Andrew Bartlett @AndrewBartletta 14h14 hours ago
Corbyn walks in. Sees Umunna and Soubry. Thinks "well, this'll be a total waste of time, obviously". Walks out. Meeting. Cable comes out. Confirms it *was* a total waste of time. May gives speech. Total waste of time.
Umunna invited on telly to criticise Corbyn.
Is Corbyn's Socialism Possible Within the EU? - Lapavitsas & Jay (and vid)
https://therealnews.com/status/is-corbyns-socialism-possible-within-the-...
"...The experience of Greece teaches us that if a radical left government such as the one we want Corbyn to form, one this country needs was formed, the European Union would oppose it tooth and nail. Anybody who doesn't see that doesn't understand the European Union.
So, a socialist program such as Britain needs - a radical program that can oppose neoliberalism, cannot be implemented within the European Union. It just cannot. The fact that the [bourgeois, collaborationist] left cannot see this, is astounding to me. But this is the state of the European left. That's the disease that has afflicted much of the European left.
Brexit is an incredible historical opportunity created by the British working class - by the poor of this country, who for their own reasons decided to give the ruling classes a black eye. And they did with a massive people's vote against this ruling class. And then they handed this over to the Left. The [collaborationist, comprador] left doesn't know how to handle it. It's a tragedy..."
But they do know how to handle it. Sell it out, destroy it, sabotage it and cheerlead instead for the monstrous supranational neoliberal machine that is the EU. This is now the reality of Corbyn's Labour as much as it is the NDP. Sold out. Not to be trusted. Working for the enemy.
As he had every justification for doing. The PIG (Parliamentary Independent Group) is a party pretending NOT to be a party and has no electoral legitimacy, being a collection of people who were elected as the candidates of ACTUAL political parties. The refusal of any of them to put themselves before the electorate in a by-election marks them as antidemocratic cowards.Corbyn walks out of PM’s Brexit meeting over Umunna invitation
Jeremy Corbyn has walked out of an early evening meeting of party leaders with Theresa May after he realised that the prime minister had invited the Independent Group spokesman, Chuka Umunna.
The Labour leader had been due to meet May to discuss the Brexit crisis alongside the SNP’s Ian Blackford, the Lib Dems’ Vince Cable, and the parliamentary leaders of Plaid Cymru and the Greens.
But those present said he quit the meeting once he realised that former Labour MP Umunna, who is not a party leader but the spokesman for the newly formed group of MPs made up of Tory and Labour defectors, had also been invited.....
"The Withdrawal Agreement would make the UK a vassal state. Our recommendation to Labour MPs: Do NOT vote for this deal. This applies whether you're a Brexiteer or a Remainer alike. The Govt is trying to peel off Labour votes for this WA. Hold firm and resist."
https://twitter.com/John_Mills_JML/status/1108419443993071621
"A three-month membership of the EU = total government funding for NHS dentistry for two and a half years. Absolute disgrace."
As he had every justification for doing. The PIG (Parliamentary Independent Group) is a party pretending NOT to be a party and has no electoral legitimacy, being a collection of people who were elected as the candidates of ACTUAL political parties. The refusal of any of them to put themselves before the electorate in a by-election marks them as antidemocratic cowards.
Did they actually call themselves that? Could they not see that the acronym would have been a major PR blunder?
They just called themselves the Independent Group. I added the "Parliamentary", partly as a joke-and a comment on the place of most IG MPs in the class system-and also partly as a reference to the fact that most of them defected from the Parliamentary Labour Party. Sorry for causing confusion.As he had every justification for doing. The PIG (Parliamentary Independent Group) is a party pretending NOT to be a party and has no electoral legitimacy, being a collection of people who were elected as the candidates of ACTUAL political parties. The refusal of any of them to put themselves before the electorate in a by-election marks them as antidemocratic cowards.Did they actually call themselves that? Could they not see that the acronym would have been a major PR blunder?
As he had every justification for doing. The PIG (Parliamentary Independent Group) is a party pretending NOT to be a party and has no electoral legitimacy, being a collection of people who were elected as the candidates of ACTUAL political parties. The refusal of any of them to put themselves before the electorate in a by-election marks them as antidemocratic cowards.Did they actually call themselves that? Could they not see that the acronym would have been a major PR blunder?
