2019 UK election

josh wrote:

Andrew Neil?  You mean the guy Rupert Murdoch appointed to be the editor of the Sunday Times.  And who used to work for the Conservative party.

They've apologized time after time even though there was no need for them to do so.  But it's never enough because once you give into a smear, it just encourages the smear merchants to keep smearing.  But as I've said many times, if Corbyn became an unconditional supporter of Israel, the smears would disappear overnight.  Because this is about a Israel and the Palestinians, not anti-Semitism.

Precisely.  That's all this smear has ever been about, from the beginning.

Another Tory/Blairite smear disproved:  Corbyn was never soft on Iran:

"On 59 occasions, Jeremy Corbyn condemned Iran over the last 30 years for their treatment of Jewish people, women, the LGBT community, Trade Unionists and Kurds".

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR-tiGv2w89fnqY1_cPygN8VlP4u...

So much mendacity in such a short post by you Ken.

1. I am not campaigning for the Tories. I doubt there are any British voters who are influenced in the least by what you or I say on Babble. I suspect you will eventually attribute Corbyn’s defeat to me supposedly undermining him. Anything but to accept that Corbyn is in the least at fault.

2. It is not acceptable on a progressive blog to advocate for the reduction of votes for any progressive party??? You sound like Stalin denouncing deviationism. Who appointed you the Babble censor? Many on Babble, myself included, debated whether progressives shd vote NDP or Green. I guess by your lights we should all be banned because we all advocated for one party’s vote should be reduced to the benefit of the other.

3. Perhaps you can point to any post in which I have advocated anyone not voting Labour? There is a big difference between warning that Labour under Corbyn is on an electorally suicidal path and advocating not voting for the party. My hope is that Labour remains a challenger for power and is not crippled by Corbyn.

4.  I want the Tories to win??? If anyone wants the Tories to win it is the Corbynistas who have saddled Labour with such a ridiculous unelectable leader. My preferred outcome is a hung Parliament ( you must surely concede that a Labour majority is unlikely) in which the SNP , the LDs, the Plaid and the Greens support a Labour government on condition it is led by a PM who is fit to be PM.

5, 6, 7, ..... etc, etc, etc.

Manifesto Subject to EU Approval

https://twitter.com/tfbrexit/status/1199440371694145536

"The barriers to Labour's radical policies in EU law are so great that the party should have two different manifestos: one for if we leave the EU, one if we don't..."

But not a problem if these are only campaign promises designed to get them elected not to implement.

How The Left Could Save NATO

https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1199945579993927680

"Paul Mason on how 'the left' could be a better steward of the permanent war alliance."

Scratch a Remainer to reveal an imperialist.

Migrant voters can change the narrative

So it begins again: the party manifestos, the analysis, the campaigning, the tactics, the lobbying, fake news, real news, promises, policies… Pundits and pollsters are not going out of business yet.

Over the past few years, opportunities to practice democracy through voting have come thick and fast. And yet somehow many of us feel increasingly anxious, unheard, unrepresented, unequal and worried about our future and that of our children. Many people are cynical about elections, yet they have never seemed so important.

In the overwhelming uncertainty about what will happen on December 12, one thing is certain: this election – as every other election in living memory – will be about immigration.

It is essential that migrants who are eligible to vote are encouraged to register and to ensure their voices and the issues they care about are reflected in our national politics. Because at election time and across the political spectrum, we, the immigrants, quickly become everybody’s favourite villain.

quote:

Our communities also have legitimate concerns about what life is like in Britain for migrants, refugees, and people who identify as BAME (Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic). Our legitimate concerns are for the safety of our families in a context of rising hate crime, for our friends and family under threat of detention and deportation. We are legitimately concerned about the way public services have become hostile not helpful for so many, and the uncertainty that continues to hover over our fellow citizens from the EU. We have legitimate concern for people denied life-saving treatment because they have been expressly targeted by hostile environment policies. We see the inhumanity of the Windrush scandal. Our legitimate concern is for rights-based immigration reform based on the shared values of democracy and fairness.

These concerns and values are shared across our country. They echo broader demands in our society for a healthy democracy, functioning public services and a culture of solidarity, mutual support and inclusion. This election needs to be about what unites us, not what divides us. It needs to be about fighting for the interests of migrants and society at large.

Empowering voters

Despite their importance, elections can be alienating and disempowering for many members of migrant communities. The issues affecting us – our legitimate concerns – do not appear in the national conversation. We sense that our interests are not being represented by politicians or in the press. Absence of representation can translate into fear, frustration, anger and apathy. Some of our community members also struggle to participate due to language barriers and a lack of familiarity with the democratic process. Precarious immigration status may have distanced our members from civic activity and excluded them from participation.

For us at Migrants Organise, elections bring a number of challenges. Our aim is to facilitate meaningful integration and in 2014 we began working with our member communities to ensure that all those who can, register and vote. Since this year’s election was announced, more than 2 million new voters overall have registered, but there is still a long way to go. Recently released Electoral Commission statistics show that one in four Black and Asian people are not registered to vote. Many Commonwealth citizens, from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, are unaware that they are eligible to vote.

Labour To Change Election Strategy

https://twitter.com/pmpoc/status/1200003247882342400

"The idea that you could ever make the election 'about everything but Brexit', was nonsensical from the start - The continuity Remain campaign has quite likely cost us this election and killed off the 'Corbyn moment.' The risible idea that working class communities can be instrumentalised told what's best for them and won round to  the reactionary liberal position of Remain, is precisely what's wrong with the liberal left, and what will likely cost Labour this election."

They were.  They're visible now.

Continued here.