Labour won't gain back any ground in Scotland unless it moves massively to the left, which it won't do, or the SNP screws up royally. Labour thinks it can only gain ground in England if it 'occupies the centre ground' as they coyly put it, which means appealing to enough voters in those huge swathes of England that are now blue. But on the one hand, the Tories are better at being Tories than the Labour Party - though the urban political elite of the mini-Blairs and mini-Mandelsons would surely feel more at home in the Tory Party. I mean, why is someone like Tristam Hunt even in the Labour Party? On the other hand, the more Labour woos Waitrose woman, or whoever the latest middle class suburban target is, the more the traditional Labour base in the Labour heartlands will feel taken-for-granted, marginalised and disenfranchised. And as that happens, the process that is already underway will continue - UKIP came second place in plenty of safe Labour seats and the turnout in some areas was appalling - 18% in Manchester Central, for example.

I don't know what the answer is, but Labour is in a double bind it won't be easy for them to get out of. I'm off to the People's Assembly meeting in Manchester this week to see what the chances are of helping to built some sort of grass roots anti-austerity alternative. If this sort of thing gains enough momentum, at least it means none of the buggers will get too easy a ride...