The Left's way forward

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.

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 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.

Fingers crossed, trisher.

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.

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

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."

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

No response to what Jeremy Corbyn says?

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.

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.

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

Too old.

And positive reasons for any of the others?

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.

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.

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 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.

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 am not sure that I agree that Labour supporters blame the voters for voting for the Tory party rose quite the reverse I would say. There is a lot of introspection going on
. I think the idea of blaming the voters is media talk.

Saying all that undoubtedly there will be some time before the left gets back on its feet with little sign of it yet, which quite honestly I think has been continuing for the past 5 years.

But roses if principles without power brings nothing (which I agree with btw) what does power without principles bring? Dictatorship and tyranny usually. The art is to convince the electorate that principles matter, rather than this 'I'm all right jack' society that we seem to have built.

Ed was a major contribution to Labour being defeated; even I found it hard to vote for him and I know other people who felt the same way. We no longer vote just for someone who will be leader of this country but, as I've said before someone who represents us on the world stage and, for that reason needs to have the right image. When we think of Germany do we not automatically think of Angela Merkell? What we do need at this moment in time is a strong opposition party, to carry on doing what Nick Clegg has been doing for the past few years; reining in the sort of Conservative policies that are going to shock people over the next few years. Jeremy Corbyn is not [imo] that person. You only have to read comments on gransnet to realise that people are as much afeared of left wing policies as they are of right. I'm saying that as someone who very much believes in socialist principles, but it's no good having principles if no one votes for you . For all the tax dodgers at the top end of the pay scale there are also people at the bottom who abuse a welfare state, and that has to be sorted out in some way. Now that Labour seem to have lost any chance of getting MP's in Scotland they are in a very precarious position; I would imagine that most floating voters are in the middle classes who tend to bear the brunt of paying for most things. The key to everything [again imo] is education, plus providing work for those who are not academic [because of the decimation of our manufacturing industry]. We came very close to losing the last train makers in this country a few years ago, and it was a Labour party mistake initially that nearly brought it about; even so it was people marching on the streets that saved it. Believe me my heart will always be with the Labour party and it's principles, and I, too, loathe the 'I'm all right jack' society that we now live in . Must also point out that I'm very much out of touch politically and really value the time and effort that people on gransnet put into informing people of what's going on.

You don't seem very out of touch to me tegan

Oh I am I only saw Jeremy Corbyn for the first time on the telly yesterday morning and most of what I know is either from reading it on here or hearing it from the S.O. who puts me to shame by reading the paper every day . He voted Liberal in the election because he kept saying how Nick Clegg had restrained the Conservatives for so long and that Clegg had been interviewed on the telly and said how the Conservatives had targetted the Liberal seats at the last election. My fear of UKIP almost made me vote Conservative at one point. There is also very good political debate on one of my racing forums at the moment as well. What worries me greatly is the fact that, with the growing threat from IS we, as a country, are fragmenting and fighting from within .