Bring on the Kirkaldy Bruiser!

[SON OF GRIDKNOCKER]

THEY'VE been burning the midnight oil in Labour Party HQ these last few weeks. They're trying to fathom out a Stop Corbyn strategy. While the three other Labour Leader hopefuls (Yvette Cooper, Andy Burnham and the one who never says anything) remain frozen like rabbits in a car's headlights, Harriet Harperson is trying womanfully to find a winning formula which will see off the Islington Leftie Upstart.

 

Persuading Polly Toynbee to pen a Guardian piece entitled "If I was a dreamer, I'd vote left of Corbyn" went down like a lead baloon. And getting shadow chancellor Chris Leslie to throw his toys out of the pram, merely evinced the general public response: "Err, who's Chris Leslie?" Likewise Alan 'Postie' Johnson's "I'm backing Yvette" statement only had another 5000 people climbing on the Corbyn bandwagon.

 

It was 2.00a.m. when Ms Harman thumped the table, awakening the slumbering cohorts. "I've got it! We bring in Gordon! Remember how he turned round the Scottish referendum at the last minute?"

 

"Brilliant!" cried the wet-behind-the-ears wannabies, anxious to get home to bed. "Let's get Mandy to handle the pr!" 

 

"Get me Gordon on the phone!" commanded She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. "Anyone know where he is?"

 

"He's on a wilderness trek in the Cairngorms with Sarah."

 

Thus the scene is now set for a gruelling 15-round pugilistic onslaught, between the nimble-footed man affectionalely referred to by his messianic followers as 'JC' and the gurning Kirkaldy Bruiser. And with Len McLusky as JC's manager and seconds being provided by ASLEF, UNISON, UNITE and the Fire Brigade, it has all the ingredients of being a Rumble in the Westminster Jungle.

[Roger]

I can't remember Andy Burnham being very high profile about railways before.

 

He now wants to re-nationalise them line by line. So as to put passengers before profit. 

 

Guardian

 

This Policy is rather left wing and obviously this very touching concern for the pockets of passengers will have nothing at all to do with the fact that Corbyn is ahead in the Labour Leadership polls .... 

[dippyhippy]

It's Jeremy Corbyn all the way for me!

 

Any man that get's Tony Blair spluttering get's my vote!

[Roger]

If you look at the 2015 General Election results you can see that 49.5% of the electorate either voted Tory or UKip. 

 

A Marxist Labour leader will attract zero of those votes. Corbyn would just harden the support in key areas like Liverpool and I suppose it might eat into the SNP vote in Scotland where the SNP have 56/59 seats. 

 

The only way for Labour to gain any real traction is to tempt back part of that centre/right wing support which is the 49.5% as above. Which is why Blair won 3 elections. Quite simple to work out in my view.

[Cambo]

It's Jeremy Corbyn all the way for me!

 

Any man that get's Tony Blair spluttering get's my vote!

[Cambo]

I second that dippy anything liar Blair is for I'm against…I just wish he'd wind his neck in then go crawl under the nearest stone & stay there!!!

[SON OF GRIDKNOCKER]

Now Andy Burnham has 'come out of the closest', having discovered the public benefits of rail re-nationalisation! Whatever prevented him from speaking up before?

[greenknight]

If you look at the 2015 General Election results you can see that 49.5% of the electorate either voted Tory or UKip.

 

A Marxist Labour leader will attract zero of those votes. Corbyn would just harden the support in key areas like Liverpool and I suppose it might eat into the SNP vote in Scotland where the SNP have 56/59 seats.

 

The only way for Labour to gain any real traction is to tempt back part of that centre/right wing support which is the 49.5% as above. Which is why Blair won 3 elections. Quite simple to work out in my view.

Well why not Roger it might give back the Labour Party some identity and besides what's wrong with Liverpool I thought you were a fan!!

