Leadsom/UKIP.

[Udayana]

Dear Cloud Cuckoo Land,

... Corbyn can get on with what he does best, stuffing the Tories at every turn and laughing as they make gaff after gaff after gaff
...
Gonnagle.

He might be better off laying out a manifesto, or at least some kind of plan, for the Labor party?

[Nearly Sane]

He might be better off laying out a manifesto, or at least some kind of plan, for the Labor party?

Why? Leaders don't create manifestos.

[Udayana]

What use is he then?

[Nearly Sane]

What use is he then?

it's not particular about him Leaders might have policies, they don't create manifestos.


What was our soon to be PM's manifesto or plan?

[Nearly Sane]

One crucial thing that happened as a result of Corbyn was stopping the policy of abstaining on votes on austerity.

[Gonnagle]

Dear Sane,

Ah yes the Tories 'being stuffed' by still being in govt, and having had a farce of leadership still managing to be able to claim to be more united than Labour.

But the Tories have not finished their Grand Masterplan ( yes I should work on my sarcasm ) this Theresa May lady is either very brave or very stupid, she has the Brexiteers both inside and outside her party to contend with, she has the EU to placate, she has Nicola Sturgeon watching and waiting, on top of that we have Northern Ireland, Farage and his cronies, old Cameron has handed her a poison chalice, and if Corbyn keeps his position, whilst she is discussing brexit, he will be poking her in the eye over real issues, poverty, unemployment, NHS, Oh! and lest I forget, any decisions she makes over troop deployment or sending us in to bomb the hell out of whoever has upset the USA, she will have the Blair fiasco to think about.

Gonnagle.

[Udayana]

it's not particular about him Leaders might have policies, they don't create manifestos.

What was our soon to be PM's manifesto or plan?

Don't know .. but she is sure to be working on it and/or getting the right people (as she sees it) onto the job. Labor  lost its way under Blair and Brown and has been floundering around without any vision since.

One crucial thing that happened as a result of Corbyn was stopping the policy of abstaining on votes on austerity.

Voting against austerity is fine. But Osborne  has been zig-zagging around with it anyway. The whole economic situation will be different under Brexit, so needs to be thought out again.

[ProfessorDavey]

... and if Corbyn keeps his position, whilst she is discussing brexit, he will be poking her in the eye ...

Nobody is listening to him beyond a tiny cliche within his echo chamber.

... over real issues, poverty, unemployment, NHS,

Brexit is a real issue, not least because it massively affects our economy and that impacts err poverty, unemployment, NHS etc. Corbyn can have a sterile debate within his echo chamber where he says 'we must fight poverty' and they will all nod sagely. But he has no answer as to how to fight poverty. And actually the most important thing we must do, right now, our number one priority is to ensure that we do our very best to safeguard jobs and public spending in the post-brexit environment, and that means protecting the economy.

Oh! and lest I forget, any decisions she makes over troop deployment or sending us in to bomb the hell out of whoever has upset the USA, she will have the Blair fiasco to think about.

Yes that's true, but what we mustn't do is endlessly see-saw between intervene/not intervene/intervene/not intervene because the last thing we did didn't turn out so well.

[Nearly Sane]

Don't know .. but she is sure to be working on it and/or getting the right people (as she sees it) onto the job. Labor  lost its way under Blair and Brown and has been floundering around without any vision since.

Voting against austerity is fine. But Osborne  has been zig-zagging around with it anyway. The whole economic situation will be different under Brexit, so needs to be thought out again.

Osborne only zigged after the referendum. After the election Labour were happily abstaining on any austerity votes, Corbyn changed that a it was part of his plan/manifesto .

[Gonnagle]

Dear ProfDavey,

Brexit is a real issue, not least because it massively affects our economy and that impacts err poverty, unemployment, NHS etc. Corbyn can have a sterile debate within his echo chamber where he says 'we must fight poverty' and they will all nod sagely. But he has no answer as to how to fight poverty. And actually the most important thing we must do, right now, our number one priority is to ensure that we do our very best to safeguard jobs and public spending in the post-brexit environment, and that means protecting the economy.

He has been standing in the House day after day telling us what the answer is, investment, the only reason he is not being listened to is his detractors are stuck in old Tory and Blairite thinking, you don't punish the poor or the unemployed, you assist them in helping themselves, it works Prof, retrain and fund them and they will lift themselves out of poverty and unemployment.

And you know and I know that the NHS is not being funded properly.


Gonnagle.

[ProfessorDavey]

Dear ProfDavey,

He has been standing in the House day after day telling us what the answer is, investment

No shit sherlock ... and where does the money come from. It is the easiest thing in the world to think that all our problems will be solved if we just spend more money. What is much, much harder is to determine how that money is going to be generated.

, the only reason he is not being listened to is his detractors are stuck in old Tory and Blairite thinking,

No he isn't being listened to because he is an extremely poor leader who hasn't moved on from 1980s class war-type ideological non-sense. He isn't being listened to because he has no plan for how he will achieve the things he wants - all he ever suggests is that 'we need a debate' about this and 'we need a debate' about that.

you don't punish the poor or the unemployed, you assist them in helping themselves, it works Prof, retrain and fund them and they will lift themselves out of poverty and unemployment.

And you know and I know that the NHS is not being funded properly.