Remember this one?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-party-changes-embarrassing-acronym-1.240933
Apparently PIG is not a registered political party hence is not required to report its donors. It is in fact a limited company called Gemini A Ltd. incorporated by Gavin Shuter MP, who is its sole director. No surprise to see the evil Guardian newsgroup has apparently given them some money, since that ethos seems to be the current favourite go-to source for a faux progressive crowd that dutifully adopts their 'right-left' reactionary take on almost everything.
Independent Group Criticized For Not Registering as Political Party
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/19/independent-group-criti...
Labour for a Green New Deal – because climate change is a class issue
Today, we’re launching Labour for a Green New Deal. Our campaign aims to organise for a socialist response to climate and social crises within the Labour Party and trade unions. Since summer 2018, many of us in the labour movement have felt fear and anxiety around the scale and urgency of the climate crisis. Until now, it has been unclear how to take this issue forward in Labour. We’re changing that.
Labour for a Green New Deal is founded on the central principle that climate change is a class issue. Its impacts are the symptoms of a class war waged by the rich against the poor. Its persistence is rooted in an economic system that prioritises private profit over all else. Only a socialist Green New Deal aiming to transfer power wealth to the many away from the few can address the fundamental causes of climate breakdown. Only Labour can deliver it.
Our vision is for a Green New Deal to be based on public ownership and democratic control of industry. It will build solidarity across borders to internationalise our ambitions. It will include the comprehensive provision of universal basic services to meet everybody’s needs – from food to health and childcare to education and transport – and act as a foundation from which to collectively build a prosperous new society.....
Managing expectations: Labour launches 2019 local election campaign
Today, Labour launches its campaign for the 2019 local elections taking place on 2nd May.
quote:
This year, there is open recognition that these contests are going to be difficult for Labour. They consist of 270 English local councils, six directly-elected mayors in England and various by-elections (plus all 11 local councils in Northern Ireland). Most of these will be based in non-metropolitan areas, many of which voted heavily to Leave in 2016. These places are where Labour has recently struggled.
Party chair Ian Lavery will lead the event in Stoke-on-Trent this morning, joined by Gwynne, Diane Abbott, Angela Rayner, John Healey and Barbara Keeley. The location of the launch encapsulates upcoming difficulties. Its local council is currently Labour-dominated but controlled by a Tory-independent coalition, while the parliamentary seat of Stoke-on-Trent Central voted to Leave in 2016. Local MP Gareth Snell is Labour but has a slim majority of just under 4,000.
The non-metropolitan districts currently held by Labour but up for grabs in May are mostly Leave-voting, and linked to marginal parliamentary seats. They are:
CP Urges Resistance to Right Wing Anti-Corbyn Offensive
https://www.communist-party.org.uk/britain/2498-cp-urges-resistance-to-r...
"...Mr Gordon urged Labour left-wing and trade union activists to 'wake up' to the machinations of the pro-big business, pro-EU and pro-NATO elements in the Labour Party orchestrated by deputy leader Tom Watson and the likes of Hilary Benn, Keir Sterner and Yvette Cooper. He called for 'uncompromising repudiation' of charges that Labour under Corbyn is 'institutionally anti-Semitic' and warned that Labour support for a second referendum would be a 'deadly vote loser.'
Britain's Communists insisted that 'class, mass and anti-imperialist politics' are the key to defeating the Labour right, winning a left-led Labour government and implementing left and progressive policies of public investment, renationalisation, control of capital and a substantial distribution of wealth.
Responding to recent votes in the House of Commons, the political committee reiterated the Communist Party's view that Britain should leave the EU on March 29, on WTO terms that would reduce imported food prices, aid Third World producers and begin to narrow the massive trade deficit with the EU..."
Because his own MPs keep attacking and smearing him when he's done nothing to deserve their abuse and disrespect. His policies are all popular.
Nothing good would come of Labour abandoning Corbyn's policies and going to his right-the ones to his right in the party just want the Third Way back, even though none of the public does. If the public wanted the Third Way back, Labour wouldn't have been in the lead in two polls in the last week and at least one member of the PIG would have stood down to fight for her or his seat in a by-election, as most of their ideological ancestors in the Gang of Four did in the Eighties.