 

They need to select a leader and then get the party rally round them because somebody needs to be in opposition so we can start taking this Government to task. If they don't then I for one will be standing for the SNP and make a claim for UK governance in Scotland!! Yeah what about that then. At least we have the SNP because at the moment we have nothing else. The closet Tories are laughing their socks off and probably the rest of their underwear which probably lies under the table at the Conservative Club!

[Chris Chappell]

Totally confused! The last time Labour held a leadership contest, we were all told not to go for the Blairite brother but go for the Left wing brother who had the support of the unions and the Left!! I know, I was there. Some of us, not gloating, said that when you try to sell a product you advertise its best points. The other one, slightly right of Ed, was better looking, had more government experience and was more intelligent. He could also speak well on the telly. So what did my comrades do? They all seem to have forgotten that now.

 

Now if you really want a left wing leader you would find one who would build 100,000 social housing in five years, abolish the monarchy, disestablish the Church of England, confiscate and in prison corrupt bankers, nationalise agriculture, but not farm land, ( see Second World War policy,) nationalise railways, de regulate buses. I remember John Prescott, warning in the Railway Club what would happen with deregulation. Local government funding would be funded properly and councils given back to the people.

All hospital consultants would have to work to a 38 hour pw NHS contract. Pensions would increase by 3% over life of Labour government, £10 ph would be minimum wage etc etc.

 

None of this will happen unless there is a Labour government. These policies will have to sold by a leader who has the respect, and confidence of the electorate. So,Corbyn ain't going to get us there. Cooper will get savaged for having Balls!. Which leaves us with Burnham and Kendall. Andy is a good guy but may be tainted by past government posts. I am tempted to go with Kendall! Intelligent, no baggage, a woman, presentable on telly. Definitely a product worth selling to the public.

[Pete Boggs]

 

Thus the scene is now set for a gruelling 15-round pugilistic onslaught, between the nimble-footed man affectionalely referred to by his messianic followers as 'JC' and the gurning Kirkaldy Bruiser. And with Len McLusky as JC's manager and seconds being provided by ASLEF, UNISON, UNITE and the Fire Brigade, it has all the ingredients of being a Rumble in the Westminster Jungle.

I'll bet the Tories are killing themselves laughing.

 

The again people laughed at Thatcher in the 70s, so who knows?

[greenknight]

Totally confused! The last time Labour held a leadership contest, we were all told not to go for the Blairite brother but go for the Left wing brother who had the support of the unions and the Left!! I know, I was there. Some of us, not gloating, said that when you try to sell a product you advertise its best points. The other one, slightly right of Ed, was better looking, had more government experience and was more intelligent. He could also speak well on the telly. So what did my comrades do? They all seem to have forgotten that now.

Now if you really want a left wing leader you would find one who would build 100,000 social housing in five years, abolish the monarchy, disestablish the Church of England, confiscate and in prison corrupt bankers, nationalise agriculture, but not farm land, ( see Second World War policy,) nationalise railways, de regulate buses. I remember John Prescott, warning in the Railway Club what would happen with deregulation. Local government funding would be funded properly and councils given back to the people.

All hospital consultants would have to work to a 38 hour pw NHS contract. Pensions would increase by 3% over life of Labour government, £10 ph would be minimum wage etc etc.

None of this will happen unless there is a Labour government. These policies will have to sold by a leader who has the respect, and confidence of the electorate. So,Corbyn ain't going to get us there. Cooper will get savaged for having Balls!. Which leaves us with Burnham and Kendall. Andy is a good guy but may be tainted by past government posts. I am tempted to go with Kendall! Intelligent, no baggage, a woman, presentable on telly. Definitely a product worth selling to the public.

Blimey Chris when you put it like that ...I have no religion but would leave things as they are and see that monarchy has a role but the rest it's a big tick from me mate!

Please Please can we just have some decent opposition!

[Roger]

Now Andy Burnham has 'come out of the closest', having discovered the public benefits of rail re-nationalisation! Whatever prevented him from speaking up before?

 

The railways fell totally off the radar in the run up to the General Election. He's putting them into his Leadership Election Manifesto simply because he believes it's a good tactic to get him some votes. 

