POLITICS 

So Jeremy Corbyn is the new boogie-man?

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"Jeremy Corbyn says:
March 30, 2016 at 6:50 pm

Unlike our Prime Minister enjoying yet another holiday abroad, I have been standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our steelworkers whose jobs and communities are threatened with devastation due to this government’s monetarist policies.

Under a Labour government Tata’s operations in the UK would be appropriated without compensation, and run under government control for as long as the Chinese continue to dump their steel at below cost price. Utility companies would be forced to sell energy at cost price to the steel industry to protect its long-term future.

Labour cannot and will not, under my leadership, stand by idly and watch thousands of British workers lose their jobs."
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http://www.hardscore.com/articles/lazerdrome/
Twothumbs
Corbyn’s father had book of Green Shield Stamps
http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2016/04/12/co...ld-stamps/

Hahaha
But now, at last, some people are directing questions at the real tax dodger: Jeremy Corbyn. According to the Daily Telegraph, Corbyn has “taken £1.5m from the state”, and the sneaky method he’s used is to “make this from his salary as an MP” (over 34 years).

Another MP is quoted as saying this revelation is “remarkable.” Thankfully there are dedicated journalists prepared to root out this astonishing figure – by multiplying his annual salary by 34. We must be grateful to those gallant crusaders prepared to go to such lengths to expose this scandal.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/its-...84411.html

Fauxpas
Anyone seen the Vice fly-on-the-wall documentary on Corbyn that published yesterday?  

https://news.vice.com/video/jeremy-corbyn-the-outsider

Revealing, and not entirely positive, but sympathetic I think. Definitely worth taking a moment out to watch. Any thoughts?
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- The Lazerdrome Memorial Page -

http://www.hardscore.com/articles/lazerdrome/
(2nd June 2016, 10:16)Ornette Wrote: Anyone seen the Vice fly-on-the-wall documentary on Corbyn that published yesterday?

https://news.vice.com/video/jeremy-corbyn-the-outsider

Revealing, and not entirely positive, but sympathetic I think. Definitely worth taking a moment out to watch. Any thoughts?

will watch it later Xyxthumbs
Labour right-wingers are using Brexit as an excuse to try and remove Corbyn as leader.

ffs Roll

http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/...orbyn.html
having had time to reflect a little, AAV doesn't pull any punches:
http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/...al-of.html

Blue
seems this staggered resignation business was planned a while back:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/...litz-afte/

but much as I want Corbyn to stay, I think this coup has turned Labour into a now completely unelectable shambles whatever happens.

Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral
a decent historical summary of the current Labour Party strife:

https://shinbonestar.org/2016/06/29/the-long-war/
Totally exhausted by the last two weeks events

Luckily there is a big on-line community that is behind Corbyn to the max and has kept him going

Some revelations:
Ruth Smeeth, who caused an anti-semitism storm last week turns out is a protected US informant with various links to pro-israel lobby groups
List of over 500 anti-Corbyn councillors was created by a phishing scam with various signatories refuting agreement
Angela Eagle registered a campaign website two days (!) before the coup began
Coup was overviewed and coordinated by Portland - a PR company
Corbyn has nerves of steel!

Totally appalled and offended by this utter affront to democracy, despite any reservations I might have of Corbyn. As well, I think it's essential we have a strong socialist presence to guard against the country sliding much further to the right, which I think we're in danger of. The whole new-labour neo-libralism thing simply has no answer to offer to that... Unfortunately the blairites are too indoctrinated and blind to see that

Wave
_____________
- The Lazerdrome Memorial Page -

http://www.hardscore.com/articles/lazerdrome/
Blue
Corbyn was heckled at the Pride festival for crashing us out of the EU

But the heckler was a Labour activist which was not reported that morning
Turns out the person, Tom Mauchline is infact an employee of Portland Communications

