Woolas: Labour Politics in a Nutshell

That the odious Phil Woolas has got himself into serious trouble is something to cheer the soul; every single shitty MP who is held to account, particularly in the courts, is a plus as far as I am concerned. And it even gives Harriet Harman the chance to talk arse once more. She said:

"I don't think this is a reflection on the Labour Party as a whole"

Right. So you don't think that someone misleading others to win an election is a reflection on the Labour party. Have you not met Anthony Blair? And you don't think that smearing someone is a reflection on the Labour party - despite the fact that its leaders have employed people to do precisely that on a full time basis. And you don't think that someone using crude, borderline racist rhetoric on immigration is a reflection on the Labour party. Don't you remember your last leader, Gordon "British Jobs For British Workers" Brown?

The fact that a Labour MP has been forced out of his seat is always going to be a reflection on the Labour party, if only because of his allegiance to that organisation. But what is striking about the Woolas case is just how accurate a reflection of Nu Labour politics that little turd appears to be. He isn't an oddity or an aberration - he is a perfect encapsulation of the vile politics ushered into this country in the Nu Labour era. Deception, smears and crude racial/racist politics - some of the most recognisable calling cards of the Blair/Brown years.