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Post by mudlark on Aug 13, 2015 21:34:24 GMT
I am interested in what people think, its fascinating to watch this unfold. Is he a throw back to the days of politicians who were idealists, had strong views and not afraid to voice them. He certainly stands for what he believes in. He has passion, he does not mind swimming against the tide. He has ignited the debate...
Is he, as some have said, a breath of fresh air - or a stale blast from the past?
V interested to hear views..
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Post by serrakunda on Aug 13, 2015 22:36:28 GMT
Fascinating to watch. Potentially disastrous for the Labour Party. Unless they can turn it into an opportunity to completely reassess what it's about, much as Blair/Campbell/mandelson did.
Unfortunately he is completely unelectable. Look what certain elements of the press got away with trashing the milibands.
Equally unfortunately I dont see a potential prime minister amongst the other candidates
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Post by elderberry on Aug 14, 2015 8:49:38 GMT
I don't know if he can be elected, but he makes it possible for Labour to ally with the SNP, which is a good start. I am really, really excited, and the only thing I find sad is that my parents aren't here to see it. I grew up in a staunch Labour household, my father was a county councillor and stood for parliament when I was 9, and I spent my childhood delivering leaflets and addressing envelopes. But when New Labour came along, my parents lost interest and transferred their public service to volunteering with the Samaritans. I remember taking them for their anniversary to an event featuring Tony Benn performing with the folk singer Roy Bailey, and I said to my mother I knew it wasn't quite what they were involved in nowadays but I hoped it would be okay. She responded: "It's not because we don't want to be involved." I am a Woodcraft Folk leader and Jeremy Corbyn is a big supporter of the organisation, so I've met him several times and my Facebook feed is very, very pro-Corbyn. I have to be a bit calmer about it because I'm a working journalist and I have to appear neutral even if I'm not. I think the result is that I'm really absolutely exploding with this, and I'm really glad to write it here where none of my normal contacts will see it. Maybe he will never be prime minister, but he will open a debate, he will show people what politics ought to be about, and he will change British politics forever. There's actually a tiny part of me that is glad that the Tories won the election, because this wouldn't have happened otherwise. Think I should shut up now, especially as I don't even have a vote since membership of a political party contravenes my company's ethics policy.
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Post by corkwing on Aug 14, 2015 11:56:53 GMT
To be honest, when political parties start talking about having policies, leaders, etc. that will attract voters or make them electable, it angers me. I want political parties to believe in something: to have real and consistent values. I want to know that they stand for something, whether I believe it or not, and then I will respect them.
So I don't care whether Jeremy Corbyn makes the Labour Party unelectable. If he's supporting the sort of policies that the Labour Party believes in, then they should make him the leader. Otherwise what's the point? Why get someone who will win you elections but then still not implement the policies that you believe in? That, to me, is just crazy: it's just getting power for power's sake.
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Post by pingu on Aug 14, 2015 16:10:11 GMT
I am with Corkwing on this one. Politicians should be standing on what they believe is right, not what their chances of getting elected , or making their party electtable, are
People in Scotland are voting SNP where they used to vote Labour, having given up on Labour because they felt it had given up on them. And they saw different priorities implemented within the Scottish Parliament so they knew it didnt have to be as unfair as what they were seeing decided in Westminster. Some people do want independance, but most voting SNP just want a more just sharing of what we have. And the switch to SNP happened despite establishment and media attempts to subvert it ( or perhaps because of them ! ) so said politicians should not think they are necessarily unelectable by standing up for principles or having different approaches to taxes and spending priorities.
Seems to me that people voted Conservative because either there was nobody offering any alternative, ( i heard a few English people wishing they had an SNP candidate they could vote for at the last general election!) or the parties all seemed the same so they decided they might as well have the real macoy, or they really are convinced that there is no alternative way that works.
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Post by mudlark on Aug 14, 2015 21:51:22 GMT
When I was growing up ( the 70's) the differences between the main parties were very clear, they all stood for something, held values and ideals which people felt strongly about. Obviously a leader of a party needs to be credible as a leader, someone who can be taken seriously and who people feel confident in and even inspired by!
