Jeremy Corbyn

18% approval ratings. 80% of his colleagues voting non-confidence. A sure Conservative landslide looming.

Any responsible leader would step aside for the good of the party.

Instead Corbyn seems intent on dragging his party with him into some Gotterdammerung to satisfy some bizarre political deathwish.

I grieve over the agony of a great historic party that deserves so much better than Corbyn.

ICYMI, - this blog by Owen Jones, a well known left-wing journalist, activist and Corbyn fellow-traveller is probably the single piece of political writing over the past couple of months that has most resonated with me, - articulating my concerns, reflecting my perceptions.

And as Jones observes in passing "I’ve spent my entire adult life in socialist politics, and trying to popularise it as best as possible, and I campaigned for Jeremy Corbyn, and I’m now being attacked as a Blairite, crypto-Tory and Establishment stooge."

Questions all Jeremy Corbyn supporters need to answer

Labour and the left teeter on the brink of disaster. There, I said it. I’ll explain why. But first, it has become increasingly common in politics to reduce disagreements to bad faith. Rather than accepting somebody has a different perspective because, well, that’s what they think, you look for an ulterior motive instead. Everything from self-aggrandisement to careerism to financial corruption to the circles in which the other person moves: any explanation but an honest disagreement. It becomes a convenient means of avoiding talking about substance, of course. Because of this poisonous political atmosphere, the first chunk of this blog will be what many will consider rather self-indulgent (lots of ‘I’ and ‘me’, feel free to mock), but hopefully an explanation nonetheless of where I’m coming from...

https://medium.com/@OwenJones84/questions-all-jeremy-corbyn-supporters-need-to-answer-b3e82ace7ed3#.7xhl23lkw 

Intersting piece from someone who supported Corbyn. This was especially interesting to those who followed the Muclair no-deficits fiasco: 

Quote:

Yes, the Labour leadership now says it’s anti-austerity: Corbyn told me in my interview that they weren’t pledging cuts, unlike Ed Balls. But as I say, their fiscal rule is effectively the same, including a focus on deficit reduction “Deficit denial is a non-starter for anyone to have economic credibility with the electorate,” wrote John McDonnell. Labour would renationalise the railways, he says: but this, again, beefs up Labour’s pledge under Miliband’s leadership. Labour would reverse NHS privatisation: again, Labour at the last election committed to repealing the Health and Social Care Act and regretted the extent of NHS private sector involvement under New Labour. Corbyn opposed the Iraq war: so did Miliband. The Labour leadership’s policy was to vote against the bombing of Syria, as it was under Miliband.

link doesn't work

Fixed.  Sorry.  I keep forgetting.

From the BBC story posted by Josh:

Quote:

...in an interview with the Guardian, Labour deputy leader Tom Watson has said Labour is facing infiltration from "Trotsky entryists" who are "twisting young arms" in to supporting Mr Corbyn.

There's those damn Trots again! Man! They're everywhere!

Meanwhile, closer to the heart of the problem (same source as above):

Quote:

...Rhea Wolfson, one of the six new members to be appointed to the NEC, said they were not a "homogenous group".

Asked whether Labour MPs could face mandatory reselection, she told the World at One it is "a conversation that we're going to have to have".

There was a "disconnect" between the Parliamentary party, Labour members and unions, she said, and added: "We have to have a much more healthier conversation around reselection if not mandatory reselection."

...Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham - who has just won Labour's nomination to run for Manchester mayor - said talk of mandatory reselection was "unhelpful".

"To pull the rug from under our MPs or other elected representatives I don't think is helpful at this time - it fuels a climate of distrust," he said.

In other words, those 'safe seat' Labour MPs may have to justify their existence to the party. That's what's creating this 'climate of distrust'.

I'm not aware of the details of Labour Party procedure, but it sounds to me as if "mandatory reselection" simply means that other members of the Labour Party are free to challenge the incumbent MP for the nomination. Is that correct? So what these special snowflakes are complaining about is that they might possibly be forced to obtain a mandate from the party members in their riding before each election. How terrible.

josh wrote:

Fear of mandatory re-selection is what led the gang of four, and some two dozen other MP's, to bolt the party and form the SDP in 1981.  As Tony Benn once said, it's not socialism that the British establishment fears, it's democracy.

