In The End, The Tragedy Of Harold

The General Election Of 1983 Has Produced One Important Result That Has Passed Virtually Without Comment In The Media. It Is That, For The First Time Since 1945, A Political Party With An Openly Socialist Policy Has Received The Support Of Over Eight And A Half Million People. This Is A Remarkable Development By Any Standards And It Deserves Some Analysis ... The 1983 Labour Manifesto Commanded The Loyalty Of Millions Of Voters And A Democratic Socialist Bridge-head In Public Understanding And Support Can Be Made.

Cabinet Members Are Soon Overwhelmed By The Insistent Demands Of Running Their Departments. On The Whole, A Period In High Office Consumers Intellectual Capital; It Does Not Create It....the Less Ministers Know At The Outset, The More Dependent They Are On The Only Sources Of Available Knowledge; The Permanent Officials.

We Have Been In Recess Since July, And During That Time There Has Been A Fuel Crisis, A Danish No Vote, The Collapse Of The Euro And A War In The Middle East, But What Is Our Business Tomorrow? The Insolvency Bill [lords]. It Ought To Be Called The Bankruptcy Bill [commons], Because We Play No Role.

I Think The Truth Is That The Labour Party Isn't Believed Any More Because People Suspect It Will Say Anything To Get Votes. The Rebuilding Of Some Radical Alternatives To Thatcherism - And By That I Mean All-party Thatcherism - Will Require Us To Do Some Very Difficult Things

There Is No Final Victory, As There Is No Final Defeat. There Is Just The Same Battle. To Be Fought, Over And Over Again. So Toughen Up, Bloody Toughen Up.