A sleepless night and day of drama over, I should congratulate Jeremy Corbyn and his team on a fantastic job done. This really was a watershed election. I suspect that what happened is that the mainstream media realised it is losing influence, and tried to compensate by becoming so shrill and biased it simply lost all respect. This election may be the one where social media finally routed the press barons. They may in turn start to wonder if it is worth sinking millions into a newspaper if it can’t buy an election
New media beat old media, the insurgents routed the establishment, the young insisted the old also consider their opinion, hope beat fear, altruism wrestled with selfishness, and I would personally go so far as to say good stood up to evil. The result against the combined power of state and media was fantastic. We have nonetheless still got Theresa May as PM propped up by climate change denying, misogynist, creationist, homophobe, anti-abortion terrorist-linked knuckle-draggers from the DUP. But cheer up, it won’t last long.
Tomorrow I will publish an article on the SNP. It is on the stocks, but I want to look at it again when my anger dies down. But for now, let me think about the Blairites.
The Blairites hate Labour’s good result, even though it saved their own jobs. They had put so much work into preparing the ground for their next coup attempt against Corbyn. There was a fascinating campaign to demoralise Labour chances undertaken by Blairite MPs and the Blairite Westminster commentariat.
Here for example was Michael Savage, political editor of the Observer.
Here was my response.
His Guardian colleague Polly Toynbee was on the BBC on Thursday morning explaining coming defeat would be Corbyn’s fault, and her colleague Anne Perkins, the Guardian leader writer whose soul is but a shrivelled husk of right wing hate, wrote the most horrible diatribe in the Guardian on Tuesday advising “Corbyn supporters” not to hope.
These Blairite journalists and the Blairite politicians all live in the same bubble where everybody hates Jeremy Corbyn, and nobody will vote for left wing policies.
Labour Uncut, aka Corbyn Hate Central, had a wonderfully delusional piece by the ludicrous Atul Hatwal, who went and visited a lot of Blairites all over the place and published his firm conclusion that everybody hates Jeremy Corbyn.
Just over two weeks ago I posted a projection of huge losses for Labour – over 90 seats – based on dozens of conversations with activists, candidates and officials who cumulatively had sight of tens of thousands of canvass returns.
Since then, I’ve continued those conversations as Labour has apparently surged in the polls.
In every seat, canvassers are encountering lifelong Labour supporters who still identify with the party but not Jeremy Corbyn. This group tends to have voted for Ed Miliband reluctantly and are now either sitting out this contest or ready to vote Tory for the first time to prevent a Corbyn premiership.
These switchers represent a new generation of shy Tories, located deep inside Labour’s core vote. They are embarrassed at voting Tory, sufficiently so to deny their intent to friends, families and pollsters. Some of the older Labour officials and campaigners have reported familiar doorstep cadences from 1992 – “It’s in the eyes,” one said to me.
But Hatwul is not alone in his drooling imbecility. If anything he is out-drooled by Jason Cowley, the editor who has dragged the New Statesman to the right of the Economist. Both Cowley and Perkins quote Hatwul’s “research” and Cowley on Tuesday expected a “catastrophic” loss of 90 seats. It is a shame that a magazine with a great history has come to be edited by a bigot so blinkered he has lost the faculties of perception. This is funny from Cowley’s anti Corbyn hate fest – written just three days ago:
In recent days, I have been speaking to Labour candidates, including those defending small majorities in marginal seats, as well as to activists. The picture emerging is bleaker than the polls would suggest and the mood is one of foreboding: candidates expect to lose scores of seats on Thursday. There’s a sense, too, that two campaigns have been conducted simultaneously: candidates with majorities under 10,000 are trying to hold back the Tory tide, while Corbyn is, as some perceive it, already contesting the next leadership contest – one in which, at present, he is the sole candidate.
