Why do some people judge Yvette Cooper by her husband? How misogynist is that FFS?
2 Likes
I donāt personally, but you know others will, and British voters may baulk at having him ponce around Number Ten.
I personally donāt like her because I find her robotic and unconvincing, not because of her husband. But you know the Murdoch press will have a field day with āMrs Ballsā.
If they are, I agree. But I just havenāt detected a distinctive voice from her in the campaign.
Originally posted by @pap
Corbyn excluded, I agree, but heās not going to be looking too rosy today after it emerged that heās been claiming 17K p.a. in rent for a flat when heās got another in Westminster. Iām sure his camp will clarify the oversight in due course, like.
Yeah, I saw that. One part of me thinks how dreadful; the other, Iāll be damned if Iāll go along with pitch-fork moralising from the Russian-oligarch owning Indy.
1 Like
Youāre right, however people will associate her with Balls. I even go as far to say that some would question her judgement (unfairly) because of her choice of husband. A bit like people saying about John Bercow āwhat weāre you thinkingā when referring to Sally.
Great stuff from AAV:-
On the day after Tony Blairās attack on Jeremy Corbyn, Chuka joined the Blairite leadership candidates Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall in swearing that heād never serve in a front bench role were Jeremy Corbyn to win the Labour leadership election.
The Guardian described this terribly divisive posturing as āa potential exodus of talentā, which is perhaps one of the most bizarre misuses of the English language Iāve ever seen. People like Cooper, Kendall and Umunna are not ātalentā. They are precisely the kind of unprincipled self-serving career politician non-entities that the Labour Party need to sweep aside in order to rebuild their credibility. The fact that a Corbyn shadow cabinet would contain none of these three is actually yet another good reason for Labour Party members and supporters to get out and vote for Corbyn.
2 Likes
Originally posted by @pap
Great stuff from AAV:-
The Guardian described this terribly divisive posturing as āa potential exodus of talentā, which is perhaps one of the most bizarre misuses of the English language Iāve ever seen. People like Cooper, Kendall and Umunna are not ātalentā. They are precisely the kind of unprincipled self-serving career politician non-entities that the Labour Party need to sweep aside in order to rebuild their credibility.
Maybe Iām old fashioned, but I think that writing is important when the subject is politics. To use such silly hyperbole as that highlighted in bold just makes the author look stupid and a tad hysterical.
Which, sadly, he appears to be, judging by what then follows.
Iāve got to wonder what talents weāre talking about, exactly? AAV is correct; theyāve no place in a hypothetical Corbyn cabinet.
Theyāve brought all of this on themselves, btw. All of it. Corbyn is in the position heās in because he voted against the welfare cuts, and had the political history to be able to do so credibly.
If by ātalentā, the Guardian refers to Labour MPs that are going to cut into that vaunted ABC1 sector, then perhaps theyāre right. I personally wouldnāt agree. I think we need a genuine and credible alternative that works within the existing system, and none of these boys or girls are it. Weāve got four runners for this contest. One of them stood up for traditional Labour voters, the other three didnāt.
Labour members like people who stick up for the downtrodden. Who knew?
2 Likes
Well, firstly, that wasnāt really my point. To be clear, the text highlighted in bold is about as artless and lacking in sensible data as āI havenāt slept in literally a million years.ā
Secondly, what does ātalentā mean? Would you be surprised to learn that a lot of people in a rather important industry and among the industryās critics thought that the most ātalentedā minister in the last government was Steve Webb, who managed a very technically demanding brief in an area that affects us all very much? I simply donāt know whether Burnham, Cooper or Kendall have this kind of talent. Or is it the ātalentā to communicate? Chuka clearly has that; it doesnāt take any special media skill to realise that. But no, this guy wants to trash all and sundry as ātalentlessā, evidently to satisfy his own, slightly odd cathartic needs. (I honestly canāt see what else there is.)
Thirdly, weāre talking about people in the same party for heavenās sake ā a party that has to form some sort of credible opposition to what may turn out to be the most viciously antagonistic administration of modern times in its reallocation of the poor to the invisible margins of British society.
Itās just badly written, Tribune-ish verbiage designed to demonise all but a tiny band of approved acolytes. A splitter, Life-of-Brian style.
Is that the official position of the Popular Front?
1 Like
Oh, I represent a party of one, no doubt. Iām not a joiner, Iām sorry to say. But I have a vote like anyone else, and some aspirations for what kind of place Iād hope this country could be.
Sorry, going with a longer post now, but wanted to get my quip in. āTalentā, for me, would be devising some strategy to what you alluded to earlier. The post-working class. Firstly, I donāt believe it exists, but then I have a very broad definition of working class, which basically incorporates anyone needing to work to meet a reasonable standard of living. That makes a lot of people working class, although I would understand a disagreement with that position.
But letās assume for a second thatās where we are. Post working class. The jobs that sustained communities are never coming back. Why does that make our non-Corbyn candidates eminently suitable to address that situation, and simultaneously disqualify him from proceedings? Two of them constitute more of the same and Kendall is completely out of her depth. Weāre running a 100-ish member forum. Sheās running to become leader of the fucking Labour Party. The āThis Is Anfieldā piss-take I did got more engagement than most of her official campaign tweets, and as you constantly remind me, those images arenāt even that funny.
As for Chuka, think he made a mistake by pulling out. Whatever was lurking in the background to bite him could have been an opportunity to define a bit of character. As it turned out, it was a problem that pushed him out of the race. Shame.
1 Like
The working class tag is completely outdated for the reasons Pap gives, by his definition the vast majority are working class including myself and Iām a Tory.
Corbyn for me, that way weāll have a Tory government for at least two terms.
I dunno. If a week is a lifetime in politics, five years seems like eternity, and Osborne has already stitched up many of the people that their rhetoric would have been attractive to. Previously, most of the cuts have been aimed at the unemployed. The Working Tax Credit changes are going to leave many of those out of pocket. The minimum wage rise wonāt cover the difference for many, and this is a mere two months after the election.
Corbyn could be exactly what the public needs when the time comes.
2 Likes
Newsthump is very amusing sometimes.
Labour leadership candidate Liz Kendall has vowed to fight Jeremy Corbyn āto the last,ā even if it means taking a small, trusted band of New Labour insurgents to the hills and waging an all-out guerrilla war.
Her pledge came after suggestions that she should withdraw from the race and support another candidate.
āNo! Corbynās going down,ā She snarled.
āIāve seen Red Dawn. I know how to wage an insurgency campaign from the hills. Iāve got good men behind me. Tristram Huntās got fabulous hair and Chuka Umunna is blandly charming.ā
1 Like
Top rant!
1 Like
2 Likes
If only youād said it was written by Mark Steel (*groan*) youād have saved me a click.
1 Like
Weāve had Billy Bragg and Mark Steel, so just need Russell Brand for a full house in the game of poseur crapola.
Why the hell canāt we produce our own version of Jon Stewart?
2 Likes
How many dead postmen are lying in your garden with multple gunshot wounds, Furball?