Sensible discussion on Labour Leadership hopefuls

Callistemon I'm not a LP member, but I do read the online versions of the Mirror as well as the Guardian and any other newspapers (not just British ones) which are currently free.

Anniebach is right about the disappearance of traditional workers. My understanding is that Unite has about a million members, but Unison is slightly bigger. I was once a member of Unison. Most of the members were relatively low paid local government workers in "white collar" jobs. We had very little in common with Unite members.

grandad43 do you ever speak for yourself or under orders to only speak for Unions ?

Anniebach the unions may well "pull the financial plug" on the existing Labour Party and then set up a new political wing with existing personal from within its Leading figures at its leadership.

I believe that persons such as Steve Preddy or Steve Taylor among others in the Unite Union would make good leaders of any new political organisation and many other people come to mind from other Trade Unions.

An all new left political organisation with fresh people could have quite an appeal if Britain leaving the European Union turns sour over the next few years.

The unions will not end the link, they can’t control the Conservative Party, perhaps McClusky is a closet Lib Dem ?

1Anniebach the Parliamentary Labour Party and the Trade Unions are one and the same. They have been for over one hundred years and if anything it is the Trade Unions who may well end that longtime link at the present time.

Yes, money, this is how the Unions control the Labour Party.

I think 3 left the Labour Party because of anti semetism, they lost their jobs, principles first can cost a heavy price.

kittyLester Quote [ Hopefully, the election of someone from the Corbyn/McDonnell school will lead to a breakaway party which can gather up all the other moderates and then use the next 5 years to consolidate. ] End Quote.

kittyLester, do you mean a breakaway party being brought forward in the same manner as "Change UK", or was it "The Independence Group" as I have difficulty remembering now due to the fact they seemed to rewrite their name and leading figures every few weeks.

There is also the major problem of where or from whom will the funding be coming from for any fresh left-leaning political party in Britain.

It takes a great deal of money to fund a meaningful political party and in that have any chance of winning elections.

kitty they would be taking on the Unions and Momentum

Hopefully, the election of someone from the Corbyn/McDonnell school will lead to a breakaway party which can gather up all the other moderates and then use the next 5 years to consolidate.

I agree POGS

How is Keir Starmer trying to ' Bridge the gap' when he states :-

" What Corbyn bought to the Labour party was a change of emphasis - radicalism that really matters - we need to build on that, not oversteer and go back to a bygone age."

Does that not imply Starmer is content to set his stall out as being positioned well and truly in the Corbyn/McDonnell camp and thus holds the same policies that has just seen Labour trounced in the General Election.

I admit to being surprised by his stance and I believe he understands to get elected as Leader he must have the backing of the Unions and Momentum but heck he has a bit of a slog trying to compete with Rebecca Long Bailey who has strongly been seen as McDonnells successor.

The elected Labour Leader will most probably be whom the Unions/Momentum choose and it will take an extroidinary change of guard in the Labour membership to overcome that point and the odds are ' stacked' against that happening in my opinion.

Many workers the party were conceived to fight for no longer
exist, there are no heavy industries now, no coal mines, iron works, ship yards etc

Jess Phillips shows immature traits when tweeting. I would hope for someone with a more states person like demeanour than what she displays so she could carry the nation with her...she would not be my choice, or Long Bailey. Best of a bad bunch would for me be Starmer. But they need a clear direction which would attract the workers the party was conceived to fight for.

Iam Starmer may be able to bridge the gulf but reach out
to voters across the country ? I am unsure.

Yehbutnobut

"POGS finding your waffling hard to follow, sorry. So cannot answer your point until you make it clearer."
----

My point is very clear, you challenged my post and you made an accusation to which I asked quite clearly " what article'?

You should not challenge a post unless you can substantiate or confirm your reasoning.

Otherwise the word ' waffle' does apply.

Not even Keir Starmer Annie?
I have liked him since his work in the legal profession. It seems that currently, he's trying to bridge the gulf between the left and the right (to use those simplistic terms) in the LP. Is that possible? I do hope so.

I agree Jess Phillips would be an excellent deputy leader .

Of those who have been named as possible contenders for
leadership, not for me.

varian, so far as I can tell, the only potential candidate who is in favour of PR is Jess Phillips. She hasn't yet announced she'll run. I like her but the Momentum group dislike her intensely which could rule her out. I'm not sure she's ready to be leader but she'd be a great deputy - here's hoping.

Is Clive Lewis, or Emily Thornberry, or Yvette Cooper, or Keir Starmer or any of the Corbyn groupies, in favour of electoral reform?

That is the question I would ask before voting for any of them if I were a member of the Labour Party.

And he is a Corbyn supporter

Iam64
Then the year after that he made the mock suicide gesture in the Hoc. ?

I've not been able to move from Clive Lewis's "on your knees bitch" comment.

Good post Joelsnan. I agree.

Working full time and still being in poverty in the 5th richest country in the world is shocking.

Clive Lewis is now standing He’s a very good bloke