Opinion: Forget the UK EU in / out referendum for now; six weeks before the referendum, when the British electorate vote on our future in or out of Europe, there are local elections and this year they are more important than ever.
Fact - The May elections tend to have a poor turn out. Fact - You can change that. In 2016 many people are talking about the elections as if they are a make or break time for Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. It should not be like that but it is. Elected as Labour Party leader September 12, 2015, Mr Corbyn's position has been undermined from day one and too many times from those who should be working for unity, supporting him as he settles into his role and enabling Labour to win elections. While we get the feeling that some Labour MPs and activists are almost gleefully rubbing their hands at the prospect of more Labour defeats at the polls people power could win the day. Across the Pond in the USA supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, the two democrats fighting for the party nomination, face similar challenges. As some voters in the UK let petty personality politics get in the way of a Labour victory a similar situation could play out in the USA. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton cover different areas of the centre to left ground of US politics but they are on the same side. They are both hoping to represent the same political party and those who refuse to vote Democrat if their preferred candidate does not win are delusional. Similarly we hear UK Labour supporters saying they will not vote for their local candidate as they do not like them and other such foolish sentiments. Well we say NEWS ALERT. If you fall into the petty politics trap all you do is enable the other political party to win. If you are a UK voter and happy to see Mr Corbyn ousted on the back of Labour defeats, if they happen, you are not really a Labour person but rather a pathetic self-server. If you want more zero-hour jobs, government handouts to big businesses and banks, cuts to benefits for people with disabilities, social security reforms that have removed a financial safety net for many, the NHS privatised bit by bit, teachers up in arms due to enforced academy schools, fracking at even sensitive areas of the UK, huge pay rises for MPs and the Queen, pay freezes for public sector staff and more then use your democratic right not to vote. If you want to start the battle to remove the Tories from office before they enforce boundary changes which could help keep them in office for years get out there and vote. Forget local or petty party politics which can be addressed if necessary at another time. Vote Labour May 5.
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Op-ed: The latest man to play the Tory party's Despicable Me, David Cameron, is at odds with his ministers over the EU in / out referendum and the battle lines are drawn. It is way past the time when Labour Party backstabbers within the ranks did what they are quick to tell all of us to do and that is attacked the Tories. Those disgruntled and seemingly self-serving Labour MPs such as John Woodcock who criticise Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for not holding Cameron to account in the Commons exactly how he would have liked to have played it need to get a grip. We can all stand behind any leader criticising and saying 'no do it this way' but it is not helpful and in this case feeds the Tory propaganda machine. But Labour should be on the attack now that it is public knowledge that Tories are stabbing each other left, right and centre. According to the Independent Monday civil-war has broken out in the tory party and it is all over Europe. The Europe issue is a major concern across political parties in the UK but it was Cameron and his Tory government that promised a referendum to pull back voters ahead of the 2015 General Election. Cameron has until the end of 2017 to hold a referendum but this is one promise he wants done and dusted this year. It could be that he will then shuffle off to the backbenches as promised but remember not all Tory promises are created equal. He had to promise an EU in / out referendum for many reasons not least to appeal to vast numbers of Tory BRexiteers. Cameron and his ministers now enjoy a limited relationship; the Independent claims he no longer makes eye contact with Tory BRexiteers as they pass each other in the hallowed halls of British Parliament. This means of course that if we the people vote to stay in the EU Cameron will need a huge cabinet and parliamentary shuffle. If we vote to leave perhaps there will be resignations and the BRexiteers will fill the gaps. Either way unless you are a fan of the Tories it will be more of the same. That will only change when we have the next general election hopefully before 2020. With a slight majority the Tories could be in trouble if there are resignations, MPs crossing the house, deaths or the like. And it is in many ways good to know that backstabbing political rats who feed the mainstream media snippets of gossip also occupy Tory benches; Tensions that bubbled to the surface following George Osborne’s Budget and the subsequent resignation of Iain Duncan Smith now look set to leave a lasting imprint on Mr Cameron’s legacy. Happy Easter Comrades!
