Se baja Miliband

Tal cual. Miliband no se enfrentará a Brown para ocupar el puesto de primer ministro. Así, la mano derecha de Blair duerme tranquilo esperando el día de la votación. Pero para muchos, esto es el fin del Nuevo Laborismo. Claro, la renovación real del proyecto debería venir de una cara nueva, evitando el continuismo que representa el Chancellor. Y parece que Miliband, si bien tenía la ambición, no pudo contra la máquina del blerismo. En fin. Pero como la política inglesa tiene ese fino toque de distinción, Milliband se encargo de decir "Yo votaré por Gordon" a través de una columna en The Observer. Aquí van algunos estractos donde propone una nueva forma denominada New Labour Plus. Es cierto, parece un nuevo producto Duracell pero es un poco más que eso. Lo más rescatable: su visión del estilo pólitico que los nuevos tiempos demandan.


I will vote for Gordon
Domingo 22 de abril, 2007
The Observer

In 1997, people felt that voting Labour was a vote for change. In 2007, we need to recapture that sense of vision, hope and excitement. To do that, we need a political project broader and deeper than New Labour 1997-2007. It is New Labour Plus: the good things about New Labour, from a strong economy to investment in public services to help for the poorest, plus new emphasis on the power of individuals and communities to shape their lives, from climate change to social care, supported by effective government at national and European level.

My view is that a Labour victory in 2009/10 needs to be based on three planks. First, the vision thing, ideas that can excite people about where we want to take the country over 10 years. We need change from the Blair years, not to go back on New Labour, but to resuscitate it. Second, delivery. The record since 1997 needs rehabilitation, because it is far better than suggested by daily headlines, but people will only listen if we are honest about mistakes and lessons as well as successes and progress. And third, political culture. We need to renew our political structures and style as well as our policies.

People want to be players in the economic, social, environmental and political decisions that affect them. They want to feel that their fate is not constrained by their background. That means budgets in the hands of people, more devolution from central to local government, new ways to empower people not just through education and training but also at work. On climate change, it means pushing as far as possible individual as well as business and governmental efforts.

Third, we need to be serious about new politics. This is partly about style - being up-front about choices and mistakes, being open to questioning and criticism - but it is also about much more.

It is about real commitment to political pluralism, from local government to the House of Lords. It is about finding new ways of connecting to voters than through conventional media. It is about thinking through how political parties can become agents of social and economic change in communities and not just electoral machines.

For 10 years, we have been remedying the problems we inherited. Now we need to shape Britain's future. We do have a clear view of the good society - more equal, more secure, more confident. It is based on real empowerment for individuals and communities, an open society that promotes equal opportunity and collective responsibility, and global engagement for citizens, cities and companies as well as national government.

We need to work on that vision, hone its components, put it into more accessible language and show the public that we can build on the start we have made. I think we can and will succeed.