The Labour Party is being remarkably coy about releasing the actual result of its Scottish accounting unit leadership election, giving only a percentage. The entirely complacent unionist media is complicit in what amounts to a deception. The stunning truth is that in a one person, one vote election among the entire membership of the Labour Party in Scotland plus trades union supporters, Dugdale won with 5,217 votes (out of a claimed electorate of 21,000, many of whom do not exist or could not be arsed to choose between two right wing numpties).
UPDATE: A second Labour figure just rang me to assure me my information – which was from a good source – is wrong. She would not give the actual figure and only said it was “higher”. I offered to take down the post and publish an accurate figure if she would give it, but this was declined.
Ask Carmichael Fred he seems to have your mentality.
Fred,
I would have thought the answer to that was fairly obvious. Someone can be legitimately of the view that the Labour Party under Corbyn represents the values of a worker’s party they would be willing to support, but that the values of the party under, say, Cooper, might represent a Labour Party that had succumbed to a defeatist acceptance of neoliberalism, and thus was not really a working person’s party.
RD points out that Harriet Harman is the current acting leader, and I am of the view – hopefully it is allowed! – that she does not exemplify the ideals I would like to see in the party leadership.
A word of caution – I seem to remember that even back in the day of the lefty heavyweights no one would touch the beer-swilling loon with a bargepole.
Good Dave Spart in the current issue of Private Eye by the way. Could be any one of you.
Jon
I’m afraid to see much of a Broad Left approach from many of those supporting Corbyn – look at the ridiculous lebels they are placing on those those who have shown loyalty to the Party for many years _ i’m afraid if you cannot make an alliance with Harriet Harman and those with similar views, all you really want is a party of protest and purity rather than one which actually be elected and achieve anything tangible. I am afraid I have seen rather too many local Labour Parties controlled by the political soulmates of Jeremy Corbyn – and the last thing they were interested in was a Broad Left.
Jon – could you define the neoliberalism of which you accuse Yvette Cooper, I’m afraid from what I can see her economic stance is broadly Keynesian and differs in substance from that of George Osborne.
I still haven’t had a response about how the National Investment Bank is to work in practice.
O/T
Our son’s godmother brings home the Palma Trophy – known as the World Cup for Team Rifle Shooting – the first female Captain to do so.
https://ukshootingnews.wordpress.com/2015/08/14/great-britain-wins-the-world-long-range-rifle-team-championships/
Kind regards,
John
As if all the US tax dollars weren’t enough, but I guess it’s more the show of support, yet in reality it’s a show of immorality;
http://www.sachtimes.com/en/entertainment/3472-hollywood-actor-plans-to-auction-rifles-to-fund-israeli-army
Corbyn this and Corbyn that, a whole plethora of Corbyn words have sprung up.
Corbynmania
Corbynomics
Corbynistas
Corbynites
I suppose if JC wins we’ll have Corbynised or Jeremy the Corbynator.
I suppose Corbyn is a bit like the hula hoop, they’ve been around for ages, nobody really bothers much about them, but every now and then a new generation takes them too their hearts, and boom they’re back in fashion, for awhile at least.
John Spencer-Davis.
Congratulations to all concerned.
I used to do a bit of shooting myself.
The targets were always moving and in no set direction.
RD,
I partly agree with you about some of Corbyn’s supporters – some of them have been abusive and sectarian and I don’t agree with that approach. This cuts both ways – some people to the Right of the party spend time on character assassinations of the “loony left” variety – and that is equally counterproductive. Corbyn himself has called for unity, both from his own supporters and those who are opposed to him inside the party – and I believe that call to be genuine.
Of course, I am not willing to speak for, or defend, all of Corbyn’s supporters amongst the wider British public, and I should not have to. Neither should he.
There is much to be positive about, in relation to the broad Left. I note that Burnham and Corbyn feel willing to work together regardless of the result, and I believe that all the deputy candidates have said they would work under any of the leadership candidates.
JSD, I suppose congrats all round are on the cards, looks like Jane Messer, is the only woman on the team, unless my eyesight has gotten even worse.