Op-ed: It is Easter Sunday and if you are an active Christian you will be celebrating the idea that Jesus has risen. If you are instead or also a Jeremy Corbyn supporter in the UK you may think that Judas Iscariot has been cloned and his clones are sitting pretty in the Labour party and feeding various right-wing Rupert Murdoch publications news of a future Labour Party coup by backbenchers. Parliament is in recess with PM David Cameron sunning himself in Lanzarote; yes if you fell for his Easter message which appears to have been given at home think again. So this latest batch of offensive Labour attacks appears to be political opportunism gone mad. Are they megalomaniacs or on a Labour party suicide mission? And remember these vile and very public attacks are from Labour party MPs. But do for example any of the three in the image above think that such disloyalty will improve Labour's chances at the polls? If they do they are delusional. We are weeks away from local elections and the EU in/out referendum and Mr Corbyn, Labour party leader, has been doing well but not if you listen to in-party backstabbers who want Labour to be their idea of the party. Yes their way or the highway. They continue to set Corbyn up to fail while putting their hands out for nice little earners; along the way they waste too much time backstabbing. Easter then we have the well-known Tory rag and some would say publication that is not fit to be toilet paper posting "Labour Backbenchers call to oust Jeremy Corbyn in leadership coup." Murdoch's other end of the toilet paper spectrum, the Times, followed suit. In the piece in the Sun Ms Smith is even quoted as attacking Corbyn for attending the British Kebab Awards; perhaps she would prefer him to attend arms fairs like others involved in the alleged future coup? Will Ms Smith share her diary with us for perusal so we can decide what is suitable for her and what is not? As we all know with friends like these who needs enemies? If the Sun and the Times are simply using poetic licence to craft a story out of spin and propaganda we will happily share the truth. Last week IPSO forced the Sun to publish a retraction after a damning front page which could have incited Muslim hatred; sadly the weak and ineffective British press regulator IPSO did not manage to get the apology on the Sun's front cover. The story was posted late November and three months later a half-ass apology is not fit for purpose. But it is no good blaming the right-wing media when you have a website run by a section of the Labour party posting the following "UK could be destined for a permanent Tory government Labour MP warns." That post on the Labour list is yet more tosh from a Blairite or as John Prescott would say a Bitterite. Tory election campaigns have heavy financial support but they are now also being helped along by a series of backstabbing Labour politicians who claim to have our best interests at heart. Now why do we not believe them? More: Bitterite John Woodcock backstabber without a cause Labour listgate but Tories look the buffoons At the Independent - John Prescott says some 'bitter' Blairites are trying to sabotage Labour's election chances Op-ed: In December 2015 'rabbit-in-the-headlights' Tory MP for education Nicky Morgan was booed as she appeared on BBC1s question time. She refused to distance herself from David Cameron's wild accusation that Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn was a terrorist sympathiser and added the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell into the mix. She stuck by her guns in spite of boos from the audience and other panel members calling her out. So she is no stranger to boos which may be a good thing as her plans to enforce academy schools in England begin to unravel. Late in the week Jeremy Corbyn addressed the National Union of Teachers conference and received a very warm welcome; a standing ovation in fact. He called Tory plans to force all public schools to become academies a step towards "asset stripping" and "privatisation". A day later a somewhat smug-faced Nicky Morgan addressed the same conference and was widely booed; teachers attending conference heckled and threw in laughter for good measure. Saturday she was the first Tory Education Secretary to address the annual NASUWT, National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, conference since 1997 reports the Daily Mirror. She began by trying to flatter the teachers but it soon turned sour. Academy schools were a Labour initiative and in some cases there lies the rub. These days the Tories are pretty good at picking up Labour initiatives such as a living wage for all but then running off with them in a different direction. They take the electorate for fools when they try the 'he did it' approach by blaming the Labour party. Labour introduced so-called academy schools to help improve standards at failing schools which were mainly located in deprived areas of the country. The Lib Dem Tory coalition ran with it in 2010 and the Tories