Former Labour leader – and now member, though ludicrously not a Labour MP – Jeremy Corbyn has issued a statement laying out his hopes for the party’s annual conference, which begins tomorrow.
Corbyn’s statement – which includes a subtle nose-thumbing at Starmer about his five decades as a party member – reads:
Conference is the most important event in the Labour Party’s calendar. It’s a time for our movement to come together to decide on our goals and priorities and it’s our best chance outside of an election to tell the people of Britain what we stand for and what we will do in government.
We meet at a time of great change and crisis, perhaps larger than any other time in my 50 plus years of party membership. Our movement has the answers to the big questions of the age – inequality, the climate crisis and the pandemic – but our leaders are failing to listen and put these solutions front and centre.
At Conference, I hope to hear how Labour will bring in a wealth tax to fund a National Care Service like the NHS, will take the radical action needed to decarbonise by 2030, stand against the drumbeat of a new Cold War, and will rein in the runaway wealth and power of a tiny elite. I know our trade unions and members have developed these policies.
But Corbyn himself knows his hopes are likely to be forlorn. His statement continues:
But the signs are that the party leadership wants to try to shut down debate, sideline the members and trade unions with the end result that Labour props up rather than challenges our broken political and economic system.
Sadly, with Keir Starmer, his sidekick – for now – David Evans and the rest of the Labour right focused on trying to destroy the left and wall up the party’s doors, as well as protecting purge-architect Evans from the consequences of his conduct when delegates vote on whether he stays in a job, Corbyn’s noble hopes are likely to remain unfulfilled, while his prediction of Starmer’s abandonment of the public in pursuit of his aims of purging the left and hobbling the unions is a racing certainty.
But Corbyn’s vision certainly shows what Labour lost when he was manoeuvred out by the right at the cost of destroying the party – and what a walking disaster replaced him.
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Doesn’t get it all right, but hes about the only hope this country has of getting out of the mess we’re in.
Bedroc56, who does? But JC is a decent human being with integrety and compassion for others.
There are others, Sabine.
Howard Beckett, Laura Pidcock, Neil Findlay… The list goes on.
As you’re aware, none of them are in Parliament – at the moment. Whether they’d all be willing to stand, is a personal matter for them.
The cupboard isn’t bare. Not by a long way.
Solidarity!
Would make a rather good PM.
Jolly good human being with a bloody good Socialist heart and a fine socialist mind.
An honest broker for the world.
But listen to diverse working class socialists this time.
KS 4 The Bin!
Get JC In!’
We don’t need to follow bourgeois rules.
Solidarity to Socialists!
An open letter to Sir Keir Starmer on public ownership
In 2020 we asked all of the Labour leadership and deputy leadership candidates to sign the 10 We Own It pledges on public ownership. We were very happy that you signed up to those pledges.
In 2020 you also made your own pledge for ‘common ownership’ in which you said ‘Public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water; end outsourcing in our NHS, local government and justice system.’ We were very happy to see that too.
In your recent pamphlet for the Fabians, ‘The Road Ahead’, public or common ownership is not mentioned. We’re writing to ask for clarification on why this is the case, and to offer five reasons why public ownership of public services must continue to be a core policy for the Labour Party.
https://weownit.org.uk/blog/open-letter-sir-keir-starmer-public-ownership
Follow the link, it is a very interesting read.
I don’t think he or the Fabian’s are interested. They’re far more involved in creating a business friendly persona.
I so wish Jeremy was my mp, he’s got to be one of the nicest blokes you could ever meet.
Going off topic:
When will Frances O’Grady get off her fucking arse and call for a general strike?
I haven’t heard anything about her for ages. Another ceiling smashing chancer. When will the left learn that being a protected species, special interest member, does not make one a Socialist. Well not after being selected anyway.
Corbyn really is a decent man. Pragmatic too.
Part of me is glad he didn’t become PM. Because he’d have shared the fate of either Holt or Whitlam of Australia.
Oh Jeremy Corbyn!
‘The left’ need to look forward not backwards.
Did you enjoy your few days off Steve H?
Smartboy – It is nice to be missed. 😉
‘The left’ need to look forward not backwards.
So too does ‘the right’. For example:
Returning to electoral college voting? What’s that, if it’s not looking ‘backwards’? And there’s still talk of trying to push it through later on.
Or a return to corporate funding (which always comes with strings attached) when the now shrinking membership brought in the best part of £20M (or more) in subs and donations?
Or how about bringing Blairite dinosaurs like Mandelson back into positions of influence? Or even Evans, come to that? Hardly looking ‘forward’, is it?
But then why would it bother you since you don’t (supposedly) even live here any more?
So do the right. They seem to think it’s 1997.
Yes Steve H missed you and your co-workers Signposts and Josephokeefe – we haven’t had a sneer or an insult from them in days either.
Apparently Starmer has abandoned his electoral college reforms overnight.
Yes Lundiel I checked when I read your posts – you are right but apparently he is still pushing ahead with increasing the number of MP nominations needed for a leadership challenge. This would be a disaster too.
The whole thing reminds me of Management tactics in the workplace – they say e.g . that 100 jobs are going to go and there is panic and dismay among the workforce. Then they say only 15 jobs will go and workers are so relieved that its “only” 15 redundancies Management faces very little opposition to this. Hope the same sort of thing doesn’t happen at Conference
Exactly….. he’s negotiated it with friendly union bosses.
The Left are driven by the future potential of transforming society to benefit diverse working people and ideally WITH them.
And our debates are how to get there and it is no business of the Right in Labour who do everything to hold up and prevent a left wing democratic socialist society, some of them are paid but some of the mugs do it for free.
Better the Right get out of politics and do something more suited to their lives like fiddling with jigsaws (a fine hobby).
It’s time for the little people to exit stage Right and for the Big Political Boys & Girls to enter the stage.
Just think if JC resigned as a Labour member and set up a new Left Wing Democratic Socialist Party we could have hundreds of thousands of members in a few months and a genuine Left Wing Democratic Socialist candidate in every seat as part of a Left Wing Democratic Socialist List at the next GE.
Only genuine socialists need reply.
Bazza
How did we get here and whats to stop it happening again
The Left needs to hang its head in shame and do penance for at least the next 27 years
A new party is a non starter, clean up our stables first, democracy democracy democracy
Put in the checks and balances, be ruthless and ever vigilant
Then we have a chance of a Socialist Laboue government and everything that brings to the many