Sensible Discussion on Labour Leadership hopefuls MK 2

All that happened was that a journalist asked Jeremy Corbyn if he would be willing to serve on the front bench under the new leader, he replied that he was willing to serve in any capacity.
This has been, as usual, blown up out of all proportion.

Can I please ask Urnstongran and Anniebach what policies they would like to see put forward by any new leader?

Cunco I was being sarcastic. That bloke Cummings appointed (who resigned pronto) was allegedly a "super forecaster".

Urmstongran unless the Labour Party accepts they need votes from across the country and reaches out to ‘middle England ‘ they will not win an election .

And free the party from Corbyn & Co , but Corbyn has waited a lifetime to have a far left party, ignoring the failures
in the past when the far left tried to run the party , he isn’t
going to give up.

My heart sank a little though yesterday when I read that Corbyn wasn’t ruling out accepting (was subtly positioning himself to secure) a shadow cabinet role after the new leader was appointed.

What Labour Most resolutely does not need is The Ghost of Elections past stalking the front bench as it moves on from the disaster of the Corbyn years!

Mind you ‘Minister for Allotments’ perhaps?

MaizieD I agree. I share your concern about the possible death of newspapers. We need to have reliable sources of information from genuine reporters. Inevitably, the opinion makers put their own spin on things but we need to see all the news in as greater accuaracy as possible.

Growstuff I don't think I would see Blair as a super forecaster, whatever that is. I suspect his opposition to an EU Referendum before 2015 was because he didn't want a question asked which might receive, for him, the wrong answer. Such a position would only have taken a reading of opinion polls rather than great foresight. I suspect that was also a significant reason why he did did not have a Referendum on the EU Constitution which he promised in 2004/5. As well as Gordon Brown's opposition, it would also have been a deterrent to Blair calling an earlier Referendum on the Single Currency. In the end, they settled for the compromise that the Labour Party agreed in principle with joining the Single Currency but only when the time is right. It never was.

Totally agree Anniebach.

Corbyn couldn't even land a glove on Theresa May, that's the problem, nobody is buying what this momentum backed mob is selling!

This leadership election will either free Labour from these goons or consign the party to the dustbin of history.

I agree growstuff.
I am in Labour International (two and a half thousand members) and it was interesting to see how the voting for nominations went. In the first result Starmer was only ahead of Long Bailey by about 1% but when Nandy was eliminated and second preferences counted, he ended up 9% ahead.
If he picks up votes from Thornberry and Nandy supporters it should help.

Well said Galaxy. I sometimes wonder if Grandad wants an elected Labour government or a socialist talking shop.

if Long Baily wins the leadership it will more of the same,
Corbyn, McDonald, McCluskey running the party.

I read yesterday that Rebecca Long Bailey has said she would be prepared to offer Jeremy Corbyn a place in her shadow cabinet and he has said he's be willing to serve in any capacity.

If this isn't pandering to the Corbynites I don't know what is!

I wonder if she's also willing to keep the 3 Ms (Milne, Murphy and McCluskey) close as well.

Social media is a real worry as far as 'informing the public is concerned. The print media is available for anyone to read (if they care to) and respond to. The use of targeted adverts on platforms such as facebook means that only a relative few people get 'information' which is designed to feed their biases and prejudices. No-one else is aware of the messages they are getting. This means that misinformation can be spread very fast and cannot be countered. I think that this is extremely anti-democratic.

I've been banging on about this for the last three years, but rarely is there any discussion about it.

I think the press thing is interesting, they certainly dont have they influence they did. Social media is complex as everyone is in their little grouping and are astounded when they realise people dont think in the way they do.

Cunco you’ve made an interesting point. I know the circulation of the printed press is declining but I’m interested in the role they still fulfil of agenda setting in terms of the stories they chose to publish and then secondly, how they choose to present those stories. Newspaper stories headline on the radio, TV and are linked to via FB and Twitter and other social media platforms.

How sad, the hope of winning three consecutive general
elections will not be returning for the Labour Party

growstuff We may all need to update our views about the Right or Left Wing press. The Metro is now the largest circulation newspaper in the UK and doesn't support any party despite being part of the group that produces the 'Daily Mail'.

Since the circulation of most of the old newspaper brands, Left and Right, is declining, possibly to extinction, we should include other forms of media which might provide a different perception. It is very much a story still in spin, no pun intended ?

Grandad do you understand that in order to get elected you need the voters who supported Blair and even shock horror tory voters.
Now Blair was left wing to suit the arguement.

Yes, but Blair was seen as somewhat left of centre when he was first elected but as the years progressed he transformed the Parliamentary Labour party into a Tory Party mark two.

Those years will not be returning.

Blair did a pretty good job of communicating his message in 1997!

Cunco Blair was correct. Maybe he should apply for one of Cummings' jobs as a super forecaster.

Galaxy the right of the Parliamentary Labour Party has never been able to communicate their message to the electorate or even members of the Labour movement.

Let's face it between 2010 and 2014 they were very much "given their head" by the broader Labour movement to place into the political domain policies that were not easily swallowed by the trade unions and other affiliated organisations, and stiil.that failed.

Remember the right-wing press labelling Miliband "Red Edd"

The above was how and why Momentum was formed.

Anyway, I am off to the office, see you later.

The shadow front bench is mostly MP’s of only a few years,
MP’s like Ben, Cooper, Bradford are needed on the front bench .

Grandad Yes, they were - but most of the press is right wing. That's the line they wanted people to believe. If you looked beyond the headlines, there were some very significant differences.

I agree with you Galaxy, although I would like to see Miliband with some kind of role - perhaps as a chair of a committee. I think Hilary Benn and Yvette Cooper are more influential as committee chairs until/unless Labour is in government and I think Miliband could be the same. He could never be anonymous, so if he were on TV etc, people would take notice of him in a way they don't take any notice of random MPs.

Grandad1943 I suspect many here will not regard this as the most impeccable source (I am sure there are others) but I think it is a fair reflection of what Blair thought of Ed Milliband.

www.cityam.com/general-election-2015-what-does-tony-blair-really-think-ed-miliband/

Maybe the 2015 General Election was not seen as exciting at the time but, as it happened, it was one with far-reaching consequences.

Many were still angry Ed had stood for leadership against David and the union vote got Ed in.

Growstuff, I seem to recall that during the 2014 election campaign large sections of the press and media were complaining that there was little to chose and report on between the policies of all three major parties at that time.

I found it the most boring General Election ever held. ?