So I guess David Cameron will win the next election as well

[bilby]

I know it's Daily Mail, but it's interesting if it bears out:
Jeremy Corbyn 'loses fifth of Labour voters' with critics already plotting to oust him
Also, an army general is threatening a mutiny if he is PM:
British Army 'could stage mutiny under Corbyn', says senior serving general

I am not even going to bother responding to any crap served up by the Daily Fail.

As to the other article: So an anonymous but allegedly senior serving general has reportedly made a statement saying that he is brave enough to completely reject democracy, while showing his bravery by remaining anonymous? Ohh, that's both plausible and easy to confirm.

Of course, if you were a newspaper reporter or editor who wanted to discredit the leader of the opposition, it would never occur to you to put out unattributed and unsubstantiable rumours. No way.

The press have got it in for Corbyn. This is neither news, nor surprising.

Meanwhile, "A YouGov poll in 2013 showed 66 per cent of people support public ownership of railways, including 52 per cent of Tory voters."

If Corbyn was as unpopular as the press are making him out to be, the press would not need to put so much effort into painting him as so unpopular. Not least because he would never have become the Leader of the Opposition.

There is a scene in the TV adaptation of Chris Mullin's 'A Very British Coup', where a left-wing Labour PM (Harry Perkins, a steelworker from Sheffield) is boarding a train to London:

Reporter:
Is it true you are going to abolish first class on trains?

Harry:
No, I am going to abolish second class. I believe all people are first class.

The whole Corbyn business is powerfully reminiscent, so far, of the opening scenes from that story.

A quick google for that scene turns up this review: http://spacehardware.blogspot.com.au/2004/03/if-this-does-not-reflect-you-view-you.html; written more than a decade ago, about a story that was twenty years old at the time, it still strikes a chord today IMO.

 

[ksen]

So it's fair to say that Labour is made up of at least 20% LINOs (Labour in Name Only)?

 

[Derec]

I am not even going to bother responding to any crap served up by the Daily Fail.

My bad! I changed the article, but forgot to delete apologies for using Daily Mail. Both articles are from Independent actually.

As to the other article: So an anonymous but allegedly senior serving general has reportedly made a statement saying that he is brave enough to completely reject democracy, while showing his bravery by remaining anonymous? Ohh, that's both plausible and easy to confirm.

No question, the general should be sacked if identified. But it shows how polarizing a figure Corbyn is. Especially with FPTP it doesn't matter if you get bigger majorities in safe Labour districts if you lose - or at least fail to win - competitive constituencies.

Of course, if you were a newspaper reporter or editor who wanted to discredit the leader of the opposition, it would never occur to you to put out unattributed and unsubstantiable rumours. No way.

Speaking of unsubstantiated rumors.
Conservative sources deny David Cameron pig’s head allegations

The press have got it in for Corbyn. This is neither news, nor surprising.

Apparently also for Cameron ..

Meanwhile, "A YouGov poll in 2013 showed 66 per cent of people support public ownership of railways, including 52 per cent of Tory voters."

Reporter:
Is it true you are going to abolish first class on trains?
Harry:
No, I am going to abolish second class. I believe all people are first class.

So is he going to charge first class prices for all passengers? There is a legitimate reason to allow people to choose between increased comfort and saving money. But I guess first thing that goes away under socialism is consumer choice.

 

[Canard DuJour]

So I guess David Cameron will win the next election as well

Labour probably won't win a general election under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. But that doesn't matter since we'd otherwise have been getting a Conservative government, whichever party won. A true victory for the left is anything which halts the perpetual drift to the right. And for democracy. Both big parties are by now to the right of their voters, with a huge swathe of left-wing opinion effectively disenfranchised. Even many Conservatives want to see rail and utilities renationalised and gov't more actively reducing inequality. Corbyn's leadership victory has been nothing short of a grass-roots democratic revolution (about which I'll admit to being gobsmacked).

btw, spot on analysis in post #2 for anyone misled by US media about UK politics.

 

[Derec]

More problems for Comrade Jeremy.
Jeremy Corbyn leadership crisis deepens as Francois Hollande urges Labour MPs to back air strikes against Isil in Syria

 

[bilby]

More problems for Comrade Jeremy.
Jeremy Corbyn leadership crisis deepens as Francois Hollande urges Labour MPs to back air strikes against Isil in Syria

If the Labour Party changed leader every time the Torygraph reported that they had a "leadership crisis", they would have had about a thousand new leaders since 1945.

