Liam Byrne trying to be funny in 2010 has literally cost the Labour party more votes over the last 13 years than any other single action by an MP.
This "joke" was the same joke left for time immemorial by outgoing administrations. It wasn't Byrne's fault that it was reported as a serious economic assessment by our corrupt press.
This “joke” was the same joke left for time immemorial by outgoing administrations. It wasn’t Byrne’s fault that it was reported as a serious economic assessment by our corrupt press.
Knowing what we know about the press and the Tory party to accentuate the idea of no money - maybe it was better to not do the 'joke'. In that sense it was his fault.
That 'joke' has been done in various forms before for sure - that's not a good excuse. And it's not as much of a recurring theme as you might thing in terms of times it has happened in that context.
Knowing what we know about the press and the Tory party to accentuate the idea of no money – maybe it was better to not do the ‘joke’. In that sense it was his fault
Seems to me that this falls squarely under the heading of "blaming the victim". If we can't say anything for fear of the Mail telling lies about it, there won't be much said.
Seems to me that this falls squarely under the heading of “blaming the victim”. If we can’t say anything for fear of the Mail telling lies about it, there won’t be much said.
Best just not to do the joke in that climate I would say - it's hardly the most constructive of comments/joke/point.
But let's be clear I'm not blaming him for Tory policy specifically. That's not what this is about. It's more what it does in the minds of the voters.
