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At the end of the next five years people will be ready for some form of socialism
I don't know if you've noticed this, but, if it looks red, or has the word socialist on it, it won't be voted for. If it looks a bit more moderate, it might be.
Believing that five years of Boris will get you socialism is just pie eye moon dreams.
Indeed
Yet there seems to be a totally delusional and arrogant attitude within the labour party that they are right about everything, and therefore at some point a majority of the population will realise this. So they don't need to change anything, just carry on being right (and righteous) and they'll get there chance next time around when the electorate become more enlightened and realise whats good for them
The main advocate of this seems to be Rebecca '10 out of 10' Long-Bailey which would mean she would be an absolute disaster as leader and lead the party even further out into the unelectable political wilderness.
The candidate who does genuinelly seem to get the true magnitude of the problem, and just how detached the London-centric, pie-in-the-sky party has become from their (former) 'heartlands' is Lisa Nandy.
I don't think she has what it takes to be th leader to challenge the Tories but she certainly seems to be the one who's most grrounded in reality and she should be listened too
People are not going to vote for full-blooded socialism so perhaps get labour back sufficiently centre-ground to be able to stop this happening.
Totally agree. But labour have never offered full blooded socialism (and neither should they because it's an outdated bankrupt ideology), instead they've offered common sense regulated free market capitalism. If that's too 'left' for people then we're screwed, because even if labour had won, their policies were only a step in the right direction to solving problems like climate change, resource depletion and inequality. If we're to avoid disaster, then policies which are much more radical and ambitious than labour's are required. Watering down the existing policies may get them into power, but it wont prevent the disaster you want to avoid.
Socialism has many forms, but as I've learned in the last few months the two we're most familiar with the UK are Social Democrats (Blair, Brown, Starmer) and Democratic Socialists (Kinnock, Corbyn, Long-Bailey) I had to check 3 times I hadn't typed the same thing twice, one faction is 'New Labour' one is 'Normal/Old Labour' depending on which is more palatable for you. There's loads of cross-over but each faction as been fighting the other within the Labour party for years, the Unions consist of a 3rd faction, but they're also rarely aligned with each other or either side of the party.
A lot of the press, and frankly a lot of Labour voters with a bit of an axe to grind would like to make you think that only the DSs are Socalists, they're the only ones on the left and all the others are Red Tories, in fact they hate the SDs more than the Tories.
RLB now has the required number of backers; last count I saw had her on 26 but, of those, 15 were newly-minted in December.
That suggests she doesn't (yet) have much support from established MPs - let's hope that doesn't change.
I'm hoping that another of the big unions comes out in support of Starmer.
Yet there seems to be a totally delusional and arrogant attitude within the labour party that they are right about everything, and therefore at some point a majority of the population will realise this.
I believe they are more right than most of the other parties, if right is a fairer and more equal society that actually cares about all the people in the society.
The population are clearly never going to realise or agree with it and a sensible person would realise that and either change the approach (to get into power) and bring it in slowly by stealth once in power
Yet there seems to be a totally delusional and arrogant attitude within the labour party that they are right about everything, and therefore at some point a majority of the population will realise this. So they don’t need to change anything, just carry on being right (and righteous) and they’ll get there chance next time around when the electorate become more enlightened and realise whats good for them
FWIW I don't disagree with that, with 10/10 comments it's rather obvious however it's not just the existing power structure that needs to change. Maybe if people started engaging with folk from the position of reasonable adults we could start making progress. A sensible dialogue rather than mud slinging as it should be pretty obvious by now there are no winners.
To that end I have edited out my original comment.
Shame Lewis is out. Of those running, only he and Nandy have put forward honest assessments as regards what needs to change in the party (beyond the face at the top).
Why couldn't RLB just come up with some back to the 70s stuff, then it would be easy to vote against her. If I've understood her correctly, and she's sincere, then this is a far cry from the old fashioned top-down paternalism of McCuskey and co. Going to be a tricky vote...
Five years of Boris Johnson...
… and Brexit on the way. With a new Conservative government taking office, the Guardian’s independent, measured, authoritative reporting has never been so vital.
I wonder who will replace Corbyn at the top of their clickbait league?
Have you seen what Nandy said about scotland? Totally unfit for office. Philips is a tory in the wrong party. Long Bailey is a proven liar and a dimwit. Cooper is corrupt as hell
Starmer is the only credible candidate and if they elect anyone else its the end of the party.
I'd love to see a woman leader but none of the candidates are fit to be that person.
Watching QT, shami chakrabarti is demonstrating the same level of understanding of why labour lost the election as I have about quantum physics
Utterly Clueless
Yep watching, she looks out of her depth and oblivious to the will of the people.
Starmer is the only credible candidate and if they elect anyone else its the end of the party.
I'm still voting for Starmer, on the proviso that he keeps the green new deal and his commitment toward radical reformist economic policies. Any hint of him compromising on those It'll be a toss-up between RLB and Nandy. RLB has the policies, but she's not the right person to front them. Why the hell isn't Rayner standing? It would be a complete shoe-in if she was.