 

The East Coast franchise ran into trouble in 2009 and so it was re-nationalised by Labour. So a good test to see if a bigger re-nationalisation would be good. In fact it was a good idea and the line paid back £209M to The Treasury in 2012. 

 

Having be doing well the Coalition Govt. decided to re-privatise it and they have. It's now run by Virgin on an 8 year franchise as of March 1 this year.

[Ubique]

The only way for one of the others will win the Labour Leader election is for two of the three to step down and just one of them stands against Corbyn - then it would be interesting to be a fly on the wall if they thought that was a good idea to hear the discussions to decide who would stand ,

 

Am I bothered or worried or stressed - No , I just love the infighting , not just from Labour - love the niggle from all the Political Parties .

 

Gridknocker - good topic .

[SON OF GRIDKNOCKER]

@ Ubique: yes, that would be interesting, though I suspect that Mrs Balls would be reluctant to step aside!

 

As to other 'big guns' which Labour's tin hats can bring onto the battlefield (both pretty rusty, in terms of velocity and trajectory), there's loquacious Kinnock, who could happily talk utter tosh on Marr's Sunday sofa for a whole hour; and, of course, Old Labour's answer to Old Moore's Almanac - Lord John Prescott, from whom we've yet to hear.

 

My money's still on JC!

[Roger]

Now if you really want a left wing leader you would find one who would abolish the monarchy

 

I think most people accept that The Monarchy either directly, or indirectly, attracts income into the Country in various forms. The most obvious one being tourism. I don't know how much that would be. And the vast majority of the Country will be perfectly happy with The Queen. 

 

However I do have a lot of sympathy tho with the anti Royalty brigade when you see a micro Royal like Princess Beatrice embark on her seventeenth holiday of the year this week and apparently she's living the life of riley. 

 

Prince Charles is very high up the Royal pecking order and it didn't escape my notice recently that he wanted to go and see a polo match in London although, at the time, he was in Gloucester. I suppose he could have been driven there and back as it's not a very long way but instead, and probably because he just could, he summoned the Royal Helicopter from it's base to collect him, take him to the polo, and then take him home. He's always harping on about talking to plants, saving the planet and carbon footprints and so he just sets himself up to be thought of as hypocritical and unnecessary.

 

Prince Andrew has slid down the Royal level of importance due to various births and he's now a minor Royal at best but he was found a role as a UK Trade Ambassador just to make him feel important and give him something to do. That fell apart when it was pointed out that he had developed a dubious friend list which contained an American paedophile. I'm not really sure what he does at the moment. 

 

The Jeremy Corbyn view on Royalty is well known and he wants to scrap it.

 

A-Z Corbyn Policies (Telegraph)

 

However Corbyn concedes that The Monarchy has a high approval rating and scrapping it would not be on his immediate radar if elected. His priority is 'social justice'.

[Ubique]

I will put my cards on the table and say that I am a supporter of the Royal Family -I would hate to see Blair ,Cameron or Balls etc voted in as President of this Country.

 

I agree fully that there are a number of minor Royals that should consider their position. " The don't you know who I am " syndrome must change .

[Roger]

I will put my cards on the table and say that I am a supporter of the Royal Family 

 

There is a very big list of Royals ... 

 

 

Duke of Kent ... Does Wimbledon and very little else that's visible to you and me .... He is a Grand Master in the Freemasons tho ... His wife has been missing in action for ages .... She withdrew from Royal Appearances after some ill health. 

 

I don't think you can buy into the Royalty support thing as a general yes or no. The list of hangers on is endless. The current people to worry about are just The Queen, Charles, William/Wife and their son George .... The rest are just flying around in the flim flam of the media circus. 

 

And, of course, they don't wield any power that is acknowledged. 

[greenknight]

There is a very big list of Royals ...

 

 

Duke of Kent ... Does Wimbledon and very little else that's visible to you and me .... He is a Grand Master in the Freemasons tho ... His wife has been missing in action for ages .... She withdrew from Royal Appearances after some ill health.

