Skip to main content

The media and others seek to blame the Labour leadership of the election results.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2017/may/04/council-local-general-election-mayoral-results-england-scotland-wales


Labour faces 'challenge on historic scale' to win general election
Image result for Labour faces 'challenge on historic scale' to win general election

We had a poor night last Thursday. Results from the Council elections across the country were mixed, but overall were disappointing. We lost a significant number of Labour councillors and lost control of a few councils as the UKIP vote completely collapsed and some Labour voters put their crosses against another party on the ballot paper. Yes, all in all it was a poor night for Labour. Labour lost overall control of 7 councils and we now have 382 councillors fewer than we had before the election. 
However, we should note a number of factors which put the results from the election into some sort of perspective. It was only a short time ago, that predictions were being made in the media and on television, that the Labour party would be decimated at the local elections, facing the prospect of losing control of almost all of its councils and up to 600 councillors according to some pundits. It was forecast that voters would turn away with Labour losing support to UKIP, the Liberals or even the conservatives. These media notions rapidly disappeared as the UKIP vote disintegrated and that of Liberal Democrats fell away as those voters apparently went straight to the conservatives.




Image result for bbc  election may  2017


Television coverage throughout the day, on both BBC News and Sky News, relished in their coverage of conservative gains of seats and councils and their projections of the size of the Conservative majority in the House of Commons were the percentage votes cast for the parties to be repeated in 5 weeks time at the General election. However, voting patterns at local elections are usually very different from those at general elections.
It was also interesting to note the effort that both television channel reporters used in trying to put words into peoples mouths to somehow blame the Labour party leadership for the poor showing. Many of the political "pundit"s and presenters, Andrew Neil, Laura Kuenssberg, Norman Smith for the BBC and Sophie Ridge, Adam Bolton, Faisal Islam on Sky seemed pleased as more results came in and  quite upbeat in anticipation of a conservative landslide on June 8th. 
In some instances, interviewees needy little encouragement to criticise the party for the nights disappointing performance as if somehow the leadership were entirely to blame and no other issues of factors were involved.
Over the course of the next 5 weeks, the Labour party faces a difficult though not impossible task in convincing the electorate that only Labour has the priorities for all of the people in this country and not just for the rich or powerful. As well as securing a just and equitable deal with our European neighbours for access to markets, retention of working rights (a relationship with Europe soured and irreparably damaged by the Prime Minister over the last few days) Labour commits amongst other measures to be detailed in our manifesto, to a strong public NHS and social care, a secure homes guarantee,  a cut in inequality of income and wealth,Security at work, retention of the triple lock on State Pensions,and other measures for the benefit all of our people. 
The conservatives, encouraged by their allies on television and in the media, remain convinced that the result of the general election is a foregone conclusion. A brief look at the front pages of today's (Saturday 6th May), newspapers reveals the extent to which the only question seems to be the size of the conservative majority in the House of Commons on June 9th, with headlines such as,"Great Tory rebirth", "Theresa: The new Maggie",or "May on course for landslide" . 


Image result for Labour faces 'challenge on historic scale' to win general election


Over the course of the next 5 weeks, Labour party candidates, members, workers and supporters, have the task of convincing people around the constituencies that the result of the election is not "in the bag" for the conservatives. We have to drive home the message that returning a Theresa May government to Downing Street, will result in no agreement with Europe in respect of a Brexit, which will lead to a disastrous United Kingdom exit from the EU. There will be more years of austerity and falling living standards for our people. The criminal privatisation of our NHS will continue at an ever increasing rate with more hospital closures, more doctors and nurses leaving the profession longer waiting times as the  cash starved service is driven into the clutches of the private sector. Further cuts and caps to welfare payments will drive more people, the sick and disabled, the working poor or unemployed and other vulnerable groups into desperation as the rich benefit from tax breaks and other concessions. This country has had seven years of coalition and then conservative government austerity and excesses benefiting the few rich millionaires at the expense of the many ordinary people.
We have only a few short weeks to put the message to the people, and stress that the result is not already determined, as the conservatives and the media would have everyone believe.We must alert people to the consequences of another conservative government led by Theresa May with her "strong and stable government" cliche hiding her true intentions for this country. We must press home the argument that there is an alternative and that we have the policies and the people to change British society. This is perhaps the most important election since the war and the result will affect the lives of our children and our grand children for many decades to come.

Speaking about  the "rules" which have governed this country for may years, Jeremy Corbyn said:

"It is these rules that have allowed a cosy cartel to rig the system in favour of a few powerful and wealthy individuals and corporations.
It is a rigged system set up by the wealth extractors, for the wealth extractors.But things can, and they will, change.Britain needs a Labour government that is prepared to fight for people in every part of the country, our towns, villages, as well as big cities.A Labour government that isn’t scared to take on the cosy cartels that are hoarding this country’s wealth for themselves.It needs a government that will use that wealth to invest in people’s lives in every community to build a better future for every person who lives here".
Between now and June 8th, we must press home our message and change the United Kingdom for the benefit of all.





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Northern Ireland and Brexit. The return of "The Troubles"

Northern Ireland: police attacked in another night of disturbances | Northern Ireland | The Guardian When the "Brexit" debate was still filling our newspapers and our television screens, readers may remember why I had changed my mind since voting to leave at the referendum vote. Apart from the economic arguments, which had become crystal clear after peeling away all the lies and misrepresentations trotted out by Bozo Boris and his "Get Brexit Done" conspirators, there was always the problem of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Would it be possible to have a border between the European Union and the United Kingdom where people, goods and services could pass freely between the two nations without customs restrictions, tariffs, duties and all the other formalities? Would it be possible to have one part of the United Kingdom treated differently from other parts of the United Kingdom, particularly when Scotland for example had voted overwhe

The Parliamentary Labour Party conspirators are hatching another coup.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/corbyn-labour-leadership-rebel-mps-a7202641.html Labour MPs plan for Corbyn victory  and plot how to confront an emboldened leader Even for the "Independent", the number and use of unnamed anonymous "sources" in this article is quite astonishing. However, amongst all the usual speculative delusion, there is one factor which causes concern to anyone who believes in the Labour Party, its principles and in he democratic process of the Labour movement. It is abundantly clear that elements within the Parliamentary Labour Party, are even now, planning another coup in the event that Jeremy Corbyn should emerge as winner in the current ballot. The failed coup of earlier this year, has now descended into a sham leadership election, because the conspirators still fail to accept the democratic decision of the Labour party membership and cling to

New Agenda on Sunday is out Sunday, Apr. 28, 2019

https://paper.li/f-1346065353#/ Good morning everyone. Last weeks scare regarding Megan and Harry being sent to live "somewhere in Africa" seems to have been dispelled, at least for the time being. It now seems that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will take up residence in California.  Unless  they are actually  doing  some proper work in "The Golden State", I hope that they are taken off the civil list so that we do not have to fund their life choice. The nauseating Daily Mail is at it again. A headline this week, which I will not even bother to reproduce here, screams out in disgusting and repulsive bias without any acknowledgement to the factual basis of their "story". Spewing out their usual smears and embellished distortions about Hamas, the IRA, Hezbollah and the rest, the Mail condemns itself with ample justification, for the closure of a "newspaper," which again abuses 10 fold, the privilege of "freedom of t