The BBC were forced to update their article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu...m-36629976 [25 June 2016 Last updated at 19:49 BST] changing from "member of the public" to "Labour activist"
https://www.facebook.com/groups/51994964...748756770/
Tish Naughton — "Update as of 18.15 it now says "LAbour Activist" heckles rather than member of the public" [June 25 at 6:17pm]


But the media rallies round and tells us its all tin-foil hat nonsense:
Is it true that a PR firm full of Blairites is orchestrating the Labour coup?
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/med...abour-coup
There’s A Bizarre Conspiracy Theory That A “Blairite” PR Company Orchestrated The Rebellion Against Corbyn
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jamieross/the-dr...n-portland
Portland PR Company Condemns Len McCluskey’s ‘Ridiculous’ Claim They’re Behind Corbyn Coup
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/po...366f0f2cc5


Andrew Neil takes to twitter to rubbish it (responding to this The Canary article):
[amoff]http://twitter.com/afneil/status/749582209166745600[/amoff]
"I've just read it. It's anything but well-researched. Not exactly Sunday Times Insight Team."


This is despite this video on Youtube dated 30/6/2016, where Alastair Campbell openly discusses potential leadership candidates (?!)
[amoff]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkWbhqy4wwk[/amoff]


If its not conspiracy, well its definitely blurring the boundaries isn't it? How can this be right??  Thumbd
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- The Lazerdrome Memorial Page -

http://www.hardscore.com/articles/lazerdrome/
More:
Tristram Hunt received £15,000 in direct donations from Tim Allen, founder of Portland Communications
http://www.facebook.com/groups/146806050...4039097990

[Image: 13558898_613073948863661_4303428242755608265_o.jpg]
_____________
- The Lazerdrome Memorial Page -

http://www.hardscore.com/articles/lazerdrome/
What a bunch of unpinned donkeys.
More on the list of 500 councillors:

[amoff]http://twitter.com/LabourEoin/status/748810253093908480[/amoff]
Éoin @LabourEoin — "The Plotters who produced the 500 Councillors want Corbyn gone letter have broken law. Sent phishing email & published names without consent" [10:27 AM - 1 Jul 2016]
(law in question I assume was the data protection act)

This was the list published
http://labourlist.org/2016/06/over-500-c...step-down/

However currently, as it stands 59 of 74 CLPs have voted in confidence of Corbyn
_____________
- The Lazerdrome Memorial Page -

http://www.hardscore.com/articles/lazerdrome/
The Media Against Jeremy Corbyn
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/07/jerem...bc-labour/
Labour’s establishment never regarded Corbyn’s leadership as legitimate – and their sole focus has been to ‘save’ the party from the leader preferred by its members
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...ty-members

Blue
(26th June 2016, 14:10)Statto Wrote: Labour right-wingers are using Brexit as an excuse to try and remove Corbyn as leader.

http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/...orbyn.html

The problem with that article (and others like it) is a lot of left wing thought is, and was, very in favour of leaving the EU.

Just round my way, a very socialist grassroots local-issues group came out in campaigning to leave. I'm not convinced that the remainers should take a morally superior tone on the issue. It's not clear it was the wrong vote, to be honest.

A bit more on the 500 councillors:

Apparently, a number of the CLPs voting in no confidence in Corbyn were done so by 'delegate voting'. Not sure what that is but essentially cutting out the member vote to railroad the motion. This took place in my neighbouring constituancy Lewisham East - with Heidi Alexander claiming 'its always been done this way' or something. There's been issues with Labour around here before, in particular with the directly-elected mayor (a New Labour initiative) and the lack of democracy it entails.

In addition, the NEC have ruled out any constituancy meetings for the duration of the leadership campaign - ruling out any further confidence motions
[amoff]http://twitter.com/LabourEoin/status/753226241331920896[/amoff]

However as it stands, 84 of 100 CLPs have voted in confidence of Corbyn.
_____________
- The Lazerdrome Memorial Page -

http://www.hardscore.com/articles/lazerdrome/
(13th July 2016, 21:07)Ornette Wrote:
(26th June 2016, 14:10)Statto Wrote: Labour right-wingers are using Brexit as an excuse to try and remove Corbyn as leader.

http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/...orbyn.html

The problem with that article (and others like it) is a lot of left wing thought is, and was, very in favour of leaving the EU.