 

I don't think you can buy into the Royalty support thing as a general yes or no. The list of hangers on is endless. The current people to worry about are just The Queen, Charles, William/Wife and their son George .... The rest are just flying around in the flim flam of the media circus.

 

And, of course, they don't wield any power that is acknowledged.

 

Sorry mate but you missed Harry...he's done his time in the forces and those that served with him have huge respect. Without the shackles and restrictions this Royal would have spent more time on the front line. He has my admiration and for lots of different reasons. Aye

[Roger]

Sorry mate but you missed Harry...he's done his time in the forces and those that served with him have huge respect. Without the shackles and restrictions this Royal would have spent more time on the front line. He has my admiration and for lots of different reasons. Aye

 

I never missed him off at all. He is on a different part of their Family Tree and so is not a Major Player in the big Scheme of things. I can't comment on his work that we have all read about .... It's good that people who worked with him are saying good things .... What more can I say? 

[Roger]

I will add that the 1999 House of Lords Act  weeded out a fair few people who might end up in the Lords due to a quirk of birth ..... I think that when our current Queen expires (hopefully not soon) then there will be a massive debate going on .... 

[Ubique]

Think it's slightly off post , I think that Roger is the secret BBC Royal correspondent ..

[Roger]

Russia welcomes Jeremy Corbyn in Labour leadership contest Fyodor Lukyanov, a key associate close to the Russian foreign ministry, says Russia would welcome a leader like Jeremy Corbyn after leftwinger suggests Britain should have closer ties with the country

 

 

Russia would welcome Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, a key associate linked to the Russian foreign ministry has said.

 

It comes after the leftwinger hinted that he would want to form a closer relationship between Britain and Russia.

 

Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor of the journal "Russia in Global Affairs" and considered very close to the Russian foreign ministry, said of Mr Corbyn: "I think Russia would certainly be pleased to see such a person as the head of either major party. But my intuition tells me it is not very likely."

 

Mr Corbyn told the Russia Today news channel that he wanted Britain to work closer with its international opponents and treat them with more respect.

 

Telegraph

No surprise Putin would welcome Corbyn as a leader considering all those US and EU sanctions he's suffering from at the moment after that Ukraine stuff and the passenger plane being shot down. I suppose he would also like that Alexander Litvinenko stuff to get kicked into the long grass.

[Roger]

Shadow frontbench posts under Corbyn 'would be two thirds empty'

 

Shadow cabinet ministers told the newspaper the party would be left in a “laughable†position because only approximately 30 MPs would be willing to serve on his frontbench.

 

“You always have to vote with the whip [as a minister]. If the whip is now in favour of leaving Nato, of a completely new policy on Trident … I just cannot see how many people will be prepared to accept that responsibility,†one shadow cabinet source said.

 

At the moment there are some 70 MPs serving on the frontbench teams. 

 

The report comes ahead of the deadline for registering to vote in the Labour leadership election today.

 

Simon Danczuk has become the fourth Labour MP to call for the contest to be paused while allegations of ‘infiltration’ of the party by other groups are investigated. 

 

 

Politics Home

 

Seems pretty laughable that Labour would expect us to vote them in to run the Country when already 4 of their own MP's don't even trust them to run a reliable vote to elect their own leader! 

[Roger]

Even if you hate me, please don’t take Labour over the cliff edge

 

 

The Labour party is in danger more mortal today than at any point in the over 100 years of its existence. I say this as someone who led the party for 13 years and has been a member for more than 40. The leadership election has turned into something far more significant than who is the next leader. It is now about whether Labour remains a party of government.

 

The Guardian

 

Of course The Labour Party consists of people who have unswerving Labour stances .... Like Corbyn .... Or Blair ~ who manipulated the Policies to attract centre type votes. 

 

Labour need to decide where they want to be. They either have to have Labour Policies or sell out to adjust their Policies on a whim to attract the popular vote. 

 

I'm glad the activists are voting. The Revolutionaries have some sort of voice there. The Tory-Lite people won't be arsed as much to influence the vote. 

