The Political Thread

[Professor Bear]

Justice now too expensive for UK citizens.

[Modern Panther]

Stuck in traffic in Kent?  That's clearly the fault of immigrants trying to get into Britain, rather than the striking french workers who are setting up illegal roadblocks and blockading ports.  What we need is a strong government which can make a show of getting tough on immigration just before a referendum on Europe.  Best to avoid any mention of how a small number of French citizens are to blame.   Trust your government.

[COMMANDO FORCES]

It's a bit of both really, as many times when an illegal immigrant has died on the train, that closes that for hours, if not half a day.
The striking French closing an international border crossing, yes that's illegal and causing chaos in the county as well.

My town is gridlocked at certain times of the day but it's much worse for the people living to the east of us. It's an absolute farce with both countries blaming each other for the problem.

I actually get bored watching the local news because it's the same thing every night, for what seems like ages now!

[Grugz]

it seems to me the French have been doing nowt about them for ages now including providing help for the genuinely needy. I wonder how many others have got the blinkers on to get to blighty cos we're a soft touch? surprised the French just don't give them a boat to come over here.

[Banners]

So, has anyone signed up to vote in the Labour leadership election?

[Professor Bear]

Yes.

[ZenArcade]

Me too and Bear and I don't even live within the applicable area. That is Labour have no presence in NI Z

[Jim_Campbell]

Yep. I'm not convinced by Corbyn's agenda, but I AM convinced that democracy is better served by having parties whose policies can actually be distinguished from each other. Plus, TBH, when I hear the fatuous, self-serving shit that pours from the mouths of the other candidates, I'm moved to feelings of homicidal rage.

Cheers

Jim

[ZenArcade]

Burnham and his two cloned female 'opponents' are facets of the same polished turd that modern day machine politics extrudes through its fear and hate encrusted clocea maxima. Corbyn for all his myriad faults is at least perceivable by the man/woman on the Clapham omnibus. Z

[Banners]

Yep. I'm not convinced by Corbyn's agenda, but I AM convinced that democracy is better served by having parties whose policies can actually be distinguished from each other.

Spot on—pretty much my thoughts exactly.

I'd been thinking of signing up in order to vote for Jeremy Corbyn for a while, but finally took the plunge when I saw this video of him sat there in his shorts and woolly jumper, both looking and talking like a real person. Furthermore, he has done more in just a few weeks to articulate a credible Labour viewpoint than I heard in the entire lead up to the election (or indeed for many years).

I'm sure the other candidates are lovely people, but they're not saying anything distinctive (nor indeed, hardly saying anything at all) that seems to me would better the country in any way. JC has lots of ideas and talks directly—from the heart and off the cuff. I don't agree with all of his ideas, but it's a great discussion to be part of.

I see my hero Ken Loach won't get to vote after reading the small print which states you have to "sign up to Labour's aims and values". That's the problem—since Miliband came in I've never known what those aims and values are supposed to be. Now, Corbyn personifies a clear set of values I can engage with, whether I ultimately decide to agree with them or not.

If JC gets in, it's maybe unlikely he would win in 2020, but the country will hopefully get a better and more credible opposition in the meantime—one which may temper the Tories and hold them to account a bit more, making things a bit less shitty. And come the next election, well who knows—what a debate we'll be having across the country, between two vastly different ideologies each with its own strengths and weaknesses. This can only be good for democracy.

And hey, if JC gets to be leader and it all goes wrong, as lots of Labour higher-ups are warning against, well it'll at least have been a progressive bit of social experimentation (and a little bit of fun).

Anyway, saying all that I haven't had a confirmation email yet so expect I'm being vetted by MI5...

[ZenArcade]

That's post of the year material Banners. Z

[Professor Bear]

I'm just curious to see what happens when a Labour politician is running the Labour party.

[Dandontdare]

I keep hearing the argument from the three scabs other candidates  "It doesn't matter if you're right if you're not in power to do anything" - am I the only person who thinks that sounds like a line from some 1980s satire?

I don't think the political strategy of "the tories won so people must like tory policies so if we have tory policies they'll like us" has any long term prospects. Jim's right - even if they don't get elected, in fact ESPECIALLY if the political mood this decade is quite far the other way, democracy needs an opposition that is distinct and opposed, not just hiring the same fucking pollsters to abandon all principles to appeal to the same demographic.



EDIT: spent about half an hour editing that and trying to find a particular Guardian quote about Ken Loach being banned, and Banners beat me to it and said it all so much better.

Come the revolution, he'll be first against the wall.

[Old Tankie]

I think it would be wonderful if Corbyn were to win the Labour leadership election contest for two reasons.  One, people will have a genuine choice between Tory and Labour.  Two, Labour will lose the next general election.

[Jimmy Baker's Assistant]

I keep hearing the argument from the three scabs other candidates  "It doesn't matter if you're right if you're not in power to do anything" - am I the only person who thinks that sounds like a line from some 1980s satire?

Not me, I fear it's a perfectly valid point. However, it's also not much of an argument for Labour supporters to vote against what they believe in.

That's why I think Corbyn is going to win easily, but I doubt he'll even get to fight the next general election. There are too many sitting Labour MPs who are to the right of him, and I suspect he'll be toppled just as soon as they calculate they can prevent Jezza from being immediately re-appointed.