Anthony Painter

I couldn’t resist linking England and Labour’s predicament in a piece I did for Labour Uncut today. Here’s a couple of the ten lessons as a taster.

2. Delusional cheerleading is self harm.

There was a chorus of positivity following England’s defeat of Slovenia in the third group game. It was not warranted. It was an utterly disjointed and unconvincing performance against weak opposition. The media coverage was replete with adjectives such as ‘outstanding.’ It was a lie but the team believed this hype and that added to the manager’s failure to change a side that was failing and the players’ complacent belief in the quality of their performance.

If Labour people applaud mediocrity in the party’s leadership and strategy then the party will similarly fail to achieve more next time around. Honestly adverse – though not destructive – criticism helps in this regard. It is not disloyalty. It will make Labour better.

and

9. If you do the same things over and over again, you end up with similar results….only worse.

It is not only England’s coach that seems incapable of learning from past failures. The FA have yet again hired an expensive coach who has all the right experience, knowledge and instincts and yet proves to be a complete flop. It will now try the ‘English first’ strategy of hiring a Harry Redknapp. For Redknapp, read Steve McClaren. It will ignore the obvious choice, Martin O’Neill, just as it ignored his mentor, Brian Clough (and this would have the delicious added advantage of creating a club v country dilemma for both David Cameron and Prince William. Sorry Villa fans). But the FA is institutionally incapable of learning which is why its mistakes self-replicate over and over again.

If the Labour party doesn’t open up, loosen up, be prepared to experiment, and build a different type of party, then it will end up with a narrowing and ageing party, whatever eye-catching ‘movement’ initiatives it launches. Like the FA, the Labour party is a relic from another, more elitist time. Get with the times or fail.

These were lessons for Labour. It could apply to many different organisations. Anyway, there’s eight more where these came from over at Labour Uncut.