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Now, Corbyn’s more enthusiastic followers may be over-idealistic, insensitive, immune to persuasion, rather too ready to see base motives in their critics, prepared to shrug off their leader’s misdeeds, and politically naive, but they are not, repeat not, repeat NOT the reincarnation of a Nazi paramilitary movement.
Foster was certainly foolish to use the term, particularly if he used the original German and that isn't the Mail mischief making.
Also very unwise and counterproductive to allow the Mail to ramp up division and hysteria in the Labour party.
The sub-editor has put together the headline to look like a direct quote, which wasn't actually said.
There is truth in some of what Foster says though, not involving stormtroopers, shame it gets lost because of the rest.
He wrote about the same last year, when standing against Kendall, Cooper and Burnham.
Then he said it was building on Blair's legacy.
Radio 4 said he has left out the reference to Blair this time, probably for obvious reasons !
I was reading the local rag, looking for some football news, when I noticed an article about local MP Margaret Becket. As usual she was attacking the Labour Party not the Tories but the article noted that JC was giving a couple of speeches in Derbyshire today. I decided to mosey along and have a listen. There were several hundred people there and proceedings were hosted by Chris Williamson who used to be MP for Derby North. Much-missed Rebecca_Riots2 was a fan of his because of the work he did on the badger cull.
After a few speeches by some local supporters, it was time for the man himself. He ranged over many subjects including Trident and climate change and emphasised education. He received many enthusiastic rounds of applause from the large crowd.
He spoke about Dennis Skinner’s remarks about Shirebrook and how it had changed from a mining community to a site for an exploitative employer. At this point a young woman in the audience collapsed and JC had to interrupt his speech to call for first aiders and first responders to help her which they did. He carried on pointing out that this was an example of community in action. I hope she’ll be alright but she was taken away in an ambulance.
He finished his speech and was given a rousing reception by the audience. I like the simple things about Corbyn. The way he said he was supporting the RMT action for example, (compared to Ed M squirming desperately trying not to answer the question of whether he supported industrial action whenever he was interviewed during a dispute). JC always gives straightforward answers when interviewed and that’s refreshing in a politician.
Then after the event he stood around chatting, listening to people. Imagine a politician doing that. Then he dashed off to catch the train to Matlock which will be a nice journey on a sunny day like today. I shook his hand and congratulated him on his speech afterwards and he thanked me for coming. He’s got something; I was genuinely impressed.
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many - they are few."
Jim Waterson @jimwaterson 42m42 minutes ago
"There are no no-go areas for us" says Corbyn from Matlock bandstand, explaining why he's out in a safe Tory seat.
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
Pauline Lane @Antonineone1 45m45 minutes ago
#VictoriaLIVE
Abuse....?
Apparently I am...
Attack dog
Like ISIS
Jihadist
Stormtrooper
A Moonie
A thug
I'm an OAP who supports Corbyn
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
Jeremy Corbyn MP @jeremycorbyn 24m24 minutes ago
Enjoyed the robust debate on #VictoriaLIVE this morning and pleased we helped undecided voters make up their minds ↓
Pete @doyle2718 1h
#VictoriaLIVE: I'm not sure this worked out the way you hoped it would.
A SUPPORTER of Owen Smith shouted obscenities at Labour activists who voted to support Jeremy Corbyn at a local party nominations meeting this week.
The incident took place on Thursday evening at a meeting of the Barrow and Furness Constituency Labour Party to decide which candidate to nominate in the leadership contest.
Acquiescent Labour MPs didn’t sacrifice their law and teaching careers and spend all those hours at constituency meetings only to discover they would have to follow a proper Socialist. My God, the man would get them all hung and anyway, hadn’t Tony assured them all Socialism was dead? My God, this man Corbyn actually believes in all that stuff about fairness in the workplace and fighting inequality and making Big Business pay and not wanting to, you know, invade other countries while pretending that they are a threat to the security of the realm.
The two men behind this obliteration in Scotland, Jim Murphy and John McTernan, are now being wheeled out to heap criticism on Jeremy Corbyn. While such characters are hailed as political experts and Labour loyalists in much of the mainstream media, you’ll rarely, if ever, find a pundit asking them the question:
"What qualifies you to pass judgement on a Labour leader who has, objectively, achieved more in a year than you have in the last eight?"
The sound of Blairite silence
Owen Smith has become the willing dupe of the Labour right
No matter how hard you listen it’s impossible to hear the Blairite wing of Labour. They have shut up shop. The Progress website looks like it’s being maintained by interns, while there are no official Progress events being held until the day after the leadership election (Angela Eagle and a venture capitalist, since you ask).
Owen Smith, Birmingham hustings:
'I was very disappointed that in my 9 months as Work and Pensions Secretary, you only met with me once. What kind of leadership is that, Jeremy?
JC: '...well actually Owen, we met every week around the Shadow Cabinet table.'
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
AnatolyKasparov wrote:Are you sure you posted this in the right place?
Ha! I'm now absolutely positive that I posted it in the wrong place. I think I mentioned the other day (when some sort of post segregation was mooted) my tendency to forget which thread I'm on when I go from one to another and how I would fall foul of such a set-up.
