The Left's way forward

if the Labour Party is not pragmatic it will never be in power, and then it can't do the things that it wants to do can it?Principles without power does nothing.

I would vote for any party that I felt would do the job and be best for the country.However sometimes people only vote one way for life, and then demonise the party that gets in.If I had lived in the twenties or thirties or even forties, I would have been a Labour voter. times change though, and you need to move with them.That's why Jeremy Corbyn cannot succeed if the Labour Party are to be in power.

Tricia, your honest response is much the same as the whole Labour Party felt after the election, and some of them still feel! they cannot understand why the electorate voted that way and 'blame' them rather than understanding that the people rejected Labour and it's policies . Some even said they lost because they were not 'left wing enough!' laughable really.It seems to be this feeling that ' only they' the Labour Party know what is good for us.
Ed Miliband didn't help, as Leader, but it was more than that.

I've just read through this thread, and admit I'm way out of touch, though we were both very shocked puzzled and upset when the Tories had such a majority. Like Anya, I was once a Labour council candidate in a safe Tory constituency, and chairman of the group for a year. Later the boundaries were changed and we got a Labour MP (Alan Johnson.)
I suppose it was the compromising of Blair which made me disenchanted.
But it's definitely time now for a more aggressive leader.
I think the way the Tories are going now is antagonising a large part of the population, many people find the SNP articulate approach attractive, so there must be someone in the Labour party who can speak with the same conviction as N. Sturgeon.
Whether J. Corbyn is that person I don't know, he reminds me of the intellectual socialists of the 70s.

I don't think the Labour Party is expecting to elect a leader who will take them into the next election. In which case, Jeremy Corbyn could be a good interim leader to take them back to their roots and demonstrate that there is still a place for left wing politics in England as well as Scotland and Wales. I like him, and I don't think his age is relevant.

As for the others, I am completely uninspired by them. I might like Yvette Cooper a bit better if she wasn't married to Ed Balls. As for Liz Kendall, I can't help thinking she joined the wrong party by mistake. Can someone please point her back to the right.

And positive reasons for any of the others?

Too old.

He isn't experienced in Cabinet and he'll be 70 by the time of the next election.

Well there are 2 more reasons for me to support Corbyn, If young and statesmanlike have given us Dave and Tony let's have someone who is experienced and honest instead.

He's too old and not statesmanlike enough. I supported Michael Foot at the time, likewise Ed over David. Admirable as the man is, people won't vote for him. In 5 years time people will be desperate for a change of government and it's vital that Labour have the right leader.

Corbyn has said he will get rid of student fees, etc.,and said how he will fund it.

I haven't been following assiduously either but I managed to spot the above from djen. That seems more relevant than who brought fees in.

No response to what Jeremy Corbyn says?

It didn't take me a long time, dj. I haven't been following the political threads as assiduously as some.

Took you a long time to come up with that, Ana.

"Jeremy Corbyn has apologised on behalf of the Labour party for its introduction of tuition fees in 1998.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Labour leadership nominee Corbyn said he wanted to apologise to the "last generation of students" for the introduction of tuition fees and the replacement of student grants with loans, a policy that he said he opposed at the time.

Tuition fees were first introduced in the UK under Tony Blair's Labour government in 1998. Corbyn voted against this policy, and later voted against them being raised.

He said in the interview that the Conservative party "stands against the young", and mentioned his ambitions to create a Labour party that listens to the needs of everyone."

Wasn't it the Labour government that introduced student loans?

The latest complaint I've seen is that Corbyn agrees with homeopathy. Whatever you think of it, it doesn't appear to have held Jeremy Hunt back politically.

Fingers crossed, trisher.

I think that the Telegraph may find itself helping to vote in a leader who takes Labour back to its real values and makes it a credible party again.
As far as paying for students goes. I believe the figures for re-payment of loans is currently at a critical level and should it slip much lower we will find the government is landed with a huge debt. The idea of student loans has been a total disaster.

I think the tories are making hay while the sun shines, as in they dont really have the Labour party to contend with.
They could end up going too far though.

I really don't think people realised how hard the Lib Dems worked to keep a balance in the last government. We are certainly finding out now.

Talk about kettle and pot - the tories want unions to have (apologies I can't remember the exact percentage) but a very much larger mandate for strike action than the tories have for their awful policies on benefits/strikes/education/health.

I am getting a bit concerned about the Tory party too partly because of the union stuff[and I say that as someone who has probably voted Conservative more times than voting for a different party].

The Telegraph is encouraging Tories to sign up and vote for Corbyn to "destroy" the Labour Party.
Clearly the Tory party is the most anti-democratic body in the UK.

Attacking the Labour funding and attempting to manipulate the leadership vote is an utter disgrace.
Attempting to take the vote away from the Scottish mp's is another example.
The Tory party is becoming extreme.

Corbyn has said he will get rid of student fees, etc.,and said how he will fund it. That should be a help for all students.

Services for the sick. disabled and children at risk of abuse and neglect continue to be subjected to further cuts. As Trisher has already pointed out, the research evidence (and the experience in other northern european countries) confirms that early intervention is both cost and welfare effective. I despair when I read people worrying about pot holes when we have such serious losses going on under our noses.