Good Morning comrades. Well today is the day. The mainstream media including BBC rolling news is in Labour Party leadership election overdrive. The result of the election will be announced around 11.45am Saturday and though political pundits are declaring a win for Jeremy Corbyn hours earlier "it aint over till the fat lady sings." We remember recent poll predictions regarding the 2015 General Election and this year's EU referendum and remain cautious. The mainstream media are ignoring #LabourPurge2 which has removed thousands from the vote; add to this reportedly thousands of eligible voters who never received ballot papers after trying till they were blue in the face to get them issued; add to this those who would have liked a vote in the election but were excluded when an eligibility timeline of January 2016 was implemented and the vote is expected to be closer than last year. Don't expect to see or hear mainstream reports today that include Labour Party shenanigans that may have mainly hit Jeremy Corbyn supporters. But though cautious this Labour Party member remains hopeful. I do not believe Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable; I do not believe that if Corbyn is unelectable the challenger Owen Smith, an apparent physical clone of many other politicians, is somehow electable. If, and it is a big IF, Owen Smith wins I expect his time as party leader may be brief. The silly, damaging and nasty "chicken coup" has been about removing Jeremy who refused to simply roll over and quit when over-paid politicians and fat cat donors wanted a return to the "same old politics." But enough - later we will update this brief post and complete the headline "And the Labour leadership election winner is...." and hopefully it will be with the name Jeremy Corbyn. And the winner is JEREMY CORBYN well done all. "674,006 eligible voters. 506,438 votes cast. Spoiled votes 1,042 Jeremy Corbyn - 313,209 Owen Smith -193,229" Opinion: Sunday Eoin on Twitter has gone for "Andy Burnham manages to fight a leadership campaign last summer without abusing Corbyn or his supporters. Why can't Owen Smith so the same?" and he has nailed it once again.
This blogger attended an Andy Burnham event in Hull in the summer of 2015 and an Owen Smith one in 2016. They were both held at the same venue and both organised at least in part by East Hull Labour MP Karl Turner. In 2015 former deputy Prime Minister and local MP John Prescott played host. He added some humour to the event and veteran politics at one point saying he would have preferred the meeting included others standing for election and he mentioned Jeremy Corbyn in particular. That mention was as a positive and it was the only time the other leadership hopefuls were "in the room." The Owen Smith event was a very different affair. For one thing Alan Johnson West Hull MP attended but Prescott did not. In 2015 Mr Johnson threw his political support behind Yvette Cooper although his CLP failed to agree on a nomination. There were also less people at the Smith event. The question and answer session was similar to last year but those who asked some questions were labelled, probably correctly, Corbynistas. One man who seemed to be a Corbyn supporter wanted to ask in depth questions about the NHS but was told by some including Mr Johnson to sit down. To be fair time was limited and the event did overrun as Mr Smith was late. Last year I was a novice at events. I was inspired by Mr Burnham who seemed the best candidate for the job of party leader. For me Jeremy Corbyn was too old and I say that as one of his contemporaries. So I voted Burnham last year but accepted the democratic result and have supported Mr Corbyn who has in my eyes proved himself more than worthy over and over again. I also attended a Corbyn rally in Hull this summer and was more than impressed; finding the right word is not easy. The rally was fun, informative, entertaining, inspiring and more. And challenger Owen Smith was not "in the room." Corbyn has held many of his rallies outdoors to keep costs down and to accommodate the huge number of people attending. The Owen Smith event was ticketed. In order to attend you had to apply online giving an email address. But it did not take long for Corbyn to be "in the room" thanks to Mr Smith. One giggle for Smith supporters was a dig at Jeremy commenting he was "perhaps making jam" when he was not available. And sadly that was not the only dig. If Mr Corbyn wins the leadership election, and I seriously hope he does, he will have done so by fair means. If Mr Smith wins will he have been helped along by an unfair and biased purge of Labour Party members and attacking Mr Corbyn time and time again? From someone else who went to an Owen Smith rally http://www.newtekjournalismukworld.com/your-voice/so-i-went-to-an-owen-smith-event-in-halifax http://www.newtekjournalismukworld.com/british-political-scene/from-an-unelectable-jeremy-corbyn-rally-in-hull Voting in the Labour leadership election begins Monday. Some Labour Party members have taken to social media to post an image of their vote but I am still waiting for my online voting email to arrive. The time-scale is such that full members are balloted before affiliates and later this week postal votes go out. That belt and braces approach means that every person entitled to vote should be covered probably this week. But while I wait for an inbox notification that my voting papers have arrived up pops one from leadership challenger Owen Smith MP. Calling him a challenger makes it sound like a boxing match but to be fair the Labour Party is in the throes of a huge fight. So what did Owen or rather his campaign team have to say Monday? As voting begins this week, we face the most important decision for this generation of Labour supporters. I received a similar email from London Mayor Sadiq Khan Sunday. It too included buttons to click on and show your voting intention. As always I did not click through.
It is a brief polite email but here is the thing Owen. I do not believe you. You do not have the credibility Jeremy Corbyn has. You may or may not win voters over or you could lose more than you win over. If you win you may or may not become party leader and remain in post for sometime. Then again you may be a stalking horse; you could be telling tall tales; the plotters may remove Mr Corbyn and then remove you with or without your approval. That could put a right-wing of Labour politician in the frame; Corbyn could be kept off the ballot; we could be back to square one. Fair enough I doubt that scenario is on the cards but this is the problem Labour supporters and in particular those who support Corbyn have. Who to trust and who to believe? Too many Labour MPs have painted ghastly portraits of themselves during this orchestrated coup. You Owen may be a good guy who at one time may have received my vote but your behaviour during this coup has forever tarnished your reputation for me. Sadly that is true of others. It will take the plotters a great deal of time and hard work to win people back. Additionally your emailed promises offer me nothing new or extra to Jeremy Corbyn's election promises. Yes you hint or perhaps claim that Corbyn is not electable in a General Election but what makes you think you are? This party member is a loyal indivdual. So when my ballot papers arrive I know who will get my vote and it will not be you Regards Eileen |
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