The Labour Thread

[Alty]

God help us and i'm a Labour voter! The Tories will be in power for a generation which makes me despair for the sick,the disabled and the poorer in our society.

I really do think that if Labour members and supporters keep saying this, we're getting into self-fulfilling prophecy territory. The Labour Party is now being led by the left. So why not get behind it and actually try to win the argument and the next election?

 

[blade1889]

Even if I'm not a labour voter Corbyn at least seems to have a good/interesting personality which goes far in politics...rightly or wrongly.

 

[Captain Scumbag]

Corbyn will do as he says and he'll go after Cameron & Osbourne like a dog. Can't ask for more than that.

Good to know expectations are high.

 

[GodsGift]

Shadow health minister Jamie Reed has just resigned from the front bench. At least let him finish his speech!

 

[Abertawe]

Good to know expectations are high.

Tis funny yeah. Damning state of affairs when honesty & integrity wins out.

 

[TheArtfulDodger]

I'd fancy Corbyn to give a boost to Labour ratings, maybe temporarily, but this idea that the narrative has to be centre-right and Labour just need to talk about public services is bollocks. The past is the past and things have changed, there is certainly a groundswell of opinion very anti-Neo-liberal conensus. Enough to win an election? Maybe not at the moment and it will be difficult, but Corbyn can change the Labour party for the better, even if he doesn't win.

 

[blade1889]

Shadow health minister Jamie Reed has just resigned from the front bench. At least let him finish his speech!

Really? Haha, Jesus wept. That's hilarious but pathetic.

 

[Alty]

Shadow health minister Jamie Reed has just resigned from the front bench. At least let him finish his speech!

Who?

I doubt Corbyn will be crying over that one...

 

[jacobncfc]

Had his resignation letter typed out ready as well! 'Look at me, look at me'

 

[TheArtfulDodger]

It's lovely hearing a Labour leader who genuinely despises Tories speaking.

 

[Mr. Scruff]

At last a Labour leader worth voting for.


Also good to see the first Tory light careerist rat leave. Hopefully the rest will follow him.

 

[Stringy]

Woo, something different to vote for.

 

[Pliny Harris]

Hahahahaha holy cow.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

God help us and i'm a Labour voter! The Tories will be in power for a generation which makes me despair for the sick,the disabled and the poorer in our society.

Because New Labour didn't preside over a rapidly widening gap amongst the distribution of wealth... Under neo-liberalism, whether it is New Labour, Tory, Liberal Democrats, Republicans, Democrats, etc I will always despair for the sick, the disabled and the poorer in our society.

 

[mowgli]

So Tom And Jerry are in charge of Labour now!

 

[Dave-Vale]

Fantastic result and an absolute landslide!

The power of social media is amazing.

 

[blade1889]

Rachel Reeves quits the front bench too

Abott supporting Corbyn though...dont like her, hope she doesn't get on the front bench

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Rachel Reeves quits the front bench too

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...to-represent-people-out-of-work-10114614.html

She will be missed.

 

[Naitch]

Well, this is amusing.

 

[blade1889]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...to-represent-people-out-of-work-10114614.html

She will be missed.

Yeah I'm not sure she stood much chance of not being sacked anyway...

I suspect her intentions didnt get expressed very well in that interview tbf. I think all would agree we want less people unemployed, using food banks etc. but her comments were incredibly clumsy.

 

[Stevencc]

Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan Jezza!

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Good news I think. I voted for him.

Whether he'll ever lead the party to power is debatable but hopefully it's a catalyst to a change in UK politics. We certainly now have a genuine choice.

 

[barnet_pls]

I do think it pretty disasterous for the party. He'll be ripped to shreds by the press + tories - he's never been on the front bench, shadow or anything. It will be a real test. I'm just not sure that the answer against the Tories is to go further left [except for scotland] but it won't attract the people who we need to attract to win an election. I fear that the party will end up just talking to itself and associated unions congratulating itself, whilst it's ignored by the rest of the country. Hope not tho.

 

[Techno Natch]

I fully expect the conservatives to remain whoever got into power. His 3 rivals were utterly uninspiring though and much of the same.

Corbyn is interesting and if he can unite the
left and inspire new voters then it will be interesting. Certainly I'd consider voting for him.

The press will be twats but hopefully he can rise above it.

The old guard embarrassed themselves and people shouldn't underestimate him.

 

[rudebwoyben]

I fully expect the conservatives to remain whoever got into power. His 3 rivals were utterly uninspiring though and much of the same.

Corbyn is interesting and if he can unite the
left and inspire new voters then it will be interesting. Certainly I'd consider voting for him.

The press will be twats but hopefully he can rise above it.

The old guard embarrassed themselves and people shouldn't underestimate him.

Good analysis although I don't think the Selfservatives are in as strong a position as they pretend to be.

 

[Abertawe]

Aye. I honestly don't buy into this bull that the Tories wanted corbyn elected. In theory he can quite easily pull rank with just about every other party to sobatage bills and the like.

 

[Alty]

The Beeb just interviewed a bloke from Nuneaton (important swing constituency). He said that he'd always voted Labour up to and including 1992. But when Labour effectively became a second Conservative Party following the election of Blair and abolition of Clause 4, he started voting Tory. After all, if you've got a choice between two extremely similar parties, you might as well go for the real deal.

Not necessarily the most logical outlook, but then that's the reality of elections. A large portion of the Lib Dems' former voters went to UKIP in 2015. And UKIP also made big progress in Labour constituencies, not only Conservative ones as much of the press were predicting (that's not actually particularly illogical, but that's a whole other story).

The idea that Labour shifting to the left necessarily makes them unelectable is plain wrong. If Corbyn can build some personal support on account of being a generally decent chap, if his Shadow Cabinet colleagues persuade him to moderate some of his policies and if the Tories make a mess of a few things (perfectly plausible), of couse Corbyn could win in 2020.

It'll be interesting to see if a lefty anti-nuclear weapons Labour leader leads to any bounce in the Scottish Parliament elections next year. It might be a case of the UK leader being seen as too remote to make a difference, I don't know, but if Labour are going to bounce back in Scotland then Corbyn has to be a better foil for Dugdale than any of the other options.

I also think Corbyn's refusal to go along with the cult-like Europhilia commonly found within the Labour leadership will help him during the course of Cameron's renegotiation and the subsequent referendum.

It should all be interesting, anway. A genuine clash of ideas for the first time in a long time.

 

[.V.]

Owen Jones makes some good points on what should happen next.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/12/jeremy-corbyn-victory-easy-bit-grassroots

 

[Jockney]

I think discussing the importance of Corbyn's victory in terms of democratic politics is not really doing justice to its symbolism and potential effect on the grassroots. The question probably shouldn't be 'can Corbyn win' but rather 'can Corbyn mobilise the grassroots effectively'. For the most part, his allies' politics are a hodge-podge of genuinely left-wing ideas diluted by a so-called pragmatism that is in reality just a legacy of New Labour's neo-liberal centralism. Corbyn supporters would probably be better off putting aside ideas of reform via democratic means and instead focus on how he can influence and/or shape the political consciousness of the country, and in particular young people.

It all feels very Obama-y at the moment, a bit cult-of-personality, which is rarely ever a good thing.

 

[mowgli]

Owen Jones makes some good points on what should happen next.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/12/jeremy-corbyn-victory-easy-bit-grassroots

Jones is a dickhead! Every time he comes on the telly i turn over. He's rude and arrogant and never lets anyone else get a word in. I share some of the same beliefs as him but i just can't fucking stand him.