A lot of people have today been asking the question “Who’s Luke Bozier?� Well, for one thing, he’s a friend of mine. Second, he’s a successful businessman,polo ralph lauren outlet. And third, .

Of curse those posing the question are, in the main, well aware of who Luke is. When they say “Who’s Luke Bozier�, what they really mean “Who the hell does Luke Bozier think he is?�

I’m not sure Luke will be all that bothered. He’s a grown-up, and he knows the drill. If you take the step of moving from one party to another, your former friends are duty-bound to put the boot in. Partly in an effort to dilute the impact of your departure; partly to protect themselves from guilt by association; and partly because that’s just how the game is played. Politics is a contact sport.

In truth, the political impact of Luke’s departure will be limited. He was a significant voice in the party, but not a senior one. He worked for the party for a while, but not at an especially high level. He was an officer, and incidentally a gentleman, but not part of the High Command. He will be missed. But his shoes will be filled.

In outlining his reasons for leaving, Luke said: “Labour has a vacuum of policy and a vacuum of vision. Even if Ed Miliband had a policy and a vision, he is clearly unable to communicate it or connect with he electorate in any meaningful way,polo ralph lauren. The Labour Party today is not the Labour Party I joined six years ago when Tony Blair was leader�.

Few in Labour can seriously disagree with the first. The jury remains out on the second. And the third is a simple statement of fact.

The true significance of Luke’s departure is, actually, what it says about that most intangible of political qualities. Loyalty.

The Labour party loves a bit of betrayal. Oh, yes. We just cannot get enough of treachery. Neil Kinnock, a man who had enough metaphorical buckets of yellow paint tossed at him in his own time as leader, was on the radio on Saturday wading through the duplicity. Those who were being critical of Ed Miliband were “cowards�, he said. “In politics, division carries the death penalty, and they must learn that because, in the end, it's their own chests they will stab as well as the back of the leader of the party.�

Neil is right, of course. But a few other things carry a political death penalty. Like crap policies,ralph lauren, incompetent leadership and preposterous political positioning. And herein lies the political loyalist’s dilemma,ralph lauren uk.

Politics, as my blog biography indicates, is tribal. That can be comforting. But it can also be confusing. The Tory MP Louise Mensch admitted to me on Twitter this morning that she was closer politically to Tony Blair than John Major. I asked how, in that case,longchamp selfridges, she’d voted in 1997,christian louboutin shoes. “The Tories,� she responded, “My mother was standing and I worked for her. But with a certain amount of despair.�

There is comfort in running with the tribe. But at times the real courage shows in breaking away from it. Or, at least, questioning the choice of hunting ground.

On Saturday, The Independent’s Andy Smith wrote a diary piece on how I used to be a conduit for journalists looking for a briefing against Tony Blair during the dying days of his premiership. For some reason,christian louboutin sale, Andy neglected to mention that one of the journalists who phoned most frequently was Andy himself. But he was right. I used to brief heavily against Tony Blair. As did many members of the current shadow cabinet, including Ed Balls, John Trickett and Tom Watson. Even Neil Kinnock – though he seems to have forgotten this on Saturday – openly briefed against his leader over his education policy.

Those who criticise leaders or policies or political positions that are clearly leading their party to ruin aren’t traitors. I actually think they are the real heroes. Turning against the tribe takes greater courage than marching silently alongside it. What Luke did was wrong,ghd sale. But it certainly wasn’t cowardly,Mulberry handbags.

And the irony? is that many of those on the Left of the Labour party currently pouring? bile on their recently departed comrade are pushing an agenda that would, if followed, do immeasurably greater political damage to Labour than any "d