Current Affairs The Labour Party

[Bruce Wayne]

Those four MPs you mentioned all abstained on a callous welfare bill the Tories put forward in 2015. Maybe if they´d done their job of wiping the floor with that government we wouldn´t have Corbyn in charge now. But no, they were more than happy to wave through cuts to vital public services which smashed the most vulnerable. The only difference was that their cuts would be a bit less than what the Tories were proposing.

I think you´d also find it´s not Corbyn shying away from an election, it´s the likes of Cooper who don´t want one.

Just as a reminder, the St Jezza manifesto promised to balance the books and remove the deficit within this parliament. Is he smashing the poor or accepting a degree of fiscal reality?

 

[dannyboy]

Just as a reminder, the St Jezza manifesto promised to balance the books and remove the deficit within this parliament. Is he smashing the poor or accepting a degree of fiscal reality?

Smashing Amazon instead of child tax credits. It just makes me laugh when people call out Corbyn for being a loser then put forward the likes of Benn and Cooper as realistic alternatives. The leadership challenge in 2017 showed how lost that section of the Labour Party is. No ideas.

 

[nsno-chris]

Momentum and democracy don’t go well together. They should endorse the slogan “we’ll tell you what’s best for you”

It is sadly on the verge of becoming the very thing that it was set up to counteract, they give no resources whatsoever or help to its branches, it goes over its branches' heads to endorse rival candidates that the branches themselves are backing, it makes constitutional changes without any consultation of its members, it endorses candidates without any local consultation.

 

[dwightschrute]

Momentum and democracy don’t go well together. They should endorse the slogan “we’ll tell you what’s best for you”

This has happened under every Labour leader, ever

A certain Lucinda Berger was parachuted into Liverpool against the wishes of the local party, lived in London went to Birmingham uni, never stepped foot in Liverpool before

Love how its big news now the shoe is on the other foot

 

[tsubaki]

Momentum and democracy don’t go well together. They should endorse the slogan “we’ll tell you what’s best for you”

Not really. Everyone in the Labour Party is free to endorse whoever they like, and national or local branches of Momentum can and do endorse different people. This notion that there is a monolithic Momentum bloc isn’t usually a thing unless (as with the NEC) to all vote one way is required take control of something and to therefore open it up to a democratic process.

Take me for example; I’d put myself on the left of the party, backed Corbyn then and now, and yet on Sunday I’ll be voting for someone from Progress to become our next prospective parliamentary candidate.

I am doing this because I think she is the best candidate, and because the changes that have taken place since 2015 have given us a real choice rather than having someone parachuted in.

 

[arminisgod]

just a little hint to how a GE will go.... Tories have just won Abbey North (Daventry) for the 1st time in a century... with a 13.9% gain

 

[hirons11]

just a little hint to how a GE will go.... Tories have just won Abbey North (Daventry) for the 1st time in a century... with a 13.9% gain

Was this in a raffle or have I missed a by election or something?

 

[zzr45]

Was this in a raffle or have I missed a by election or something?

It was a councillor elected to post. 13% gain on a massive 300ish votes.

The former Labour councillor was forced to resign - because he is moving to Wales. Shocking.

 

[hirons11]

It was a councillor elected to post. 13% gain on a massive 300ish votes.

The former Labour councillor was forced to resign - because he is moving to Wales. Shocking.

Hope the bookies have spotted this earth shaking political swing then. Or if they haven't I'll see if I can game the system before they do. Ta for the heads up.

 

[Number_25]

Just as a reminder, the St Jezza manifesto promised to balance the books and remove the deficit within this parliament. Is he smashing the poor or accepting a degree of fiscal reality?

Fiscal reality?

New study finds 4.5 million UK children living in poverty: https://www.theguardian.com/society...inds-45-million-uk-children-living-in-poverty

Child poverty above 50% in 10 UK constituencies: https://www.theguardian.com/society...rty-above-50-per-cent-in-10-uk-constituencies

UK elderly suffer worst poverty rate in western Europe: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/aug/18/elderly-poverty-risen-fivefold-since-80s-pensions

Renting? You’re lucky to have £23 left after paying the bills: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/jun/09/renting-bills-tenants

Child mental health: UK provision 'worse than in much of eastern Europe': https://www.theguardian.com/society...lth-provision-young-people-uk-behind-eu-study

NHS bosses warn of mental health crisis with long waits for treatment: https://www.theguardian.com/society...l-health-crisis-with-long-waits-for-treatment

 

[zzr45]

Hope the bookies have spotted this earth shaking political swing then. Or if they haven't I'll see if I can game the system before they do. Ta for the heads up.

No worries! I mean it’s quite outstanding because the ‘swing’ was actually a loss of about 80 votes and it still returned a win. Almost like local elections are based on personalities more than anything..

 

[Number_25]

I've managed to stay away from this thread for a little while, but from afar it's quite sad to see how angry people are with everything.

We have cast-iron remainers foaming at the mouth that Labour won't outright revoke Article 50.

We have cast-iron leavers foaming at the mouth that Labour won't facilitate a (lets be honest about it) hard Brexit.

We no longer have a functioning government. People, very real people, are suffering out there - and all of this just seems distant to them.

Regardless of what 'side' you're on, we should all hope to further extend political enfranchisement.