Dazh, re Rayner - gives the impression of behind closed doors discussions/agreement; could suggest Rayner has been stitched up.
Having said that, Starmer is the only credible candidate.
Nandy has destroyed he credibility with the comments about Scotland and catalonia. she really wants paramilitary police to attack peaceful demos? to see the entire SNP leadership locked up?
Long Bailey lied about her work pre politics. Unfit to be leader. Plus she is a dimwit with no political nous
The only candidate who could do the job as a serious and professional politician is Starmer. That would have been great 20 years ago but that aspect doesn't matter anymore when it comes to voting.
TJ, I agree completely that Lisa Nandy's comments about Scotland are wrong and spectacularly so, but it really makes me chuckle that you feel so strongly that what people say makes them fit/unfit for office.
FFS we have Donald Trump as the President of the USA and Boris Johnson as the the UK PM!
If you can get enough people to side with you, you can say anything. If we don't stop playing fair and being ideologically sound we'll be knackered.
My point is that Corbyn is a good guy - but far too easy to attack on spurious grounds ( made much easier by the right of the labour party attacking him). Long Bailey is the same - might well be a decent person but he known lies and stupid utterances make her too easy to attack.
Nandy would mean total wipeout in Scotland. Long Bailey is also a dimwit with no political nous - making stupid statements that cannot be taken seriously
Any labour leader must be cleaner than clean to defuse the attackdogs of the tory press and the stupid right of the labour party who would rather be in opposition that support a left winger
Thus of the current candidates Starmer is the only possibility
Why couldn’t RLB just come up with some back to the 70s stuff, then it would be easy to vote against her. If I’ve understood her correctly, and she’s sincere, then this is a far cry from the old fashioned top-down paternalism of McCuskey and co. Going to be a tricky vote…
> https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jan/16/labour-must-stir-up-democratic-revolution-to-win-power-says-long-bailey
Sounds about right, so there we have it.
Starmer is one of those 'annoying' types who shows leadership and it popular with a broad spectrum of people, but hey - let's all go for a Leader who needs a Democratic Revolution! That's worked so well up to now.
and the stupid right of the labour party who would rather be in opposition
We’re through the looking glass here folks.
let’s all go for a Leader who needs a Democratic Revolution!
I presume you missed my post about who I'm voting for? Seriously though, RLB is right on the policy in that the Green New Deal and greater democratic devolution should be the priorities. Nandy is also right on the need to listen to and empower the regional working classes. Starmer has the gravitas, competence and track record to implement it. If he can take those 3 elements and weave them together they could do very well.
DD
What the right of the party did to corbyn was so self defeating and gave such easy ammo to the attack dogs of the right that either they would rather be in opposition that be socialist or they are just totally dim.
she really wants paramilitary police to attack peaceful demos? to see the entire SNP leadership locked up?
Leaping up the ladder of inference.
What the right of the party did to corbyn was so self defeating
In more ways than one. Not only did they ensure a labour defeat, but they also marginalised themselves within the party so that they won't regain control. The membership won't forgive or forget, which is why there is no real rightwing candidate in the leadership election. In this respect Corbyn did his job, and for a very high personal cost as it can't be easy for him having his reputation trashed.
In this respect Corbyn did his job
People who are happy with this “job” being done:
1) Communists who have joined Labour since 2016
2) Boris Johnson
Communists who have joined Labour since 2016
And who might they be? Even just using the term 'communist' is pretty daft, as there are very few people who would identify themselves like that these days. This obsession with 100 year old labels is stupid. Those on the left who have joined the party since 2016 are not communists, probably not even socialists in the classic definition. I'm not even sure there really is a label for them. I certainly don't describe myself as a socialist.
Not only did they ensure a labour defeat,
The delusion continues...
And who might they be? Even just using the term ‘communist’ is pretty daft, as there are very few people who would identify themselves like that these days.
Left the Communist Party after 40 years to join Jezza's team in 2016:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(trade_unionist)
Murray served on the Communist Party of Britain's executive committee from 2000 to 2004, and was an advocate of the party supporting the Respect Coalition in the European and municipal elections that year. He served once more on the party's executive from 2008 until 2011.
After forty years in the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and then the Communist Party of Britain, he joined the Labour Party towards the end of 2016.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(trade_unionist)
/a>
One person out of half a million. Any more?
I've got my membership through today comrades.
I feel a real sense of belonging, knowing that I'm now a part of the largest poitical movement in Europe. I look forward to welcoming all the Tory's who are all about to pay to become registered supporters so that they can vote for Rebecca Long Bailey
If they choose RLB I will be glad I cancelled my membership a year ago so didn't waste any more money on it. Saying that, I now support the Green party which could be said is an even bigger waste of money based on their chances of ever having more than 1 MP.
Any more?
