What Martin Amis thinks of Jeremy Corbyn

Danczuk is MP for Rochdale and sees himself as one of the very few working class Labour MP's. He supported Liz Kendall in the leadership contest and is a prophet of doom so far as Jeremy Corbyn is concerned. Danczuk is, as JessM says, a loose cannon in many ways but he does reflect the views of a significant number of his constituents. He has been raising the issue of immigration and asylum on is constituency for a long time. He claims to have 1000 asylum seekers in rochdale, i.e. more than in the south east. He also claims that JC appeared surprised by this.
He doesn't seem to be racist, from what I've seen and read. He has a high profile and seems well liked within the Pakistani Muslim population in his constituency but is raising concern that simply because rents are cheaper doesn't mean a very poor area like the one he represents can successfully accommodate the large number of asylum seekers being sent there.

I loved Lucky Jim (and the film too) but Kingsley Amis was said to be quite racist and sexist.

I can't get on with Martin Amis's novels but read his autobiography Experience some time ago and enjoyed it.

I get the feeling he found it difficult being the son of such a well known author. He always seems to me to be a rather depressive and resentful character. He really put the boot in before he went to live in the US, saying that he could no longer bear to live in the UK. He told a French magazine that he thought the UK was in moral decline (whereas the US is the epitome of morality?). Critics say that what really irks him is that he hasn't always got the glowing literary reviews that he believed he deserved.

I'm not keen on Danczuk - he seems quite a belligerent man to me.

It doesn't get away from the fact that JC is not showing much sign of pragmatism or leadership. I had high hopes. Perhaps the Tories are waiting for him to shoot himself in the foot. Many Labour MPs are clearly worried. IMHO

I don't know about belligerent Eloethan but he certainly courts the limelight and plays the straight talking, working class, northern man to the hilt. I don't think he's as bright as he thinks he is but defend his right to express his views. The papers this morning are quoting Ken Livingstone as saying MP's who speak against JC's leadership should face de selection and be replaced by more left wing supporters of the leadership. If he's being accurately quoted, that would be feel back to the future.

I'm another who had heard of Danczuk but not of Corbyn before the leadership campaign. Good to hear about him from another source, thanks iam.

Iam64 What Livingstone apparently said was:

"If your local MP is undermining Jeremy Corbyn, opposing the policies, the anti-austerity measures, that we want, people should have a right to say "I'd like to have an MP that reflects my views". It shouldn't be a job for life."

If local Labour Party members are happy with their MP they are unlikely to want to de-select. But if their MP is not that effective and is also continually undermining and ridiculing the policies of a leadership that received overwhelming support, it is surely understandable that if the majority of members are unhappy with an MP's public performance, they may eventually lose patience.

It isn't unknown for local Conservative activists to de-select MPs - Tim Yeo for instance. Yeo suggested his "moderate" views - his support of gay marriage, tackling climate change and staying in the EU - were to blame for his deselection. It's possible that the principal reason for getting rid of him was his ineffectiveness but the addition of views that his local party did not support was unlikely to have helped. At around the same time Anne McIntosh was rejected by activists in Thirsk and Malton. I don't recall there being much of an outcry about either of these de-selections at the time or a suggestion that they were unjust.

I accept Eloethan, that if local constituency parties are unhappy with their MP, the deselection process is rightly available to them. That may happen with Simon D, who knows. My worry is what seem to be growing splits within the labour party just at the time when a strong opposition is needed. There do seem to be a number of previously loyal MP's who are concerned about JC's leadership. I don't include Simon D in that group, he seems to me to be the other side of the JC coin, that is someone who enjoys opposing the party leader. SD is to the right, JC to the left. It's all very disappointing imo.

I agree, Eloethan. There only needs to be a couple of deselections and the rest will fall into line quite quickly. Or at least stop talking down the leadership.
Danczuk has only been an MP since 2010, the same time that Kendall was elected, I think. Not enough time to learn the ropes. Not that I think the ropes do not need changing, but Corbyn will do that.
Maybe Danczuk will shut up when the report on Blair/Iraq comes out.

I like Jeremy Corbyn and I hope he, and John McDonnell, can bring changes for the many people in this country who have been abandoned by this government - and the many more who I believe are likely to be negatively affected in the future.

