Ted Striker
Foot's on the other hand
For someone who (to the point of criticism) was collaborative and consultative in his decision/policy making...Corbyn the Dictator is quite a strawman.
I think it might be fair to at least take a Owen Jones view - Corbyn pre-makeover made things very difficult.
He changed. He softened (for example) the Nuclear issue (quite brilliantly/admirably to maintain his integrity) and worked on his delivery. Something changed with him.
(One thing I'll be keen to see is PMQ's. He was getting bullied week in week out. No one wants to see that from their leader)
There's a fair few revisionists sneering at the non-believers (not the politicians - hang the PLP traitors ofc), taking the view "I knew all along he would come good and perform one of the biggest upsets in modern political polling". With many, at best it was a refusal to criticise him because he was the best of a bad bunch (and not a Blairite) and "fuck voting, the government always wins" so the hypothesized annihilation of Labour was almost welcome (with the added benefit of pining it on some revenge for the Blair years/Influence).
Everyone lost their nerve in the last few days. Everyone.
The nonsense that Corbyn was bullied at PMQs each week was a media / PlP w*nkers construct - it didn't take much to watch some of it and see through it.
And The idea " he changed " is the bollocks being pedalled by back-pedalling backsliders all over the shop - there was no makeover - yr one step away from Ben Goldacres " yeah, but he listened to us, and put on a suit' .
There are global socio economic tectonic plates shifting slowly here, with Corbyns comparative electoral success an indicator of it - it's not about parliamentary punch n Judy shows or imagined ' changes in delivery' from high visibility individuals .
Everyone lost their nerve in the last few days. Everyone.
But he had to be able to deliver that rhetoric...and he has shown he can: "Look at me. I've got youth on my side."I suspect that something that is going to become more apparent as the story of the campaign is written is the influence of organisers from the Sanders campaign. This influence is really evident in the improvement in media output, the snappiness of the rhetoric from Corbyn and others and the role of youth canvassers.
Everyone lost their nerve in the last few days. Everyone.
Yup. I spent Thursday coming to terms with the fact of a Labour wipeout and sat down to listen to the exit poll already feeling resigned and thoroughly depressed. Which of course made the subsequent mood swing all the more pronounced and ensured I got almost no sleep that night!Psychological defence wasn't it. It was going to hurt and after recent electoral surprises everyone felt the need to prepare themselves. I was more nervous at the countdown to the exit poll than I ever remember being before.
Good selection here:
Crawling back to Corbyn: The Labour rebels eating their words after benefiting from Jeremy Corbyn's popularity
They've got three outs:
1) It was about rejecting (hard) Brexit
2) It was due to the Tory's/May's failures
3) Labour still lost it
The poor performance of the LibDems and strong performance of the Tories (despite everything) put 1) & 2) to rest and the situation is much more interesting and volatile than a simple Labour loss. They are basically dividing into realists (eg. Chukka Ummuna) and lunatics (eg. Chris Leslie).
Really enjoying Yvette Cooper's pitch for shadow home secretary, though.
Good selection here:
Crawling back to Corbyn: The Labour rebels eating their words after benefiting from Jeremy Corbyn's popularity
They've got three outs:
1) It was about rejecting (hard) Brexit
2) It was due to the Tory's/May's failures
3) Labour still lost it
The poor performance of the LibDems and strong performance of the Tories (despite everything) put 1) & 2) to rest and the situation is much more interesting and volatile than a simple Labour loss. They are basically dividing into realists (eg. Chukka Ummuna) and lunatics (eg. Chris Leslie).
Really enjoying Yvette Cooper's pitch for shadow home secretary, though.
He should invite your mates in the DUP inWhile I think that JC had to widen his Shadow Cabinet, I am very uneasy about Yvette Cooper being invited back in.
She is the former Employment Secretary who invited ATOS to undertake the brutal medical tests, created the Kafkaesque 'invisible wheelchair' test(Google it) and generally created a much more unpleasant regime at the DWP which meant misery and fear for disabled and sick people. Then, what will happen to fantastic Shadow Ministers(and real people) like Angela Raynor and Rebecca Long Bailey? Are they going to be thrown under a bus to make way for the 'moderates' etc.
Everyone lost their nerve in the last few days. Everyone.
I agree that Yyvette Cooper is a despicable wanker for the reasons you outlined, but she hasn't been "invited back in" to the Shadow Cabinet by Corbyn. All thats happened is that the Telegraph has quoted "sources close to Yvette Cooper" as saying she would "consider" being shadow home secretary if it was offered to her (not just a role in the Shadow Cabinet, Shadow Home Secretary ffs!). Its a load of rubbish.While I think that JC had to widen his Shadow Cabinet, I am very uneasy about Yvette Cooper being invited back in.
She is the former Employment Secretary who invited ATOS to undertake the brutal medical tests, created the Kafkaesque 'invisible wheelchair' test(Google it) and generally created a much more unpleasant regime at the DWP which meant misery and fear for disabled and sick people. Then, what will happen to fantastic Shadow Ministers(and real people) like Angela Raynor and Rebecca Long Bailey? Are they going to be thrown under a bus to make way for the 'moderates' etc.