Labour Leadership

According to half the media, Keir Starmer is the "front runner" for the leadership. However, Long-Bailey is described as "front runner" by the Telegraph because they wanted to use a facetious remark she made about "not ruling with an iron fist". The Express group found it in their interests to say Starmer and Long-Bailey were both "front runners".

This is a dubious use of the English language which only recognises one "front runner".

The likelihood is that Labour Party members (of which I am not one) will vote with their consciences. Being told that someone is a "front runner" will not affect their decision.

In fact, the "front runner" status is a fraud.

Sky News produced the assertion based on the following figures:
Keir Starmer - 31%
Rebecca Long Bailey - 20%
Jess Phillips - 11%
Yvette Cooper - 7%
Clive Lewis - 7%
Emily Thornberry - 6%
Lisa Nandy - 5%

Those are not the present candidates. Jess Phillips, Yvette Cooper, Clive Lewis are no longer in the race.

The left have avoided a showdown with the Blairite fifth column in the Labour Party. Long-Bailey is committed to an "open selection" process which will allow right-wing Labour MPs to be removed from the party. The right wing were never squeamish about removing left-wingers in the past.

One major contributing factor in Labour's defeat was a situation where Tory cuts were being carried out by Labour councils

Another was the Tory slogan "get Brexit done" which influenced some of the less politically savvy Labour voters. People who wanted Brexit because the EU had done nothing for them were attracted by it. People who were sick to death of Brexit were also attracted by the idea of just getting it over with.

In or out of the EU the same problems will remain. Any attempt to water down Labour's response would be disastrous. A small example is the decision to take Northern Rail into public ownership. 

The odious Mandelson is seldom off the BBC deriding the Labour Party and celebrating the Tory victory he helped to bring about by his constant carping and plotting. Whatever you say about Corbyn he had principles and he gave people hope. Mandelson would need a dictionary to find out what those words mean.

The case of Socialism was made by Eugene Debs a hundred years ago. He said, "don't vote for freedom, you might not get it. Vote for slavery, you've got a cinch on that!"

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