It’s uncharted in terms of Corbyn viewing the British security services and military as the villains in many recent conflicts both near and afar. I dont believe we have ever had a PM with such a worldview. That’s what I mean by uncharted waters. A long time ago now but Corbyn held a minutes silence for 8 IRA members killed by the British Army whilst the aforementioned 8 IRA members were trying to kill civilians. Only last week Corbyn condemned outright killings done by the British Army in NI, but refused to do explicitly condemn the IRA. All he could say was he condemned all killings. Taking such a mealy mouthed stance as he does will gain him many enemies in the security services(these security services will still have members who had friends, family and colleagues killed by the IRA). They may not be open enemies but they will be enemies nonetheless. It’s these people who will leak against him.
Im concentrating on NI as its the subject I know best. Im sure Mossad and the CIA will be leaking against him also. Corbyn’s made plenty of enemies in both those organisations too.
His constituency staff, or maybe he does it all himself, need to do a bit more research about the people he’s willing to lend his name and time to. A Larouche-related thing, say?
So good this morning to see more resistance to the anti-Corbyn hysteria:
New Labour and the Tories have tried to define the terms of the financial landscape - this reminds us it’s bullshit. It’s Osborn who is extreme in his determination to hide ideological reform behind bogus ‘necessity’.
25 years experience of living on and off again in the UK and observing UK politics from an outsiders perspective leads me to think you may as well vote for Corbyn. He’ll lose a couple of elections and be gone, same as every other potential leader.
We would all like to believe that our work and efforts are important, if not critical, but UK elections seem to be things that are lost, not won. The UK has set up a political system that normally leads to strong governments with a majority, but it tends to give slightly too strong a position. A UK government stays in power until the public perceives them as significantly less competent that the previous government, and that is not generally dependent on what the opposition does.
The opposition just needs to keep a profile and wait for the incompetence and isolation of the current government to rise, and the number of voters who remember their own last term in power well to fall.
Basically, the threshold for “throwing out the bastards” is too high. The UK would have been considerably better off if every government I can remember had had one term less in power.
Agreed, as I’ve stated in the OP, he is most likely a figure who will hopefully realign the priorities of the Labour party away from neo-liberalist thinking, towards a more social democratic and community platform. That being said, can we all agree on how terrible Andy Burnham is? He is devoid of charisma, and perpetually sounds like he’s reading from an auto cue.
I don’t think he’s “terrible”. He’s a career politician who hasn’t really had to campaign for anything in his life, even his constituency was pretty well handed to him.
Campaigning isn’t a strong suit for him. This is probably a good time to learn that
I know its become a well worn phrase but politics has just become a lot more interesting. Corbyn and his supporters are mad as hatters of course, but well done to Corbyn, his team and his supporters.
Tories seem either apoplectic or sincerely disbelieving. It is extraordinary.
As Corbyn has said, if the spectrum includes mainland Europe and not just the USA, he can be almost disappointingly moderate. I don’t think that’s quite true but politics is going to be so much fun with less bullshit spin.
Are there any early indications how this decision will be seen by the British electorate in general? What do the polls say? Is Mr. Corbyn really unelectable?
A number of polls have been taken that show Corbyn’s policies are surprisingly popular. A few caveats are need though; his popular policies(NHS, re-nationalisation of railways and energy etc) are partly counter-balanced by his unpopular ones(immigration and welfare). His popular policies will also eventually become less popular once they are costed by his opponents. People do not vote by opinion poll. They usually vote with their wallet in the voting booth. His chances of being PM are remote though not impossible. That is my view anyway of Corbyn’s chances of being elected PM. Im of the centre right, others may disagree with me.
a) Ed Milliband didn’t look like PM material;
b) Labour wasn’t trusted on the economy.
Faced with this challenge, they’ve chosen a tax and spend socialist who can’t command support of the parliamentary party and calls terrorists his friends.
In his first 48 hours in charge, he has cancelled all major media appearances, refused to answer questions from journalists and appointed as his shadow chancellor an ideological ally who once said we should honour the IRA dead. He is hemorrhaging support among senior MPs already and his failure to appoint women to senior cabinet posts despite assurances that he would be more diverse has cost him support among potential allies.
But he’s not a RedToryScum so it’s all going to be alright.
Haha, that Shadow Cabinet is an even greater gift to the Tories than Corbyn’s acceptance speech where he started ranting at the media. Diane Abbot being given any sort of responsibility, alone, is enough for the Tories to hammer Labour with. But Captain Democracy, the Great Reformer, having to resort to appointing a Lord to his cabinet, and stacking key positions with his closest allies, experience and knowledge bedamned? We’re looking at 20 years of Tory domination here.
Just a reminder: McDonnell was fired by “Red” Ken Livingstone from the GLC in the 1980s for being too left wing. He’s now the Shadow Chancellor! If his wacky economic views aren’t enough to make you think “what the fuck are they thinking”, just start reading about his views on the IRA:
That’s sure to go down well in the working class heartlands of Northern England. It’s not like the IRA repeatedly bombed the North of England, or anything, killing school children on the streets of Warrington and devastating Manchester City Centre.