Seriously, this is the kind of thing you should expect to see in the Torygraph; it is indicative of business as usual.

And the British voters are mostly against air strikes - so why should Corbyn put their opinions below that of the French?

These people are the people Corbyn cares about. Francois Hollande doesn't influence the Labour leadership; but many of these protestors do.

 

[Bar-Jesus]

UK's Labour Party elected a left wing radical as their leader.
.

Labour have certainly gone down the pan, but Corbyn's no real radical, more of a liberal if anything

 

[Canard DuJour]

Oldham by-election: Jeremy Corbyn passes first electoral test
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35005130

Oldham by-election: 'Nobody anticipated a victory on this scale'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35003373

This was a surprise result for Labour, but an unexpectedly good one.

Not only was it almost 11,000 votes ahead of UKIP, the party also increased its vote share.

Only a fortnight ago some were predicting a shock defeat

(...)

UKIP tried to turn this into a referendum on Jeremy Corbyn, even branding him a "security risk".

Clearly it failed and suggests he's not as politically toxic as his opponents wish.

 

[Bar-Jesus]

most of the people in Oldham are muslims, hence the Lab win! not rocket science

 

[Derec]

Jeremy Corbyn wakes in 1975 after terrible nightmare

 

[Canard DuJour]

most of the people in Oldham are muslims [etc]

Nah. Nothing like.

Jeremy Corbyn wakes in 1975 after terrible nightmare

Now that could have been funny but isn't.

 

[bilby]

Nah. Nothing like.

According to the 2011 census, 17.7% of the population of Oldham are Muslims; compared to 59.7% Christian; 16.6% No religion; 5.6% Did not respond; and no other answers over 1%.

So most of the people in Oldham are Christians.

Just 9.8% of people in Oldham were born outside the EU; 88.2% were born in the UK.

 

[Derec]

No. Cameron is on record as saying he doesn't want to be PM after 2020.

Or past 2016 as it turned out.
But Comrade Jeremy is on the outs too, it appears.
Angela Eagle to launch Labour leadership bid against Jeremy Corbyn as he ignores calls from David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Tom Watson to stand down

Corbyn being unelectable so that makes Boris the next PM unless Cameron does a Blair.

Boris the Brexiter. You may be right. Then again, if a Remainer Tory becomes next PM Bexit may yet be averted (it's not a legally binding referendum and the next PM does not have to feel obligated to Cameron's promise).

 

[bilby]

Or past 2016 as it turned out.
But Comrade Jeremy is on the outs too, it appears.
Angela Eagle to launch Labour leadership bid against Jeremy Corbyn as he ignores calls from David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Tom Watson to stand down

Corbyn being unelectable so that makes Boris the next PM unless Cameron does a Blair.

Boris the Brexiter. You may be right. Then again, if a Remainer Tory becomes next PM Bexit may yet be averted (it's not a legally binding referendum and the next PM does not have to feel obligated to Cameron's promise).

Angie the Eagle has more chance of winning gold at the winter Olympic ski-jump event than she has of getting the support of the rank-and-file Labour members. If her backers can't persuade Corbyn to quit before the vote, then he will win.

 

[Derec]

Angie the Eagle has more chance of winning gold at the winter Olympic ski-jump event than she has of getting the support of the rank-and-file Labour members. If her backers can't persuade Corbyn to quit before the vote, then he will win.

Of course there could be other challengers if Angie is not up to the task. The Labour PMs already passed a no-confidence motion against him by a huge margin (172-40).

 

[bilby]

Angie the Eagle has more chance of winning gold at the winter Olympic ski-jump event than she has of getting the support of the rank-and-file Labour members. If her backers can't persuade Corbyn to quit before the vote, then he will win.

Of course there could be other challengers if Angie is not up to the task. The Labour PMs already passed a no-confidence motion against him by a huge margin (172-40).

The PLP is massively out of touch with the grassroots party membership. I suspect that there are 172 Labour MPs who are more at risk from the grassroots party members than Corbyn is.

 

[ksen]

they just don't get it

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[Tom Sawyer]

People do seem to be jumping shit from the British leadership race. It's going to be a nasty period where a lot of stuff gets fucked up and nobody with any sense wants to be the person getting blamed for it.

 

[Derec]

The PLP is massively out of touch with the grassroots party membership.

The problem with grassroots is that they can miss the big picture in pursuit of ideological purity.

I suspect that there are 172 Labour MPs who are more at risk from the grassroots party members than Corbyn is.

Who are they going to vote for? The Greens? Respect Party?

 

[bilby]