have never stopped running since though the direction has changed. For clarification this how the BBC describes academy schools: What is an academy? That report also says: Currently, 2,075 out of 3,381 secondary schools are academies, while 2,440 of 16,766 primary schools have academy status. ITV News rounded up Osborne's education budget proposals as follows: Radical plans to pull every school in England out of the control of local councils and transform them into academies are set to be unveiled in today's Budget announcement. Why the Tory government feels a need to interfere in 'free' schooling is not clear. Most of their MPs send their kids to private or as we call then in the UK public schools or faith school. If you are a cynic you may well wonder if these constant changes are all about cutting costs, allowing some people to make money and actually wrecking education for many kids in the UK. After all we will always need people to do some more menial jobs until computers take over completely. So with that in mind:
The Tory government likes to use a cracked record on a loop laying the blame for the country's economic woes anywhere but close to the Tories but how much longer can this government pass the buck? But each roll out of benefit changes, initiatives and more requires huge sums of money in administration alone. As Chancellor Osborne and Prime Minister Cameron play with your kids’ education they have nothing to fear. They may send their children to a state school at some point but know they will not be there for the entirety of their education. And as those two for example do not live in deprived areas of the UK those state schools will be a cut above. Shame the self-proclaimed one nation Tories are so divisive. Morgan, 43, was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. In some matters then, just another clueless Tory.
Op-ed: John Woodcock, he of the infamous labour list-gate tweet, an MP who claimed when challenged that was not a prompt to the MSM, has given the Daily Mirror an exclusive backstabbing article. As he grumbles about 'in such a week' Labour did not manage to gain the political upper hand you might like this writer be tempted to say 'how could they with self-serving enemies such as you working from within'. Perhaps if the Bitterites spent more time working to unite the party and support their democratically elected leader as he grows into his new role as leader of the opposition we would be getting somewhere. Who fed the labour list to the Times into Cameron's grubby Tory hands - who can really tell? But Mr Woodcock now has to be the prime suspect. Perhaps it was a list he drew up and was keeping as he and his associates continue to waste time, energy and yes our money on plotting a coup to oust Mr Corbyn. This brief rant of mine will not have the style and wordiness of Woodcock's but then he obviously has little real work to do. This retired OAP finds writing reports that try to hold the Tories to account, informing people about what is really happening and writing responses to Bitterite political shenanigans time consuming. But write she and others must. Maybe these Bitterites are going to work by the Tory game plan of he who shouts loudest will be heard. I would say to that empty vessels make the most noise. Few Labour supporters are surprised at bully boy tactics from Lord Snot David Cameron and his sidekick alleged cokehead Gideon George Osborne but from a Labour MP? Woodock may have felt anger at his boss during PMQs but I felt anger at Cameron and his cronies. If Woodcok had not been busy tweeting to his sources he too may have seen Cameron all pumped up, red in the face, hot under the collar and falling back into Tory boy mode. It was not a pretty sight or a vote winner for most ordinary people of the UK. Woodcock may feel Corbyn did not use what could have been political advantage but maybe his different style of politics will allow Cameron and his government to hang themselves. But no little Johnnie Woodcock prefers to run to the media and try to stir up more problems within the party. He seems upset we do not have a Bitterite clone leading the charge these days. Being somewhat older than Mr Woodcock I have witnessed many party leaders stumble along the way as they settle into their new role. That goes for all political parties. But I have never witnessed such open hatred, disrespect and more for a man who has taken on the challenge of leading the Labour Party. Corbyn does right to be the kind of Labour he and his supporters want; no doubt the likes of Woodcock were one reason Ed Miliband was pushed to play the Tory party PMQs games. But how quickly he was dumped when he failed to win the GE 2015. Perhaps the time for a kinder politics has gone and a series of deselections or demotions is the only way forward for Labour. Feel free to comment below but please no urls and links as they are often broken. Keep it polite, within reason, but let's tell the likes of Woodcock what we think right here and right now. Op-ed: Sitting down