JC and JM are not the natural bedfellows of those that hold political or commercial power in this country and for that reason cannot rely on an easy ride from the media. The dice are therefore loaded against them and it will be exceedingly difficult for them to succeed in their goal of re-establishing a Labour Party whose principal aim is to get a fairer deal for ordinary people. But I hope that at least their own MPs give them a chance to try and achieve this.

I too am worried about the splits within the Labour Party. The vote for JC exceeded the total combined votes cast for all the other candidates and I don't understand what grounds so-called "moderate" MPs have for reportedly plotting to unseat him. I feel that they should be working to build the party's strength and be upfront in arguing their case with JC before rushing to the press to air their doubts and grievances.

Possibly Eloethan, as soon as Corbyn won the vote the press and the blairites started - labour is finished, so those who are rushing to the press are not concerned with the party or the members but with their own careers

I didn't vote for JC but when he was elected I was pleased one of the candidates had such huge support and I could understand why this was the case. My view had been that I'd support who ever won the leadership election and I agree that MPs should be focussed on opposing the tories not their party leader. I agree JC is likeable but I haven't been hugely impressed by him so far. That doesn't mean I am impressed by Simon D or Chukka for example.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jeremy-corbyn-says-tories-over-6737569

What Jeremy Corbyn thinks of what Martin Amis said.

I am surprised some GN posters have never heard of MP Simon Danckzuk, especially those whom I would consider to be well versed in politics. He has even been spoken of on some GN threads so I am doubly surprised that he is 'unknown' by some.

I have noted that some have also mentioned on various threads they had never heard of Corbyn or knew little about him prior to the Labour Leadership Election..

Simon Danckzuk has had a lot of media coverage over his parliamentary career in one form or another irrespective of how long that might have been.

Corbyn also received attention in the media 'years ago' but prior to the Leadership contest he had been relegated to the Labour awkward squad and only Russia Today Television (freeview 133) station gave him much of a platform. Obviously certain Left Wing groups and activists would have been fully aware of Corbyn as he was/is a profound player within activist parties and has done the rounds for so long.

However if people in general, not political anoraks, say they never knew of Corbyn and what he stood for after 30 years as an MP I would hazard a guess more people know about Danckzuk after 5 years as an MP.

Danckzuk is presumably sitting back and waiting for Mays election results so is only 'sounding off' at the moment (he is not publicity shy).

The Oldham West bi election in December will be interesting. I don't think anybody but a Labour candidate will win but could there possibly be a lower number winning count than expected? Time will tell.

Well said Jeremy

What a ghastly snob, pleased he lives 3000k miles away.

Does that make Jeremy Corbyn a ghastly reverse snob then?

No, it makes Corbyn a very caring person.

By saying 'Tories are over-educated and under-learned'? Very 'caring'...

He cares about our steel industry [somebody has to]....

I was referring to what JC said in answer to Martin Amis's dismissal of JC's educational achievements. Not sure what his 'caringness' has to do with his comment about tories...

Corbyn's educational achievements are very....slight.Therefore he should simply have laughed off any mention of it ( since he can hardly deny it) he also seems very simplistic, to listen to. Martin Amis is a raging snob, as was Kingsley, his Father, although Kingsley wrote some cracking novels.

Btw, reverse snobbery is every bit as bad as snobbery.

djen I like that photo in your link to the D Mirror of JBC being arrested by the two PCs for demonstrating in the 1980s.
They look as if they're saying, 'well, that's really very interesting and actually we agree with you, but we have to do our job and arrest you!'

And I didn't think much of Jeremy Corbyn's remark that Tories are over-educated and under-learned because he was not retaliating to the person who sniped at him, so I am rather about the point of that remark. Amis also said JBC was 'uncurious' and 'humourless'.

I have no idea what Amis thinks or his political leanings (not someone I have cared about enough to know about) - is he a Labour luvvie? If so, even more reason to be puzzled at JBC's retaliation.

www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/30/martin-amis-jeremy-corbyn-humour-jonathan-coe

Good picture on here of Corbyn laughing.
Lots of the article by Amis is insulting the British, not just Corbyn.