Balls urges less smearing

Ed Balls: Photograph: Martin Argles


http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/apr/15/damian-mcbride-email-smears



Yesterday, No 10 said the prime minister was furious with his former political aide Damian McBride for sending an email setting out how leading Conservatives, including David Cameron and the wife of the shadow chancellor, George Osborne, could be smeared.

Downing Street also admitted to "huge frustration" that Brown's agenda of fighting the recession was being overshadowed by the controversy, which has raged for five days.

In my best Scottish accent “Da worlds in a recession. But av got de answer…eets an Agenda!”

Derek Draper, the Labour adviser who was corresponding with McBride over suggestions about how to smear leading Tories, said he was considering quitting his post on the Labourlist website (http://www.labourlist.org/)

Bet he thought no one would see it. It’s a bit like me putting on my blog that I’m gay – Patrick and Aya are the only 2 that will pay any attention. Aya will laugh and Patrick will recollect those early years of his childhood and weep.

Field, a former welfare minister, said the Labour party was staring into the abyss.

They must be looking for something because they’ve been staring into that abyss for quite a while:

Standing there looking into the abyss, Agenda in hand, humming D-Ream's: 'Things can only get better'

"Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmmhhm..."

They get a bit jolly on the chorus, singing, shuffling feet.

"Things can only get better, they can only get better..."
Left foot to right foot and clap – proper school disco dancing.

Unless it was Metropolitan Police School Disco then even the white kids tried to dance better to get a certificate – the black kids used to think that if you produced it the police couldn’t search you in Hackney – bet that lady that got smacked in the mouth at G20 protest wished she’d danced harder!...but I digress.

Everyone’s happy, smiling, looking at ‘The Agenda’

It seems to glow,
Gordon’s not so bad, Tony was wonderful…
Alistair Darling remembers part of the verse,
"I sometimes lose myself in me, I lose track of time…”
People slow, watching, listening,
“…and I can’t see the woods for the trees…”
Sparkle gone from their eyes, clapping stops.
“…you set them alight, burn the bridges as you go, I'm too weak to fight ya. I've got my personal hell to deal with…”
Alistair looks around.
The joy gone.
All looking back into that abyss.

Field commented, “Harold Wilson asserted that the Labour party was a moral crusade or it was nothing. The McBride affair has left Labour members looking at nothing. That is the reality check that McBride has wrought on the party. McBride thought he was doing his master's bidding – he wouldn't have done it otherwise.”

Complete bullshit about it being a moral crusade; but wanted to leave this bit about Harold Wilson – you’ll see why later, but don’t get your hopes up, it might not be that funny.

One of Gordon Brown's closest allies today rejected claims that the prime minister was to blame for creating a culture in which his aides felt free to smear opponents.

In an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Ed Balls, the children's secretary, said all political parties had indulged in negative briefing in recent years and politicians now had a duty to "clean this up".

One of Brown’s closest allies is called Ed Balls. Not Ed Ball. Ed Balls! Childish I know but I'm only writing this blog because his name makes me laugh and there were so many innuendos in the articles I read.

Balls and McBride have both been members of Brown’s inner circle whilst working with the Treasury.

Now back to Harold Wilson. Wilson was plagued with strikes during his time in office. The most damaging of which, after his 1966 re-election, was a six week strike by the National Union of Seamen. Who was in it? The Captain of the Bird's Eye Ship?

If Balls had been in Wilson’s inner circle:

How would he have coped with the seamen?
Would Balls have advocated smearing the Seamen or would he have tried to keep them happy?

The mind boggles!