Yes - but all the same: "Labour right-wingers are using Brexit as an excuse to try and remove Corbyn as leader." - which is what that article is about.
So, what of the central charge that that Jeremy Corbyn did not do enough to support the remain campaign?

Here is one of Angela Eagle's comments, which has been doing the rounds recently:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/live...navigation (also here):
"Jeremy is up and down the country, pursuing an itinerary that would make a 25-year-old tired, he has not stopped. We are doing our best, but if we are not reported, it is very difficult." [13th June 2016]

[Image: 13524323_197934863937932_888052355011945...e=57F4EF01]

That's quite a strong endorsement which seems to contradict the rhetoric that has been thrown at Corbyn since. Certainly, it seems he embarked on a 100 town bus tour that launched in May, as reported here:
https://www.totalpolitics.com/articles/n...weighs-too
Nonetheless, at the time, there was some sort of question being perpetuated in the media of Corbyn not being enthusiastic enough and keeping a low profile, with voters being uncertain as to Labour's position on the EU

But going by the comments by Eagle above, the concern was that the media were more interested in framing a story on Tory division than presenting the Labour remain campaign. This has been borne out by research by Loughborough University, on which Professor John Downey comments:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/to...b4f2541108
"Over the last month of the campaign there has been sustained, almost ‘presidential’ focus on a handful of senior Tory party politicians. The dominance of the Conservative party and a select group of key figures has overshadowed the coverage of all other party representatives and other groups and institutions." [13th June 2016]

John Mc Donnell, appearing on Peston On Sunday echoed a similar sentiment:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jo...514369cf89
"[McDonnell] said the Labour argument had been “squeezed out” by the media’s focus on the “punch-up” in the Tory party involving David Cameron and Boris Johnson." [12th June 2016]

However, this is telling - in another article http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016...tim-roache Tim Roache, general secretary of the GMB, thought Corbyn should be “bolder and braver” in making the positive case for immigration [1st June 2016]

I suspect that on the trail Labour found themselves contronted with a strong sentiment on immigration that they were simply in no position to respond to - and this was the fundamental cause of their dilemma. Much was made of his day-before statement on Sky News that free movement of people was not something that could be changed. But yet Hilary Benn made similar points on the issue:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016...-benn-says
"“Immigration into Britain will continue whether we stay or go, as the leave campaign have now admitted,” he said, urging the leave campaign to be more honest about the necessity of immigration."

Where as Gordon Brown preferred sideshifting the issue onto one of illegal immigration, and accusing the BBC and the Sun of having an agenda: "“Norway and Switzerland, outside the European Union, have higher rates of immigration … the real problem we’re dealing with is illegal immigration.”"
[amoff]http://twitter.com/craigawoodhouse/status/742371455527231488[/amoff]
Craig Woodhouse @craigawoodhouse — "Rather than answering my question on Labour worries around immigration, Brown just accused The Sun of having the same "agenda" as the BBC" [8:02 am - 13 Jun 2016]

And in regards to his 7/10 rating on 'The Last Leg', it must have been clear to anyone that as a life long euro-skeptic, Corbyn would have had a difficult time being an unreserved champion of the EU - so why then, and I think this is an important question, was another recognisable figure not chosen to cheerlead the campaign??