I do not think the process (or history) is quite as linear as you imply. The process for candidate selection (and deselection) in the Labour Party was quite different in 1981.  If I recall correctly, a big complaint of the 1981 rebels was that they considered the process at that time insufficiently democratic - as it strongly favoured union block votes over the votes of individual members. And many 'moderate' MPs anticipated that they would not be viewed sympathetically by the leadership of the more 'radical' unions. 

And while the nomination votes nowadays will be one-member-one-vote, - I believe the "trigger" mechanism currently in place - by which constituencies with an incumbent MP vote whether or not to have a competitive race for the nomination - still retains some form of institutional (union / affiliated society) vote. But am not clear on the operational details, - or the political implications for incumbents.

nicky wrote:

Notalib writes "Yes please, would you be so kind as to send the memo to Mulcair?"

If Mulcair should have voluntarily stepped aside given the landscaped he faced then Corbyn should be gone in a flash. Mulcair maintained a strong net positive rating in the polls and the explicit support of 3/4 of his caucus. In fact not a single MP openly called for his ouster.
Corbyn's ratings are abysmal and 80% of his caucus voted non-confidence.

Yes, he has the support of the MPs, but only 10% in the latest poll in the country. Since Corbyn's polling performance is what his opponents in parliament are pointing to, why shouldn't the same hold true for Mulcair. Who's doing far far worse.

Doesn't really answer the question.  And the "complaints" seem to shift.  When they get push back on performance, they switch to polling.  And vice versa.  Basically, they didn't want him to begin with, and have been looking for a way to oust him from day 1.  They could at least be honest.

The Labour establishment would rather see the party crash and burn than to be led by a leftist.

Miliband too was a leftist, and no rebellion of the PLP happened against him that I'm aware of.

'Leftist' is kind of a subjective word. What did Milliband in was the loss of 48 seats in the last UK election.

josh wrote:

The Labour establishment would rather see the party crash and burn than to be led by a leftist.

This is fun!  My turn!

Corbynistas would rather see the Labour Party crash and burn than - 

.... compromise the purity of their political beliefs.

.... to be led by a moderate who understands political compromise and incrementalism.

.... admit that Jeremy is actually incapable of leading his way out of a paper bag. 

.... have to convince any non-died-in-the-wool socialist why they should ever vote Labour again.

Jeremy Corbyn ally Steve Rotheram to stand as Labour candidate for mayor of Liverpool

Steve Rotheram has been announced as Labour's mayoral candidate in the Liverpool City Region.

The close ally of Jeremy Corbyn beat current elected mayor Joe Anderson and former frontbencher Luciana Berger to be selected to fight the election next year.

Mr Rotheram, a parliamentary aide to the Labour leader, said he was “deeply honoured and humbled” to be picked and pledged to “stand up for ordinary people”.

“I am extremely grateful to the thousands of party members who have chosen to place their trust in me and I am determined not to let them down,” he said....

The PLP starts a civl war in the party seeking to bring down Corbyn, and then gets to point to the poll numbers they created as justification for bringing him down.  The worse, the better.  Guess they're just Leninists in disguise.

Despite the well-documented media bias attacking Corbyn from day 1, and later supporting the Labour NEC coup, this is not really about Corbyn and "Corbynistas" anymore than the Sanders campaign was about Sanders.

It's about a sizable portion of the population sick of the neoliberal staus quo represented by "New Labour" and the other parties.

There may never be enough voters in a general election to generally elect another progressive candidate against the shitstream of the corporate media in any modern nation.

What is clear is that a sizable portion of the population wants at least a voice, at least a faint chance, for something other than the "New Labour" non-alternative.

 Under the alternative represented (for the moment) by Corbyn, Labour Party membership has swelled to 500,000, more than the membership of all the other parties put together (that's an awful lot of "trots" and "entryists"). 

Even the corporate press consensus no gives "Unite" candidate Owen Smith no chance at all of winning the leadership, now that the NEC attempts at thwarting democracy have failed.

This is hardly surprising given that the the only thing the former Pfizer executive seems to stand for with consistancy is opportunism:

Quote:

Who is Owen Smith?