to watch PMQs Wednesday, BP pills to hand, the Times so-called Labour list of MPs who support Mr Corbyn and those who do not had pretty much passed me by. So I watched PMQs without background knowledge of what was to come. Initially, when pumped up and full-bladdered Cameron launched his attack on the Labour Party and Mr Corbyn the party leader I assumed it was from information of a different sort; information gathered via social media and earlier reports or just more Dodgy Dave theatrics. But as we now all know it was a list published in Rupert Murdoch's Times which meant that old foreign billionaire was again undermining British democracy. Local MP John Prescott was on the ball when he noticed a tweet from one Labour MP John Woodcock which was picked up by another Tory mouthpiece Guido. Having blocked Woodcock on Twitter some time ago I did not see it but the fact I felt I had to block a Labour MP tells you all you need to know; the only two Labour MPs blocked are those who have attacked Mr Corbyn online. Mr Woodcock quickly deleted the tweet but it was too late. It was picked up by the mainstream media who ran with it. Lord Prescott tweeted an accusation that Woodcock’s tweet was a prompt for the press and he may have been right. Politics as we know is a dirty business but some politicians days are committing political party suicide. Was the list real or a fake? The list looked like a fake, little more than a smear campaign. Thursday the fall out continues but what the publication of the list should do is spur Labour on to unite behind Mr Corbyn. In unity we win in division we fail. It was sad but not unexpected to see another labour list, a website that claims to be Labour supporting but so often tends to be anything but, posting a report on the list with attacks aimed at the Corbyn leadership. The Labour List also publishes articles from Labour politicians which probably says it all about those who take part; unless they distance themselves from such websites we will draw our own conclusions. As I said, sad but predictable. When you have such enemies within you are setting up Corbyn, the party and its supporters to fail and all for your own personal idea of the political direction the party should go. You can protest as much as you like that Mr Corbyn will not win elections but such negativity will make sure that is what happens. He was democratically elected and your self-serving politics simply help the over funded Tory machine do well at the polls. Like so many you work from behind and lack the support, balls and determination to have become party leader post GE2015. You prefer though to try to scupper Mr Corbyn to get your vision of the Labour party elected. Spitting on the democratically elected party leader is not a good look. The electorate who tune in to PMQs see a Tory party in disarray shouting and bawling the odds plucking unverified figures out of well-rehearsed game plans; they see theatrics bordering on a Whitehall farce courtesy of the Tory party. Cameron has the look of a man who does not care as post the EU referendum he will decide when to step down. Wife Sam Cam may already be packing. If you do not tune in to PMQs and only watch snippets shown on news channels don’t expect a full picture just the bits that suit the Tories. One conclusion Time IPhones, IPads etc. were left at the door when MPs enter PMQs. Kids cannot take such technology into exams and the Tory children in the House along with their opponents should not be able to either. Advice Grow up. Op-ed: It's Wednesday and it's PMQs if your blood pressure can stand it. Jeremy Corbyn wins when he asks Cameron about ESA cuts and tries for real answers but simply gets Cameron spinning like a whipping top. Cameron refers to flawed figures claiming people are better off. He says the Tories are working on clearing the deficit and the Tories do not want to leave debt for the next generation. Well his next generation will inherit a great deal from the Cameron pot when he leaves this earth but kids of poorer families will not be so lucky; they will not get the financial head start in life he did. But we are back to noisy theatrics and Jeremy Corbyn is spot on when he says to Cameron it is time to leave the theatrics and share with us all how the black hole Osborne has created will be filled. We are back on the attack Labour theme but this time it is not just pre 2010 he uses information garnered probably from 'they work for us' and those nasty moles operating inside of Labour or spin doctors or fiction writers to hit at the heart of the party. Cameron has already used the fact that some Labour MPs voted with the government and picks to pieces the party opposite because of that and some sort of list. He is helped along by the damning list of which Labour party MPs support Corbyn and which are hostile. ( The list can be viewed at the end of this report) Showing all his bully boy charm Cameron is like a cat that has got the cream or is that a Cameron with a pig's head? So Mr Corbyn is left fighting