What a stupid arse Cowley is. Do read the whole thing, he is hilariously wrong on all counts. Anybody can make a mistake. But Cowley is making a dishonest mistake. Blinded by Blairite affections, consumed by a passionate rejection of the idea that socialism might be popular, the Labour candidates he has spoken too share his Blairite outlook and they were all engaged in a circle of delusion. A circle which includes Laura Kuenssberg, who at the start of the BBC election night coverage assured us that senior Labour figures she knew had been telling her from the doorstep that the anti-Corbyn reaction would belie the opinion polls.
This was all of course intended to be self-fulfilling prophecy. The Blairites and their media fellow travellers were engaged in a deliberate attempt to reinforce the Corbyn bogeyman narrative to the public in the last few days before the election. They were deliberately trying to make the party they ostensibly supported lose, so they could take back control of it again. The Manchester Evening News claimed “Labour insiders” as the course of its nonsense story that Labour stood to lose seats in Manchester owing to its stance on anti-Semitism.
The BBC were quick today to suggest that Corbyn should use his success to broaden his cabinet and his policy platform, to bring the Blairites back onboard. They meant that if he squeezes himself inside the Overton window he may win power eventually. I remain confident Corbyn will ignore any such blandishments and go on to further develop a radical alternative to neo-liberal policies. The Blairites need to be stamped out, not encouraged.
The parliamentary boundary review will now be a top legislative priority for May as it is reckoned to be a net advantage to the Tories of 18 seats at the next election, which may be soon. That will be an interesting negotiation with the DUP as it will cost them a seat. But the boundary review provides the perfect opportunity for Corbyn to force through compulsory re-submission of candidates to members. Jeremy also needs to concentrate on seizing the institutional control of the party that he lacks to date. His enhanced prestige at the moment needs to be ruthlessly exploited.
I rather hope we will hear a good deal more bleating by the Blairites in the near future, as they are hurtled towards political oblivion.
In case anybody hadn’t noticed Corbyn lost and is still in opposition. In the face of what was undoubtedly the worst election campaign in British political history the best he could do was win over another 30 seats when any half-way competent politician ought to have won by a landslide. If the Tories replace May, as they surely must, with somebody who actually knows what they’re doing he’s going to be in real trouble.
Oh and it wasn’t all the fault of the “medja”.
Hold tight to those straws you’re gonna need them
What did I post that was in any way incorrect?
Ah, so you’re Richard Littlejohn! You meant the word ‘media’? And it’s True!
@Kempe, your just parroting the sour Blairite Chris Leslie, who actually owes his job & increased majority to the man who is now back-stabbing.
Under JC the Labour Party is now the largest, and richest, Left of centre parties in Europe with around 800,000 members !
Also consider the following;
Corbyn 2017 40% Miliband 2015 30% Brown 2010 29% Blair 2005 35%
Corbyn 2017 12.9m, Milliband 2015 9.3m, Brown 2010 8.6 Blair 2005 9.5m Blair 2001 10.7m
(Is this a democracy? Conservative 42.4% => 316 Labour => 41% => 261)
The increase of 9.7% in Labour’s share of the vote since the 2015 election is the greatest such increase since 1945. In fact, it is the second highest ever increase since the party was founded, falling just behind the 9.8% increase achieved by the Attlee government in 1945.
Corbyn has added 3.45m Labour votes since 2015. Again this is the greatest increase between two elections since 1945, falling just short of the 3.64m votes added in 1945. It is also 75% greater than the 1.96m votes added by Blair between the 1992 and 1997 general elections.
Also under JC;
Labour gained Canterbury after 100 years being Tory !
Labour wins Kensington for the first time ever, where average house prices are 1.4 M !
Have I posted anything that is in any way incorrect? 😀
Still in opposition though. Losing by a narrower margin is not victory.