The only way we can do that is by showing that democracy works.

And right now, it's hard to tell people it does.

 

[nsno-chris]

Not really. Everyone in the Labour Party is free to endorse whoever they like, and national or local branches of Momentum can and do endorse different people. This notion that there is a monolithic Momentum bloc isn’t usually a thing unless (as with the NEC) to all vote one way is required take control of something and to therefore open it up to a democratic process.

Take me for example; I’d put myself on the left of the party, backed Corbyn then and now, and yet on Sunday I’ll be voting for someone from Progress to become our next prospective parliamentary candidate.

I am doing this because I think she is the best candidate, and because the changes that have taken place since 2015 have given us a real choice rather than having someone parachuted in.

that maybe true but I’m just quoting what 3 momentum activists said. I’m just the messenger

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Beware of simple ideas that become serious pains

“An act of economic vandalism,” said the trade union Unite. What did they have in mind? There are all too many candidates. Apparently the vandalism was a failure to prop up a package holiday compan…

timharford.com

“An act of economic vandalism,” said the trade union Unite. What did they have in mind? There are all too many candidates. Apparently the vandalism was a failure to prop up a package holiday company, which suggests the bored kids in my neighbourhood are missing a trick.

The collapse of the UK tour operator Thomas Cook is a big blow: 150,000 British residents have been stranded overseas, others have seen long-anticipated holidays evaporate and many thousands of jobs are at risk. The prospect of well-paid executives strolling off into the sunset adds to the stink.

Something must be done! But what? Unison has called for the government to “stand behind” Thomas Cook, which doesn’t sound like a big ask — until you realise that even the temporary survival of the tour operator would cost £100m or more. I often stand behind things — yellow lines, pot plants, the kitchen sink. I hadn’t realised it could be such an expensive business.

Whenever something goes awry — and Thomas Cook is not the only thing going awry in the world — it is tempting to believe that government should roll up one sleeve and plunge its arm in up to the elbow. That is not inevitably a bad idea, but one must always reflect on whether the effort will do more to harm than to help.

The Labour party has no patience for such reflection. For example, rightly worried that houses are too expensive, they propose that anyone who rents a property would gain the right to buy it at a price set by the government. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, described this idea to the FT, adding: “I don’t think it’s complicated.”

He should think harder. Who would be a landlord, if the act of letting out a house incurred the obligation to sell it? The entire private rental market would collapse. Some landlords would reject tenants to sell at a price of their own choosing; others would grit their teeth and keep the house empty. Just because the idea would hurt landlords does not mean it would help tenants.

The grand plans don’t stop there. A fringe meeting of the Labour party conference — attended by Mr McDonnell — was even joking about nationalising Greggs, supplier of Cornish pasties and steak bakes to a hungry public. This hilarity aside, there is a slippery slope in action here: the more a government feels it needs to take action when anything in a complex modern economy goes wrong, the closer we are to appointing a Minister for Sausage Rolls.

The left is particularly susceptible to this sort of foolishness, but the right is not immune. One Twitter troll complained to me that an interview with equal pay campaigner Carrie Gracie was “fake news” because unequal pay was illegal — so of course it could not exist. I’m sure Mr McDonnell would find that view as absurd as I do — and yet he and the troll do seem to share a touching faith that when you change the law, problems simply vanish.

Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump has found his government buying dairy products to shield farmers from his own trade war. We’ve been here before, and the story ended with the US administration renting vast underground caves and filling them with government cheese. A simple idea turns into a serious headache.

Then there is “take back control”, the Brexit slogan that sounds good until you think about it. Who exactly is going to get this much-vaunted control, and how do they propose to use it? British citizens already had control over some valuable things — notably the right to travel to, work in or trade with any part the EU. Exactly what sort of “control” will replace those freedoms remains unclear. Instead, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces “let’s get Brexit done”, as though he were planning to mow the lawn.

It is, of course, possible for governments to develop well-designed interventions. But a £2tn economy with 67m unruly residents is not a toy. The actions of both those in power in the UK, and those who wish to be in power, show no understanding of this. Both sides want radical change but have no deep interest in what it is they would like to change.

The government’s response to the risks of a no-deal Brexit are a good example: after being warned of severe disruption, the minister in charge, Michael Gove, announced that preparations had been stepped up over the previous few weeks — as though protecting the UK’s fragile supply lines from being shredded by the government’s own recklessness was no more complex a task than writing an essay overnight before an Oxford tutorial.

The worst thing about foolish ideas is that draconian policies are needed to make them stick. Theresa May’s policy when home secretary of creating a “hostile environment” for immigrants sounded brutally simple, but turned into the national disgrace of the Windrush scandal. Those on the left who rightly deplore the policy should reflect on how many of the things on their economic wishlist will also require heavy-handed policing if they are to be delivered.

“I don’t think it’s complicated,” says Mr McDonnell. But it is. It really is.

 

[catcherintherye]

just a little hint to how a GE will go.... Tories have just won Abbey North (Daventry) for the 1st time in a century... with a 13.9% gain

I'n pretty sure they've just lost a seat to the Lib Dems with a 60% swing. I wouldn't read too much into council elections at this point, other than the majority of them show that the tories results are a long way off what the polls are predicting.