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Through the Looking Glass: A Dissenter Inside New Labour
Through the Looking Glass A Dissenter Inside New Labour Author:Liz Davies As the British public turns away in disgust from New Labour, Liz Davies provides a compelling insider's account of the events leading up to the party's spectacular fall from grace. For two years prior to the party conference of September 2000, Davies sat on Labour's highest body, its National Executive Committee. From this unique viewpoint, and ... more »with the aid of verbatim notes kept at the meetings, she exposes the cynical doublethink that has come to permeate the party's leadership. Focusing particularly on the frenzied attempts to prevent Ken Livingstone from becoming London's mayor, Davies details how Blair and his acolytes sought to manipulate every detail of the NEC's proceedings, repeatedly blocking open discussion. On more than one occasion, full-time officials briefed selected journalists on what was being decided hours before the meetings took place. Davies chronicles Blair's evident discomfort in the face of close questioning at the meetings, and his impatience with even the mildest dissent. She exposes the hollowness of John Prescott's old Labour credentials and the relentless manipulation of Margaret McDonagh, the party's General Secretary. She watches aghast as trade union representatives repeatedly defy positions adopted by their members, and as special-interest groups, notably those representing business, twist policies to suit their ends.« less