As they say the CRAP would hit the fan.The PIG (Parliamentary Independent Group)Did they actually call themselves that? Could they not see that the acronym would have been a major PR blunder?
As they say the CRAP would hit the fan.The PIG (Parliamentary Independent Group)Did they actually call themselves that? Could they not see that the acronym would have been a major PR blunder?
Adding the "Parliamentary" part was my joke. I do hope it catches on, because it captures the spirit of their little clique/cult.
Ken, put on your glasses and read the polls. The one I posted (and which you ignore as the result of a plot by the evil Blairites) has 70% disapproving Corbyn and only 20 % approving him.
that is SEVENTY PER CENT vs 20.
it is so amusing for you to grasp at any straw to explain Corbyn’s unpopularity except an explanation that assigns any responsibility to Corbyn.
Labour should be miles ahead of May’s disastrous government but is immensely handicapped by its own incompetent leade. Because of him the Conservatives have a very good chance of winning a majority in an early election.
Basically, you're beating the guy over the head over not centering a fight for a second referendum. When it would have to have irrevocably split the party to have ANY possible Labour leader do that, how can you single out Corbyn on this? He wouldn't be any more popular if he HAD put the unwinnable fight for a second referendum before the fight for the socialist future the UK has to have. And the only sort of leader Labour could have that wouldn't have been made subject ot relentless attack by the Tory press would be someone who joined your hero Tony Blair in fighting to make Labour indistinguishable from the Tories.
It's the press slanders. Corbyn hasn't made any major mistakes, and he hasn't been wrong on the issues. The voters agree with him on the issues and they agree with Corbyn and his supporters that Labour needs to make a complete break with Blairism.
It wouldn't be worth electing Labour on anyone you'd approve of, anyway, given that no "Labour moderate" would do anything significantly different than what May's policies are about. Yvette Cooper agrees with her on every major issue...so does Jess Phillips, so does Andy Burnham, so does Keir Starmer, so does Hilary Benn, the man who has abandoned everything his heroic father ever stood for and pretends it could actually be progressive for Western forces to bomb Syria.
You still haven’t answered my question, Ken, whether Corbyn himself is in any way responsible for his 70% disapproval rating?
No, he is not. He's made no major mistakes. His approach to Brexit is the approach ANY Labour leader would have to have taken in a situation in which there was a split among Labour voters on that issue. It's not his fault that the media and the right wing of his parliamentary party-remember, the only people doing this have been people who were first imposed as Labour candidates by Tony Blair, most of whom have been guaranteed automatic re-selection as Labour candidate even though their constituency parties have wanted to depose them for years, and even though ANY Labour candidate would win in the constituencies they represent-have refused to accept that he is the clear rank-and-choice as leader and that the leadership question was settled in 2016 and 2017.You still haven’t answered my question, Ken, whether Corbyn himself is in any way responsible for his 70% disapproval rating?
He never deserved to be hounded by those MPs. He wasn't wrong to resist the right-wing attempts to equate opposition to Israeli persecution of Palestinians with hatred of Jews-attempts which have led to the ludicrous spectacle of Labour Party members who are Jewish being smeared as anti-Semites. He hasn't been wrong to fight to return control of the party to the people who actually work to elect it(as opposed to the MPs who oppose him and who clearly don't want Labour to win another election until he is replaced by a Blairite and a Labour victory once again becomes meaningless, as it was from 1997 to 2010).
The man didn't start as the world's greatest speaker, but he has steadily improved. He has repeatedly put the government on the defensive in the House by standing up against it on issues that actually matter, like war, austerity, and greed-as opposed to Mulcair, who spent the vast majority of his time as leader going after Harper on the irrelevant triviality of Senator Duffy's grafting, an issue nobody in the Canadian electorate ever actually cared about.
Corbyn has enspired actual enthusiasm. He has drawn huge crowds and brought large numbers of people into the party. He has not only done the best he could in this situation, he's done the best any Labour leader, subjected to the treatment he has received, could possibly have done.
