Ken Loach may be kicked out of Labour

Kali I do see your point re getting rid of Johnson and this Conservative government, and I suspect I will be voting Labour even though I am very unhappy with the direction it is taking at the moment.

I really think Starmer ought to be concentrating much more on the myriad examples of the underhand behaviour of the Conservative Party and the businesses, institutions and individuals which benefit from its support. A report in the I today headed "Board of elite donors 'given access to PM and Prince Charles' " refers to articles in the Financial Times and The Sunday Times which report on the existence of a secretive "advisory board" of elite donors who have priority access to Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Prince Charles:

..........."Ben Elliot, the party's co-chairman and the Duchess of Cornwall's nephew, is accused by the Financial Times of inviting donors to join the secretive "advisory board", described by the paper as "the most desirable club in the Tory party". Some members of the board had given at least £250,000 to the party....................

"Claims also emerged in The Sunday Times that Mr Elliot had given an ultra-wealthy client of his [Elliot's] concierge company, Quintessentially, access to Prince Charles."

There are several reports on the internet which provide further information on this, which add to previous examples of the sort of cronyism and undemocratic practices that the Conservative Party engages in to further its own ends and those of its donors.

Well Said Eloethan

Good journalism by Financial Times and The Times

So much corruption and cronyism by the elites and Royals.

Global elite - monetised address books-access capitalism ......all dressed up as philanthropy to make it acceptable. But paying your fair share of taxes is something to avoid at all costs!

Thanks. Do you also think Johnson is intending to pull a fast one here, and go for early, even very early election- before enquiries take place, and to take advantage of the divisions in LP- which will be a real bonus for him, Cons and ERG.

I think the opposite, I think the last thing Starmer should be doing is going on and on about Johnsons corruption and lies. Everyone knows Johnson lies, and nobody cares, why that is I cant explain, but its not a tactic to win an election.

Can they just call an election? I thought there had to be a vote of no confidence etc. How come, since the fixed term parliament act came into force we’ve had more frequent elections than at any time in history!

Galaxy I don't mean concentrate exclusively on cronyism and possible corruption. There are also lots of other important issues that need airing.

If we end up with a binary choice- Johnson à la ERG- and Starmer- will the left of the Labour Party not vote? Because then the choice will be ERG Johnson or ... ERG Johnson. Not a great choice, surely.

It’s a situation that my dear old mum would have described as cutting off your nose to spite your face…..

Starmer tells Labour to embrace Tony Blair who has only 18% approval rating in poll

Here Novara media discuss this piece in Financial Times

m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpopRaiVEOs

We have had two Labour PM’s in 42 years , 13 years Labour,
29 years conservative

Grany

Starmer tells Labour to embrace Tony Blair who has only 18% approval rating in poll

Here Novara media discuss this piece in Financial Times

m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpopRaiVEOs

Not people determined to put forward a fair picture of Starmer and the Labour Party are they Grany?

Starmer now has a new team behind him. Whatever the leading face of that interview had to say, Covid has been the most important news to most people until recently.

I stopped watching after the first few anti-Starmer views - what is the point. I am neither pro nor anti Starmer or his Labour Party. However, I do want to know more about it. Hecklers do not take us anywhere; they only aim to stir things up. I expect that's what this "Novara Media" (very much to the far left aren't they?) intended. I have to add that I thought this was a right-wing group when I first started listening. There is a real consensus between the far left and the far right. I could hear it in what I watched of this.

As long as the far left keeps undermining the Labour Party it will be difficult for the LP to get its message out. I hope the LP overcomes this, as I would like to hear what they have to say.

I hope the LP overcomes this, as I would like to hear what they have to say.
So would most of us PippaZ Much as I dislike Blair he was always clear and outspoken about his beliefs and where the party should be going, Starmer isn't.

In fairness Blair didn’t have the pandemic to stop him reaching
people.

I've been thinking about Blair and whether I liked or disliked him trisher. I have to admit I didn't dislike him but I don't think I get overwhelmed by personalities in politics. I did dislike one thing and that was misleading Parliament and the voters. However, I believe - I cannot know - that he did this because he thought it going into Iraq was the right thing to do.

I did believe and still do in education, education, education. I felt Blair did too. What does this government stand for? We hear about levelling up. What does that mean? How can we do it without taxing wealth which the Conservative/Johnson infer they will not do?

I tend to like/dislike the deeds rather than the person. In my memory, Blair brought much of the country together. And our education did improve. Johnson works at dividing the country because, I think, it is hard to get votes when you are on an extreme. Blair, in contrast, was drawing from the centre out.

I have no idea if this makes sense to anyone else. I think it comes down to deed being more important than personality in my view.

I think it might have been a bit more politically savvy for Keir Starmer to have told The Labour party to embrace the successful policies of the last Labour Government, rather than mention Tony Blair by name, as he (Tony Blair) is unpopular whether he really deserves to be or not.

I am more troubled by the inclusion of Rachel Reeves into such prominence, if she still holds on to her wish to be harder than the Tories on people who rely on State benefits for a decent living. I don't think the way out of a financial difficulty is to take more money from the people who have the least. It is because Keir Starmer seems to value her so much that makes me wary of him.

I did vote for him to be leader, I didn't want him to be such a disapointment and would be pleased if he could set out some policies and vision and try much much harder to unite the party before it runs out of money for lack of membership.

