Jeremy Corbyn to be elected Labour Leader?
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That does show why the Blairites became obsessed with media control and communications strategies, unrelenting hostility and slippery half truths are a bugger, constant clarifications, etc. make a character look slippery.
There's also the one I noticed about him wanting to re-open the mines in South Wales.Here the allegation: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/jeremy-corbyns-backing-reopening-south-9866522And here's what he was reported as saying at one meeting (interesting report of meeting)
Quote:In response to reports that he would re-open coal mines, like the ones in Blaenau Gwent, he said: “No, I don’t think there’s any likelihood of mining being developed in the near future” and said he would instead invest in engineering and development jobs.Yeah, I've seen that, and it has amazing legs, despite his green document saying 'carbon should stay in the ground' or words to that effect.
Just remembered. Someone who was at that meeting sent this report to us which gives some idea of the impact of Corbyn's campaign.
Quote:The day hope came to the old coalfield. Now it is May among the mountainsDays for speeches in the valley townsDays of dream and days of struggleDays of bitter denunciation The words of poetry are written by Idris Davies a miner and poet from the Rhymney valley , his piece was written in 1926 and comes from his book entitled “an angry summer” fast forward 79 years and an alteration to the month in the first line and we find ourselves in a similar position today.I stand on a mountainside at the very top of the valleys at the northern most point of the old south Wales coalfield, I stand at the spot where arguably the area’s most famous son Aneurin Bevan addressed the masses. Michael Foote was also known to speak at the location during his time as an MP for the area after Bevan’s death. I come here today to listen to Jeremy Corbyn on his whistle stop tour of Wales, this is an excellent choice of venue from the Corbyn team they stand at the head of a number of historically socialist valleys, the location itself is unremarkable but it is highly symbolic for the local population, just to the north lies the secret chartist cave where the marchers would hold secret meetings before their fateful march on Newport. Beside him stands a memorial to the men that left the mines to join the international brigades and fight the tyranny of Franco of which there was quite a considerable number.These valleys have always been labour area sometimes veering even further left with communists winning seats and majorities through the 1930’s, little Moscow is a few valleys over and Nantyglo and Blaina were regularly mentions on the front pages of the daily worker, the old industrial area also claims that workers first marched under the red flag for the first time in Merthyr Tydfil.The history and current social conditions seem to be ripe for Corbynmania, the area is deprived there is no other way to say it, the first foodbank in Wales was opened and now there are 6 in a 10 mile radius.Blaenau Gwent is top or near the top of nearly all undesirable league tables this is the situation it finds itself in today.A new movement may just be what this place needs to rekindle the fighting spirit of days gone by, large swathes of the population are politically inactive with the most common reason being cited as politicians appear to be all the same, career driven and interested in their advancement only, others say labour used to speak for us but have abandoned us and now the majority remain apathetic.Many are not wholly concerned about right or left wing many will not know what this even means , political idleness has led to a lack of understanding in these parts , Corbyn appears to be changing that.As I listen to the speech I understand the allure to him, I understand the valleys hope created by his campaign, and Corbyn seems to be a breath of fresh air on these isolated hills. For an area in steady decline with failed regeneration projects time after time a new direction is what these people seek, the message from Corbyn appears to hit direct at the core of valleys folk and their identity, of course community identity is in a constant state of flux and cannot be neatly packaged, but it is on the foundation of the pit village morals and ideals that have influenced the area from the very earliest settlements does this movement strike a chord. “we’ll keep a welcome in the hillside, we’ll keep a welcome in the vales” as the famous song goes and today with the humanitarian crises throughout the middle east and Europe there should be a great feeling of sympathy for these people and Jeremy articulates a widely held opinion that more needs to be done to help , we must have sympathy as we are all sons and daughters of migrants , our ancestors were all attracted by the prospect of work that the industrial revolution brought, it was for them as it is with the refugees and migrants today a chance to work and provide for their families a chance to provide for their families a chance to live in security with all the positive freedoms that accompany it , the Corbyn message promotes helping these people and is vehemently opposed to the disturbing language used which seeks to normalise fear and anger at these desperate people.We must however acknowledge the rise of the UK independence party in many working class areas and especially in the traditional labour strongholds of these constituencies, the people of the area see the widening inequality around them, a recent study shows an astonishing figure of up to 30.12% of children living in poverty that is just under one in three, an easy and effective way of answering way there is a widening gap between rich and poor is to apportion blame on migrants and asylum seekers, they see these people as the reason as to why they are working 40 hours a week for their poverty wages opposed to the real and more complex reason of our callous economic system whose god is mammon, Corbyns message is clear and true to labour values dearly held amongst the working class of these constituencies, principles such as equality of opportunity, provision of public services and, above all ensuring that poverty becomes a thing of the past, in such a deprived area you can see why corbynmania is expanding .Jeremy recently captured the attention of