Who is in a mess now?

And there I was thinking that only the Lib Dems were facing an identity crisis.

It would appear that this particular virus has now affected the Labour Party as well. I don't think anyone has ever made such a pig's ear of running a leadership contest as the one we are witnessing unfolding that might be won by a candidate many of whose policies appear to have come straight out of Jurassic Park. Reopen the coal mines? Not unless we can perfect carbon capture and even then I'm not entirely sure. Leave NATO? And join Vladimir and his mates? Print money to create jobs? It's been tried before, notably in Germany after World War One and look what happened to inflation there.

I can understand why many Labour supporters, and probably some of our own, are clutching at straws. Life has been tough for many people since the financial crisis; but not for everyone. We have heard a great deal over the past year or so from politicians such as Leanne Wood, Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon and now the new champion of the left, Mr Jeremy Corbyn, about anti austerity moves. I shudder to think what might happen if many of their measures ever saw the light of day with the present world economic order in place.

The trouble with all the so called anti austerity arguments that are being put forward is the assumption, and I include the Greens and UKIP in this, that we can go it alone without any real thought for the wider world beyond our shores. Now, if everyone was thinking the same way, that would be different. But they aren't at the moment.

Of course, many things are unfair and need changing. Just take one example. It's frankly obscene that UK bosses are earning 183 times more than average workers. Just how much money do some people think they are entitled to? Only the Conservative Party and organisations like the Adam Smith Institute really seem to believe that things are largely on track. It's in their names, isn't it?

So, if the 70% or so of us who do not vote Tory want to change things then we have got to find some way of burying our differences and fighting on a common platform. The sine qua non has got to be a change in the voting system. I feel so strongly about this that I would personally even consider supporting a change through a vote in parliament without another referendum. Almost of equal importance is to federalise the United Kingdom. Once we achieve these two things we really will have a basic framework which might help us to make our way in the world both morally and economically.

But back to the Labour Leadership election. I did think of following the example of Tory writer Toby Young and paying my three quid to vote for Jezza; but then I thought better of it. Whoever dreamed up the idea of allowing non party members a vote needs to wear the dunce's cap! The one person who should really be ashamed of himself, however, is Mr Edward Samuel Miliband, whose over hasty departure from the spotlight has left his colleague Harriet Harman and the party he so recently and controversially led, with a poisoned chalice. Experts always reckon that the late Michael Foot was Labour's worst leader. After Ed's performance before, during and after the last election, they might have to reconsider that judgement!

Cllr John Marriott