My wife is also a sharpshooter, she never misses a chance to shoot me down, especially if we have company over for dinner.
Republicofscotland you are welcome, Frank Olson case is a glimpse into the dark and criminal world of the untethered thugs “protecting the National Security” that includes killing citizens and others alike and engaging in all manner of criminal conduct clandestinely.
Did you notice the scene in Germany? The kidnapped victims were interrogated at the brink of death and then pumped full of drugs to induce amnesia and forget their ordeal?
Fact that swathes of Koreans were put to death and buried in mass graves has never been published and it is only now these dark war crimes are gradually coming to light. Koreans have suffered a great deal in the hands of Japanese and later in the hands of the US; the king is dead long live the king is the exploitation story of that patch of land.
Macky thanks for the link, Sunday’s event will be called “Bullets and Bagels” not as catchy though as Bullets over Broadway, but still.
The actor Joe Mantenga, I’m sure he was in either Godfather II or III anyway I didn’t know the IDF were so short of weapons, I suppose all the Shekels are going into building luxury apartments on stolen land….ah well.
RD,
I have too many other points to respond to given I am trying to shorten my posts, but briefly: I did not say I could not “make an alliance with Harriet Harman” – I could and I would. There is a chasm of difference between making an alliance with someone in order to create a broad Left on the one hand, and having that person lead the party in a different direction on the other. I do not regard Harriet Harman as a dreadful or unredeemable individual (though, since I am not a Labour MP with a need to form broad alliances with colleagues, I suppose my opinion does not matter too much anyway).
I have not accused Cooper of being neoliberal (really, do please read my post again) but I have to say I was not wowed by her leadership bid – I thought it was rather light on policy proposals. I am afraid that I did not understand her abstaining on the Welfare Bill either (as did Cooper and Burnham). Whilst I see some good things in Burnham’s policy platform, I think there is something PR-managed about the Burnham/Cooper/Kendall bids, and that Corbyn’s has been the most authentic. (Whilst I warmed to Miliband during the election, he was harmed a great deal for this reason too).
I don’t know much about the National Investment Bank proposal; I do not think that Corbyn’s supporters need to have read every policy document in order to be allowed to support him. Furthermore, I doubt any leadership candidate exists that I exactly agree with – politics does not work like that. If I find that I do not agree with a NIB then I expect I would still broadly support him – which is how consensus politics works.
“Did you notice the scene in Germany? The kidnapped victims were interrogated at the brink of death and then pumped full of drugs to induce amnesia and forget their ordeal?”
___________
Fedup, I did indeed, who would’ve guessed that beautiful mansion was a CIA facility.
What was more unsettling is the CIA were not adversed to releasing pathogens in their own country to study the effects on human beings, like they did in San Francisco.
Or sending Anthrax to American citizens through the post, though they denied that particular event, scientific evidence virtually proved that the Anthrax all but came from a batch owned by the US government, Ebola eat yout heart out.
O/T.
From the 1st. of January 2016 The Financial Services Compensation Scheme is reducing coverage from £85,000 to £75,000 if your bank fails.
I wonder what is going on?
This clip has done the rounds with regard to other news stories, yet I found it vaguely amusing when relating to Jeremy Corbyn…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXSCZdeUGZM
“From the 1st. of January 2016 The Financial Services Compensation Scheme is reducing coverage from £85,000 to £75,000 if your bank fails.
I wonder what is going on?”
Officially it’s because the provision is an EU thing and the threshold is set in euros. This has not changed. The adjustment is because the euro has fallen so much against the pound.
Thanks MJ.
I hope you are right.
RobG.
Hitler was a good clip in, “Why Scottish Independence could save the World”.
“Russia delivers six Mikoyan MiG-31 fighter jets to Syria”
“Pullout of NATO Patriot Missile Shield from Turkey”
Looks like a real plan to deal with ISIS is at last taking shape:
Tarpley looks at these and other geopolitical developments:
http://tarpley.net/
Sibel Edmonds, who’s just returned from the area, gives her assessment:
https://www.corbettreport.com/interview-1075-sibel-edmonds-examines-turkey-syria-and-the-kurdish-question/
Channel 4 News continues its risible campaign against Corbyn:
Flint and Newman (of Mosque lie fame)
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/thread/1440354204.html
as does SKY.