a hard battle taking Cameron to task due to Labour lightweights. House Speaker John Bercow is back to weak leadership and too few calls to order. A Tory raises a question about rooting out anti-Semitism which is obviously a pointed attack on Labour and its main MPs. Having taken the feed from that MP Cameron it into an attack on Labour claiming there is a rise in anti-Semitism in the Labour party. That is a weak and flawed argument spun by the Tories after a diet of leaks by right wing members of the Labour party. For the record supporting the BDS movement and criticising Israel for building a wall that cripples another country while continuing with an illegal land grab is not anti-Semitic. Those like Luke Akehurst standing for the Labour party NEC, posting newsletters online for all to see that talk about the hard left in Labour and a rise in anti-Semitism, appear to want Labour to fail or be out of office for decades but in truth they just want Jeremy Corbyn ousted. Akehurst has links to the so-called Bitterites that hope to turn the Labour party back a few decades to Blair politics and policies. They look at his landslide victory in 1997 but forget a fair few facts on that score; for some it is because they were only kids or young people back then. They fail to recognise that in 1997 the people had finally had enough of crippling Tory politics that begun under Thatcher the milk snatcher. For floating voters, and some hard hit Tories, the final nail was in the Tory coffin and that is what will happen again. Push people so far and they make a ripple; push them to the edge and they wake up and use their vote. Does Cameron still have confidence in the Chancellor asks a young SNP MP but all he gets is an 'of course' added to wild claims about Osborne's record. The Nasty Party with chief nasty David Cameron at the helm is in full flow as the Scottish people are once again told how they would have been independent soon had they voted to leave the union and what a disaster that would have been. Yes keep it up Dave and next time around the Scottish people will vote as one and run to the hills. That tack has a short term bonus for Cameron as it guarantees more people in Scotland vote SNP which was Labour country at one time. Cameron betrays his alleged one nation principles over and over again. In more obscene party politics we briefly touch on the Queen's 90th birthday without any details of what that will cost us all. Rundown Overall it was a rowdy and childish PMQs with shouty Tories who show they are on the defensive. One thing it highlights is politicians who are good speakers and have good script writers and a team backing them all the way can talk the talk but may not be good politicians. The Tory game plan appears to be shouting as loud as you can while waving your arms and wagging fingers. Well as they say empty vessels make the most noise. The shouting seems to be worse since Mr Corbyn became party leader in September 2015; that could be as he asked for a kinder, gentler politics to fit with his style. In the end Corbyn will shine given some Labour backbench support and people who tune in will see a Tory party on the back burner picking holes in all and sundry to cover their tracks. Some members of the Tory party show their ageist tendencies when they giggle as Corbyn uses a phrase of my generation 'fine and dandy' but that is not a good look for a supposed one nation government. But slick Labour MPs who can also talk and spin take note. Neil Kinnock was, or so I was told when I wrote a piece about him, a brilliant speaker but he did not gel with the voting public. Kinnock failed on many fronts when he tried to become PM scuppered in part by the Tory propaganda machine. To win the next election Labour need to do one thing and that is support the elected party leader rather than run off at tangents splitting the party. Unless these backstabbers are simply as many claim Red Tories wanting their own cushy number and my way or the highway politics they should work uniting the party. False flags being used by Cameron and his government should not be given out by those who claim to be Labour supporters and certainly not by those standing for the party's NEC. Tory party credibility is shot and now is the time. But if Mr Corbyn and his shadow chancellor are not supported they are being set up to fail and many people will never forgive or forget that. THE LIST The list contains at last one spelling mistake highlighted below. If you look at the list some of the assessments could be true but I doubt that Ed Miliband is a Corbyn hostile; far from it. So the list may have been created from info received via news reports, labour leaks, twitter streams, other social media and more. It could be fabricated and aimed at undermining the Labour Party and dividing supporters, MOs and members. It has all the hallmarks of a childish Etonian prank, you like stuffing your dick in the mouth of a dead pig. Probably best ignored then. Labour loyalty list supplied by person or persons unknown.
