Ake, if Fortune said the words, what makes you think Bremner wrote them? (I assume you're talking about "Bremner, Bird and Fortune," which is on Channel 4, not BBC1.)

Alabit said: "We will not get the Labour government of our dreams unless we take part in the workings of the party." I wonder how he's going to do that. When was the last time his constituency Labour Party got a resolution on to the conference agenda? In fact when was the last time his CLP submitted a resolution at all, or even had a political debate? If it was recently, I hope he will say which CLP it is, because I understood politics had been banished from Labour Party meetings.

Blair adviser Philip Gould it was who first identified the need, about 10 years ago, to remove democracy from the workings of the Labour Party. Blair took that advice very much to heart and has made excellent progress, thanks to all manner of sharp practices.