Morale low as Labour return to work

Political Editor Phil Hornby blogs from Parliament

MPs are back at Westminster after the long weekend. And what a long, long weekend it's been for Labour MPs from the south and southeast.

Almost all of them know they are staring down the barrel. Last week's local election results were so bad, and morale in the party is so low.

Conversations I have had with some of them today suggest they weren't cheered up by the Gordon Brown's weekend TV appearances.

To watch a Prime Minister sit in TV studios and be accused of being 'strange' and having a cabinet full of 'youngsters and pygmies' didn't do much to reassure them about their party's prospects.

Tory MPs on the other hand just can't stop smiling in the Westminster sunshine. Many of them will be heading north in the next few weeks, to help out in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, which has taken on huge importance in the past few days. If the Tories win there, the pro-Cameron momentum will feel unstoppable.

The Conservatives though have quite a few awkward questions to answer. What will their policies be? There are lots of generalisations, but not many specifics.

Take the environmental agenda, for instance. Being pro-green sounds attractive, but what about green taxes? Will the Tories be bold enough to talk about increasing the tax on fuel (making driving, and flying, more expensive)? What about the bin tax, which is so unpopular Gordon Brown has now un-announced it twice? What about airport expansion? What about a tax on plastic bags?

And, again, on poverty, it's easy to criticise the fiasco over the 10p tax rate, but what exactly would the Tories do to help the least well-off?

They will say they don't have to come up with specific proposals until the next general elections, which is true - but these are difficult decisions, whenever they are made.

As for the Liberal Democrats, their southern MPs know a big Tory comeback would sweep most of them away. They desperately need Nick Clegg to make an impact, and not just in the pages of GQ magazine.

The next election is probably two years away, and that's an awful long time in politics. Remember just eight months ago Labour were riding high in the polls and some grumbling Conservatives were saying David Cameron's days were numbered.

But things do feel very different here at the moment. It's as if something very significant is happening, a big change which will be incredibly difficult for Labour to do anything about. In fact it feels here just as it did in the early 1990s, when the tide turned against the Tories. They suffered three landslide by-election defeats in the south - in Newbury, Christchurch and Eastleigh. And Tory MPs knew they were doomed.

That's just how quite a lot of Labour MPs feel right now.

Local elections smiles & struggles

Phil Hornby blogs from Parliament

There are lots of bleary-eyed politicians touring the broadcasting studios here at Westminster today. But the Tories are smiling. They had a terrific night in the south, and across the country. Labour faces are glum.

Because of the relatively small number of council seats up for election yesterday, there were never going to be lots of spectacular results. Nevertheless, the Conservatives have taken control of Southampton and Maidstone for the first time in a generation, and they made steady gains in almost every other council in our region. The exception which proves the rule – and there always is one – was Gosport. The Tories were hopeful of taking control there, but the Lib Dems did well and the Tories missed out.

So what does it mean? It’s always dangerous to read too much into local election results. The Conservatives had some dreadful results in the 80s, but Mrs Thatcher kept coming back and winning general elections. The same is true of Tony Blair.

This time feels different though. Throughout the Blair years, despite some terrible local election results, Labour were ahead in the opinion polls. And, crucially, the economy felt in good shape.

This time, Labour’s nightmare results come against a backdrop of economic gloom, and a consistent huge Tory lead in the polls.

And the Conservatives look electable. For the first time since Labour came to power, the Tories look like a credible alternative government.

The next general election will be won and lost in the Labour/Tory marginals, and there are more in our region than anywhere else. Cabinet Minister John Denham understands that Labour have to get their act together to stop the south becoming True Blue Tory heartland once again. He and Tony Blair saw the need to make Labour electable in the south after the 1992 general election, and came up with a battleplan to combat what they called ‘Southern Discomfort’.

Well, he has to do that again. So next week, he’ll be delivering a lecture in London – called Southern Comfort - to stress the importance of the south if Labour are to stand a chance of winning next time round. But if last night’s results are anything to go by, they face an uphill struggle.

Dreamland’s dreams end after Margate fire

It’s been a sad few days in Kent as many across the region mourn the loss of a favourite tourist sport – Dreamland in Margate.

On Monday we got the sad news that the wooden rollercoaster, the Scenic Railway, had 80 firefighters tackling a serious blaze that seemed to spring out of nowhere. The famed rollercoaster that entertained thousands for more than 80 years went up in flames that destroyed about a third of the attraction. And sadly police have now confirmed that the blaze was started deliberately.

The mood in the newsroom was one of dismay as pictures of the burning Scenic Railway poured in. Members of the newsdesk sat reminiscing about childhood days out at the seaside resort. ITV Local news editor Sharon said that being on the rollercoater was like stepping back into the 1950s – it’s dated décor still charmed years later!

Facebook is also already full with Dreamland groups – some expressing sadness, others expressing anger that the fire was ever able to happen. A petition has been started in the resorts name with the simple quote ‘The Scenic railway was the Heart of Dreamland, and Dreamland was the heart of Margate’.

Captured on a mobile phone here is the sad moment when part of the railway collapsed.

You can upload your own footage of Dreamland to YourNews.

Plus share your Margate memories here on the ITV Local blog.

Snow!

My usual Sunday morning lie-in was a non-starter last weekend - rudely awakened by both husband and son at 7am, equally excited that our street was under a thick blanket of snow, which was still falling in abundance, despite the local shops selling easter eggs off at half-price and big ads everywhere for barbecues and swimsuits.

There was nothing for it - we bundled up in our warmest gear (where DID I put my left leather glove?) and took a walk down to Winchester Cathedral. (Son travelled in style in his wagon as usual). After the usual snowball fun, we posted some footage from a mobile phone here but to be honest it doesn't really do the scene justice.

Anyway, there are lots more snow clips on Your News at the moment though, and some of the ones from further east and inland show much more snow than we had. We're not going to forget April 2008's snow for a long time I suppose, unless this becomes the new norm. I guess climate change is more than just global warming then, eh kids?

You never know - just after we took that footage, a man of the cloth wandered past (we were in the cathedral grounds) and commented that it was like Christmas. Well actually, I don't remember a white Christmas for many years, maybe the church should consider moving it back a few months to take advantage of spring snow. Swap Christmas and Easter perhaps? Or Christmas card manufacturers might consider depicting scenes of carollers wearing cap sleeves and shorts?