So you’re sticking with your disingenuous “the best he could do was win over another 30 seats” ?! 😀
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/corbyn-election-labour/
I’m reading a lot of posts over a range of media outlets saying just this. Cut and paste is obviously the name of the game. A very poor version of the tripe that has been seen for the last 18 months, as in two legs bad (Corbyn) and four legs good (Any hopeless Tory). Well-we were laughingly promised ‘Stable leadership’ Lol.
Cowley is making a misake that will certainly cost his journal my renewal subscription. The political content is insulting. If I want arts reviews, I don’t need the NS for those.
The NS is unreadable these days. Sold in 2008/9 by Geoffrey Robinson, Lab Coventry NW, now aged 79 and just re-elected! One of his houses is here in Surrey and I’ve seen him travelling1st class on the train to London. A very wealthy man. Note the loan to Mandelslime and the Brown/Blair allegiances.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Robinson
Bought by Mike Danson, another rich list member. .
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/the-media-column-why-the-left-wing-new-statesman-is-stubbornly-resisting-the-lure-of-corbynmania-a6753721.html
and has entered the super yacht world.
http://news.sky.com/story/media-tycoon-sets-sail-with-super-yachts-bible-10444459
I don’t think socialist principles are espoused by either of these owners and the NS is down the pan.
Everyone was wrong about Corbyn, including his supporters. Jezza managed to run a far better campaign than most of us expected, but he still lost convincingly to a weak, unpopular Tory PM fighting the worst campaign I’ve ever seen.
They wanted to loose.. And are forked as to how to continue! Beeb will accommodate
Survation Poll (who were closer than most in the run-up) on Sat 10 June:
https://twitter.com/britainelects/status/873674408224862210
Corbyn has a rare commodity,honesty which some people find hard to accept,regarding the blairites stand up for the elected leader (unity is strength ) and the Labour Party ) do the honourable thing and go,Jeremy has just kept you in a job.
An excellent piece, best I’ve read on the election larks!
Good article. Appeasement of the Blairites was always a bad idea and this election has proved them wrong. The Blairites are worse than useless and need to go. Corbyn would be PM by now were it not for them.
Summing it all up, Jonathan Pie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsGVghRBdKI
The Blair Project rises uncertainly from its open grave, again:
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/blogs/george-magnus/mired-in-political-uncertainty-will-the-economy-stall-theresa-may
The third sentence in this somewhat facile analysis of the economic situation, as seen from the viewpoint of a Blairite remainer, contains the obligatory reference to the Dear Leader. Which may actually be the authorisation code. Blair may move in mysterious ways, but it is Prospect which performs His wonders.
But it’s the final sentence dispels any mistaken impression that Corbyn had holed the project below the waterline.
There are political routes out of this mess, which would bring much needed certainty to all of us, businesses and households, but these would require courage and compromise.
…but it’s still a bit premature for me to suggest which shining knight in armour is available, subject to adequate remuneration, to lead you centrist Europhiles to victory….
Continuing silence from Blair. As with the Manchester bombing, as with the London knifings, being associated with bad stuff diminishes his PR traction. And, though it must gall him, he must be aware that there’s only one obstacle to a Brexit outcome deeply displeasing to JP Morgan, BP, City financial manipulators and Mubadala, if May fucks up. And that’s a socialist Labour Party. But humble pie has always made him gag.
Enough time has now elapsed for Blair to explain his treachery to the party of which he somehow remains a member. Unlike his devotees, he has declined to state (even insincerely – we’d expect that) that he will now support the party leader. Cancelling his membership of Labour would be fully justified.
Another Blairite stumbles out of the graveyard in his cerements. “Brains! Brains!”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/14/thought-labours-big-beasts-had-principles-now-working-jeremy/
We thought …no we didn’t, not really .. the small vermin had more principles than to assault their party leader in the Torygraph.
Which requires even less principle than pretending to say sorry. Note the NI slur persists. Maybe Blair Inc ™ is terrified that Sinn Fein will parachute into Westminster now May’s dealing with the Unionist terrorist supporters?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Harris_(British_politician)