PippaZ

Grany

Starmer tells Labour to embrace Tony Blair who has only 18% approval rating in poll

Here Novara media discuss this piece in Financial Times

m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpopRaiVEOs

Not people determined to put forward a fair picture of Starmer and the Labour Party are they Grany?

Starmer now has a new team behind him. Whatever the leading face of that interview had to say, Covid has been the most important news to most people until recently.

I stopped watching after the first few anti-Starmer views - what is the point. I am neither pro nor anti Starmer or his Labour Party. However, I do want to know more about it. Hecklers do not take us anywhere; they only aim to stir things up. I expect that's what this "Novara Media" (very much to the far left aren't they?) intended. I have to add that I thought this was a right-wing group when I first started listening. There is a real consensus between the far left and the far right. I could hear it in what I watched of this.

As long as the far left keeps undermining the Labour Party it will be difficult for the LP to get its message out. I hope the LP overcomes this, as I would like to hear what they have to say.

I know this is not what you call a fair picture of Starmer I come from the left this is the consensus from a lot of journalists regarding Starmer even Mandelson and Blair must wonder but what is fair with Starmer no one knows.

Covid is most important news and a great chance for Starmer to come down hard on this government be an opposition.

I am sure Novara Media, many people who decided to leave the party, welcomed Starmer the polices and 10 pledges he was voted in on, but we don't know what he wants does he.

So Novara Media gives a critical appraisal of Starmer what he has done what he is doing. Spelling it out.

There is a lot of undermining of the left and democracy the left called out. We really need a party that is socially democratic with policies that most people want

But that is not happening with KS plainly after 18 months.

The country didn’t want the policies in 2019

I did vote for him to be leader, I didn't want him to be such a disapointment and would be pleased if he could set out some policies and vision and try much much harder to unite the party before it runs out of money for lack of membership.

This sums it up for me.

Starmer has recently set out policies on supporting British manufacturing, enhancing workers' rights and a Green New Deal. Is that something to be going on with or is it not what people want?

It's a start, for sure. I like the idea of supporting British manufacturing, and it will gain support from Brexiteers. Heaven knows workers' rights need to be enhanced, and things like zero hours 'contracts' rolled back.

I think he needs to unite the party urgently though, and that he should recognise that people are disappointed in his apparent failure to call Johnson to account. At a time when people can see that the PM is an incompetent liar the leader of the opposition should be riding high, but he's not.

It isn’t possible for him to unite the party, the far left want rid of him

and that he should recognise that people are disappointed in his apparent failure to call Johnson to account.

It's a shame that 'people' don't seen to understand that Johnson is oblivious to being 'called to account' and has disregarded every single 'accountability' mechanism our constitution has to offer. There are no consequences for doing this so long as the voting public don't turn against him. Which they haven't yet.
It is notable that his only U turns have been in response to public outcries.

Opposition parties can oppose all they like, but if the public (and most of the media) don't give a monkeys they don't gain enough public support to threaten the government.

Calling Johnson to account is pointless in my view, everyone can see, everyone knows, they dont care, why that is I dont know but it is what it is. I just dont think that is a winning strategy. I think uniting the labour party is a process that will take years if it happens at all.

I do realise that, and expect that many others do too.

I will still vote Labour. What I‘d hoped however was that Keir would have found ways to expose the lies, and to publicise policies and alternatives so that the public would turn against Johnson, but he hasn’t. The latest step on the road to privatisation of the NHS, for instance- that should have been shouted from the rooftops. Admittedly the media can block a lot of opposition, but even so, there are other ways.

It’s only recently, and in response to polls suggesting that the public still don’t know what Labour stands for that we have seen policies. Yes, the pandemic has made it more difficult, but it’s not enough to hope that the media pick up on bits of PMQs. In an age where Comms are critical we have a government who couldn’t organise a road safety campaign, and an opposition who is all but invisible.

I will still vote Labour, and put my faith in the hope that more policies will be announced and more exposure of the government’s lies will have had an impact before the next election. I am not denouncing the PLP - just saying that it needs to get its act together if there is to be any hope for the future.

Wrong-headed: Labour anti-Semitism purge is pushing Jews out of the party

First, the Morning Star:

Jewish Labour members on the party’s left are being disproportionately targeted by investigations into anti-semitism, a shocking new report has claimed.

Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) published its study today, having submitted it to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for investigation.

The dossier – also sent to the Institute of Race Relations, the Runnymede Trust and the Forde Inqury into Labour’s handling of anti-semitism complaints – catalogues what it says is a clampdown on Jews who disagree politically with the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Labour Movement.

JVL warned that the Labour leadership has limited its engagement “to groups who claim to represent ‘the Jewish community’ but who in fact represent only one position within it.” It said that disregarding wider perspectives in this way has led to the “administrative persecution” of hundreds of its members, which it branded a form of discrimination.

Now JVL itself:

David Rosenberg, cited by the Morning Star in the article below, captures the essentials of our complaint to the EHRC and the Forde Enquiry.

He says simply: “This submission by JVL is a truly shocking indictment of the way that Jews on the left wing of the party have been severely mistreated under a new management which said its first priority was to listen to the Jewish community and rebuild trust with it.”