Three other twats discuss politics:
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/thread/1440353582.html
“I have not accused Cooper of being neoliberal”
No you just said that under her Labour might represent a party that had succumbed to a defeatist acceptance of neoliberalism – which I’m afraid is pretty much the same thing. If someone said that under Corbyn Labour might represent a party that had surrendered to the values of Hamas and Hezbollah – I’m pretty sure that the reaction would be no where near as polite as my own.
As for Yvette being short on policy – well no one could accuse Jeremy of that could they – but when it comes to the practical details as to how those policies are delivered I’m afraid it all begins to fall down doesn’t it? Witness my question on how the NIB would work – which is one of the main items of Jeremy’s manifesto.
@RobG, thanks for a good laugh; did you spot the Nick Clegg look-alike ! 😀
Jon; ” I did not say I could not “make an alliance with Harriet Harman” – I could and I would.” + ” I do not regard Harriet Harman as a dreadful or unredeemable individual”
A hand-picked “Blair Babe”, voted for the attack on Iraq, was in office as Solicitor General when “extraordinary renditions” started, recently abstained on Osborne’s savage Welfare Bill, has fiddled her Parliamentary Expenses & sought to exempt MPs’ expenses from the Freedom of Information Act, back stabbed her “close friend” Gordon Brown, and other such inspiring stuff ! No wonder the Tories love her !;
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/harriet-harman-proves-popular-among-tory-supporters-10413379.html
Gilad Atzon with his take on the Corbyn phenomenon:
“Corbyn the symbol has come to embody the general fatigue with this post-political condition -frustration with austerity, endless immoral Zio-con wars, the loss of manufacturing, The Lobby, divisive identity nonsense and cultural Marxism as opposed to Marxism. Corbyn serves as a reminder of the revolution that never happened. He has reminded us that we are one after all.”
“Whether Corbyn can provide the goods while operating within a horrid Zionised Labour Party is an open question. But Corbyn, the symbol, emphasises the cry for change. A cry that is a genuine demand for justice expressed by the British people as they are reawakening to the real possibility of themselves as patriots – a collective of people who care for each other as opposed to an aloof collection of self-centric tribal identities who care only for themselves.”
http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/2015/8/22/the-meaning-of-corbyn
Macky – do I think Harriet Harman should move to the Left? Yes. I agree with you that the official Labour policy of abstaining on the Welfare Bill was wrong, as I indicated earlier in relation to Cooper. Yes on Iraq too, of course.
However, if you were leader of the Labour Party, would you eject her from the party? I would not. I think RD makes a reasonable point about trying to create a broad Left. It is a hard balance, of course: the Left will always have more difficulty and disagreement because it has so much more work to do than the Right, whose ideals of corporate and market supremacy are broadly already won.
Resident Dissident – I think being neoliberal (advocating for it) and a social democrat accepting neoliberalism (whilst opposing it) are rather different. I’m certainly aware Corbyn stands accused of advocating for and supporting Hamas, but I don’t think this is remotely true. We’ll have to agree to disagree.
@Jon, not only would I not have her in the Labour Party, I would have her tried for her role in the many crimes committed by New Labour; if we had a free & fair Democracy, she & all the other warmongering dupes/criminals, at the very least would have been barred from Public Office for life.
No great surprise really that you seem to be so flexible with your principles;
http://wallpapersfeed.com/media/medium/Grouchomarx-Quotes-27t5.jpg
Robert Crawford
“Thanks MJ.
I hope you are right.”
___________________
He is.
And now do shut up for a while , there’s a good chap.
Herbie
Aren’t you afraid of another good smack around the chops from Ba’al?
If he’s feeling merciful and doesn’t, perhaps I will.
Watch this space!
“@Jon, not only would I not have her in the Labour Party, I would have her tried for her role in the many crimes committed by New Labour;”
______________________
@ Macky, not only would I send you back to Squonk where you belong, I would have you tried for your role in the many attempts to diminish Craig’s blog and your crimes against the English language.