Ed Balls has announced he is to give up politics for the time being, at least.
As I noted recently, most of what passes for party politics in the UK at present, including much he had to offer, is about managerialism and has little to do with politics at all. That's what neoliberalism has achieved.
It could be argued that Ed Balls gave up politics some time ago.
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It might be argued that the new political class of which he has been a prominent member has more or less disbarred others from leading roles or influence, thus ending real politics in favour of their wish to “manage”. Looking at the other lot, what was striking after the election was Cameron’s oration to the ambitious youngsters at Conservative Central Office of which he was once one.
I shall not miss him! He steadfastly refused to inform the electorate of real alternatives for the sake of a supposed career. He sank to the lowest common denominator: the neo-lib narrative which means becoming a zombie politician. He’s supposed to be educated-he has no excuse -good riddance, I say-I won’t look forward to his return unless a sea change takes place in his thinking and that isn’t something to bank on.
I agree. The main problem with managerial politicians is that they are not particularly good at managerialism. Many have no experience outside politics and frankly it shows. I have made similar comments on this site on several occasions.
Politics now is devoid of emotion. Owen Jones is correct in saying that politicians need to give people hope not sound bites and empty promises. A completely new narrative as counter to neoliberalism needs to be constructed and this will take time.
I have just finished reading Whose Crisis Whose Future by Susan George. What an amazing book. It is now influencing my views in the same way as Naomi’s Shock Doctrine. I certainly recommend both books for serious political and economic analysis
Susan is great
I shan’t miss him, both because he was profoundly uninspiring & because he allowed a ludicrous concept “OMG, we’re going to run out of money” to take hold & never did anything to dispel the idiocy.
Hence, Ed Milliband was still met with it in Leeds in April 2015.
How hard is is to say “er, guys, look money is a measure of value. Saying that if the Govt spends too much we’ll run out of money makes exactly as much sense as saying that if we keep feeding children McDs we’re going to run out of lbs”
Article on R4 today saying people in the UK have more disposable income than ever before!
Exactly the same stupidity. The cretins I should need to say what exact;y?
Perhaps he simply can’t afford the membership fees for the Bilderberg Group without his Parliamentary salary..?
🙂
I suspect he will earn a lot more now
If I were a gambler I’d bet you he would not be out to make his fortune. Although his grasp of real world economics was pathetic, I think there may be a warm heart there inside.
Well at least he is not sniping at Ed Miliband in the same way as some of the other Labour Party leadership contenders, who are being very disloyal and providing much ammunition to others. How do they live with such large egos?
Tessa – its the poor voter who usually has to live with the consequences of these big egos unfortunately.
Its why people vote UKIP isn’t it?
Their greatest popularity owes little to policies (frankly, we don’t know most of their policies) & much to their repeated mantra that they’re outside the Westminster bubble.
After all, Nigel & his pal Mark Reckless spend all their time down the boozer so they’re bound to meet all the real people aren’t they?
Not perfect, but it does give them an amazing edge over the “Westminster elite”. The SNP have just elected a 20yo. She brings a lot of knowledge & experience to the role doesn’t she? Back in the day politicians did speak with real knowledge & experience about real life. Nye Bevin could’ve told you about the coal mines, Ernest Bevan about the docks & Churchill about fighting Boaers in SA. The current crop can tell you how hard they found it goig to lectures while working full-time for the Lab/Con party