Op-ed; Google The Labour Party Wednesday morning and expect a wave of negative news reports including many opinion pieces like this one.
But of course THEY get full prominence as so many are courtesy of the usual anti Corbyn suspects within the Labour Party and via the well-funded mainstream media. With a by-election and local elections a few weeks away now is not really the time for a torrent of negative Labour Party news. We have political opposites who are perfectly able to damage the party's reputation without high-fliers linked to and part of the Labour Party leading the charge. The latest furore centres around former London Mayor and Labour Party veteran Ken Livingstone and comments made last year during what looked to be a carefully crafted set up. Labour MP John Mann was on hand last year with convenient camera crew to challenge Ken Livingstone over comments made and viewed as anti Semitic. Tuesday following an NCC ruling on the affair Wes Streeting, Tom Watson, Michael Dugher, John Mann, David Miliband and a few others have opted once again to publicly attack a political party they claim to love. Watching a Newsnight clip of Wes Streeting saying his piece on their offering Tuesday night I was struck by his well polished appearance and words. There was no passion just well rehearsed words. Presumably these usual suspects had been rehearsing their next moves ahead of Tuesday's NCC ruling. Big boy of the Labour Party Deputy Leader Tom Watson according to BBC News Wednesday is 'ashamed' Livingstone still in party. Of course many Labour Party members suspended from the party last year may have similar feelings toward people like Mr Watson. Watson has also been busy on social media however as this blogger is one of many party members blocked by him online I can only quote, if I wanted to, via resources such as the BBC. Failed former Labour leadership contender David Miliband has also been quoted as he apparently "grieves for state of Labour Party." He does this from a distance as he turned tail and quit the U.K. moving over to the U.S.A. following his leadership defeat. If he cares so much about the party one has to wonder why he did not stick around and actively work to help the party win elections. Still he could not even help his brother Ed win the general election so why would he help Jeremy Corbyn who is a socialist? The Labour Party elects ruling bodies and cannot cherry pick decisions it likes. A ruling has been made. That is it end of story. As supporters of Ken Livingstone and those who would prefer him hung out to dry fill the Internet with news and views they guarantee election losses in May. The anti Corbyn brigade will somehow make any losses all about him and his supporters but negative news from fat cats within the party will cause untold damage The NCC has made a ruling and we either respect that decision or give up. The other alternative and one that looks increasingly the only way forward is the party splits. But hey I am no one just a retired woman who has voted Labour all her life, only joined the party during Ed's time, talked up the party at each and every opportunity, consistently criticised the Tory Party and who wonders why new young things in the PLP feel it is fine to disrespect and bully veteran politicians within their own party. Is it more to do with who donates the most to the party? Who has bought their way in? He who pays the piper calls the tune and all that. Final thoughts? Good luck to Afzal Khan the excellent Labour Party candidate standing in the Gorton by-election. Good luck to all the excellent Labour Party candidates standing in local elections around the country. We have our work cut out particularly with Article 50 in mind and political opportunism from the Tory party and the Liberal Democrats and now our candidates have public party division thrown in for good measure. If we fail in the May elections there may be many reasons including KenGate. And if we fail we fail some of the most vulnerable and poorest people of our country. Related reading and more; https://www.change.org/p/jeremy-corbyn-mp-apply-fairness-in-the-labour-party-treating-senior-members-and-ordinary-members-equitably http://www.thejeremycorbyneffect.com/jeremy-corbyn-blog/the-dear-tom-watson-emails-and-a-quest-for-fair-and-equitable-treatment Op-ed: News about Jeremy Corbyn "sells papers." The worse news the better and who cares if is fake or just supposition? Certainly the mainstream media in particular The Sun and the Mail who both ran with fake Jeremy Corbyn smear stories Sunday. The stories were later pulled but it was mission accomplished and the damage done. They did not care that their reports disrespected many as it was Remembrance Sunday. If those stories angered you contact IPSO and put in a formal complaint. But the traditionally supporting Labour publication the Daily Mirror went with supposition, fiction or fact with this story "David Miliband set to return to the UK after Trump victory- sparking rumours of Corbyn leadership challenge." Questions about whether or not David Miliband is a potential Labour Party leader are not new. In April we reported "asked about Corbyn, Keith Vaz talks up David Miliband." In the summer there were rumours David Miliband was set to return and be parachuted into the late Jo Cox's Batley and Spen seat. That was quickly dismissed as "he was doing quite well thank you very much in the USA." Was it simply mainstream media hyperbole? By September and days ahead of Jeremy Corbyn's re-election as party leader David Miliband was at it or again. This time it was David Miliband thinks Corbyn politics are undesirable but we asked for whom? November 12, 2016, days after Hillary Clinton lost the US Presidential Election, the Daily Mirror posted the "David Miliband set to return to the UK after Trump victory- sparking rumours of Corbyn leadership challenge" story. It may have a ring of truth, be supposition, fact-based or pure fiction but it is an attention grabbing headline, especially if you are a Labour Party supporter, voter and or member. Few people in that group want to endure more of the same, that is an internal election, following a wearing, divisive and destructive year but if the Daily Mirror is correct that is what we all face. So how do you fancy David Miliband as Labour Party leader as opposed to Jeremy Corbyn? Before you decide read this from that Mirror post:
Anonymous wishful thinking or stirring or fact-based? Well in case it is fact-based listen up David Miliband, Mr or Mrs Anonymous and the Daily Mirror.