MP Group Andy McDonald Core group Catherine Smith Core group Dennis Skinner Core group Diane Abbott Core group Grahame Morris Core group Ian Lavery Core group Ian Mearns Core group Imran Hussain Core group Jeremy Corbyn Core group John McDonnell Core group Jon Trickett Core group Kate Osamor Core group Kelvin Hopkins Core group RIP Michael Meacher Core group Rebecca Long-Bailer Core group Ronnie Campbell Core group Richard Burgon Core group Clive Lewis Core group Rachael Maskell Core group Andy Slaughter Core group Angela Rayner Core group Alex Cunningham Core group Albert Owen Core group Catherine West Core group Margaret Greenwood Core group Carolyn Harris Core group Chinyelu Onwurah Core group Christina Rees Core group Dave Anderson Core group Dawn Butler Core group David Winnick Core group Debbie Abrahams Core group Emily Thornberry Core group Emma Lewell-Buck Core group Vicky Foxcroft Core group Harry Harpham Core group Helen Goodman Core group Holly Lynch Core group Ian Lucas Core group Jo Stevens Core group Kate Hollern Core group Karen Buck Core group Karl Turner Core group - good man Karl Hull MP Keir Starmer Core group Kevin Brennan Core group Khalid Mahmood Core group Liz McInnes Core group Lilian Greenwood Core group Lindsay Hoyle Core group Louise Haigh Core group Lisa Nandy Core group Marie Rimmer Core group Mary Glindon Core group Nick Thomas-Symonds Core group Owen Smith Core group Pat Glass Core group Paula Sheriff Core group Rob Marris Core group Rosie Cooper Core group Rupa Huq Core group Roberta Blackman-Woods Core group Sarah Champion Core group Sharon Hodgson Core group Steve Rotheram Core group Stephen Hepburn Core group Sue Hayman Core group Susan Elan Jones Core group Teresa Pearce Core group Tom Watson Core group Valerie Vaz Core group Vernon Coaker Core group Virenda Sharma Core group Wayne David Core group Yasmin Qureshi Core group John Cryer Core group Alan Whitehead Neutral but not hostile Adrian Bailey Neutral but not hostile Andrew Gwynne Neutral but not hostile Andy Burnham Neutral but not hostile Andrew Smith Neutral but not hostile Angela Eagle Neutral but not hostile Ann Clwyd Neutral but not hostile Barbara Keeley Neutral but not hostile Barry Gardiner Neutral but not hostile Bill Esterson Neutral but not hostile Catherin McKinnell Neutral but not hostile Chris Bryant Neutral but not hostile Chris Matheson Neutral but not hostile Clive Betts Neutral but not hostile Clive Efford Neutral but not hostile Colleen Fletcher Neutral but not hostile David Crausby Neutral but not hostile David Hanson Neutral but not hostile Derek Twigg Neutral but not hostile Gavin Shuker Neutral but not hostile Geraint Davies Neutral but not hostile Gerald Jones Neutral but not hostile Gerald Kaufman Neutral but not hostile Gisela Stuart Neutral but not hostile Gordon Marsden Neutral but not hostile Graham Stringer Neutral but not hostile Heidi Alexander Neutral but not hostile Helen Hayes Neutral but not hostile Helen Jones Neutral but not hostile Huw Irrance-Davies Neutral but not hostile Iain Wright Neutral but not hostile Jack Dromey Neutral but not hostile Jeff Smith Neutral but not hostile Jessica Morden Neutral but not hostile Jim Cunningham Neutral but not hostile Jim Dowd Neutral but not hostile Jim Fitzpatrick Neutral but not hostile John Healey Neutral but not hostile David Lammy Neutral but not hostile Jon Cruddas Neutral but not hostile Judith Cummins Neutral but not hostile Julie Cooper Neutral but not hostile Kate Green Neutral but not hostile Karin Smyth Neutral but not hostile Kate Hoey Neutral but not hostile Kevin Barron Neutral but not hostile Madeleine Moon Neutral but not hostile Mark Hendrick Neutral but not hostile Matthew Pennycook Neutral but not hostile Mike Gapes Neutral but not hostile Mike Kane Neutral but not hostile Naseem Shah Neutral but not hostile Nia Giffith Neutral but not hostile Nic Dakin Neutral but not hostile Nick Brown Neutral but not hostile Nick Smith Neutral but not hostile Paul Blomfield Neutral but not hostile Paul Farrelly Neutral but not hostile Paul Flynn Neutral but not hostile Peter Dowd Neutral but not hostile Peter Kyle Neutral but not hostile Ruth Cadbury