Labour Party seeks "joining the dots" expert

Being (officially) in opposition the Labour Party is very busy indeed trying to work up a “message” to send to the electorate for 2015.  This “message” must stress how fundamentally different Labour will be to the shower presently in power, but additionally, stress how once they are back in control they won’t (honest) be doing all the things that they had planned to do had they remained in power in 2010.

They are having a few problems getting this “message” together.  On 29^th March Diane Abbot unleashed  Labour’s family-led health revolution: it’s not about banning things

Public health policy has got to be radical, it’s got to be rooted in what works, and it’s got to put Britain’s families at the forefront. A number of issues need to be confronted head-on – the country’s obesity crisis, an out of control binge-drinking culture, an approach to sexual health that is outdated by society’s attitude to sex, and the way mental health in this country has been marginalised.

(Anyone beginning to have "nagging doubts" about that "not banning things" ....)

The approach I am building for Labour on public health is not about banning things, but rather about empowering communities, strengthening families to do the right thing, and helping to provide the civic space that Britain needs. My priority is making sure Labour Party members lead this discussion.

("Empowering" eh, ... even to the point of being able to say "go away and leave us alone?")

But I also want to make sure the best and the brightest ideas from around the world are heard. We have set up an advisory committee on Public Health policy, and are doing work on international public health policy.

We are busy compiling consolidated wish lists based on the "public health initiative demands" filed by all those bodies who receive taxpayer provided funding from governments in order to feed back to governments what the government wants to be told ?   Surely not.

Hot on the heels of Diane’s efforts come two joint pieces from Jon Cruddas - the man who is charged with finding things to scribe upon the sheet of A4 currently blank bar the heading "Our Plan" - and Liam Byrne - the man charged with trying to give a good impression of Labour being very very angry about what the Grand Alliance is doing by occasionally being a bit nit-picky about aspects of it but usually steadfastly saying nothing at all – the first is a "we are saying something at great length" joint piece appearing on the website of one of their favourite “think tanks” bearing the splendid title The Condition of Britain : A new politics of society for the centre left

Labour MPs Jon Cruddas and Liam Byrne discuss the everyday pressures facing people in Britain today. They question the pessimistic notion of ‘broken Britain’ and argue that a centre-left response lies in rebuilding an ethic of contribution and a new social politics that mobilises human potential.

which in no way looks and reads as if served up by a random buzzword generator that was first pre-programmed to remove the word "will" as [a] a noun suggesting fixed intent or [b] the future tense verb from its vocabulary ....  and a second companion piece published in the G which they presumably drew up using as close to ahem "simple language" as they could bring themselves to use in order to hopefully explain exactly what that IPPR piece might mean /helpfully avoid the need for anyone to actually read the IPPR piece ... A new politics of society: how Labour can get back on the front foot in which “will” is very prominent …

Our  approach will be driven by creating the conditions for people to come together to improve their lives together, rather than suggesting that there is a government solution to every social problem. And it will focus central state capacity on strategic goals rather than the fine detail of policy implementation. This will often involve using the state to affect the circumstances of people's lives, but will also require everyone to contribute, step up and take responsibility.

Getting under the skin of society is crucial for understanding the issues that really matter to people, as opposed to the concerns of the political elite. Just as important, it is vital in grasping how those issues are experienced, talked about and coped with in everyday life. Labour's priorities must start from people's lives – their struggles, hopes, fears and dreams – not an abstract utopia. This is also how real energy and purpose for a new social politics can be generated. And it will be how our policy review proceeds.

As you can see, they are still stuck when it comes to what to put on that piece of A4. They really do need a plain talking “join the dots” expert, and soon …

Update:   (breaking news)

But some shadow cabinet sources fear the strategy of delay is risky if the public becomes impatient over the next 12 months for Labour to offer solutions instead of critiques.
Moreover, polls consistently show voters still sceptical that Balls and Miliband are tough enough to impose painful cuts, so, regardless of the eventual overall decisions on deficit reduction, shadow ministers will be asked to give symbolic examples of spending cuts they endorse.
At the moment few Labour frontbenchers are proposing cuts ...... However, Miliband is also being urged to state that he will not follow the Brown-Blair precedent by accepting the coalition's spending targets..

 Labour to leave decision on deficit reduction plan until election runup