The team's email from Christine Evangelou this morning has gone down like a cup of cold sick. The final opportunity to appeal to Labour members before ballots drop & all they do is slag off the NEC - almost as if they forgot Corbyn is a member of the NEC ! I know he didn't stay at the meeting to vote against the time rule but still, slagging off the ruling body really isn't a good look.
Jeremy Corbyn promises to kill TTIP, will work in parliament to stop trade deal
The hugely controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership has been hailed as incredibly important by leaders including Obama – but politicians across Europe are quietly suggesting that it may be derailed
Not an 'article', but something posted by another traditional Labour voter on another forums thread discussing the Labour leadership contest that I thought gets the mood of why Corbyn.
" Theres this idea that informs much of the anti-Corbyn sentiment in this thread, that it's mearly student politics, that at best it's middleclass posturing, that what we need is to get an electable leader who can appeal to Middle Britain and isn't Corbyn. It's summed up in the sentiment that 'There's no use being radical, if we don't form the next Government...' and it is repeated in various forms, as if getting rid of Corbyn and getting a 'sensible' leader, who knows how to play the Westminister game, that knows you can't deliver too much but we can change the complexion of the way things are delivered, which will make a real difference to peoples lives and by doing this we are going to make Labour electable, because that has been the lesson of the past post war political period and if we depose Corbyn we just need to repeat it and everything will return to normal. I believe this is mistaken because the real world has changed the political landscape.
To crudely paraphrase the new Labour project. Blair and New Labour thought that if they could appeal to the floating voters, those in the middle, those that decided the outcome of elections, they didn't need to pay too much attention to much of Labour's heartlands because their votes were in the bag, they'd return a dog if it was put up with a Labour rosette on it. And in election terms New Labour were succesful, they were returned to office and on the surface all was well.
But there was discontent bubbling under the surface, many of the economically poorest in Labour heartlands were suffering disproportionately and were begining to feel as if they didn't have a voice, as it was clear the main people to keep sweet were floating voters in the middle and no one was listening to their concerns, people were begining to fall off on the edges and the longer it went on the more people fell. It was under the surface to the main political concerns but began to show up politically in a general apathy for voting in poorer areas, a what's the point attitude, they're all the same. Then in the siren calls of first the BNP but latterly UKIP, no one's listening to us, we will. It was uneven and meant people looking for a voice could be attracted to the far right or anyone appearing to give a voice In Scotland, the need to be heard meant the SNP could position itself to sound radical and pose as a real alternative and destroy the Labour vote overnight.
The public sector has seen decimation of conditions and workers blamed for the cuts they often try to resist. In my own industry firefighting, we have been savaged by cuts and attacks on our conditions. In work fifteen years ago most of my workmates voted Labour, years of cuts meant considerable numbers stopped seeing the point. It was always a Labour Fire Authority attacking us, Turkeys and Xmas comes to mind.
Austerity has made the situation more acute, My real wages have been cut by 23% since the banking crisis. Real wages have risen in most of Europe even in places like Spain and Italy, they've risen 24% in Poland 12% on average, yet in the UK ours have declined on average 10%, more in the public sector and between a 1/4 and 1/5 amongst firefighters. I work nights and weekends all sorts of unsocial hours, ruin my health breathing in all sorts of cancer inducing nastys, and still pick up around £1500 a month Ive been picking up since 2008. We've seen our stations reduced from 42 to 28. It's not suprising many of us are looking for our voices to be heard. There's a lot of support for Corbyn on my station amonst those that had stopped voting because it's not worth it. Austerity has been destroying our lives yet many feel Labour had stopped speaking for us.
Of couse there are some ex revolutionaries and reinvigorated lefties amongst Corbyns supporters but to play the reds under the bed card is at best disingenious. These are the young and people cut off from feeling a part of politics and if Corbyn can't win an election the other side of it is going back to the status quo of trying to appeal to the middle ground is equally unlikely to suceed. A serious debate needed to happen and all I see is shit flinging. The likes of Steve Rotheram who supports Corbyn doesn't fit the picture peddled by some on here as student politicians playing out a fantasy any more than many of my workmates who support Corbyn. Purely as an individual Corbyn may not be the most switched on leader but the reaction of the Parliamentry party after the referendum leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
I am sorry, but anyone supporting Owen Smith after watching Question Time, is supporting a lying, snide deicetful individual. He just lied about his prevent strategy statements, barefaced, after a disgraceful smear about anti-semitism.
Watching Owen Smith’s appearance on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning, what struck me most was how much consensus there now is inside Labour on bread-and-butter issues – on borrowing to invest, rejecting austerity and creating a more progressive taxation system where the rich pay their share. There will have to be debates about how far that agenda of investment goes, and debates too on issues where there is genuine disagreement, but as a movement we are perfectly capable of resolving our differences democratically.
As we mark Jeremy Corbyn’s first year in office, and enter the final weeks of this year’s campaign, we should do so in the spirit of optimism, determination and, above all, unity.
Edited, to add a quote & remove a Zen symbol,
I wonder what the 'consensus' Labour view would be by now, if Corbyn hadn't got elected last year & what state party would be in.