Neutral but not hostile Rushanara Ali Neutral but not hostile Roger Godsiff Neutral but not hostile Seema Malhotra Neutral but not hostile Steve McCabe Neutral but not hostile Stephen Timms Neutral but not hostile Tulip Siddiq Neutral but not hostile Thangham Debbonaire Neutral but not hostile Wes Streeting Neutral but not hostile Yvonne Fovargue Neutral but not hostile Alan Johnon (presumably Johnson so list creator failed then) Core group negative Alan Meale Core group negative Angela Smith Core group negative Anna Turley Core group negative Ed Miliband Core group negative Ben Bradshaw Core group negative Bridget Phillipson Core group negative Diana Johnson Core group negative Daniel Zeichner Core group negative Dan Jarvis Core group negative Derek Twigg Core group negative Frank Field Core group negative Gareth Thomas Core group negative George Howarth Core group negative Geoffrey Robinson Core group negative Gloria de Piero Core group negative Graham Allen Core group negative Hilary Benn Core group negative Ian Murray Core group negative Jo Cox Core group negative Jenny Chapman Core group negative Joan Ryan Core group negative John Mann Core group negative John Spellar Core group negative Jon Ashworth Core group negative Julie Elliott Core group negative Kate Green Core group negative Keith Vaz Core group negative Kerry McCarthy Core group negative Kevan Jones Core group negative Liam Byrne Core group negative Louise Ellman Core group negative Lucy Powell Core group negative Lyn Brown Core group negative Margaret Beckett Core group negative Maria Eagle Core group negative Meg Hillier Core group negative Natascha Engel Core group negative Neil Coyle Core group negative Richard Burden Core group negative Ruth Smeeth Core group negative Rob Flello Core group negative Shabana Mahmood Core group negative Stephen Doughty Core group negative Stephen Kinnock Core group negative Jess Phillips Core group negative Jonathan Reynolds Core group negative Steve Reed Core group negative Stephen Pound Core group negative Alan Campbell Hostile group Alison McGovern Hostile group Ann Coffey Hostile group Barry Sheerman Hostile group Caroline Flint Hostile group Chris Evans Hostile group Chris Leslie Hostile group Chuka Umunna Hostile group Elizabeth Kendall Hostile group Emma Reynolds Hostile group Fiona Mactaggart Hostile group Graham Jones Hostile group Harriet Harman Hostile group Ian Austin Hostile group Ivan Lewis Hostile group Jamie Reed Hostile group John Woodcock Hostile group Luciana Berger Hostile group Margaret Hodge Hostile group Mark Tami Hostile group Mary Creagh Hostile group Melanie Onn Hostile group Michael Dugher Hostile group Pat McFadden Hostile group Phil Wilson Hostile group Rachel Reeves Hostile group Simon Danczuk Hostile group Rosie Winterton Hostile group Tom Blenkinsop Hostile group Sadiq Khan Hostile group Stephen Twigg Hostile group Siobhain McDonagh Hostile group Stella Creasy Hostile group Toby Perkins Hostile group Tristram Hunt Hostile group Yvette Cooper Hostile group Op-ed: This writer has a good socialist heart often arguing for others when it will not make a halfpenny of difference personally. That in many ways is how I see the Labour party; a fair and just political organisation not founded on personal wealth or greed or a desire to get rich and just benefit a few. No university education for me; in some ways a series of hard knocks in my younger years; a graduate of life. But just because I am now aged 64 does not mean I do not care about the young or the next generation. Contrary to popular opinion not all pensioners vote Tory. It would be a poor socialist who no longer cared because it no longer affected them. So to me that is socialism in simple terms. But if that is the Labour Party how come a group of unnamed Labour MPS are feeding the right wing media a series of divisive and nasty snippets of gossip? Supporters of Mr Corbyn and his shadow Chancellor John McDonnell have been fighting hard to support the Labour party which in turn keeps these same MPs in a good standard of living. Now either the MSM are using political licence or pure lies or someone or some MPS are playing the backstabbing