I am writing a strategy paper for Labour.
It wasn't solicited and won't be welcome or, obviously, even read.
But I need to get my head around What Just Happened, what the party should do, and why I would remain a member.
I will let you know when I have finished.
Right now, this party seems fucked to me. The Lib Dems could redesign themselves as the Liberal Party (the old SDP faction are too old and compromised to complain now); that could work for them. That's a route out.
Labour have much more to do. They've wasted five years of debate and creative destruction, and it's not happening yet. It needs to happen now. We don't need to choose a new leader, we need to design a programme to meet the demands and tackle the problems the country faces. It has to be positive and ambitious, and not be about political positioning and party mythologies. I think that a renewal of manufacturing and an industrial strategy could be key, as Mandelson (to be fair) was saying in 2008/9, but I'm not sure yet.