Next Labour leader

As Martin suggested, Andy Burnham would be a worthy choice.....

Why do you say that Okocha?

I liked Burnham at the last leadership election until the debates, where it became clear he had little personal substance and would say whatever he thought was more likely to get him the job.

xmiles wrote:

T.R.O.Y wrote:Don’t know who I’m voting for, never been fully taken by RLB but I’ll hear what she (and the others) have to say and then decide.

One thing that should be pointed out is that left wing policies polled well, so lurching to the right won’t help either.

I support most of these policies but if you don't win the election the policies are not worth the paper they are written on. To win an election Labour has to win the middle ground - there simply are not enough people with strongly held left wing views to win a general election by only appealing to them.

You’ve missed the point X. Nationalising rail and increasing the minimum wage to £10 weren’t only popular on the left, they polled well across the board.

If we drop the policies we risk losing the strength we have to progressive parties.

T.R.O.Y wrote:

xmiles wrote:

T.R.O.Y wrote:Don’t know who I’m voting for, never been fully taken by RLB but I’ll hear what she (and the others) have to say and then decide.

One thing that should be pointed out is that left wing policies polled well, so lurching to the right won’t help either.

I support most of these policies but if you don't win the election the policies are not worth the paper they are written on. To win an election Labour has to win the middle ground - there simply are not enough people with strongly held left wing views to win a general election by only appealing to them.

You’ve missed the point X. Nationalising rail and increasing the minimum wage to £10 weren’t only popular on the left, they polled well across the board.

If we drop the policies we risk losing the strength we have to progressive parties.

This is getting tedious. I am sure if we could actually talk rather than email each other we could resolve this amicably but to me you are the one missing the point. I am not advocating dropping policies like nationalising the railways. What I am saying is that a Labour manifesto has to be pitched at a broad audience in order to enable Labour to win a majority. It also has to be sold by a capable leader.

At the moment our ongoing argument is just entertaining the Tories on this site.

He's in!
Check out the video...

boltonbonce wrote:

xmiles wrote:

https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1223380/labour-leadership-sir-keir-starmer-jeremy-corbyn

Yes I saw that earlier today bonce. Do you think it boosts Starmer's chances or damages them?  

When I start taking any notice of the Daily Express I'll probably call it a day. Interesting angle though.

Bit rich having political comment from a newspaper owned by tax-dodging, UKIP -funding pornographer Richard Desmond's Northern and Shell company.

xmiles wrote:

T.R.O.Y wrote:

xmiles wrote:

T.R.O.Y wrote:Don’t know who I’m voting for, never been fully taken by RLB but I’ll hear what she (and the others) have to say and then decide.

One thing that should be pointed out is that left wing policies polled well, so lurching to the right won’t help either.

I support most of these policies but if you don't win the election the policies are not worth the paper they are written on. To win an election Labour has to win the middle ground - there simply are not enough people with strongly held left wing views to win a general election by only appealing to them.

You’ve missed the point X. Nationalising rail and increasing the minimum wage to £10 weren’t only popular on the left, they polled well across the board.

If we drop the policies we risk losing the strength we have to progressive parties.

This is getting tedious. I am sure if we could actually talk rather than email each other we could resolve this amicably but to me you are the one missing the point. I am not advocating dropping policies like nationalising the railways. What I am saying is that a Labour manifesto has to be pitched at a broad audience in order to enable Labour to win a majority. It also has to be sold by a capable leader.

At the moment our ongoing argument is just entertaining the Tories on this site.

To be honest, I think we’re both in agreement that the policies are good but how they were pitched and who they were pitched by are the issue - in that, clearly Corbyn’s alienate large parts of the country.

I’m not sure how we move forward, but that’s for the leadership debates I suppose.

T.R.O.Y wrote:

xmiles wrote:

T.R.O.Y wrote:

xmiles wrote:

T.R.O.Y wrote:Don’t know who I’m voting for, never been fully taken by RLB but I’ll hear what she (and the others) have to say and then decide.

One thing that should be pointed out is that left wing policies polled well, so lurching to the right won’t help either.