But he is what he is or was. Perhaps now he has moved even further to the right after spending time in the USA? The American Democratic party is after all hardly what many of us in the UK would call left of centre politics or left leaning but rather occupiea the middle ground. The Labour Party, its supporters and its members deserve unity. If ultimately a right-wing gang within Labour are going to quit it is best they go sooner rather than later. Winning elections is getting trickier but win we must and more of the same old same old no longer wins elections. HOWEVER; The Daily Mirror September 12, 2015, http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/labour-mps-plotting-bring-back-6433486 Opinion: We are two-days away from the Labour leadership election result but the smear-a-day campaign trundles on. Thursday it is David Miliband. The mainstream media are running with the story that David Miliband has written a stinging article condemning Jeremy Corbyn as unelectable. Yes that old chestnust that drip feeds into the minds of some and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is gathering pace like a round robin as the media run with various versions of the story. It strikes me as odd that ordinary working people struggling with all that life throws at them are being suspended from the Labour Party for using angry words on social media but people like David Miliband, and my MP Alan Johnson, are allowed a free rein to attack and undermine us all in the mainstream media. Labour MPs on the right of the party such as Wes Streeting are tweeting it is worth reading Miliband's article but one man on social media hits the nail on the head. "Aaron Bastani Twitter › AaronBastani "David Miliband earns £425,000 as head of refugee charity International Rescue ibt.uk/A6RUR?utm_sou… he ain't fighting no by-elections!" In other words those who think he may be about to step back into British politics for real are deluded but it does not stop him sticking the knife in. Little wonder David Miliband like other Labour fat cats Peter Mandelson, Tony Blair, Ed Balls, Alastair Campbell et al do not want real Labour politics with Jeremy Corbyn in pole position. Is it really because voters will not go for Corbyn or that THEY do not want such politics? David Miliband was expected to be elected leader of the Labour Party back in 2010 but he lost out to his younger brother Ed. "David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is a British Labour Party politician, charity chief executive and public policy analyst who was the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2007 to 2010 and MP for South Shields from 2001 to 2013." David said he would not serve in Ed's shadow cabinet as he did not want the two brother's to be compared and presumably Ed somehow undermined. He left politics in 2013 triggering a by-election and moved on to pastures new. He took up the posts of President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee in New York City. But he has always been in the mix and in some people's eyes remains a natural successor to Tony Blair.
The BBC reports ""The main charge against Jeremy Corbyn is not just that his strategy is undesirable because it makes the party unelectable. That is only half the story. "The real issue is that his strategy makes the party unelectable because it is in many aspects undesirable" but undesirable for whom we wonder? Voting closed Wednesday at high noon but the right-wing of the Labour Party appears to have no intention of embracing the leadership election winner if it is Jeremy Corbyn. They continue to call Corbyn supporters hard-left and themselves moderates or centrists but who are they trying to kid? Though political pundits are predicting a win for Mr Corbyn remember such poll predictions have been wrong before. With a large number of eligible voters removed it could be a tight result. First it was a ridiculously early date for eligibility, then it was changes to the cost of being an affiliated supporter, then it was people removed in many cases for silly or non-existent comments on social media, it moved on to those who heaven forbid may have supported another political party in the past and possibly finally tens of thousands who did not receive ballot papers in time. Was the latter incompetence or foul play? Look at those ruled out of voting for any of the above reasons and you tend to find Jeremy Corbyn supporters. This has led to most people drawing to the conclusion that a fix is on. Whether it will be enough to return Owen Smith as party leader is doubtful but stranger things have happened and are continuing to happen. And as always you need to follow the money trail. |
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