If the party ended up with the sort of leader the anti-Corbyn MPs approved of, the sort the BBC and Murdoch didn't attack day after day, the sort who wasn't endlessly smeared with false accusations of abetting a form of bigotry that person had in truth fought with all his might throughout his career, that could only mean Labour had a leader who didn't disagree with the Tories on anything that mattered and who could never inspire enthusiasm and passion, and thus never be able to win public support at all.
What you are demanding is that Labour have a leader with no strong convictions on anything, who takes orders from the State Department and Netanyahu, who stands with financial community and the bosses against workers-that's what being "pro-business" means; and who buys into the Tory myth that the state has the right to blame the poor for their poverty and to impose brutal, judgmental sanctions on benefit seekers.
The only way a Labour leader could get out of the line of Tory/BBC/Murdoch attacks would be to cease being Labour at all. It isn't possible to get the approval of all those groups and still be different than Margaret Thatcher on anything of any consequences.
And the vast majority of Labour supporters, even those who say they "disapprove" of Corbyn, are against Labour doing what you want and lowering itself to Blairism and militarism again.
In any case, with the delay in article 50, it's time to get off Corbyn's case over Brexit. That is no longer the issue; what matters for the forseeable future is to push for the election of Labour on Corbyn's policies-the only policies it could be WORTH electing a Labour government to bring in.
But he is a liar when he calls me a "Conservative." If he knew me or what I do for a living he would apologize.
Not with this trope again. This is an Internet discussion board. Practically nobody here knows anybody or what they do. All we have to go by is your posting history. But instead of being defensive, perhaps you could spend some of your limited time (spare me that, most of us also have 3-D lives which need attending to) maybe letting us get to know you a bit more? How did you come to progressive politics? What do you think we should do?
Here's a thought experiment for you. Let's take you at your word that Corbyn is bad, so away he goes. Now, instead of choosing from one of his opponents, or insisting that "anybody" would be better (that's what we said when Trudeau defeated Harper, look how that turned out) suppose you have the chance to design your perfect Labour leader. Where does this leader stand on the important issues? What do you think the important issues should be? Try and actually engage on policy issues, and maybe the personal attacks will not be such a thing as they have been?
Here’s a policy issue, the biggest one currently facing Britain - Brexit.
Notwithstanding that a great majority of his party and, now, a sizeable and growing majority of the country, oppose Brexit, Corbyn’s position has been one of utter facilities and incoherence.
today a million plus people marched in support of a second referendum and Corbyn was nowhere to be seen.
can even Ken call this leadership?
Here’s a policy issue, the biggest one currently facing Britain - Brexit.Notwithstanding that a great majority of his party and, now, a sizeable and growing majority of the country, oppose Brexit, Corbyn’s position has been one of utter facilities and incoherence.
today a million plus people marched in support of a second referendum and Corbyn was nowhere to be seen.
can even Ken call this leadership?
Brexit is good. The EU does not premit member nations to implement any non-austerity type agenda. Just ask the Greeks, who elected a government that explicitly ran against austerity and ended up turning around becuase the EU forced them to. With Brexit in place, the British government will be directly accountable to the British people. Furthermore, the anti-Brexit hysteria has been driven by an elite class that didn't want to accept that the people didn't vote the way they wanted to, so they are calling for a second referendum. You can bet that if "Remain" had won that contest and the leave people wanted a do-over, these same people calling for a second referendum would have said, "we had a vote, you lost, get over it." Although part of me wants to see a second referendum just in case people vote "leave" again. What will these elites do then?
You've also dismissed the fact that a not-insignificant portion of Labour's base (particularly in industrial towns) voted for Brexit. Do you not thing opposing Brexit will have negative political impacts? Remember when the Democrats abandoned rust-belt towns in the mid-west favouring "globalization," or how the NDP abandoned Western Canada post-1993? Remember how the Saskatchewan NDP turned its backs on the rural towns that had been critical to its success while the globalized economy was ravaging them, or how the BC NDP couldn't come up with a credible plan to restore economic viability to small interior towns? Do you remember what came up in its place?
Brexit means Brexit. The people already voted, let's get on with it.
Here’s a policy issue, the biggest one currently facing Britain - Brexit.
Notwithstanding that a great majority of his party and, now, a sizeable and growing majority of the country, oppose Brexit, Corbyn’s position has been one of utter facilities and incoherence.
today a million plus people marched in support of a second referendum and Corbyn was nowhere to be seen.
can even Ken call this leadership?