 

Labour are reaping what they sowed .... A crazy voting system of their making. I wouldn't trust them to run a raffle at a village fete! 

[Roger]

Liz Kendall: choosing Jeremy Corbyn would be Labour's resignation letter

 

Labour will be submitting its “resignation letter to the British people as a serious party of government†if it elects Jeremy Corbyn as leader, Liz Kendall has said.

 

In an interview on the BBC, Kendall argued that Corbyn – the leftwinger who has become the surprise runaway favourite in the party’s leadership election – was advocating policies that would lead to certain electoral defeat for Labour.

 

Guardian

 

Safe to say that Liz Kendall won't be sitting on the Shadow Front Bench if Corbyn was elected as leader. In fact who would be prepared to sit on it? I'm struggling to think of anyone credible who would! 

[Roger]

Jeremy Corbyn to apologise for Iraq war on behalf of Labour if he becomes leader

 

 

The Labour leadership frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn is to issue a public apology over the Iraq war on behalf of the party if he becomes leader next month, a move Tony Blair repeatedly resisted.

 

In a statement to the Guardian, Corbyn said he would apologise to the British people for the “deception†in the runup to the 2003 invasion and to the Iraqi people for their subsequent suffering.

 

Guardian

[Roger]

Are Labour MPs worried about Jeremy Corbyn?

 

 

  

 

But shadow cabinet members Chuka Umunna and Tristram Hunt are already setting up a group called Labour for the Common Good to pursue alternative ideas and policies.

 

I think Chuka bailed out of the election process early on as he wanted to avoid the heat in the kitchen. Chuka and Tristram are obviously devoid of current ideas as they are setting up a group to dream some up! All just to get elected. Have they no die hard Labour Policies they want to promote? 

 

bbc

[greenknight]

Yes funny that Roger. If my memory serves me right I remember the Conservative party floundering a bit and I'm sure that David Cameron was pictured everywhere on his bicycle.Oh how his green credentials have been thrown out the window or perhaps lost like so many papers dropping out the back of his rucksack.. However to be fare there has been some changes after all the relationship between the Home Secretary and the national police forces have changed. In times gone by they walked the streets hand in hand but today it's as remote a relationship as policing and the use of ANPR and video cameras.

[megilleland]

The Guardian today:

Labour has duty to resolve 'mess' of hospital PFI deals, says Jeremy Corbyn

 

Labour should take responsibility for resolving “the mess†left behind by private finance initiative (PFI) deals used to fund the building of hospitals under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Jeremy Corbyn has said.

 

In an article for the Guardian, the Labour leadership frontrunner said the NHS is now paying the price for New Labour having been “cowed by the press, and duped by the money men†when it used private finance for building health projects.

 

“Labour has a duty to remove the PFI burden from the NHS – this really was our mess, and we have to clear it up,†Corbyn said.

 

The Islington North MP said that the legacy of PFI deals – where money is borrowed by private constructors to fund the building of hospitals and facilities – was that some hospitals were suffering under a weight of debt.

 

He said that there was a case for Labour not only to draw a line under the PFI deals of previous governments but also to bail out such hospitals.

 

“In opposition we need to campaign for a fund to be set up to bailout NHS trusts from PFI schemes forced upon them. This will save our NHS, rebuild our economic credibility and most importantly, save lives,†he said.

 

Corbyn praised Sadiq Khan, a contender to be Labour’s London mayoral candidate, for saying he would consider buying up the debt owed by the capital’s hospitals to private companies under PFI. He said this was a good start but any such offer should ideally be extended to the whole country’s hospitals.

 

Under the coalition government, seven NHS trusts had to be given access to a special bailout fund of £1.5bn in 2012. South London healthcare trust, which runs three hospitals in south-east London, also had to be placed in administration because of its PFI obligations.

 

(more)

 

Maybe Jeremy Corbyn can also look at Herefordshire Council's PFI deals costing us an arm and leg! Jesse Norman has in the past highlighted the way these deals are managed against the public interest, but little has changed.