Gonnagle.

I agree with all of those points (and I image so do those on the right of the Labour party, LibDems, SNP, the Greens and even most moderate Tories) - that's not the issue, the issue is how you achieve these things. And most importantly how you fund them - you can only spend money if you have first generated that money within the broader economy.

[Gonnagle]

Dear Prof,

We have the money, 250 billion according to Mr Carney, or is that bunkum, or we could scrap Trident ( no wait, sorry, the Russians are coming ) we will never use Trident, but anyway we are ( so I am told ) the fifth richest country in the world, all I am asking and all Mr Corbyn is asking is to invest some of that money in our future, it doesn't have to be spend spend spend, but a gentle loosening of the wallet, it will pay big dividends in the future.

Gonnagle.

[SqueakyVoice]

Loathsom had said she'd publish her tax returns if she made it into the final two. Now she's withdrawn, I suppose we won't find out if they're as "boring" as she claimed they were.

[Dicky Underpants]

I couldn't hear much when I listened to the interview recording. But on reading a transcript of it, it is clear that the interviewer brought up the subject of her family, and Andrea answered honestly, saying she didn't want to make an issue out of Theresa  not having children. Gutter journalism is absolutely the right description. The Times has always been anti-brexit, and clearly was trying to make Leadsom look bad.

Twaddle. When I listened to the interview recording, I could hear every word. It was perfectly obvious from her nuances and emphases that she definitely was making an issue of Theresa not having children. Listen to the recording again, and see how she puts a particular emphasis on the word 'children' in the phrase "but I have children". This was not gutter journalism - simply journalism, and if anything, the recorded interview was even worse in its import than the relatively mild-toned article.
And as for the woman ranting outside her house that she had been disgustingly misrepresented - didn't the dope realise that she was being recorded? Maybe she'd had second thoughts about what she'd said and thought she could brass it out. The recording reveals the blatant reality of what she said.

[Udayana]

Loathsom had said she'd publish her tax returns if she made it into the final two. Now she's withdrawn, I suppose we won't find out if they're as "boring" as she claimed they were.

She did publish it yesterday.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/10/andrea-leadsom-tax-returns-reveals-85000-income-in-2015

[Jack Knave]

Maybe a bit longer, as Cameron wants to attend G7 but could be quick. Tories will be able to contrast this with Labour Party

I.e. a very early GE whilst they are on the back foot or flat on their faces. Wait for labour to be halfway through their leadership contest and then call one.

[Nearly Sane]

I.e. a very early GE whilst they are on the back foot or flat on their faces. Wait for labour to be halfway through their leadership contest and then call one.

I think that might be counterproductive. It will look opputunistic. Though it will be tempting.

[wigginhall]

Thank goodness that the blood-letting is over, it was quite upsetting to the children, anyway, we can look forward to a right-wing government taking back control.   

[Jack Knave]

No shit sherlock ... and where does the money come from. It is the easiest thing in the world to think that all our problems will be solved if we just spend more money. What is much, much harder is to determine how that money is going to be generated.

So where did Carney get £250 billion to give to the banks?

The best way to utilize that money is to get it to the banks via the people. So you share that out to the people and those with debts have to use that to pay down their debts and if you have no debts then it is yours to spends as you see fit. The economy works by the money going round and round, not by being stuck in a few elitist bankers.

[Jack Knave]

I think that might be counterproductive. It will look opputunistic. Though it will be tempting.

Maybe, but do you really think the Labour party are going to be in any better shape after their leadership election?

[Jack Knave]

Twaddle. When I listened to the interview recording, I could hear every word. It was perfectly obvious from her nuances and emphases that she definitely was making an issue of Theresa not having children. Listen to the recording again, and see how she puts a particular emphasis on the word 'children' in the phrase "but I have children". This was not gutter journalism - simply journalism, and if anything, the recorded interview was even worse in its import than the relatively mild-toned article.
And as for the woman ranting outside her house that she had been disgustingly misrepresented - didn't the dope realise that she was being recorded? Maybe she'd had second thoughts about what she'd said and thought she could brass it out. The recording reveals the blatant reality of what she said.

I agree.

I reckon she has stood down because people in her own camp have seen that she is too inexperienced in handling the pressure (only a couple of days worth) and have lost faith in her.

[Udayana]

I think that might be counterproductive. It will look opputunistic. Though it will be tempting.

Both Labour and LDs have called for an election on the grounds that May has no mandate.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/opposition-parties-call-for-early-general-election-following-theresa-may-coronation-a7130896.html

My feeling is that we won't have one unless a vote on triggering Article 50 does not pass (if there is to be a vote).

[wigginhall]

Labour would be insane to call for an election right now; they could be annihilated.   Suicide is painless ...

[Nearly Sane]

Maybe, but do you really think the Labour party are going to be in any better shape after their leadership election?

No, which is why I think the Tories would wait, particularly given the Fixed Terms Act. If they want to call an election, they need 2\3 of MPs. That would be difficult to achieve, I suspect. The other way is a majority no confidence vote but they won't go that route because of how it would look.

[Nearly Sane]

Labour would be insane to call for an election right now; they could be annihilated.   Suicide is painless ...

Agreed, the PLP won't do it. It's an attempt at posturing. The Lib Dems have little to lose other than deposits.