Jon Cruddas urges return to Labour core values.

Labour backbencher Jon Cruddas has accused the Labour party of "losing it's optimism" and has said that the party will deserve to face "catastrophic" defeat at the next election, unless it rediscovers it's spirit of social democracy.

"We have lost our language, our empathy, our generosity, because we have retreated into a philosophical framework of the right," he said. "It is only by returning to our traditions, our language and our radicalism that we can confront this very dangerous force and build an authentic political fight around a fundamentally different approach to society and humanity."

It's very hard to disagree with him. But the Labour party long ago surrendered to the language of the right, which is why we now find ourselves in a place where Cameron simply has to do nothing in order to win. By which I mean, as long as Cameron doesn't utterly f#ck it up with some crass policy announcement which reveals the depths of Tory greed then he is guaranteed to win as we are trying to play the game on their side of the pitch, and - naturally - they are better at playing that side of the pitch than we are.

He said: "Look at the glint in their eye when they talk about cuts."

I've previously written about how Philip Hammond, the shadow Treasury chief secretary, is already boasting that he is almost looking forward to being the nation's next hate figure, such are the enormous cuts he plans to put into effect.

Hammond, destined to be the man to rein in public spending if the Tories gain power, also concedes he is "likely to become a great figure to pin up on the dartboard, and throw darts at. I am sure there will be short-term pain and brickbats."

It would be bad enough facing defeat to the Tories had we lost the war of ideas, it is far worse knowing that we have simply surrendered.

We are voicing no great new ideas and they are voicing no great new ideas, but they have the advantage of not being us. They are not in power, therefore, they are not to blame for all our current woes. We are.

We are going down without even a fight. Even a lifelong supporter like myself, finds it very hard to articulate what Brown's Labour party actually stands for.

Blair, even when I disagreed with him - and that was often - was very good at articulating the argument and defining what was at stake. Brown, by contrast, appears battered, silent and sullen.

We are, it seems to me, sleepwalking to defeat.

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Tags: Jon Cruddas, Labour, Tories, UK politics