This Once Great Movement Of Ours

[Pulaski]

I think it's clear enough why it happened. The bigger question is whether the various groupings with mutually incompatible desires who ended up plumping for Labour are our ceiling or not.

That's what coalitions are, though, and virtually every party in every democracy has to assemble them. The conservatives right now have assembled virtually the whole Leave vote with a significant amount of right- and centre-learning Remainers, and Labour didn't even manage to assemble enough of the Remain vote. 2017 proved that it's possible to gather a sizeable coalition around a genuinely left-wing economic platform, even under an (at the time, mildly) unpopular leader. Surely Corbyn's main failure, rather than being "too left-wing" as virtually every analyst opines, was an inability, and even dogged refusal, to to the necessary reach out to assemble a workable coalition. A task made all the more difficult, of course, by the insistence by large swathes of the media that he was a closet Leave voter, communist, and anti-Semite.

[Pulaski]

More generally though it's funny how the discussion within Labour has switched from the post-referendum 'We'll only win back Scotland if we follow my pre-ordained policy positions' to 'who the F**K knows'.

It was widely mentioned when phonebanking in the '15 election by JC supporters that he'd win Scottish seats back (something that to his credit he did) but by 2020 election it was barely discussed at all; like there's virtual agreement across the party that there is no obvious route back.

I use to suscribe to the more zealot based view of SLab being a firm unionist party, strongly supporting remain & opposing Brexit; while having the policy flexibility we saw with Welsh Labour. But honestly with the dire state we're in & the threat to union (and by extension the future of a Labour majority) you almost wonder if supporting indy-ref 2, giving Findlay the leadership and just completely turning the whole thing upside might actually be more worthwhile.

Scotland, like the north of England, seems to be one of those places where Labour is paying the political price for Tory governments' neglectful and contemptuous behaviour over generations.

Supporting indy-ref 2 should definitely be on the agenda, and at this stage I'm unsure if losing Scotland really does pose that big a threat to a future Labour majority - I can't see for the life of me how post-Brexit the SNP will lose seats.

[Pulaski]

Whether Corbyn’s right or wrong, suspending him is a massive overreaction from a party that’s literally accepted ex-BNP councillors into its fold - still, I’m sure that fact has nothing to do with antisemitism in the party. BNP guys are notoriously big friends of the Jews.

[Pulaski]

Whether Corbyn’s right or wrong, suspending him is a massive overreaction from a party that’s literally accepted ex-BNP councillors into its fold - still, I’m sure that fact has nothing to do with antisemitism in the party. BNP guys are notoriously big friends of the Jews.

I actually looked up the councillor in question; she showed far more humility and contrition than Corbyn would ever be capable of doing.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/jun/14/localgovernment.politics

Not the only one. Blair is right; this is a long-standing issue in Labour (and society in general) that was seized upon and exaggerated by Corbyn critics as an excuse to undermine his leadership.

[Pulaski]

Honestly at a certain point I wonder if Corbyn has anything to gain from having the whip returned to him. This Labour party have clearly decided to revert back to the old attitude of "no room in the inn" for any genuine socialist, much less anyone even moderately critical of Israel. If I were him I'd think long and hard about apologising for the mildest of comments to get back into a party that would never dare to suggest suspending the likes of Tony Blair for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Doesn't seem to be a whole lot inside Labour worth fighting for anyway.

[Pulaski]

Kinnock's recent dressing down is symptomatic of the wider issue; the party has been purging critics of Israel all year.

 

[Pulaski]

Kinnock's recent dressing down is symptomatic of the wider issue; the party has been purging critics of Israel all year.

Winstanley is a Grade A crank, just saying.

That’s nice but it doesn’t change the facts outlined in the article.

[Pulaski]

I won't attempt to defend Corbyn as with his latest comments he seems to have delved into his annoying tendency to conflate "non-western" with "good," always a weak spot of his.

But I will say that you can look upon Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a clear act of unprovoked aggression and still have pragmatic concerns about Western governments forever arming Ukraine. One concern would be how much of the hardware you're supplying may ultimately end up in Russia's hands if they do conquer the country, like how much US equipment was left in Afghanistan for the Taliban (though I gather for complex reasons they might not get a huge advantage out of it). I'm not saying I don't think the West should arm Ukraine; just that there are some legit concerns there.

P.S. Does anyone else find Starmer's performance in PMQs very underwhelming? He seems to be unable to ad-lib or think flexibly and has to refer to his notes very often. I know as a Corbyn supporter I'm throwing stones in a big glass house, but I expect a lot more from a former barrister and DPP.

[Pulaski]

Starmer's approach to PMQ's isn't terribly flexible, yes.

I would add though that, sometimes, it works *very* well indeed. Many of his best moments as leader have been when he has utterly eviscerated Johnson.

Which particular moments are you thinking of? Perhaps I haven't seen them.

[Pulaski]

Based on past form I'm not entirely convinced that all of the 'Starmer allies' quoted in newspaper articles pushing this or that gossip story actually exist.

It brings to mind the inexplicable number of people who claim to be "close to the royal family."

[Pulaski]

Reading Brown's article really drives home what a trick Labour missed in not electing him leader in 94. What a different Labour government we might have had.

(Yes, he was just as much responsible for reforming the party as Blair, but would certain bad decisions have been taken - e.g. Iraq?)

[Pulaski]

I'm a big fan of James O'Brien and his evisceration of James Cleverly contains just a smattering of the insane damage 12 years of Tory government has done to Britain.

"Twelve years, and everywhere you look there's a skip fire, or a clown car, or a skip fire in a clown car."

I make no bones of the fact I'm well to the left of Starmer and most of the current Labour leadership, but holy christ have Labour got to win the next election.

I ing hate Tories.

[Pulaski]

I've commented before on Starmer's seemingly lacklustre performances at PMQs, and how surprising it is to me given his years of experience as a barrister.

I've started to wonder if his seeming overreliance on his notes, constantly flitting his eyes back down at them, is a deliberate understatement on his part, deflecting attention away from himself. It's a tactic that has basically defined his broader political strategy, so it would make sense for him to be deploying it at PMQs too. Sometimes I wonder if there's anything written on the paper he's looking at.

[Pulaski]

I've commented before on Starmer's seemingly lacklustre performances at PMQs, and how surprising it is to me given his years of experience as a barrister.

I've started to wonder if his seeming overreliance on his notes, constantly flitting his eyes back down at them, is a deliberate understatement on his part, deflecting attention away from himself. It's a tactic that has basically defined his broader political strategy, so it would make sense for him to be deploying it at PMQs too. Sometimes I wonder if there's anything written on the paper he's looking at.

The consensus from those who knew him as a barrister was that he wasn't an exceptional courtroom performer - his skills were much more in terms of preparation and technical matters rather than in charismatic advocacy.

But for a barrister of his note to not just lack it as a strength, but to be almost deficient in it, does strike me as a little odd. He seems almost shy at the despatch box.

[Pulaski]

*Albeit that it's easier to win when things are visibly collapsing around the government.

Yeah, I mean the table is set for him before he arrives at this point. Literally just has to read out the latest raft of quotes about Sunak given by those sitting behind him.