Gesture politics divert Labour

THE Labour leadership contest has not enjoyed the most auspicious of starts. It has been preoccupied, thus far, with a debate about the four leading contenders, their similar backgrounds as male career politicians. And then there were the near farcical scenes yesterday to ensure that Left-winger Diane Abbott could garner sufficient support to ensure that a solitary female candidate could enter the contest.

The horse trading over nomination papers even saw David Miliband, the perceived frontrunner, endorse Ms Abbott so she could secure sufficient backers. So much for this being a contest to elect the person who is best qualified to lead Labour – and provide an effective, and credible, opposition to the new coalition Government. These deals smacked of gesture politics.

It has also distracted attention from the need for Labour to embark upon a period of introspection and understand the fundamental reason it was voted out of office after 13 years; namely the public's misgivings about its financial competence and how it lost the confidence of those middle class families whose support underpinned Tony Blair's wider appeal.

So far, the mea culpas by the likes of Ed Balls on immigration, for example, appear to be driven by political positioning for the

leadership contest rather than a considered appraisal of Labour's electoral defeat.

Equally, each candidate has been quick to rubbish the new Government's spending cuts – without recognising the deteriorating financial situation that even saw the G20 group of ministers, having previously endorsed Labour's fiscal stimulus, now embracing David Cameron's approach.

It's not tenable also for the new leader to hope that the coalition Government will disintegrate – and to expect Labour to survive the next five years by simply criticising every Government policy. This will simply will not suffice with voters, many of whom are quietly pleased to see politicians having to work together and put past animosities

to one side.

As Rachel Reeves, the newly-elected Leeds West MP, says on the opposite page: "Labour lost the election, and we lost it badly." She also

says the party needs a leader who possesses "innovative and credible solutions to the problems faced by our region and our country".

She is right – but that will only happen with a substantial debate that revolves around how her party can regain its economic credibility after presiding over a record deficit that will burden hard-working families for years to come.