Jeremy Corbyn

[BarryBreensBandage]

Anyone taking interest in the Labour Party election?
He has fairly got the mini-Blairs running about crapping themselves.
And Blair denouncing Corbyn has to be a fillip for his campaign.
It is interesting to see the same political machines being rolled out as they were before the Scottish referendum.
I think he has it in the bag, and more power to him; it is the first time I have been interested in politics in a long while.

[Tony Baloney]

If his politics are "loonie leftie" and the Conservatives were just voted in on the basis of Labour's lack of economic nous then Labour are fucked for the next 2 or 3 elections.

[Armamike]

Strange self destructive move by Labour if they vote him in. It would suggest they're happy to be in opposition for the foreseeable.  They must surely know they won't win elections.

[BarryBreensBandage]

But surely Labour, in the position they are in have to take a couple of steps back before they move forward?
Their house was razed at the last elections.

[dferg]

Tony Blair is so deluded that he thinks his intervention will hurt Corbyn, quotes like 'if your heart says Corbyn get a translant' will only have the outcome of giving Corbyn more support.  Alasteir Campbell is supposed to be the master of spin but he doesn't seem to realise that everytime he or Blair open there mouths Corbyn gets more support.

It will be interesting having prime ministers question time if Corbyn is the leader of the opposition and starts asks lots of awkward questions on the NHS privatisation, delays to the Chilcot enquiry etc.

It's called the Labour party and is supposed to be a socialist party, NHS privatisation, tuition fees for higher education, privatisation of the railways, the Post Office etc. should be things the Labour party stands against.  What does it matter if one of the other blairite candidates get elected as PM if there policies are no different to the conservative party?

[Tony Baloney]

Aye but the electorate clearly told them that sucking up to the unions, not supporting the working man/woman etc. was what went against them at the polls. Red Ed was brought in on a union ticket also. If what I read is true that Corbyn is even more left than that again and is another Michael Foot then I don't see how they can regain any ground with the average working family with a mortgage and a couple of cars to run.

[dferg]

Aye but the electorate clearly told them that sucking up to the unions, not supporting the working man/woman etc. was what went against them at the polls. Red Ed was brought in on a union ticket also. If what I read is true that Corbyn is even more left than that again and is another Michael Foot then I don't see how they can regain any ground with the average working family with a mortgage and a couple of cars to run.

A mortgage, a couple of cars, a privatised NHS and 40000 worth of debt and rising for every child who goes to university.

The Labour party membership has doubled in the last few months from 300000 to 600000 and numerous polls have Corbyn as the most popular politician across all age groups, not just among labour supporters.  So it is far too early to predict how the next election would go.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-is-vastly-more-popular-with-londoners-than-his-rivals-poll-finds-10455830.html

I still find it hard to believe he might get elected as leader of Labour party.  I'm tempted to back Andy Burnham at 22/5 as it wouldn't surprise me if the powers that be somehow find a way for him not to be elected.

[whitey]

Don't have a dog in the fight, but the Conservatives are delighted he's running so far ahead.

That tells me that, once again, Labour is not listening to the people, if they take this abrupt left turn.

Keep in mind that the Conservatives hammered Labour in the last election....in spite of UKIP getting almost 4,000,000 votes.

[gallsman]

Don't have a dog in the fight, but the Conservatives are delighted he's running so far ahead.

That tells me that, once again, Labour is not listening to the people, if they take this abrupt left turn.

Keep in mind that the Conservatives hammered Labour in the last election....in spite of UKIP getting almost 4,000,000 votes.

It was the SNP vote in Scotland that fucked labour, not UKIP.

[Clov]

He seems a very bright guy and he has a lot of policies that are popular within and beyond the labour party - renationalising certain industries, fairer tax system, social justice etc. He's also quite internationalist, campaigns a lot on the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. One of his big problems if elected will be dealing with the media. The Murdoch press and the Daily Mail will go to town on him. It sounds also like he'll struggle to bring the parliamentary labour party along with him also.