Alan Johnson was supposed to be in charge of the Remain, yet look at the stats on the media appearances:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/519949641...431605135/
[Image: 13585221_10209770567243550_8686081413368550422_o.jpg]

No, more simply it's clear that after the defeat many were going to be highly motivated to shift and point the finger of blame - such as Welsh Remain and London Young Labour - with the obvious target being of course, Corbyn. Clearly this was a line adopted by Johnson - from his letter to the PLP:
http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/west-hull...story.html
"“Everyone needs to make their own assessment as to whether more could have been done to prevent this disastrous result. I will certainly do this, as I hope will the Leader's Office. At times it felt as if they were working against the rest of the Party and had conflicting objectives.”" [27th June 2016]
and in his letter to his CLP:
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/...84811.html
"“There is no doubt in my mind that at least three of his closest associates in the leader’s office were actively undermining the party’s efforts. They wanted ‘Leave’ to succeed and at best Jeremy could not control them; at worst he was sympathetic to their views. Either way his performance in the campaign was risible and a taster for what to expect in a general election.”" [30th June 2016]

And a so-called dossier was put together, proving the guilt of Corbyn on this issue, as of course reported by Laura Kuenssberg, but as far as I'm aware its not been made available and is based on innuendo & suggestion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36633238
"The documents show concern in Labour HQ and the Labour Remain campaign about Mr Corbyn's commitment to the campaign - one email says: "What is going on here?" Another email from Labour Remain sources to the leader's office complains "there is no EU content here - we agreed to have Europe content in it". Sources say they show the leader's office was reluctant to give full support to the EU campaign and how difficult it was to get Mr Corbyn to take a prominent role." [26 June 2016]


This was not lost on everyone.  In this article here, the writer points out
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/06/ala...-campaign/
"However, it’s worth bearing in mind that this could also be viewed as an exercise in damage limitation on Johnson’s part. While the former Home Secretary admits that he needs to take his ‘share of responsibility’ too for the way the Labour campaign was run, he fails to mention how much responsibility that should be. In the final months of the campaign, a number of broadcasters claimed to be exasperated over the difficulties they encountered getting Johnson on air to discuss the Remain campaign." [27th June 2016]


[[INCOMPLETE]]
_____________
- The Lazerdrome Memorial Page -

http://www.hardscore.com/articles/lazerdrome/
In addition to the Loughborough University research - mentioned in the (unfinished) post above, here is a link to some new research undertaken by the London School of Economics

Journalistic Representations of Jeremy Corbyn in the British Press ‎– From "Watchdog" to "Attackdog"
http://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/...orbyn.aspx

and the accompanying video...

_____________
- The Lazerdrome Memorial Page -

http://www.hardscore.com/articles/lazerdrome/
Just watched this video on the Owen Jones channel, of Lisa Nandy. She's striking a conciliatory tone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19Aoh1_UnpA

It seems the bulk of the PLP have got behind Owen Smith as to 'define' what they want, as opposed to Angela Eagle who was 'pushed' forward as the fall-woman of the plotters...

So they don't expect to win but to put a message across to Corbyn.
_____________
- The Lazerdrome Memorial Page -

http://www.hardscore.com/articles/lazerdrome/
Watching this from a distance (on several levels, starting with the fact I am not even British) but to me it seems inevitable that the Labour party will somehow split in the future. One part the Blairites, the other the Corbyn-supporters. Will mean, no chance of winning for general elections, but possibly a needed leftist voice in political debate. similar to Bernie Sanders in the US.
Music critic for the Tally Ho
I don't know. The whole political & media class have absolutely set out their stall against him now, yet are seemingly now standing around with their hands on their hips, thinking "why hasn't this worked??"

Without a grassroots behind them, I don't see how a breakaway of labour MPs would work.

Update: A resigned shadow cabinet member has returned to the fold
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/pol...55176.html

But jewish donor who furiously heckled Corbyn at a Labour Friends Of Israel dinner is currently having his court case heard to keep him off the ballot paper

Labour rules 'misapplied' when Corbyn put on leadership ballot, court told - Politics live
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog...6bfb07a9f2
_____________
- The Lazerdrome Memorial Page -

http://www.hardscore.com/articles/lazerdrome/

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