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In the Red Corner from Merthyr

August 15, 2007

Huw Lewis Merthyr Tydfil’s Labour AM publishes a pamphlet today entitled “Winning for Wales” in true fighting spirit. The pamphlet is written in plain English and offers an honest appraisal of some of the problems facing the Welsh Labour Party today.

He writes that “in order to create a party that can win elections over the next generation we must react to the 2007 result as though it were a heavy defeat – any other response will not be sufficient and we will sleepwalk to a very real loss in 2011 where the number of marginal seats we will be contesting will be unprecedented in modern electoral history. The only way to successfully combat these challenges is to create a self-sufficient genuinely Welsh Labour Party which can properly shape this next exciting phase of devolution. ( pg. 11; our emphasis)

And this gem : “the priorities of working people and their member organisations should be at the heart of any progressive party of government” (pg. 13)

Finally, he draws attention to the use of new technology for communicating a political message : “The final and most fundamental point we must address in making our party more open and democratic is discovering new ways to reach out to new people and organisations… The creative use of the internet, email and accompanying technologies allows you to converse quickly – and cheaply – with thousands of interested parties. We are exploring these options encouragingly through Labour’s mpurl network, but we must also be thinking about broadening our online conversations. IT, properly used, is a low cost high-speed connection to half the households in Wales. (pg 24-25)

Merthyr has more statues for boxing legends than any other Welsh town. This is a tough Valleys town where people are proud to stand up and fight for what they believe in. Huw Lewis’ contribution is like a breathe of fresh air. One wonders what good it will do for a Welsh Labour Party with its head so far up its own arse it can lick its own tonsils.

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