“This is probably of interest to anyone who is reading the comments of this thread.”

I do hope that you’re not going to re-fight the 17th century civil war.

Oh yes; Mandy, Gordon, Suralan, Ms. Kinnock.
Long live democracy and the rule of the people by their elected representatives!!

“I thought John Denham a smashing fellow when I campaigned for him, back in the glory days we took Southampton Itchen off Christopher Chope.”

If you go back a few years earlier, you’ll find he was one of the generation that took the National Organisation of Labour Students from the “Militant” tendency.

John Denham knows fine well what doctrinaire sectarians are.

” The numbers of normally Labour voters who didn’t vote compared with 2004 are staggering.”

Where I live there was a swing to Labour on 4 June 2009, compared with the last European election in 2004. Its the most multi-ethnic place in the UK.

“Some of [these protective measures] have been left in place for too long, and are now tipping the balance past the point where they put minority groups on an even footing with the white majority.”

I would be interested in hearing what you mean by this, RNR. It sounds as though you may be in danger of tipping over into white van man territory. I’m fairly sure what you describe as “protective measures” are pretty mythical. I can’t think what you mean beyond the Race Relations Act 1976 (as amended). There has never been a government policy in favour of positive discrimination. In fact, it has long been illegal with minor exceptions (ethnic restaurants, etc). I believe even this exception has been or is to be removed. If you are refering to the new Equalities Bill, firstly that has not been enacted and so cannot have promoted ire, and secondly it too does not sanction positive discrimination.

I fear that promoting myths about PC politics is unlikely to promote your professed anti-racist aims. (I presume you think of yourself as specifically anti-racist rather than merely an incidentally non-racist right winger? If so, I suggest you reconsider some of your saloon talking points.)

I agree with Amie that Blears has been disappointing. Purnell comes out much more principled than she does – a braver man than his spineless Cabinet colleagues who was prepared to look reality in the face. The worst of the triumvirate is Flint, of course – throwing her unpromoted toys out of her non-Cabinet pram. The two of them have done a disservice not just to the party, but to all moderates within the party. I quite like the fact that Mandy is basically running the country now, I suppose.

Conor – the policies in 1987 were still too close to those foisted on us in 1983 by the lunatic fringe. Kinnock himself recognises that the modernisation project was substantially unfinished in 1987.