Labour leadership

[Spanky Longhorn]

I can't believe a former garage DJ would have done anything the tabloids would be interested in

 

[Wilf]

twitter is suggesting financial issues - tax perhaps. which seems quite specific.

But shurely, the 'aspirational' don't pay tax?

 

[FridgeMagnet]

so we may hear this Sunday

N.B. that is not "the" John Simpson, despite being called thejohnsimpson, it is "a" John Simpson, but he is a Times journalist. This Twitter is very confusing.

 

[Sprocket.]

He has realised he cannot get the support from the party for leadership so going to stand for Mayor of London instead!

 

[Diamond]

Apparently going to be a big scandal revealed over the weekend...

 

[Wilf]

I vaguely remember an excruciating Saturday night tv prog, something like 'confessions', where audience members won a prize if they owned up to the right secret crime (that the host already knew about): 'errr... errrr... was it that shedload of coke I did?' - No! 'Okay, erm, could have been that oranges, tights and kettle flex thing?' - No, not that one. 'Oh, SHIT, so that means you know about the £300,000 of undeclared income!' - No, not that one, it was the much worse one...

 

[brogdale]

I'm guessing that's "bad" in a bad way, not a good way.

 

[ska invita]

whatever the story is im more interested in who pulled the trigger and fed the story out now ~ chuka could quite easily have been the next PM ~ the story no doubt has been in the air for years ~ feels like the establishment acting as gatekeeper ~ if it was just someone with a grudge theres no reason why not to have released the story earlier... have to wait and see what its all about...

 

[Maurice Picarda]

whatever the story is im more interested in who pulled the trigger and fed the story out now ~ chuka could quite easily have been the next PM ~ the story no doubt has been in the air for years ~ feels like the establishment acting as gatekeeper ~ if it was just someone with a grudge theres no reason why not to have released the story earlier... have to wait and see what its all about...

It's a difficult one. The Labour Party is generally speaking a close-knit and collegiate family. Comrades. All for one and one for all. Who could possibly want to scupper a plausible and rightish leadership candidate?

 

[billy_bob]

My parents are Daily Mail readers and disillusioned Labour supporters who have voted socialist before and UKIP at different times, they're not scared bigots.

I talk to Daily Mail and Sun readers most days who don't seem to have very different opinions to Mirror readers and definitely are nicer people than the sort of wankers who comment on Guardian articles - would you think more of her of she did a CIF piece?

No, probably not.

I wasn't slaggin your ma and da. Both my nans read the Mail and as a pretty direct result both had a share of daft, ill-informed views about things/people/groups of people they had no real experience of, but they were, of course, otherwise lovely people. None of that stops me from recognising that that's fairly obviously the way the DM sees it's own demographic and the best way to appeal to them. The fact that a prospective leader of the Labour party chooses that outlet rather than another does say something - it reinforces the fact that the modern Labour leadership and those who aspire to be in it would rather pander to narratives of fear and bigotry, and right wing media in general, than challenge them.

 

[Dogsauce]

whatever the story is im more interested in who pulled the trigger and fed the story out now ~ chuka could quite easily have been the next PM ~ the story no doubt has been in the air for years ~ feels like the establishment acting as gatekeeper ~ if it was just someone with a grudge theres no reason why not to have released the story earlier... have to wait and see what its all about...

It'd be potentially more damaging to Labour if the story came out in a year rather than now, so I'd suspect a source within the party rather than a competent opponent. Either that or the tabloids all knew and one wanted to get in there first.

 

[ska invita]

I hope it is a coke story so we can again post picture of Gideon charged dancing to ABCs Gold whilst at his doms flat

fuck it, lets do it either way

 

[treelover]

McCluskey says on newsnight that he'll be opposing any attempts to disaffiliate from labour in Unite julys conference

So, posters on here were right, Len was bluffing when he said they may set up a new party if labour 'failed' in the election, when is it failure for Len?

 

[ViolentPanda]

tory crimes

He played drums on the first Clash album, didn't he?

 

[billy_bob]

which goes back to electoral realities. If Labour alienates the Scared Bigots they lose, if they appeal to them they might stand a chance. Some sort of alternative strategy- nakedly leftist social cohesion and solidarity- is an act of faith that hasn't been tried in generations because none of the strategists think it would be successful. The mild stuff Red Ed managed, was savaged for and then failed with, tends to give credence to that.

No inspirational leftist is going to appear, win the ballot and then lead Labour to victory in the next election. Trying to re-establish credibility with the Scared Bigot vote is about the only thing the candidates can aspire to.

I know what you're saying, but I don't agree that Milliband's failure does demonstrate that there's no point trying an alternative strategy. His 'alternative' was piss-weak and unconvincing, and not enough to paper over the 'we'd be slightly less mean than them' reality of what they were offering. So it was the worst of all worlds, which is presumably why they lost votes in both directions.

Appealing beyond the core vote is obviously necessary to win elections but doesn't have to revolve around pandering to people's worst natures - not on either side of the political spectrum in my view, unless left vs right is nothing more than good vs evil.

 

[treelover]

I caught her BBC news interview about five times over the course of yesterday evening and I still don't think I could pick her out of a line-up. And she's been in the shadow cabinet - shows you what a pointless bunch they've been over the past five years.