card. When last week we posted an Open letter to Chuka Umunna and his team after a Guardian report which appeared again to show backstabbers working within the party we hoped that would be our 'last post' in every sense. That letter still needs a response. But in a short time it garnered a huge number of signatures highlighting that many people in the party, Labour voters and floating voters are sick and tired of the backbench games. If the MSM is to be believed those leading the charge against Corbyn and McDonnell include some politicians who dropped out of the leadership race last year for their own reasons or preferred the backbenches and being a foot soldier rather than a commander; it includes others who are keen to get their backsides on the front benches; and it also includes some who refused to work alongside Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell. If they are leading by example little wonder the MSM is having a field day. And the knock on effect is a Labour party leader undermined time and time again. If you receive undue criticism at work it is doubtful your standard of work will improve. If you receive helpful criticism and support you could soar. So Monday the Torygraph aka the Telegraph went for "'Dreadful, dire, laughable': Labour MPs lay into Jeremy Corbyn after he fails to mention Iain Duncan Smith in key speech" after Jeremy Corbyn gave a thoughtful and intelligent speech that did not fall into the Commons theatrics trap. Corbyn has his own style and remember the tortoise and the hare? He who shouts loudest may be heard but may not get the last laugh. That story has the usual Torygraph drivel but this is worth noting. It says "Jeremy Corbyn was yesterday attacked by his own backbenchers after he failed to mention the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith in his response to a Commons statement by David Cameron. MPs said he lacks the "intellect" and "experience" to think on his feet after he was unable to capitalise on the biggest Tory crisis for 20 years." So which MPs? Is that Torygraph piece deliberately misleading? Was it Tory MPs saying he lacked intellect and experience? Or was it his own backbenchers once more talking out of turn? Politicshome went for "Labour MPs in despair over Jeremy Corbyn performance" but again who is the mole? According to the Independent three days ago "Jeremy Corbyn allies call for second reshuffle ahead of Labour party conference" so is that what has rattled their cages? This time if the Independent report is accurate it is MPs supporting Mr Corbyn that are making waves. An internal power struggle especially a public one does the electorate no favours but helps the Tory party out no end. And having angered Labour supporters wounds will be difficult to heal. This long time Labour voter, fairly recent party member, is one of many watching and waiting. Ed Miliband was Labour's sacrificial lamb in 2015. Overpaid MPs did not take any blame for GE2015 but it is never about just one man. In unity we win and are all powerful in division Labour will be in the doldrums for years and the Tories laughing all the way to the bank. We need to make a stand against vile stories circulating in the media. We need clarification. Either they are fantasy or we have a double agent or two in the ranks. Someone should be calling the MSM out and finding who is putting their hand out each month for a nice little parliamentary salary and running to the press wrecking Corbyn's and thus our political future. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We posted "Jess Phillips feeds the mainstream media more negativity" three weeks ago and after that continued with "International Womens Day, an open letter to Jess Phillips." That was written as an earlier email to Phillips got no response. I tweeted that to her and she blocked me declining I guess to comment. So we know some of those feeding the MSM but we need a clear picture and then the party must act. If it lets down Mr Corbyn, Mr McDonnell and their supporters many will simply walk away and that includes me. |
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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