This will at least be a harder sell for the press while the government is actually forced to take a more interventionist approach to running the country.
My local labour council are ecstatic. Think I need to wallow in sadness for a day or two and then knuckle down and offer support.
Hearing reports that antisemitism in Labour has vanished, huge if true!
7 Likes
It doesnāt matter. Nothing does. We keep expecting the facts to catch up with the Tories and they never do, not with the press we have. Most of the country was sold upon a complete nationalistic fantasy and Labour didnāt have an answer to it. Theyāll just come up with something similar next time. Why not? Brexit after Brexit, each more Brexity than the last.
1 Like
This has upset me more than RLB doing badly
2 Likes
5 Likes
Well they did catch up with them in 1997. The question about whether that will repeat is a punt in the dark and I think weāre all a bit entrenched with our views on that, so itās perhaps not worth retreading. Iām going to choose unwarranted optimism over unwarranted pessimism for now.
A couple of months back I was assuming this leader was going to be essentially a caretaker. Even the possibility that he might make a fist of actually running a successful campaign is a plus for me.
[realise taking these lines compels me to confirm I didnāt vote for him :D]
I understand why people are feeling quite low right now, and think that the Tories will just keep winning for ever. But there has ways been a right wing press everywhere in the world, and left wing parties still win elections.
I didnāt vote for Starmer, but he has a strong mandate, so now weāve got to get on with building a grass roots movement, follow through on the momentum (no pun intended) gained so far and raise class consciousness in the new northern Tory seats. The political landscape has changed forever since 2015 and that is an opportunity as well as a threat.
12 million people voted for Jeremy Corbynās Labour Party and the distraction of Brexit is now in the past. The current crisis is exposing the the fundamental flaws at the heart of capitalism and the fact that it is built to fail. It upsets me greatly that people have to die before people come to their senses, but I think they will.
Itās easy to feel hopeless in the face of all the horror around us, but there is always hope.
11 Likes
Soā¦ do we think Starmer will accept Boris Johnsonās invitation to get blamed for the deaths of dozens of thousands, and collaborate on a virus response?
Iād expect the announcement tomorrow.
1 Like
Yes. Itās the only responsible course of action the leader of the opposition could take in the current situation. The difficult task is exactly what you suggest: being part of the solution without becoming complicit in the mistakes of others. But itās the task he canāt shirk.
2 Likes
I mean there isnāt, and there wonāt be, a time when itās necessary for him to stand side by side with Johnson (at a separation of 2m) and enthusiastically say āI have every faith in our brave Prime Minister and his sterling efforts to pull us through this time of strife.ā
It will be perfectly sufficient for him to repeat official government health warnings and advice whilst consistently lobbying for the necessary actions that havenāt yet been taken, wrt the treatment of the most vulnerable, precarious and at risk.
Donāt think I agree with this because it assumes that the leader of the opposition will gain any meaningful influence in the decision-making process.
Well quite a few of us, me included, were disappointed that Rayner didnāt run for the leadership, so itās not a great surprise that she ended up winning the deputyship. 90k people voting for Burgon is the most depressing stat Iāve seen so far.
5 Likes
This whole thread is incredible and she should have been fired ages ago.
6 Likes
Itās more about conveying a unified message from the whole of government at a time of crisis, about the things that itās critical that everyone understands and buys into (like the isolation, handwashing etc). That is important.
As Otto highlighted, thereās very little mileage to be made from him associating himself with the actual decisions of government, beyond saying āwe pushed them to do X and then they did it, because of usā.
Iām gonna remain a member so I can vote for the most left wing candidates in any relevant elections, but unless the leadership run an explicitly socialist platform they are not my allies and Iām not gonna get behind them.
1 Like
The whole lot of them at the BBC should have been fired ages ago
In a way Iām kind of heartened by that, because it suggests the membership hasnāt done a total volte face on Corbynite politics and is just of the mind it needs a shinier, more moderate face. He wouldnāt have been a good deputy obviously
1 Like
Well if itās any crumb of comfort you can reflect that sometimes candidateās campaigns just fail to properly get out of the starting blocks and they end up polling considerably worse than their actual support would represent.
I agree with you though itās not a great looking result there.