That is simply untrue that a sizable and growing majority of the country oppose Brexit.
https://www.comresglobal.com/polls/daily-express-brexit-poll-march-2019/
In any case, with the delay in article 50, it's time to get off Corbyn's case over Brexit. That is no longer the issue; what matters for the forseeable future is to push for the election of Labour on Corbyn's policies....
I think for the foreseeable future the only prominent issue in the UK will continue to be Brexit, until the UK and EU finalize a deal or Brexit is taken off the table.
Brexit means Brexit. The people already voted, let's get on with it.
Theresa May is trying her best to get Brexit done ASAP. Maybe the UK’s MP’s should finally accept that May is the one in charge of determining the UK’s future and vote for May’s Brexit deal? Maybe May’s deal should be signed on May 1st, putting a real twist on the formerly socialist May Day!
(self-delete).
May's half-in-half-out Brexit deal leaves the UK even more hamstrung by EU domination than the status quo does. Very dismal that so many here choose to advocate for the EU's supranational neoliberalism. Especially when the peoples of Europe themselves are clearly signalling they've had enough of its enforced austerity and anti-democratic elitism. Corbyn's planned and urgently needed reforms are structurally impossible under EU tutelage. 'Let's go WTO' - and a clean Brexit are the best progressive options on the table.
Lexit Reloaded With Costas Lapavitsas
"Economist and ex-Syriza MP Costas Lapavitsas assesses the case against the EU, the state of Brexit negotiations and lessons from Greece to Corbyn..."
..nice
Labour ‘will ban’ outsourcing of public services to private firms
Private companies will be banned by a Labour government from running services that deal with vulnerable people and their rights, under a far-reaching plan to restrict outsourcing.
The party has drawn up the plan in response to what it describes as a series of “outsourcing disasters” involving services handed to private firms – from testing for sickness benefits to the operation of some NHS cancer services.
Under the plan, contracts that deal with people deemed to be “at risk”, and contracts that infringe on human rights or entail the use of “coercive powers” can not be outsourced. People “at risk” are defined as those who rely on state protection, be they prisoners, hospital patients or benefits recipients. The new rules would kick in when current service contracts expire or are terminated.
Exceptions will be built into the system. The new rules will not apply to contracts of less than a certain value, or where it can be shown that “at risk” people are best served by an existing private contractor. State bodies will be able to argue that they do not yet have the capacity to carry out the service.....
..nice
Labour ‘will ban’ outsourcing of public services to private firms
Private companies will be banned by a Labour government from running services that deal with vulnerable people and their rights, under a far-reaching plan to restrict outsourcing.
The party has drawn up the plan in response to what it describes as a series of “outsourcing disasters” involving services handed to private firms – from testing for sickness benefits to the operation of some NHS cancer services.
Under the plan, contracts that deal with people deemed to be “at risk”, and contracts that infringe on human rights or entail the use of “coercive powers” can not be outsourced. People “at risk” are defined as those who rely on state protection, be they prisoners, hospital patients or benefits recipients. The new rules would kick in when current service contracts expire or are terminated.
Exceptions will be built into the system. The new rules will not apply to contracts of less than a certain value, or where it can be shown that “at risk” people are best served by an existing private contractor. State bodies will be able to argue that they do not yet have the capacity to carry out the service.....
BTW, this article offers full justification for Corbyn being where he was rather than being at the referendum rally: https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2019/03/25/ignore-the-critics-heres...
He didn’t need an excuse. He had no business being there.
Two new polls show 1 point races. In one UKIP is a 9%, it’s highest in over two years.
https://www.opinium.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/VI-20-03-2019-Observer-Tables.xlsx
..nice
Labour ‘will ban’ outsourcing of public services to private firms
Private companies will be banned by a Labour government from running services that deal with vulnerable people and their rights, under a far-reaching plan to restrict outsourcing.
The party has drawn up the plan in response to what it describes as a series of “outsourcing disasters” involving services handed to private firms – from testing for sickness benefits to the operation of some NHS cancer services.