I was actually thinking about Ash Sarker, having heard far too much from her in the last few months. Her “proud to call myself a communist” line she trots out while singing the success of the Corbyn project makes for cringe TV of the highest order.
And who might they be? Even just using the term ‘communist’ is pretty daft, as there are very few people who would identify themselves like that these days.
Left the Communist Party after 40 years to join Jezza’s team in 2016:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(trade_unionist)
Murray served on the Communist Party of Britain’s executive committee from 2000 to 2004, and was an advocate of the party supporting the Respect Coalition in the European and municipal elections that year. He served once more on the party’s executive from 2008 until 2011.
After forty years in the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and then the Communist Party of Britain, he joined the Labour Party towards the end of 2016.
One person out of half a million. Any more?
Don't ask questions if you can't handle the answer!
I’m not staying Sarkar should be quiet by the way… she has useful points to make… just an example of someone who is “literally a communist” who is happy about the “job” Corbyn has done for Labour, and has joined the party because of how it has been changed by him and his team.
One person out of half a million.
I never said there were lots of these people, only that they, and Johnson, are happy that Corbyn “did his job”, when many many other people are not.
Any labour leader must be cleaner than clean to defuse the attackdogs of the tory press and the stupid right of the labour party who would rather be in opposition that support a left winger
Wow.
The country has headed right. You can keep your ideology and stay left (or go further left) and never get elected, or you can tweak you stance and head towards the right a touch and maybe, jsut maybe get back in the mix. The right of the party are not to blame for not getting more of the populous to vote for them.
Labour need to get over this idea that when they lose it's because they weren't left wing enough, it'll send them into oblivion.
Its always been the same. People like Corbyn and co are so utterly convinced of their own righteousness, and so willfully blind to any other opinion, that they believe that all they have to do is keep telling everyone that they're right and everyone will eventually see the light and vote for a socialist utopia.
Listen to people like Charkribati on QT last night and you can see that they've learnt nothing and fully intend to carry on with this 'strategy'. Apparently, they 'won the argument'. Talk about delusional!
They simply refuse to engage with the world as it actually is, and continue to pursue the world as they'd like it to be.
With predictable results.
Whoever is next leader needs to firmly re-engage with reality
tory press
Speaking of which.
The Press of any kind is on it's arse and there's no going back. It's readership is dying and not being replaced.
The 3 biggest papers in the UK
The Metro, they literally give the thing away, yeah it's owned by the same people as The Mail, but it tends to be pretty centric. 1.4m readers
The Sun, enjoyed by people who like Bingo, Softcore Porn and 'common sense'. 1.2m people a day look at the pictures and read the headlines whilst their lips are moving. It's a lot of people, but they're at 10% of where they were a decade ago. They claim a huge online following, but it's a drop in the ocean compared to BBC News and the Guardian batter them too. The 'suffer' a lot because a lot of work web filters block them due to their Page 3 and gambling content.
The Mail, enjoyed by net curtain twitchers afraid of their own shadow, 1.1m of them, their online presence is huge, but it's a completely different audience looking for pictures of good looking actors and pop singers looking ugly, or who Kerry Katona is 'dating' this week, but even their online readership is battered by BBC.
Whoever leads Labour shouldn't worry the papers hate them, they're a spent force, I don't know what the readership cut-off is before a paper is no longer profitable to run, but they're on borrowed time. They're at a million or so now, they'll be half that in 5 years.
The 3 biggest papers in the UK
They are merely "information booklets" for their owners ideologies, I do believe they are making losses on them.
Having said that, how much influence do they have on voters in key constituencies in our glorious FPTP voting system?
Also, how many of the "journalists" from these rags are appearing on other media? And how many are now employed by the BBC?
Having said that, how much influence do they have on voters in key constituencies in our glorious FPTP voting system?
How many Tory Merseyside MPs are there? How well does the Sun sell there?
Don't forget the press might be dying in paper form but is still exists as an online influence.
They simply refuse to engage with the world as it actually is, and continue to pursue the world as they’d like it to be
And if the world is shit and you want it to be better than it is?
If you don't fight for better you don't change the status quo. The status quo has had its oats. The public are living on borrowed time.
18 years of Tory fatigue is what it took last time. It will happen again.
Neolibralism is a very tricky model to crack as there's just enough me and no "we" involved.
It will crack itself.
Of all the Labour leadership candidates any of those female candidates will do.
It will crack itself.
More disaster socialism. Instead of waiting for the shit to hit the fan, and hoping that the public turn to you for help then (history suggests worse than 50:50 odds that they will, they are more likely to go hard right and looking for scapegoats), get into government and start improving things, ASAP. Increasing frustrated with people living comfortable lives who are happy for a pure yet impotent opposition to leave others at the mercy of the current born to rule narcissist bastards as they enjoy their rule for another decade or more, before trotting off to enjoy an overpaid overlong writing and speaking career.
It will crack itself
I seem to recall militant confidently assuring us of this in 1983.
How’s that working out for you, comrade?
