Comrade Corbyn

Posted by: thebigfredc on 19 February 2018

A lot of stuff in the papers about the current Leader of the Opposition hanging around with top Eastern Bloc  spys in the eighties (sounds like a good title for a Fall song) although I notice they don't go so far as to actually call him a spy. I remember the Labour Party ending their conferences with a rousing rendition of the 'Red Flag' during the Foot and early Kinnock eras. He seems to have been more enthused with the Soviet Union than the European Union.

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by The Strat (Fender)

He’s not. And his wit is as acerbic as ever!

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by Eloise
The Strat (Fender) posted:

He’s not. And his wit is as acerbic as ever!

No it’s not... perhaps it’s the format but I’ve never liked his version of Room 101... :-)

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by u77033103172058601

Skinner would be head and shoulders above the current half dead halfwit currently holding down the position of FO. Or perhaps his (BJ's) skulking out of the Commons yesterday presaged his downfall; one can but wish.  

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by The Strat (Fender)

I loved the day Portilllo was announcing a new Royal Yacht and when asked what the new ship would be called up stepped the Beast of Bolsover “ obvious what it will be called isn’t it.  Will be called Camilla won’t it”. As he exited the Chamber courtesy of Speaker Boothroyd Nicholas Soames was heard to say “give him a good thrashing Betty”.!!

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by thebigfredc
thebigfredc posted:

He's dead.

My bad, he's alive, at least according to Wikipedia.

I was getting him confused with that other arch socialist - Dennis Healey, only joking, I meant Tony Benn.

 

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by Huge

Dennis Healey  - pipsqueak!

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by MDS
thebigfredc posted:
thebigfredc posted:

He's dead.

My bad, he's alive, at least according to Wikipedia.

I was getting him confused with that other arch socialist - Dennis Healey, only joking, I meant Tony Benn.

 

Hilary Benn seems to be carrying the family torch pretty well. I suspect we'll see him as a leader of the party one day.

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by thebigfredc

So there we have it: the next election will be contested between BJ (Conservative), Hilary Benn (Old Labour or is it New New Labour) and Resurrection (Independent).

I am sticking with my  previous assertion and voting for the latter.

 

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by tonym
Nick from Suffolk posted:

Skinner would be head and shoulders above the current half dead halfwit currently holding down the position of FO. Or perhaps his (BJ's) skulking out of the Commons yesterday presaged his downfall; one can but wish.  

You may not agree with his politics, but he's one of the very few politicians who shows a fair degree of integrity. I think he's great - best "Skinnerism" was when he stood up in the House and said, "Half of the opposite bench are crooks". Admonished by the speaker and told to retract, Dennis replied: "OK, half of them aren't crooks".

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by thebigfredc

Yes a great retort although I am surprised the Speaker told him to retract as I believe the Houses of Parliament are one of the few places to be exempt from our laws of libel and deformation.

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by MDS

That's true but there is a strict code of conduct in the HoC on how Members should address one another e.g. not by name, never calling another MP a liar. 

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by tonym

If you watch the Commons on TV, you'll see the speaker frequently admonishing members and demanding apologies. No, they can't be done for libel, but they can be excluded from the House.

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by The Strat (Fender)
Nick from Suffolk posted:

Skinner would be head and shoulders above the current half dead halfwit currently holding down the position of FO. Or perhaps his (BJ's) skulking out of the Commons yesterday presaged his downfall; one can but wish.  

Currently reading David Laws account of  the Coalition.   He comments that Boris can appear to be a complete and utter fool and then in the next breath absolutely brilliant. 

Posted on: 01 March 2018 by ltaylor
thebigfredc posted:

He's dead.

Only from the neck up sadly.

Posted on: 02 March 2018 by The Strat (Fender)

Discussing Jeremy Corbyn with a fellow Liberal today and we agreed that if  Labour are realistically going to form a majority government next time around they should be further ahead in the polls.  So this points to a hung parliament and a SNP/Labour coalition.  Discuss. 

Posted on: 03 March 2018 by The Strat (Fender)

Good to see Labour are all united at the moment.  

Posted on: 03 March 2018 by northpole
Huge posted:

The one politician who, from the point of charisma, still stands out...   Is Boris Johnson...  

Imagine him as PM...  

Not sure who would be worse him or Jeremy Corbyn!

I sincerely hope that we never get to find out.

Peter

Posted on: 03 March 2018 by audio1946
thebigfredc posted:
thebigfredc posted:

He's dead.

My bad, he's alive, at least according to Wikipedia.

I was getting him confused with that other arch socialist - Dennis Healey, only joking, I meant Tony Benn.

 

if every mp served his  seat in Bolsover like dennis   then  parliament would be a better place

Posted on: 03 March 2018 by Huge
northpole posted:
Huge posted:

The one politician who, from the point of charisma, still stands out...   Is Boris Johnson...  

Imagine him as PM...  

Not sure who would be worse him or Jeremy Corbyn!

I sincerely hope that we never get to find out.

Peter

But there's a chance that they may become the only realistic choices presented.

Posted on: 03 March 2018 by The Strat (Fender)

Not Johnson.   Not trusted even in the Tory party.  And that’s saying something!!

Posted on: 03 March 2018 by Mike-B

The tory's are always in a form of disagreement over something simply because they are not automatons.     I agree the bit about Boris being an utter fool & a moment later brilliant;  the problem I have with that is it makes him unsuitable for PM,  & yes I agree   

I suspect if/when the big push is applied to TM,  the most likely replacement will be Jacob Rees-Mogg,  & that will be interesting

Posted on: 13 March 2018 by The Strat (Fender)

Well I’m an avid remainer, internationalist by nature and believe 100% in dialogue.  But national interest has to be protected.  Although not a Labour voter I have previously tended towards giving Jeremy Corbyn the benefit of the doubt on the grounds that he stands by his principles but yesterday in the House of Commons proved him to be a quite despicable character.   He should resign as Labour leader and be deselected as MP for Camden. 

Posted on: 13 March 2018 by Mike-B

100%   I watched the HoC broadcast & was shocked but at the same time not surprised at his unwise/misguided party political point-scoring of such a serious subject.    I did note that during the Q&A session after the PM statement many labour MP's made a point of distancing themselves in one way or other from JC's position.  

Posted on: 13 March 2018 by Huge

A military weapon of Russian origin and of a type banned from use by international law has been deployed in Britain.
That is the simple fact.

As there was only very limited care to limit the "collateral damage" (hence the extent of the necessary cleanup operation), it's as stark as if a Russian military jet with stealth technology had been flown over Salisbury and dropped a smart-bomb on the house (it's just a lot less physically dramatic than that option would have been).

Corbyn's response will be seen by some in the Russian oligarchy as an invitation to carry out whatever atrocities they wish to inflict on this country, should he ever come to power.  He is now a definite and clear security risk to Britain.

Posted on: 13 March 2018 by Dozey

To be honest the Russians can do what they like in the UK and they know it. The UK has no retaliation which will make any difference. We will just look stupid for making further empty threats.