Whether this makes Labour unelectable? Well the last couple of elections suggests it has been that way for a while. They are fighting battles on multiple fronts, losing support in Scotland to the SNP, the north of England to UKIP and in marginal seats in the south to the tories, and it will get worse for them with the electoral boundary reform. If you look closely, Labour haven't been an Electoral force since 1997. Blair's 2nd and 3rd victories were on the back of diminished share of the popular vote and were as much a function of the tories being in disarray.

The Blairites can shriek all the like about Corbyn but the fact that he is leading the polls is as much an indictment of the other candidates lack of ability to connect with the party as it is off the party's self-destructiveness.

[Armamike]

Tony Blair is so deluded that he thinks his intervention will hurt Corbyn, quotes like 'if your heart says Corbyn get a translant' will only have the outcome of giving Corbyn more support.  Alasteir Campbell is supposed to be the master of spin but he doesn't seem to realise that everytime he or Blair open there mouths Corbyn gets more support.

It will be interesting having prime ministers question time if Corbyn is the leader of the opposition and starts asks lots of awkward questions on the NHS privatisation, delays to the Chilcot enquiry etc.

It's called the Labour party and is supposed to be a socialist party, NHS privatisation, tuition fees for higher education, privatisation of the railways, the Post Office etc. should be things the Labour party stands against.  What does it matter if one of the other blairite candidates get elected as PM if there policies are no different to the conservative party?

In power, there is a chance of getting some of the changes you want. Socialism doesn't wash with the GB public, and hasn't in a long long time. They need to convince the electorate they'll be better off in their pocket under Labour. That's ultimately what the voter cares about.  Talking in very vague terms about unfair societies etc etc doesn't wash.  The first objective for a party like Labour should be to look at what they need to do to get into power, and after that try and tackle some of the broader social issues. But they have to be realistic about what they can achieve and what the voters will buy. Outside the Blair years,for the past 30 years Labour have been too idealistic and not pragmatic enough. If they want to go down that failed path again, that's their choice. But they'll be on the fringes again having deep philosophical  discussions and feeling smug with themselves about the type of society we need, but Joe Bloggs won't give a stuff.  It's maddening to watch it unfold because there really needs to be a strong second party to reign in the Tories.

[dferg]

Tony Blair is so deluded that he thinks his intervention will hurt Corbyn, quotes like 'if your heart says Corbyn get a translant' will only have the outcome of giving Corbyn more support.  Alasteir Campbell is supposed to be the master of spin but he doesn't seem to realise that everytime he or Blair open there mouths Corbyn gets more support.

It will be interesting having prime ministers question time if Corbyn is the leader of the opposition and starts asks lots of awkward questions on the NHS privatisation, delays to the Chilcot enquiry etc.

It's called the Labour party and is supposed to be a socialist party, NHS privatisation, tuition fees for higher education, privatisation of the railways, the Post Office etc. should be things the Labour party stands against.  What does it matter if one of the other blairite candidates get elected as PM if there policies are no different to the conservative party?

In power, there is a chance of getting some of the changes you want. Socialism doesn't wash with the GB public, and hasn't in a long long time. They need to convince the electorate they'll be better off in their pocket under Labour. That's ultimately what the voter cares about.  Talking in very vague terms about unfair societies etc etc doesn't wash.  The first objective for a party like Labour should be to look at what they need to do to get into power, and after that try and tackle some of the broader social issues. But they have to be realistic about what they can achieve and what the voters will buy. Outside the Blair years,for the past 30 years Labour have been too idealistic and not pragmatic enough. If they want to go down that failed path again, that's their choice. But they'll be on the fringes again having deep philosophical  discussions and feeling smug with themselves about the type of society we need, but Joe Bloggs won't give a stuff.  It's maddening to watch it unfold because there really needs to be a strong second party to reign in the Tories.