I support most of these policies but if you don't win the election the policies are not worth the paper they are written on. To win an election Labour has to win the middle ground - there simply are not enough people with strongly held left wing views to win a general election by only appealing to them.

You’ve missed the point X. Nationalising rail and increasing the minimum wage to £10 weren’t only popular on the left, they polled well across the board.

If we drop the policies we risk losing the strength we have to progressive parties.

This is getting tedious. I am sure if we could actually talk rather than email each other we could resolve this amicably but to me you are the one missing the point. I am not advocating dropping policies like nationalising the railways. What I am saying is that a Labour manifesto has to be pitched at a broad audience in order to enable Labour to win a majority. It also has to be sold by a capable leader.

At the moment our ongoing argument is just entertaining the Tories on this site.

To be honest, I think we’re both in agreement that the policies are good but how they were pitched and who they were pitched by are the issue - in that, clearly Corbyn’s alienate large parts of the country.

I’m not sure how we move forward, but that’s for the leadership debates I suppose.

I genuinely don't think there is a platform for "policies" at the moment - the only thing that half the country is interested in is leaving the EU and they haven't really thought beyond that.
In a way, it will be good to get Brexit done and then folk will eventually start to refocus on what the Government is actually doing and the issues and decisions we face.
At the moment only half the country is concerned about policy so the leadership campaign could further divide the half that are bothered about policy.

Agreed Lust, Labour tried and failed to drag the conversation away from Brexit and onto policy.

Hilary Benn?

A man respected from all sides of the house, a man who could test Boris at PMQ's, a man who could hopefully bring the party together.  He looks and sounds like a leader.

The question is what is the future for Momentum, a party within a party, can they be destroyed or will they ultimately destroy the Labour Party?

Momentum are one of the Labour party’s biggest assets why would you want to destroy them?

T.R.O.Y wrote:Momentum are one of the Labour party’s biggest assets why would you want to destroy them?

For the same reasons Militant got banned from the party. Whilst they make a useful contribution to policy and thinking, their dominance of the party makes them an easy target for the Tory media, especially in an age where slander and unsubstantiable fear-mongering are commonplace, out of control and carry no sanctions.
In this day and age, anything can be tarnished - which is easy to do - and for Labour to come back they'll need Jesus, Mother Teresa and Gandhi rolled into one for the leader with a following drawn from the Samaritans, Marie Curie nurses and cuddly kittens.

T.R.O.Y wrote:Momentum are one of the Labour party’s biggest assets why would you want to destroy them?

Do you think they were one of the Labour party's biggest assets during the recent General Election?

Cajunboy wrote:

T.R.O.Y wrote:Momentum are one of the Labour party’s biggest assets why would you want to destroy them?

Do you think they were one of the Labour party's biggest assets during the recent General Election?

In terms of on the ground campaigning yes, they’ve mobilised large portions of the membership. What is it you think they do?

I see the Express has already begun trying to discredit the candidate they obviously fear is the main Labour threat to Boris and the Tories.....a fear of Sir Keir. (Catchy, huh?)

 Shameless distortion of the man's background, record and beliefs.

T.R.O.Y wrote:

Cajunboy wrote:

T.R.O.Y wrote:Momentum are one of the Labour party’s biggest assets why would you want to destroy them?

Do you think they were one of the Labour party's biggest assets during the recent General Election?

In terms of on the ground campaigning yes, they’ve mobilised large portions of the membership. What is it you think they do?

I think they keep the Labour party out of being in government.

It's the voters who aren't in the membership that win or lose elections!

How do they do that though? They have no sway over policy, it’s a set of activists.

T.R.O.Y wrote:How do they do that though? They have no sway over policy, it’s a set of activists.

The wrong policies chosen by the activists don't win elections, which is why Boris could be in power for a very long time.

Ye tricky one, members of any political party are bound to be more passionate and engaged than your average Joe - but it’s the average Joe who parties need to convince.

The members have a say in the policies which is a good thing. I liked them, according to polls most did. But the message wasn’t clear and the conversation was mainly about Brexit.

On the other hand Boris didn’t really have any policies.

We’ll see what happens I suppose, Boris has managed to blag a lot of people. They might see through it soon.

It's going to be very interesting.