Under the plan, contracts that deal with people deemed to be “at risk”, and contracts that infringe on human rights or entail the use of “coercive powers” can not be outsourced. People “at risk” are defined as those who rely on state protection, be they prisoners, hospital patients or benefits recipients. The new rules would kick in when current service contracts expire or are terminated.
Exceptions will be built into the system. The new rules will not apply to contracts of less than a certain value, or where it can be shown that “at risk” people are best served by an existing private contractor. State bodies will be able to argue that they do not yet have the capacity to carry out the service.....
Good, and it's things like THIS that matter.
..i agree. they matter very much.
PM May's popularity hits new low ( but Corbyn is even lower.)
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/03/25/corbyn-...
..nice
Labour ‘will ban’ outsourcing of public services to private firms
Private companies will be banned by a Labour government from running services that deal with vulnerable people and their rights, under a far-reaching plan to restrict outsourcing.
The party has drawn up the plan in response to what it describes as a series of “outsourcing disasters” involving services handed to private firms – from testing for sickness benefits to the operation of some NHS cancer services.
Under the plan, contracts that deal with people deemed to be “at risk”, and contracts that infringe on human rights or entail the use of “coercive powers” can not be outsourced. People “at risk” are defined as those who rely on state protection, be they prisoners, hospital patients or benefits recipients. The new rules would kick in when current service contracts expire or are terminated.
Exceptions will be built into the system. The new rules will not apply to contracts of less than a certain value, or where it can be shown that “at risk” people are best served by an existing private contractor. State bodies will be able to argue that they do not yet have the capacity to carry out the service.....
Good, and it's things like THIS that matter.
..i agree. they matter very much.
[quote=NDPP]
Don't be surprised if such reforms are prohibited under the very neoliberalist EU regulations you are so eager to champion here.
..i hope it gets to that point under corbyn. with the manifesto in place. i believe a corbyn/manifesto duo will rock the eu world.
Rock them more by implementing it in a sovereign, self-determining democracy free of EU neoliberalist hegemony and the regulatory authority to deny it. As expressed by a 17.4 million majority vote by the British people already.
LFI Chair at AIPAC
https://twitter.com/JohnStealer/status/1110485414345871361
Joan Ryan the woman filmed concocting a pack of lies to smear a fellow Labour Member Jean Fitzpatrick, of anti-Semitism (Jean was exonerated after an investigation) continues her smear campaign against Labour and Jeremy Corbyn in the USA.
"Pro-Palestine activist Jackie Walker today walked out of the 'racist, unfair and unjust' Labour disciplinary hearing..."
Labour must eliminate Zionist saboteurs from its ranks if it is to have any kind of a future besides just another pro-Israel mouthpiece such as has happened to the NDP.
Labour Party Tables 'Softer Brexit' Alternative Plan Ahead of Crunch Parliamentary Vote
"...A total of 16 Brexit plans, including Labour's are due to be debated in the British Parliament on Wednesday following Monday's vote to wrest control of the Brexit process away from embattled Prime Minister Theresa May.
The Labour Party says its plan would push for a 'softer Brexit' while honoring the results of the 2016 referendum [actually, it dishonours it] but still leaving room for negotiation with the EU. The proposed plan calls for harmony on employment rights and environmental projects with close alignment to the EU's single market. This would include a comprehensive customs union with the EU with the UK having a say on future trade deals. It also seeks participation with EU programs related to education, science and culture in addition to the sharing of resources regarding security and law enforcement, including access to the European arrest warrant..."
Another 'Remain' bullshit-brexit, supporting continuing EU neoliberalist power and control. Labour, like the NDP aspires to simultaneously run with hares and hunt with hounds. Only the foolish will be fooled. Labour may expect to continue its decline.
..labour must weather these attacks as they are of an intensity of what is to come from capital.
The Tory Crisis That Dare Not Speak Its Name
The British media have turned the Labour Party’s alleged antisemitism problem into a national crusade. Meanwhile, leading Tories this week openly associated themselves with the Ku Klux Klan and the ideas of Anders Breivik — and the media shrugged.....
Manchester Momentum: How we’re re-engaging students in the Labour Party
quote:
Labour’s stunning result in 2017 – the largest increase in the vote of any party in a single election since 1945 – was built off the back of young people. It isn’t hard to see why our party, with its anti-austerity message and politics of hope, resonated with this key demographic. Low wages, unstable employment and a deepening housing crisis are facts of life for Britain’s youth.
