their living standards. This price would emerge at Osborne’s proposed Emergency Budget 50 days after 6 May. People should know that if they vote Tory in May they will be stung in June.

Fairness matters more when times are tough

With every day that passes in this campaign, the Tories’ paint job is peeling off and we are seeing the real Tory agenda emerging.

They entered this campaign failing to protect funding for schools and police numbers, and with commitments to scrap our guarantees for faster cancer treatment and shorter waiting times.

On Friday, David Cameron repeated his warning to the nations and regions of the UK of the cuts they are planning – whilst in the same breath reaffirming his commitment to an inheritance tax cut of £200,000 each for the 3,000 richest estates.

And this morning we learn that the Tories are planning new stealth charges for nursery places for toddlers. It’s a fresh Tory raid on middle class parents and we should make every parent aware of it before polling day. And that it comes on top of their plans to cut child tax credits, Child Trust Funds and Sure Start for middle income mums.

What kind of priorities are these?

Fairness – fair rules, fair chances and fair shares - matters more when times are tougher.

But the Tories are determined to use the global financial crisis to pivot this country backwards to the bad old Tory days of social division and North-South divide.

This is what awaits the country if the Tories win on 6 May. And that is an outcome made more, not less likely, if people vote Lib Dem in the crucial Labour/Tory marginals and, in so doing, let the Tories back in. Today, in his interviews, Nick Clegg has been making clear his hostility to Labour and his preference to side with the Tories in a coalition if this arises.

That’s why voters who flirt with Nick Clegg are likely to end up married to David Cameron.

Or, in other words, vote Nick and get Dave and George. Not a nice prospect for people with progressive values and who want Britain to move forward and grow together, not apart.

To achieve this, there is only one vote – a vote for Labour.

Thank you

Peter

Message from Douglas Alexander

Over the last week, the election has been blown wide open.

At this week foreign policy debate, Gordon set out our serious approach to the huge global issues we face – as well outlined how we can build a future fair for all at home.

And you can help us get the message out that it is Labour that has the answers. Last Thursday, tens of thousands of Labour supporters used our Debate Dashboard to follow what was going on and let their friends know.

In this word of mouth election, supporters can make a huge difference by letting their friends know the truth behind the other parties’ soundbites.

We’ve made some improvements to the Debate Dashboard over the last week – making easier than ever to share what’s going on through Facebook and Twitter, as well adding an exclusive debate handbook and live updates from our press office during the debate itself.

You can start right now by clicking to watch and share our new party election broadcast – which celebrates Labour's achievements

Each and every Labour supporter can play a role. Together, we’ll make sure that the country understands the Tory risk and the fair future we can build together with Labour.

Thanks

Douglas Alexander

Letter from Gordon Brown to Marc Fortuna

Dear Marcelo Fortuna

I wanted to write to you personally to let you know how pleased I am you have made the decision to join at such important time, and about the important role you can play in winning the election for Labour.

With our member´s support we have already achieved so much — the shortest NHS waiting times since records began, a national minimum wage, more nurses than ever, and two million children helped through Sure Start.

None of this happened by chance. It happened because people of conscience, goodwill and determination made a commitment to come together for a combined purpose. Bringing real change and righting inequalities are the prime reasons that made me decide to join the Labour Party. We are stronger because of your decision to join us.

But we cannot rest on our achievements; we must fight to protect them and to strive to improve upon them. There is no end point for creating a better society, and there is no stage at which we can be happy to sit back assuming we have done all we can.

Labour´s priorities remain the same: securing the recovery including protecting the jobs and homes of ordinary people, protecting frontline services, standing up for the many not the few and investing in new industries. A Tory government would put all of this at risk.

Despite their new words, the Tories still offer the same ideas. By opposing action to give real help to those who need it and instead concentrating on tax breaks for millionaires, they show where their priorities truly lie.

Just like they did in the last recession, the Tories would walk on by, leaving British people to fend for themselves, whilst cutting the public services they rely on.

We have a duty to make sure that the Tories are never able to debase our country again. And you have an important role to play.

You are our strongest advocate with your friends and in your community. You have the opportunity to help Labour win a forth term, to become a community champion, to stand for local or national Government. What you do and how far you go is entirely up to you.

Whichever route you choose to take I know our party is so much stronger with you on our side. We have an awe inspiring responsability resting on our shoulders and I know that we can, and must, continue our work for a better and stronger Britain.

Yours sincerelly,

Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP

Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party

Wolverhampton North East votes Emma Reynolds

Emma Reynolds, 32, is Labour’s Parliamentary Candiate for Wolverhampton North East. Originally from Wolverhampton, Emma has worked as a Special Adviser in Downing Street and the House of Commons, set up a small business in Brussells, and also worked in France, Spain, Argentina and Pakistan. Here’s how her campaign’s going so far…

Emma´s Words

The doorstep campaign in Wolverhampton North East is going pretty well so far. There are still a lot of undecided voters, and some turning away from Labour, but a lot of our vote is still sticking with us, and talking to people face-to-face has really helped with this.

So far our main focus really has been door knocking, as it’s the most direct and targeted way of speaking with people, and having real conversations about the big issues for them. We’ve also been sending outdirect mail, and focusing on postal voters too as their ballot papers will soon arrive.

High visibility has been a vital part of my campaign too, and I’ve been out with my team at school gates and visited places of worship including temples and churches to meet with lots of different community groups.

I'm from and live in Wolverhampton, and haven’t stood anywhere before, but really want to help improve people’s lives here, which is my main motivation for standing for Parliament.

The campaign definitely does seem on track so far, and I do support the ground work online by letting people know what’s going on through Facebook and Twitter. But local voters don’t tend to get in touch on either site, so door knocking is very much my priority.

The hardest part of the campaign has been just getting everything done. On top of the usual campaigning,emails are flying in too, so it’s just a case of prioritising things to make sure that I can always respond to questions from constituents.

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Visit Emma´s website : http://www.emmareynolds.org.uk