It made me laugh to see Peter Mandelson in a state of near panic when Labour first .won with a landslide. Who are all these people coming in new to parliament? How do we control them? Again he is quoted as observing to an American audience "New Labour is relaxed about people becoming filthy rich". Since then control on who can and who can't stand as New Labour candidates had intensified with predictable results. In Birmingham the new intake is less than inspiring. The debacle in Perry Barr when Khalid Mahmood came third at the lengthy (5 hours) selection meeting, behind Sukhvinder Stubbs and Raghib Ahsan, that is until postal votes were counted. We were to learn how the postal vote system worked in the local elections in 2004. Now prospective candidates to succeed Clare Short in Ladywood include councillors well know to me. I'll say no more!

The point is made that in the U.S. politics ranges from conservative to extreme conservative. This is now a recognisable feature of politics in the U.K. Either way you vote you will get Trident, aggressive foreign policy, overflowing jails, privatisation of public services and more.