If you’re under 30, your entire adult life has been lived in the shadow of the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent economic slowdown. If you’re a student now or younger, austerity is all you have ever known. A decade of Tory government has seen attacks on youth centres and services, while an economy tipped towards financialised property speculation has seen spaces of cultural expression squeezed out of our towns and cities. In the face of this, Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party has been a glimmer of light for young people.
We cannot, however, afford to rest upon the laurels of 2017. Continuous engagement with communities has to sit at the heart of everything that Labour does, creating spaces of dialogue not just at election time but all year round. This is why the popular Unseat campaign days organised by Momentum and the creation of the community organising unit by Labour are so vital. As well as this, the trade unions, which are the bedrock of our movement, stand at the front line of day-to-day struggle against austerity and for better wages and conditions at work.
Here at Manchester Momentum, we are contributing in our way to the year-round presence and vibrancy of our movement. In addition to the the recent formation of our student wing, which is working continuously to engage students, at the end of the month we are organising ‘Prepare for Power’. The event on March 30th will featuring leading lights of our movement, from Owen Jones to Rebecca Long-Bailey. It is designed to mobilise activists and build the team that will be crucial to a general election victory.
To build for this, we have been running door-knocking sessions in Manchester’s student-heavy neighbourhoods, speaking to young people, ensuring they are registered to vote and encouraging them to get involved in our party. As the only Momentum group in the country to have a student branch, we see this as a top priority.
Labour left takes over at Streatham AGM
The left took over the executive of Streatham Labour at its latest annual general meeting on Thursday evening, winning almost every post.
Dr Valerie Coultas was elected as chair of the local party by 197 votes to 183, while anti-Brexit campaigner Seema Syeda and lawyer Axel Landin were chosen as co-secretaries.
In response to the results, ex-Labour MP Mike Gapes tweeted that Coultas had been a “leading member of the International Marxist Group in the NUS”. The new chair was active in the group in the 1970s, then a journalist for Socialist Action in the 1980s.
Streatham Labour recently voted to adopt an all-member meeting (AMM) local party structure, which was key in helping the left to secure wins last night.
Described as “the former south London heartland of Progress” by left-wing anti-Brexit activist Michael Chessum, Labour left members in Streatham are now looking forward to selecting a Corbynite candidate who may go up against The Independent Group’s Chuka Umunna.....
Speaking of Labour Left...
#LeftBrexitTour (and vid)
https://twitter.com/labourleave/status/1111231378371301377
"The EU isn't working and it isn't progressive, it's a reactionary, market fundementalist project that is being rejected by the working class across Europe."
Which is precisely why it is so fervently supported on Babble which never saw a reactionary msm propaganda campaign it couldn't wait to support.
"The choice is clear. No Deal or No Labour Party at the next election."
https://twitter.com/TomCott1490047/status/1111232512167211009
John McDonnell backs Momentum on Barclays protest
John McDonnell has called on Labour members to join Momentum on its first direct action campaign, as a senior organiser for the group called it a move from party politics to movement politics.
Forty local Momentum groups across England and Wales, from Exeter to Redcar, will take action outside branches of Barclays on Saturday to raise awareness of the bank’s financing of fossil fuel companies.
Last week, a report by BankTrack revealed that Barclays provides more funding for fossil fuel projects than any other bank in Europe, lending $85bn to companies involved in fossil fuels between 2016 and 2018.
“This campaign is a vital, urgent initiative and I encourage all Labour members to join Momentum and take action on Saturday,” the shadow chancellor said. “Climate breakdown isn’t caused by ordinary people. It’s the fault of bankers who plough billions of dollars into the fossil fuel companies.
“Governments cannot stand by while the finance sector profits from destroying the planet while we’re left with environmental catastrophe and extortionate energy bills.”......
2 new polls. One has a tie, the other Labour with a 5 point lead.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election
Both of which means it is time for the attacks within Labour on Corbyn to stop. An election could happen at any time and Corbyn's opponents within Labour, if they care about ANYTHING the party stands for at all, need to get off the guy's case, need to stop making false accusations about the referendum-Leave was going to win it no matter what-and need to apologize for the slanders about Corbyn abetting anti-Semitism, given that they know full well those accusations are bullshit.
