Starmer Gamble?

[Metalmicky]

Is KS's new declaration a gamble.... or will it unite?

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/starmer-tells-labour-left-back-me-or-leave-343627/

[SydneyRover]

What does the OP think and why does the OP think he's done it?

[Metalmicky]

What does the OP think and why does the OP think he's done it?

The OP thinks it's a gamble and the OP thinks he is attempting to unite.

[Glyn_Wigley]

It's a gamble to say anti-semitism isn't welcome in the party any more?

[Sprotyrover]

I see Corbyn won't be allowed to stand as a Labour Candidate.

[wilts rover]

Since becoming leader Starmer has done absolutely nothing to unite all factions of the Labour party. In fact he has done the exact opposite - anyone reading the off-topic section of this forum would already know that - so why anyone thinks this might do so is beyond me.

[BillyStubbsTears]

https://mobile.twitter.com/TheNewsAgents/status/1625883538435235841

There we have it. What I've been saying for 7 years.

"Corbyn was, in his heart of hearts, a Brexiter."

I will go to my grave certain that if Labour had had a leader in 2016 prepared to loudly make the case for remaining in the EU, we'd still be in the EU.

Corbyn tried to claim that he was a Remain supporter because he knew the Labour party membership and voters were overwhelmingly pro-Remain.

But it was obvious to anyone with their eyes open that he was in favour of Brexit. Of course he was. He'd spent his entire political life decrying the EU. There's one thing Corbyn values above all else and that is remaining true to the tenets of Bennism. He was NEVER going to campaign to keep us in the EU. At least he was never going to put heart and soul into it.

So there was that cringingly awful display the very night before the vote. Instead of passionately calling to working class people not to cut their own noses, he spent his night on a webcast of an obscure American socialist organisation, squirming in his seat as he was grilled on why he hadn't come out explicitly for Leave, and explaining that, while there was a strong Left case for leaving the EU (and I shit you not about the next bit) plastic bags dropped into the sea off Colombia can end up in Japan, so we need transnational organisations.

Then at 6am the day after the vote, he was up at sparrowfart on Westminster Green, agitatedly insisting that Article 50 be invoked immediately.

He pulled off one of the biggest con jobs in recent politics, convincing the gullible on the Left that he was in favour of Remain and bore no responsibility for the Leave win.

[Branton Red]

Starmer's aim isn't to unite both wings of the Labour Party.

His aim, having secured a currently unassailable position as leader, is to win the next General Election. Then to shape the country to his political beliefs as he has done his party.

His message is not really aimed at Leftists party members.

It's aimed at Centrist voters.

He's distancing himself from Corbyn and saying to swing voters - you can trust me/Labour to run the country without veering to far Left policies.

He's proving himself to be a very canny political operator. In spite of his duplicitousness I can't help but admire him. I wouldn't trust a word he says mind you.

Let's hope he's as adapt at running the country as he is at political maneuvering.

[tyke1962]

Starmer's aim isn't to unite both wings of the Labour Party.

His aim, having secured a currently unassailable position as leader, is to win the next General Election. Then to shape the country to his political beliefs as he has done his party.

His message is not really aimed at Leftists party members.

It's aimed at Centrist voters.

He's distancing himself from Corbyn and saying to swing voters - you can trust me/Labour to run the country without veering to far Left policies.

He's proving himself to be a very canny political operator. In spite of his duplicitousness I can't help but admire him. I wouldn't trust a word he says mind you.

Let's hope he's as adapt at running the country as he is at political maneuvering.

What do you believe " far left policies " would actually look like Branton ?

Huge investment in the NHS perhaps , renationalisation of the failed industries like Water , Energy and the Railways maybe .

The building of much needed social housing would be another .

Why do you see so called " far left policies " as threatening ?

[Branton Red]

Starmer's aim isn't to unite both wings of the Labour Party.

His aim, having secured a currently unassailable position as leader, is to win the next General Election. Then to shape the country to his political beliefs as he has done his party.

His message is not really aimed at Leftists party members.

It's aimed at Centrist voters.

He's distancing himself from Corbyn and saying to swing voters - you can trust me/Labour to run the country without veering to far Left policies.

He's proving himself to be a very canny political operator. In spite of his duplicitousness I can't help but admire him. I wouldn't trust a word he says mind you.

Let's hope he's as adapt at running the country as he is at political maneuvering.

What do you believe " far left policies " would actually look like Branton ?

Huge investment in the NHS perhaps , renationalisation of the failed industries like Water , Energy and the Railways maybe .

The building of much needed social housing would be another .

Why do you see so called " far left policies " as threatening ?

Hi Tyke

I was putting things in the perspective of how a Centrist/swing voter would view things. The sort of people who Starmer is trying to woo.

I wasn't expressing my own personal opinion.

