That sort of depends on what you count as necessary to be a functional government. On some counts, I think the answer is "an extremely long time"citizenJA wrote:How much time does Corbyn need to create a functional Labour government?ohsocynical wrote:Debbie Abrahams @Debbie_abrahams 1h1 hour ago
The govt' has scrapped #maintenancegrants today & replaced w/ student loans, plunging students into further debt.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... owen-smith" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Blanchflower, who is advocating a 5% cut in VAT, also said Smith had been better at consulting businesses and economists in three weeks than Corbyn’s leadership had over the last nine months.
When Corbyn snubbed Angela Eagle for the shadow chancellor role, in favour of his friend, McDonnell, when he passed over someone who merited the role on ability in favour of someone from his own clique, I felt he wasn't very serious about reaching out to the rest of the party and that he wasn't very interested in forming a credible government in waiting. He hasn't even made much use of Andy Burnham, whose loyalty to the membership's mandate is beyond question. He hasn't made much use of the economist's panel either. He has prioritised attending 3rd party rallies and generally doing much of what he did before.
I personally don't think Corbyn is what the Labour party needs. I don't subscribe to the idea that the sky will fall in on democracy within the Labour party if Corbyn isn't re-elected any more than I subscribe to the idea that the party will split unless Smith is successful. They are two sides of the same coin, laying unknowable consequences at the door of those voting to influence (or explain their own) choice. RobertSnozers isn't going to vote for Smith because he worked for big pharma. That's a reason I can understand and respect. I'm not going to vote for Corbyn, because I can't trust the economic or political judgement of someone who, for a long time, wanted an EU referendum and supported Brexit, albeit he had a last minute change of mind. I prefer the soft left of Miliband anyway, which is where Smith seems to be. In essence, what I'm suggesting is that anyone with a vote should simply vote for whoever they like most, not because of what they think may happen if they make one choice or another. We cannot know and it will not be any individual's "fault" if any particular scenario turns out badly. What will be, will be.