Further proof that Decentism is dying or dead: house organ Democratiya has been assimilated by the ur-decents Dissent Magazine, last seen ratfucking the anti-war movement in the runup to the War on Iraq. Meanwhile the Euston manifesto is moribund, while certain of Decentism more outspoken cheerleaders like Nick Cohen, seem to have dropped all pretense at being on the left and are metamorphosing into Tory supporters.
All of which might just have something to do with the slow collapse of New Labour’s prospects of winning the next election during the past two years, now made painfully clear at their party conference: barely any lobbyists and the party faithful putting their hopes in Mandy. The news that The Sun is now supporting the Tories was just the rancid icing on the Labour shitcake and the only question is what took them so long:
It would obviously be too much to expect a bullying, toadying media operation like the Sun to attack Gordon Brown when he appeared to be strong. But he’s been visibly weakening for the past year, and the paper still seemed nervous about changing sides, even when it became increasingly apparent that the illness was fatal. They didn’t attack him when he was strong. They were still scared of changing sides when he was weak. It’s only when he seems to be definitively, authoritatively and absolutely politically dead that they break into the funeral home and shoot the corpse.
It’s no more than fitting that such an embarrasing display was answered by Tony McNulty ripping up a copy while playing up his scouser roots and Harriet Harman making Page 3 jokes, something neither of them would’ve dreamed of even last week. Both sides have always been scared to test each other’s strength. But The Sun‘s “treason” does show how little appeal is left in New Labour even for business interests like Murdoch — Brown may have reason to be grateful for the economic crisis, as it meant he kept his usefulness longer. Interestingly, The Sun has not just ditched New Labour, but also its foreign policy the paper once cheerleaded. The whole idea of the Decent Left/Euston Manifesto/humanitarian interventionism seems increasingly unlikely to survive the demise of the political party with which is most associated.