Absolutely, 'The Invisibles'

 

[agricola]

whatever the story is im more interested in who pulled the trigger and fed the story out now ~ chuka could quite easily have been the next PM ~ the story no doubt has been in the air for years ~ feels like the establishment acting as gatekeeper ~ if it was just someone with a grudge theres no reason why not to have released the story earlier... have to wait and see what its all about...

I suppose it depends what this scandal is (and which paper it appears in), but I doubt that this is the establishment playing at being gatekeeper - Umunna was probably intended to be the establishment candidate.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I hope it is a coke story so we can again post picture of Gideon charged dancing to ABCs Gold whilst at his doms flat

fuck it, lets do it either way

Spandau Ballet's "Gold", you drongo!

 

[treelover]

If there is one thing that Labour have failed most at, it is in setting the direction of debate. All they seem to do is attempt to reflect what they see as the political mood at any given time, not realising that as a national political party they have the power to influence what the mood is. The result is that the narrative is shaped by the right, who understand fully the need to mould political opinion. That is why their next leader will just be a nodding donkey for middle England.

Blair and New Labour certainly shaped the debate around social security/welfare, with all the baleful consequences we are now seeing.

 

[DJWrongspeed]

Just saw this on the Guardian feed

"Plus if Chuka does run for the mayoralty against Sadiq it will provide the press with endless Chuka/Khan headlines."

 

[treelover]

This is an interesting development....

23m ago10:10

Here is the complete text of the letter from first-time Labour MPs setting out their hopes for the Labour leadership (see 9.51)

Having arrived in Westminster as newly-elected Labour MPs after speaking to tens of thousands of voters during our election campaigns, we know how important it is for the future of our Party to move forward with an agenda that best serves the everyday needs of people, families and communities and that is prepared to challenge the notion of austerity and invest in public services.

Labour must now reach out to the five million voters lost since 1997, and those who moved away from Labour in Scotland and elsewhere on 7 May, renewing their hope that politics does matter and Labour is on their side.

As we seek a new leader of the Labour Party, we are needing one who looks forward and will challenge an agenda of cuts, take on the powerful vested interests of big business and will set out an alternative to austerity – not one who will draw back to the ‘New Labour’ creed of the past.

Now is the time Labour needs a leader who’s in tune with the collective aspiration of ordinary people and communities across Britain, meeting the need for secure employment paying decent wages, homes that people can call their own, strong public services back in public hands again and the guarantee of a real apprenticeship or university course with a job at the end of it. From restoring Sure Start to providing dignity and a good standard of living in retirement, these are the aspirations key to real Labour values today and will re-engage people across our country in the years to come.

We look forward to engaging in the debate surrounding the Labour leadership in the weeks ahead to secure our Party as being best able to meet the challenges faced by ordinary people at this time.

Signed:

• Richard Burgon (Leeds East)
• Louise Haigh (Sheffield Heeley)
• Harry Harpham (Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
• Imran Hussain (Bradford East)
• Clive Lewis (Norwich South)
• Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford and Eccles)
• Rachael Maskell (York Central)
• Kate Osamor (Edmonton)
• Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood)
• Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central)

Well done newbies.​

Surprised Naz Shah(Bradford West) didn't sign that, not too many names really, but positive stuff.

 

[billy_bob]

However since the night of our defeat last week I have been subject to the added level of pressure that comes with being a leadership candidate.

I have not found it to be a comfortable experience

Wouldn't you have more respect for him if he'd just out and admitted "I caught that Jan Moir going through me bins last night. Fuck this!"

 

[brogdale]

He played drums on the first Clash album, didn't he?

Indeed. Terrence Chimes.

 

[treelover]

Now LP M.P's are putting forward Keir Starmer as a possible leadership candidate, the man who brought in the ten year tariff for benefit fraud.

 

[brogdale]

Now LP M.P's are putting forward Keir Starmer as a possible leadership candidate, the man who brought in the ten year tariff for benefit fraud.

I saw the Bankers' Baron Myners saying that on Newsnight, but seriously...are real MPs actually saying that? He's only been an MP for 1 week.

 

[frogwoman]

Now LP M.P's are putting forward Keir Starmer as a possible leadership candidate, the man who brought in the ten year tariff for benefit fraud.

Link?

 

[treelover]

Another public schoolboy as well

though ex Socialist Organiser

 

[treelover]

My colleague Matthew Weaver has this story on Labour activists already calling for Keir Starmer to run for leader in the wake of Chuka Umunna’s decision to step down.

He writes:

An online campaign has been launched to try to persuade the former director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer to stand for the leadership of the Labour party, only a week after he became an MP.

Starmer, who was elected to the former health secretary Frank Dobson’s old seat of Holborn and St Pancras, on an increased Labour majority, had been tipped as a potential leader of the party.

Disappointment at the current leadership contenders has prompted a group of Labour activists to urge Starmer to stand. On Thursday night, they set up a Facebook page called Sir Keir Starmer QC KCB for Labour leader, which has already attracted more than 199 members.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics...evolution-politics-live-blog#comment-52219900

 

[brogdale]

Link?

It's "activists", not MPs.

Yet.

 

[belboid]

It's "activists", not MPs.

Yet.

aye, and he only joined the party relatively recently, it seems. Was he barred from doing so as DPP?