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20 comments from readers

knave
09 September 2008 at 19:25

But have been arguing for free market liberalism not socialism

knave
09 September 2008 at 19:25

But you i meant to say

Martin Bright
09 September 2008 at 20:41

Er... no I haven't.

knave
09 September 2008 at 21:10

Martin old boy,

1. You have been eulogizing about Reeves liberalism, which is just free market Gladstonian / Thatcherism.

2. You are part of the free market Thatcherite Policy exchange cabal.

3. You and your mate Cohen constantly make snide and quite vicious comments at the expense of the left, Obama and Brown.

4. You both suck up to the likes of Bush, Cameron, Browne and Johnson.

5. You’re the poster boy of the right wing press and the Thatcherite posters on this site. They know their own.

6. The political editor of the spectator commented,and I paraphrase, “ I am politically the same as Martin”. He is a die hard Thatcherite

Tell me the difference between yourself and the Cameron Thatcherite conservatives.

Honesty Martin please

Newmania
09 September 2008 at 22:55

Martin if you have always been independent can you explain why you uncritically quoted a survey by Deborah Mattison’s Company ( huge recipients of tax payer largesse and Smith Institute crawlers ). This survey of 100 people ( yes that is two noughts ) showed Gordon Brown to be the new Messiah for the business community and was of course transparent tosh. Its place in the Sun (paper) was purchased with money .What got it into your article ?

Newmania
09 September 2008 at 22:58

Ahem , that came out as bit agressive , sorry , but there it is

Passing social democrat
10 September 2008 at 10:01

But Mark Serwotka already has his new party. He backs Respect (or Respect Renewal, who knows?), his President is in the SSP (or Solidarity, who knows?) and his union uses its resources to promote fringe parties whenever it can. The voters still don't want to know. And it's no use him blaming the meeja - sadly, voters find their way to the BNP despite media hostility. And Mark's Trot banalities have been given an incredibly easy ride this week by that same media.

madasafish
10 September 2008 at 10:12

Who cares?

Trade unions represent largely public sector workers.

The rest of the UK does not care..

Jonty Stang
10 September 2008 at 10:23

Knave/Newmania have between them forensically exposed how Martin Bright is pursuing a violently anti-Labour/pro-Labour agenda and doing his best to bring down/prop up Gordon Brown. All is clear now. Carry on….

Martin Bright
10 September 2008 at 11:58

I think Jonty has nailed it.

Martin Bright
10 September 2008 at 12:07

But let's answer knave's hysterical points one by one:

1. You have been eulogizing about Reeves liberalism, which is just free market Gladstonian / Thatcherism.

No I haven't. I have just reported its significance

2. You are part of the free market Thatcherite Policy exchange cabal.

This is just juvenile and doesn't really deserve a response. I agree with some of what PX does and disagree with most of it. But that doesn't stop it being an excellent think tank.

3. You and your mate Cohen constantly make snide and quite vicious comments at the expense of the left, Obama and Brown.

Not Obama. I'm a fan. But then he's not really on the left. My attacks on the left and Brown are carefully targeted and I only do it when they deserve it.

4. You both suck up to the likes of Bush, Cameron, Browne and Johnson.

I think you've got the wrong guy. I have never written a positive word about Bush. As for the other three -- energetic and all that. But can't say I agree with their politics.

5. You’re the poster boy of the right wing press and the Thatcherite posters on this site. They know their own.

Shucks.

6. The political editor of the spectator commented,and I paraphrase, “ I am politically the same as Martin”. He is a die hard Thatcherite

I think you'll find that's a misquote rather than a paraphrase. Our analysis of the political situation is often the same because we are both extremely well-informed, but our politics are very different.

Tell me the difference between yourself and the Cameron Thatcherite conservatives.

It should be blindingly obvious to anyone who reads my oeuvre as obsessively as you do, "knave".

LiberalHammer
10 September 2008 at 13:00

Martin,

Knave comes across as the sort of poster who thinks that, because political argument is occasionally nuanced, you are a war mongering neo con. Happens to your mate Cohen as well.

Martin Bright
10 September 2008 at 13:17

LiberalHammer -- it's very depressing. But my hope is that eventually the community of New Statesman readers who can understand nuance will begin to dominate this site, rather then the ranters and crazies. Call me a utopian dreamer.

