Labour policy guru attacks party's brash 'new laddism'

THE co-founder of Tony Blair's favourite think-tank has accused the Government of being dominated by a "new lad" culture that poses a danger to democracy.

Helen Wilkinson, the project director at Demos, which is behind some of New Labour's most radical ideas, claimed that "control freaks" and "addicts" made a mockery of the party's attempts to present itself as open and progressive. The Chancellor, Gordon Brown; the Prime Minister's official spokesman, Alastair Campbell; the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Peter Mandelson, and the disgraced lobbyist, Derek Draper, all had "addictive personalities" that left women in the party feeling alienated, Ms Wilkinson said.

In a highly provocative article in today's New Statesman, she said that the "new lad" culture lay at the heart of the croneyism that characterised the Government today.

"The political game has become a breeding ground for control freaks and addictive personalities," she said. "It is notable that control freaks and addicts of some description gather around new Labour's inner coterie. (Alastair Campbell is a former alcoholic turned media addict, Gordon Brown a self-confessed workaholic, Derek Draper a media and political addict.) There are signs that this addictive culture has already begun."

Although an independent organisation, Demos has worked closely with Labour, both in opposition and in government, and today's attack is likely to cause embarrassment at a time when ministers are fending off claims of croneyism and improper lobbying. Geoff Mulgan, another co-founder of the group, now works in the Downing Street policy unit and leads the Government's plans on social exclusion.

Ms Wilkinson said that her love affair with New Labour began to turn sour when she returned from America recently to read accounts of Derek Draper's involvement the "cash-for-access" row.

"As the story unfolded in the newspapers, the photo images focused on the boys (yes, all boys) surrounding new Labour. New Labour women have been noticeably absent from this scandal. Where it really counts (lobbying, policy wonkery and spin mastery) power remains in male hands.

"Now I feel an outsider in a New Labour culture which parades rootless, individualistic, brash and boastful boys. Drapergate does not just expose distribution of power in Britain, it casts a shadow over Blair's claim to be championing 'new politics'."

She said that photo opportunities showing Tony Blair enjoying a beer and playing football with the French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, proved that new laddery stretched to the very top. Similarly, she revealed that brainstorming sessions at Chequers were regularly rounded off with five- a-side football games between advisers. "This 'new lad' culture seems harmless enough and is justified in terms of team bonding. The problem is that team bonding too readily turns to male bonding. The old boys' network may have progressed from golf to football, but the fundamental rules are the same," she said.

"This love of power, this fixation on control, is very Thatcherite (and many of the new Labour acolytes are Thatcher's children)."

The "ego-driven, brash and boastful boys" now had unprecedented control, but their love of power could become new Labour's "Achilles' heel", she warned.