I personally would agree with all things you are proposing.

Just consider how very poor Corbyn's personal poll ratings were when he was leader. Such Centrist swing voters do feel threatened by what they see as far left policies.

[wilts rover]

Starmer's aim isn't to unite both wings of the Labour Party.

His aim, having secured a currently unassailable position as leader, is to win the next General Election. Then to shape the country to his political beliefs as he has done his party.

His message is not really aimed at Leftists party members.

It's aimed at Centrist voters.

He's distancing himself from Corbyn and saying to swing voters - you can trust me/Labour to run the country without veering to far Left policies.

He's proving himself to be a very canny political operator. In spite of his duplicitousness I can't help but admire him. I wouldn't trust a word he says mind you.

Let's hope he's as adapt at running the country as he is at political maneuvering.

What do you believe " far left policies " would actually look like Branton ?

Huge investment in the NHS perhaps , renationalisation of the failed industries like Water , Energy and the Railways maybe .

The building of much needed social housing would be another .

Why do you see so called " far left policies " as threatening ?

Hi Tyke

I was putting things in the perspective of how a Centrist/swing voter would view things. The sort of people who Starmer is trying to woo.

I wasn't expressing my own personal opinion.

I personally would agree with all things you are proposing.

Just consider how very poor Corbyn's personal poll ratings were when he was leader. Such Centrist swing voters do feel threatened by what they see as far left policies.

That's not true. Corbyn policies were very popular with the public - it's just that he wasn't.

https://labourlist.org/2019/11/how-popular-are-labours-radical-manifesto-policies/

[BillyStubbsTears]

Starmer's aim isn't to unite both wings of the Labour Party.

His aim, having secured a currently unassailable position as leader, is to win the next General Election. Then to shape the country to his political beliefs as he has done his party.

His message is not really aimed at Leftists party members.

It's aimed at Centrist voters.

He's distancing himself from Corbyn and saying to swing voters - you can trust me/Labour to run the country without veering to far Left policies.

He's proving himself to be a very canny political operator. In spite of his duplicitousness I can't help but admire him. I wouldn't trust a word he says mind you.

Let's hope he's as adapt at running the country as he is at political maneuvering.

What do you believe " far left policies " would actually look like Branton ?

Huge investment in the NHS perhaps , renationalisation of the failed industries like Water , Energy and the Railways maybe .

The building of much needed social housing would be another .

Why do you see so called " far left policies " as threatening ?

Hi Tyke

I was putting things in the perspective of how a Centrist/swing voter would view things. The sort of people who Starmer is trying to woo.

I wasn't expressing my own personal opinion.

I personally would agree with all things you are proposing.

Just consider how very poor Corbyn's personal poll ratings were when he was leader. Such Centrist swing voters do feel threatened by what they see as far left policies.

That's not true. Corbyn policies were very popular with the public - it's just that he wasn't.

https://labourlist.org/2019/11/how-popular-are-labours-radical-manifesto-policies/

That was always my point.

The media moguls hate the thought of a socialist government. So they are always going to heal abuse on a left wing leader. No point complaining about that - you might as well complain about the rain.

So a genuinely left wing Labour party would need a charismatic, media savvy leader.

Corbyn was an unmitigated disaster in that sense. He was the Press's perfect bogeyman for the scraggy way he looked, the way he dressed (like he was on the 1968 barricades) and the way he gave them free hits.

He did it in his first week as Lab leader when asked if he would kneel before the Queen and he prevaricated for a week before tetchily saying he would.

He did it over Salisbury, when he said in Parliament that we should bring the Russians in to the inquiry. That was like he'd decided to make himself totally unelectable.

Maybe one day we'll get a socialist Govt. We never will under a Corbyn.

[drfchound]

It looks as though Corbyn isn’t going to go away quietly.

From The Guardian:


Jeremy Corbyn has accused Keir Starmer of a “flagrant attack” on democracy by barring him from standing as a Labour candidate, as allies said he was likely to run as an independent.

It comes as Starmer confirmed the former Labour leader would not be allowed to run for the party. In a statement on Twitter, Corbyn said party members and constituents were being denied their choice for representation.

Corbyn said members should be given the deciding power for who fought the next election. “Any attempt to block my candidacy is a denial of due process, and should be opposed by anybody who believes in the value of democracy,” he said.

“At a time when the government is overseeing the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, this is a divisive distraction from our overriding goal: to defeat the Conservative party at the next general election.”

The Guardian understands Corbyn is first likely to put himself forward for selection in his constituency Labour party (CLP) in Islington North where he still has a solid support base. That would mean the party’s governing national executive would need to formally block him from progressing.

His supporters have undertaken research in the seat in recent months that suggests he has a possibility of winning as an independent and commands a personal vote seven times higher than the average constituency MP