Newmania
10 September 2008 at 14:06

Jonty - I am not in the same category as a “knave” who appears to be a mentally feeble mendicant in from the cold. Martin Bright did use the Mattison Survey and it was the subject of some hilarity in the right blogasphere. This paradoxically shows he is held in some regard

The answer is blindingly simple . At the time of the OBN outrage he was snuggling up to the man who looked like the next PM , now he is hastily packing up his pom poms . He has this in common with many of the lefty commentariat notably La Toynbee and , as a Conservative , I take a good humoured view of such fallibility Of course to the solemn left its all terribly important.

My suspicion with Martin is that he is quite left wing but he is good on the Islamic scourge and GLA corruption recently . He rarely seems to deal with the luxury issues that really irritate Conservatives and this leaves us arguing on what might appear ,but are actually not , pragmatic grounds, given that Conservatives cannot afford to leave people out . I may well be wrong though, I only started reading NS about a year ago. ( Know your enemy)

On the Unions , the fear would be that the deal is done quietly (and if they have any brains at all given that they run the Labour Party it will be .) This will mean the 18% who are unionised will hold the rest of us to ransom, in the (exceedingly unlikely ) event of a further Brown term. That some people have fun with what are antiquarian politics at a conference is good tittle tattle but no more IMHO.

(Unions are now mostly Public sector and I take some offence at their use of the phrase “Working people as if the rest of us did not . “Key workers” is another one = Friends of Labour .)

Martin Bright
10 September 2008 at 14:51

Fascinating post, Newmania. Very revealing. Let me have a think about how to respond. However, you may remember that the New Statesman's Labour conference issue last year had the title Trouble Ahead. I think we were pretty early sceptics who had given the PM the benefit of the doubt. OLR data is not completely flawed, but I have also raised concerns about it myself. Happy to give references if you like.

bumchum
11 September 2008 at 04:34

"Day of the locusts", all these wasters here speak while the maunfacturing jobs were exported abroad to civilised countries like Singapore years ago!

Roland Baker
13 September 2008 at 07:50

I've just looked up my old school physics book on moments about a fulcrum - it seems this fulcrum truly did have its moments, but it still needs balancing.

The carthorse trod on its own horseshoes and turned them upside down for bad luck at the TUC conference. There is something distateful, as Bob Crow discovered to his cost on Any Questions recently, about union leaders on fat-cat pay striking for tanker drivers who earn twice the average wage and lavishly over stuffed, but under-performing, public sector workers.

TULOSE3
13 September 2008 at 22:38

Roland,

Could you clarify who are the 'over stuffed, but underperforming,public sector workers.'

TULOSE3
13 September 2008 at 22:46

Martin,

I think that your description of the Morning Star fringe meeting was fair and accurate.I attended it and a few similar ones last week.As for stopping talking and starting acting this has begun.

gnuneo
28 September 2008 at 19:23

MB certainly seems hostile to Islam, whilch is quite worrying considering his closeness to Israeli military sources, and his and ben davies apparent tendency to censor anything remotely critical of Zionism, in the belief that such is "anti-semitism".

having said that, i find it doubtful he is a 'closet tory', any more than i am for also criticising Brown - whether Brown is "on the left', or he is just continuing B'Liar's Thatcherite policies, it is the role of the media to scrutinise, check and report honestly on such people.

as new-Labour should really know (although they clearly don't as their public commentry over-adequately demonstrates), loyalty to 'the Party' (and any temporary Leaders) should be a far second place to loyalty to the People/Nation. The true Patriot criticises their own country, because without criticism how can things improve?

but back to Brighty - it is quite clear that actually he is a Cylon from the Vega system, who has been sent to cause internal dissension between NS readers to prepare the Earth for its eventual invasion and occupation. (The giveaway is his photo, where he resembles 'Arthur Dent', obviously the Cylons thought such a design would be able to fit in better with real Humans!)

he is also no doubt on best terms with the Queen, and the rest of the shape-shifting lizards... or is he part of the Scientologists Cosmic War, and part of the other side??

so many questions, so many possibilities - terrible man that he is!

re article - yes, indded either there has to be a reborn Labour Party, or else an altogether new party if the new-Labour conspirators and infiltrators are impossible to remove.