It's called the labour party. It's supposed to.be a socialist party. If Labour is identical to the conservatives there is no strong alternative. Socialism is far from dead. The Labour party had a bald ginger welshman who shouted a lot in the 80s. He was the perfect candidate for the tory party in England. John Smith was set for victory I'm 1997. In.the last election Milliband was still suffering from the legacy of Blair as well as the rise of the Snp.  There was more people voted for the winner of X-factor than voted in the last election. There is a large untapped vote waiting for a real alternative to the Tories.

[T Fearon]

Would electing a real socialist party in any one Country matter today? You'd have a lot of big business transfer their operations to lower tax lower wage economies immediately,and chaos would ensue.Does it not need a global move towards socialism

[whitey]

Don't have a dog in the fight, but the Conservatives are delighted he's running so far ahead.

That tells me that, once again, Labour is not listening to the people, if they take this abrupt left turn.

Keep in mind that the Conservatives hammered Labour in the last election....in spite of UKIP getting almost 4,000,000 votes.

It was the SNP vote in Scotland that fucked labour, not UKIP.

That's only part of the story.  UKIP got 14% of all votes cast in England.

http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/labours-loss-has-been-ukips-gain/16962#.Vc8sE3D3arU

[Armamike]

Tony Blair is so deluded that he thinks his intervention will hurt Corbyn, quotes like 'if your heart says Corbyn get a translant' will only have the outcome of giving Corbyn more support.  Alasteir Campbell is supposed to be the master of spin but he doesn't seem to realise that everytime he or Blair open there mouths Corbyn gets more support.

It will be interesting having prime ministers question time if Corbyn is the leader of the opposition and starts asks lots of awkward questions on the NHS privatisation, delays to the Chilcot enquiry etc.

It's called the Labour party and is supposed to be a socialist party, NHS privatisation, tuition fees for higher education, privatisation of the railways, the Post Office etc. should be things the Labour party stands against.  What does it matter if one of the other blairite candidates get elected as PM if there policies are no different to the conservative party?

In power, there is a chance of getting some of the changes you want. Socialism doesn't wash with the GB public, and hasn't in a long long time. They need to convince the electorate they'll be better off in their pocket under Labour. That's ultimately what the voter cares about.  Talking in very vague terms about unfair societies etc etc doesn't wash.  The first objective for a party like Labour should be to look at what they need to do to get into power, and after that try and tackle some of the broader social issues. But they have to be realistic about what they can achieve and what the voters will buy. Outside the Blair years,for the past 30 years Labour have been too idealistic and not pragmatic enough. If they want to go down that failed path again, that's their choice. But they'll be on the fringes again having deep philosophical  discussions and feeling smug with themselves about the type of society we need, but Joe Bloggs won't give a stuff.  It's maddening to watch it unfold because there really needs to be a strong second party to reign in the Tories.

It's called the labour party. It's supposed to.be a socialist party. If Labour is identical to the conservatives there is no strong alternative. Socialism is far from dead. The Labour party had a bald ginger welshman who shouted a lot in the 80s. He was the perfect candidate for the tory party in England. John Smith was set for victory I'm 1997. In.the last election Milliband was still suffering from the legacy of Blair as well as the rise of the Snp.  There was more people voted for the winner of X-factor than voted in the last election. There is a large untapped vote waiting for a real alternative to the Tories.

Don't agree with that view of it at all.  Socialism to the extent that Corbyn and co believe in is trapped in a time warp.  Protecting the NHS is fine, but some of the socialism moves like nationalisation for the sake of it is history. People don't want to know about that. Maggie Thatcher got kicked out of power when she started affecting people in their pockets (ie poll tax).  That's the bread and butter stuff for voters, not whether there should be missiles off the coast of Scotland or whether there's too many food banks.  A smart party and leadership would be pragmatic enough to know what socialist ideals they could realistic achieve and what's just pie in the sky. Labour don't seem to have anyone with that leadership potential at the moment.