The survival of the National Health Service is on the line. All hopes for a decent life for working people and the poor are on the line. Winning this election under this leader is what matters.
If nothing else, the anti-Corbynites have an obligation to, until Polling Day, just STOP what they've been doing. Corbyn and his supporters never deserved the hate campaign and the vilification. All they were ever guilty of was fighting for a just, peaceful, egalitarian and democratic world. That was their only crime, and only Thatcherites would even see that as a crime.
Labour Should Wake Up To EU Reality
https://twitter.com/labourleave/status/1112680609489526784
"Labour should wake up to EU reality. Trample democracy at your peril..."
Tony Benn And The Left Wing Case For Brexit (and vid)
https://semipartisansam.com/2016/03/03/tony-benn-and-the-left-wing-case-...
"What is the left-wing case for Brexit? The same as everyone else's case: democracy and self-determination."
Labour Should Wake Up To EU Reality
https://twitter.com/labourleave/status/1112680609489526784
"Labour should wake up to EU reality. Trample democracy at your peril..."
Tony Benn And The Left Wing Case For Brexit (and vid)
https://semipartisansam.com/2016/03/03/tony-benn-and-the-left-wing-case-...
"What is the left-wing case for Brexit? The same as everyone else's case: democracy and self-determination."
Labour should elect Farage as their new leader!!!!!!!!!!!
Labour Should Wake Up To EU Reality
https://twitter.com/labourleave/status/1112680609489526784
"Labour should wake up to EU reality. Trample democracy at your peril..."
Tony Benn And The Left Wing Case For Brexit (and vid)
https://semipartisansam.com/2016/03/03/tony-benn-and-the-left-wing-case-...
"What is the left-wing case for Brexit? The same as everyone else's case: democracy and self-determination."
Labour should elect Farage as their new leader!!!!!!!!!!!
It's not as though the only possibilities of Remain or UKIP. And those who support Remain-I still lean to it a bit on anti-xenophobia and immigrant solidarity issues, even though the EU is reactionary, anti-worker, and anti-egalitarian on economic issuds-have an obligation, an obligation I haven't seen anyone meet in this thread, to present a coherent strategy for removing the austerity and privatization requirements from the organization.
There is merit in some of what both sides on this have said in UK politics. But the issue is not MORE important than uniting the Labour Party behind Jeremy Corbyn and getting the Tories out of office. It's not worth splitting the anti-Labour vote and giving Theresa May or whoever might replace her as Tory leader a false majority in an FPTP election, and there is nothing about Jeremy that justifies splitting the anti-Tory vote and causing such a false majority just to get the man out of the leadership.
We all know it's not his fault that Leave won the referendum-that there was no possible way Remain could have prevailed in it, given the abysmal campaign the Remain side ran, that there was nothing Jeremy could have said or done to have singlehandedly changed the outcome.
We all know he's done nothing to deserve the now four-year long sabotage campaign carried out against him by the Tory press, the BBC, and the Labour Right-and it's only the party's far right, there simply aren't any significant number of people in the party who self-identify as socialists or as left-wing in any way who want the Corbyn pushed out-and we know there's nobody, other than John McConnell-who the Labour Right would never accept as leader-who could ever unite the party if Jeremy was deposed and who could ever gain personal popularity of any sort with the electorate, and especially with the young.
We all KNOW that it's a despicable lie to imply that Jeremy has not been a passionate lifelong opponent of antisemitism in all of its forms; that antisemtism is a trivial problem at best within Labour; that antisemitism, while forever indefensible, is the least prevalent form of bigotry within the UK; that criticism of the Israeli government never needs to be restricted-with, I'd say, the sole exception of anathemizing the use of the word "Zionazi" as part of that criticism or in any other context;
We ALL know that Jeremy never, in any way, ever supported terrorism or appeased terrorists and never in any way belittled the suffering of any of the victims of terrorism.
And we all know that, whether you agree with all of his views or not, Jeremy is, without question, the most fundamentally decent person in British politics.
We know it is all a lie.