I cant say I was ever inspired by Ed Milliband, David Cameron or Nick Clegg.
That so many people seem to be 'inspired' by Jeremy Corbyn including it seems many young people then it's telling the politicians something. They are inspired not because he is 'electable' but because he actually believes in something, believes in what he says, will stand by it and wont falter. That reminds me of someone else who inspired people who went on to be a great prime minister, I disagreed with nearly everything she ever stood for, but she never the less she had the guts to stand for what she believed in. It would be good to get the passion and the conviction back into politics, Mr Corbyn may have kick started a helpful debate.
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Post by pingu on Aug 15, 2015 8:03:27 GMT
Having an uninspiring leader hasnt stopped the present government gettig to power.........
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Post by mudlark on Aug 16, 2015 20:28:14 GMT
True, somehow having an uninspiring leader has made those in opposition lazy, at least Mrs T made them all sit up and pay attention!
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Post by mudlark on Sept 10, 2015 21:14:15 GMT
Lets watch this space...politics has been so boring for decades, I am looking forward to the very least at the revival of spitting image...I wonder of anyone else is old enough to have enjoyed that!
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Post by moo on Sept 12, 2015 10:47:54 GMT
He's Gone And Done It!?!.
Wow what a massive majority in the first found too
Coo watch this space
Onwards xx
Xx moo xx
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Post by mudlark on Sept 12, 2015 19:04:41 GMT
What a momentous day! Things will be interesting now. Cant wait for Prime ministers question time!
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Post by mudlark on Sept 14, 2015 21:16:17 GMT
Like it or not, we are in a moment here. A moment in British politics that will change things. We have had years of bland corporate suited politicians who have been career rather than conviction politicians. Why not have politician who mean what they say.... Bit of grit and determination and vision, shake it up a bit.
It may seem like a strong cup of tea. But rather that than a flat diet coke.
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Post by serrakunda on Sept 14, 2015 22:59:17 GMT
We are in deed in a moment. I think it will be very interesting to see what happens, I'm probably a bit more of an old leftie than some of my posts come across. I was very active at national level in my trade union at one point. I guess having had a history blighted by the effects of a certain Mrs T, for me it's been a case of better a watered down labour govt than the Tories.
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Post by corkwing on Sept 15, 2015 9:38:48 GMT
I think that if he makes a success of it, it will be a tremendous achievement, but I think he has a lot of hurdles:
The media are clearly not enamoured with him. Lots of negative coverage. Does he have the ability to turn them around? Or the force of personality to sway the voters despite the press?
The MPs in general don't seem to be behind him. There seems to be lots of potential for fighting amongst the MPs rather than against the government.
His history of being a free spirit makes it difficult for him to demand loyalty. As he has regularly ignored the whips and gone his own way, he can hardly demand that the other MPs toe the line. That makes it difficult to present a united front and gives his opponents more room to undermine him.
If he does lead a party which is given much more free reign to vote according to their beliefs, that's a lot of ammunition for the other parties. I can imagine them attacking along the lines that if he can't control his MPs, the voters have no idea whether the policies he's put forward will be implemented or not, and they'd probably argue that the implication is that he couldn't provide a strong and stable government.
He's saying that he's attracted a lot more members to the Labour Party and that he's going to stir up more people to vote. That may well be true but may not lead to more seats. I think that there's not been a vast amount between the parties recently, which has led to a bit of voter apathy. But in presenting quite different views, not only does he stir up those who agree with him but also those who don't. So his leadership may well increase the number of people voting, but will they vote for him or against him?
If he does well, there's a real chance that politics will change. If he crashes and burns then I think that it will reinforce the kind of pragmatist approach that we've had for so many years: put forward policies to win and choose someone boring and acceptable to lead. I think that would be sad. There's something delicious about the thought of him leading the Labour Party and Boris Johnson leading the Convservatives. That would DEFINITELY be a new era in politics!
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