Op-ed: Unless any other Labour MP declares an intention to stand as the next potential leader of the Labour Party it will be a two-man race between Jeremy Corbyn the incumbent and Owen Smith the challenger. But at time of writing Jeremy Corbyn appears more popular than ever. Angela Eagle crash landed out of the race Tuesday as she withdrew hoping along with other members of the Parliamentary Labour Party that one challenger could beat Corbyn and become a so-called unity candidate. The problem is many words have been exchanged face to face, online and in the mainstream media and although any person can apologise at any time words cannot be unsaid. Unity in the Labour Party will not come easily and division allows the right-wing of politics to carry on their merry way. It is basic common sense that united we stand divided we fall. Apportioning blame continues but does not help. Too many times it is one side's word against the opposing side. Owen Smith only joined the leadership race recently but his reputation is being torn apart as things hot-up. The Labour Party has weeks of unnecessary in-party electioneering that will leave us all bloodied and bleeding. It will not be easy to forgive and forget in some cases. Many people including this writer have voted Labour for decades but sometimes while holding their nose and admitting the vote has been for the lesser of the evils. But it should not be like that. The Labour Party has to stand for and represent something different or people may as well vote Liberal Democrat, Green or even Tory or Ukip. There are many parties available these days in the UK and the rise of the SNP in Scotland has killed the two-party system. Hell if the SNP were to field candidates in other parts of the UK even I might give them a vote. Wednesday ahead of the leadership race Owen Smith has reached out to Corbyn and his supporters. BBC News reports "Labour leadership challenger Owen Smith says he will offer Jeremy Corbyn the role of party president if he wins. Mr Smith praised his rival but said he was "not a leader", saying he had "sloganised" on austerity without setting out what he would do instead." Who knows how that offer will be received by Corbyn, his supporters, Smith's supporters and the PLP. Is it even possible? Is it a genuine reach out or done because Smith knows Corbyn is still likely to win? Then there are what I would say are the most important players in the Labour Party - the voters. Without members of the electorate voting Labour the party can posture and procrastinate as much as it wants but it is finished. In this report we will not go down the road of attacking Smith; that is not Jeremy Corbyn's modus operandi and as a supporter I will follow his lead this time. There could still be another challenger throwing their hat in the ring and as they say in any crisis report the situation remains fluid. But Labour, we the people are watching, and many of us do not like what we see. Apparent self indulgent MPs playing games instead of doing their jobs is not a vote winner. The sooner we are back to a functioning Labour Party the better. Time and patience is after all running out.
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Op-ed: Following the majority vote for the UK to leave the European Union British politics is in free-fall. The two major political parties the Conservatives and the Labour Party are both experiencing a type of meltdown but the Tories to date have had an easier ride in the mainstream media. That could be changing. Andrea Leadsom is getting some bad press following a Times report that suggests she claimed that being a mother gave her an advantage over Theresa May in the fight to become prime minister. Saturday Leadsom called that report "disgusting." Theresa May and her husband are childless. It would not say much of our politicians if they could only relate to sections of "their" society. It would be difficult finding a black, Muslim of Asian decent with a white British mother from the north of England and a working class background and a father from a wealthy family in the south of England. It is pure nonsense. The Times report has to be aimed at undermining Leadsom's leadership challenge. The two women have real differences in that May is an experienced cabinet member and campaigned for the UK to stay in the EU and Leadsom is neither. Labour supporters who are used to Murdoch owned publications telling half truths, posting anonymous leaks and playing mind games will say welcome to the club! Snatching words out of context may sell publications but they paint a false picture. Murdoch wanted the UK to vote BRexit and we did. He apparently wanted Boris Johnson out of the Tory leadership race and Boris obligingly bowed out. Murdoch is having less success with manipulating who is leader of the Labour Party but it is work in progress. Jeremy Corbyn continues to be verbally attacked, berated, undermined, humiliated sometimes by his own MPs and more but he has shown "True Grit." Thatcher may have not been for turning and Corbyn is not going anywhere, yet. Sadly Jeremy Corbyn still has a huge battle ahead. Right wing sections of the Labour Party are fighting hard to lay claim to what they say is their party. Funnily enough Jeremy Corbyn is one of the few current MPs who has seen all this before first hand. He has represented his constituency for 30 years and watched old Labour spin into New Labour, lose its identity become unelectable and reach a crossroads. Either old new Labour win or true Labour win. Many of the Labour MPs acting like overgrown children right now are hardly old enough to remember a pre Tony Blair Labour era. A party split at that time was a failure for both sides. Long standing Labour voters will be looking on in horror as the party postures, procrastinates, launched a coup with only Plan A in place and has spent weeks infighting rather than acting like the country's official political opposition in the House of Commons. With rolling 24/7 news and online coverage it has been a very public school yard spat. If you add in some Labour MPs kindly feeding the mainstream media a series of negative spin and leaks the conclusion is the enemies are within. Does it make voters, party members and supporters feel good to see an exercise in this self indulgence? Neil Kinnock called by some the Welsh Windbag gave the Parliamentary Labour Party a talking to this week. That was "secretly" recorded presumably by a member of the PLP and splashed across the mainstream media. But if you listen to it expect to hear what resembles a drunken rant in a rowdy room of chavs. Labour games mean the Tories will get a free ride; the PLP have kindly taken the heat from the Tory Party. The Labour Party have been trying to force Jeremy Corbyn to resign since June 24 but the plot was hatched last year ahead of his election as party leader. There are enough msm reports online to confirm that. They had no plan B so opted for public resignations from the shadow cabinet, a non binding vote of no confidence and more. Across the country Constituency Labour Parties have by and large shown their support for Corbyn; that has led to the PLP dissing those party members and discounting their views. Negotiations between a Union boss and the PLP this week have failed. Friday night Michael Crick of Channel 4 news and others reported Angela Eagle would finally launch her long awaited leadership challenge Sunday or early Monday but deputy party leader Tom Watson refuted that to Crick on Twitter. That was because the talks were not complete. But that is the outcome Saturday. Was it always going to be a foregone conclusion? Saturday the Metro reports "Jeremy Corbyn set for Labour leadership challenge as peace talks go down the pan." We could soon have women leading the Tory Party, the country, the USA and the Labour Party. None of the current candidates in any of those elections would get my vote if I had one. There could be a general election in the UK but that is another story. The Labour Party has always aired its dirty washing in public but the last fortnight the majority of the PLP have reached new lows. They have a website dedicated to garnering supporters to remove Corbyn and questionable funding from questionable sources. Blair's old spin doctor Alastair Campbell reared his ugly Twitter head a fortnight ago as the coup kicked off. Has the party used members donations and subscriptions to fund the campaign to oust Corbyn? They have resorted to legal advice on leaving Labour and taking the name with them and even seeing if it is possible to keep Corbyn's name off a leadership challenge battle. But they have some fat friends funding them; are they buying our democracy? As I told my CLP this week I did not vote for Corbyn; I voted for Andy Burnham. But I always said I would respect the vote and I have. I am ashamed of the PLP and have reached a crossroads too. When my 85-year-old Labour Party member and voter neighbour says the same the PLP will have to accept the party has huge problems. Labour Party supporters tend to be well informed and we have been watching and waiting. The majority of the PLP are not happy with Corbyn and the majority of us are not happy with the PLP. |
British political scene
The next General Election in the UK may not be scheduled any time soon but the British political landscape is changing. With that in mind this blog will concentrate on the political scene but with a left wing perspective. Opinion pieces and news will bring you the stories that the MSM prefer to ignore. Archives
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