IAN SINCLAIR 29 July 2016

....Big Pharma lobbyist? Radical? New Labourite? Socialist? Blairite? Corbynista without Corbyn? Who, exactly, is Owen Smith? Looking at his record of following the prevailing political winds, it seems Owen Smith will be whoever he needs to be for political gain.

nicky wrote:

Michael, it is a TNS you can find on the New Statesman website Here is more confirmation Corbyn is taling Lanour down the toilet http://twitter.com/MSmithsonPB/status/763634857830473729/photo/1[/quote]

 

I had to put with neoliberal washingson consences until the crash in 2008 and listen that history has ended.  American capitalism had won the day and we all must submit to its material charms.  I did not give in at that point because I believed in my heart and head that marx was right that capitialism is prone to instability.  Before the crisis I know that day would come but I did not know the mechanics of the collaspe that marx predicted.  When I use the word collaspe I dont mean it will happen in a day or a month.  It will happen over a decade.  Just watvhing the reponse to the 2008 by our economic overlords I have come convinced that they can manage the decline but they can stop the decline.  I like to think the situation can be explained by saying  the decline of capatialism is just leaving very rich compost.  From the compost every kind of life is growing with new ideas, old ideas, and old ideas masquarding as new ideas. 

So when you see Corbyn, Sanders, Trump, Le Pen, etc thriving it not just trick of fate.  People are living in interest times the messages of the statis quo politcians is being rejected.  Corbyn is a solution to have people are feeling on a daily basis.  He is not somekind of outlieier with no suppirt.  He is just a refelction of the needs of a growing part of the country.  Even if you get rid of Corbyn it will not mean that you have solved anythng.  There are people out there will demand to heard.

Corbyn's numbers have always been pretty abysmal. His apologists say they have only tanked because of May's honeymoon ot the revolt of the Parliamentary Labour Party. NOT true.

And to say, as SAP does, that Corbyn is "thriving" is just delusional. He's the best thing that ever happened to the British Conservative Party.

nicky wrote:

Corbyn's numbers have always been pretty abysmal. His apologists say they have only tanked because of May's honeymoon ot the revolt of the Parliamentary Labour Party. NOT true.

And to say, as SAP does, that Corbyn is "thriving" is just delusional. He's the best thing that ever happened to the British Conservative Party.

He's the best thing that ever happened to the British Conservative Party.

He's the best thing that ever happened to grassroots politics.

Your dislike of Corbyn's politics seems to blind you to the fact Corbyn has opened the party to the masses.  Can any Canadian politican go to the media and increase their party numbers by 135 000 members in less than 10 days.  This man has made the political party revelant again.  The Labour party is no longer play thing for the neoliberal elites.  People joining the Labour party have shaken of apathy that have taken over the political left. I am eager and awaiting the political rebirth of the left in canada. 

Lets be honest your brand of politics ran into the wall of economic of puh that was 2008 economic crisis. My politics are ascending your politics are in decline.  Don't take it personally. 

Court of Appeal uphold NEC's voting restrictions.

It means nearly 130,000 members will not be able to vote in the contest. 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-37057589 

quizzical wrote:

josh wrote:

The PLP starts a civl war in the party seeking to bring down Corbyn, and then gets to point to the poll numbers they created as justification for bringing him down.  The worse, the better.  Guess they're just Leninists in disguise.

smells and looks like what happened here to the NDP

Logically, it is the opposite of what happened here. In Britain, the masses of the Labour Party membership supported and continue to support Corbyn, while the members of the parliamentary caucus oppose him. In Canada, the masses of the NDP membership (as represented by delegates chosen at riding association general meetings) opposed Mulcair, while the caucus supported and continue to support him. Not parallel at all.

Quote:

In Canada, the masses of the NDP membership (as represented by delegates chosen at riding association general meetings) opposed Mulcair, while the caucus supported and continue to support him.

That's unknown.  It was not OMOV.  It was a delegate vote, which may or may not have represented the membership at large. 

Heather Mallick weighs in on "Why Jeremy Corbyn is destroying British Labour". 

"I don’t like Corbynistas or Ukippers, because I’m centre-left and object to extremism whether left or right. Post-war Labour history is a hobby of mine and I do very much like the Labour Party, which was always big-tent left. Now, as members prepare for a leadership vote in September, they are fighting each other in court on several fronts. In politics, once you’re in front of a judge, you’ve already lost. Omnishambles, here we come."

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/08/12/why-jeremy-corbyn-is-destr...