the locals with a bold almost unbelievable claim that the reopening of coal mines may be possible if markets once again become favourable. Every man, women and dog has an opinion on this and this is a great move again by team Corbyn to capture attention of the labour heartland and to get people talking about his campaign , the decline of industry and no alternative source of employment has made these towns what they are today , reasons given for the decline are many and include mismanagement by the national coal board , unfavourable geological conditions , the heroic Arthur or the Rogue Arthur , the downing street medusa or simply the flow of capitalism in its raw heartless search for profit take your pick.There is little doubt however about the reserves and the quality of coal still available in our coalfield, a handful of mines may well be economically viable but the question remains can it really be carbon neutral ? I firmly believe many communities would welcome back mines to the area despite the recent rejection of the opencast mine by Caerphilly council, we are of course talking hypothetically if prices one day rise again , but the idea to tap into the local psyche and talking direct to traditional labour in this area is a very savvy move.He appeals to the older generation of valley folk as he is well versed in our history of deprivation and struggle, where he especially captures attention is my own age bracket of 18-25 , I find myself asking myself what are the reasons for this , why do I find myself googling searching two or three times a day to read the latest articles.He is something we have never experienced before, positive policies, progressive policies of internationalism the aim to tackle injustices of the world in a sensible way, which my generation are ever more aware due to the internet , the more we see this the more socialist policies seem progressive and the only real way we will achieve peace , tackle inequality and create a more equal society.I believe what Jeremy offers to this area specifically is optimism we here in the past have little to be hopeful for but new transport links and an new motor racing circuit coming to the area along with a traditional labour leader who is very much a progressive movement creates a belief that a change is around the corner.The reference to some people there turning to UKIP is apt. It's surprisingly high given the history and nature of the area. At the general election in May UKIP came second in Blaneau Gwent with 18% of the vote. Many must have been ex-miners.
I have to confess that Vin, SP and JDW have been proved right. Some idiot sent this from our twitter account on 16 August:https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CMh5m2wWgAAxURh.jpgIt's been picked up by Private Eye who have replied in kind on p. 9 of this fortnight's issue.The EC needs to disavow it on Saturday but the damage has been done.
ALB wrote:I have to confess that Vin, SP and JDW have been proved right. Some idiot sent this from our twitter account on 16 August:https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CMh5m2wWgAAxURh.jpgIt's been picked up by Private Eye who have replied in kind on p. 9 of this fortnight's issue.The EC needs to disavow it on Saturday but the damage has been done.Any chance of doing a screen grab of the Private Eye response? I'm not a fan of the marmite image – but, then, I love marmite – but I don't think it's as damaging as you think. Silly, yes . . . but then I haven't seen what's in Private Eye.The thing that does strike me about the official spgb twitter account is that I think it can to be too 'full-on' at times, and I think that can be counter-productive. Comrades with long memories will remember the comrade who decided to spam numerous messageboards about 15 years ago. That really pissed a lot of people off at the time, and though I don't think the twitter account is as bad, it can sometimes go down that road.If we don't want to permanently alienate a lot of people that we should be engaging with, then I think a more nuanced approach is needed.
YMS, Corbyn's energy views are here.He is not a "coal keep it in the hole, oils keep it in the soil advocate" and does consider re-opening coal pits when it is viable to do so (when prices rises and if there is a carbon capture technology.) http://energydesk.greenpeace.org/2015/08/07/jeremy-corbyn-interview-nationalise-the-big-six-a-solar-panel-on-every-rooftop-clean-coal/If it has long legs then it is not the usual distortion of the media but typical politician double-speak of being all things to all people and keeping all options open. The Private Eye quotes provided by Imposs demonstrate this, i think. He is a very careful speaker. ALB, I think, if the subject of a EC statement crops up at its meeting , then it should authorise a much wider press release on the whole topic of media distortion and scare tactics …nay, smear campaign…being engaged in against Corbyn.(i think i have suggested this before)As for the marmite picture…it made me chortle, very apt for Private Eye, and it isn't actually inaccurate is it? Certainly not a false assertion that he advocates BS capitalist policies….are we being too sensitive and sentimental…i always said our approach should be multi-directional…i never ever argued that it should soft-peddle…If we get known as the socialist party that is Corbyn-Cynics, then it is attention and as they say in show-business …any publicity is good publicity…An article in the economist confirming this – 'better to be reviled than ignored'…http://www.economist.com/node/18231516If he is elected Labour leader and then go on to be elected Prime Minister, i imagine our attitude towards Corbyn will harden or as i also suggested, it could be couched in humour and ridicule…and the Marmite image goes some way in saying the king has no clothes.
https://twitter.com/reddeathy/status/639346991873531904I'm glad to see my Harold Wilson crack caught their eye. Personally I think we don't need to disavow it, it's a good article, we can safelyy ignore the scurrilous suggestion about our finances, since they've already included our rebuttal.
Don't know how to do or copy a screen grab but here's what the Private Eye piece says:
Quote:IN THE hysteria provoked by the supposed far-left infiltration of the eternal Labour leadership contest, one sect of hardline pamphlet-pushers is staying resolutely on its street corner.The 300-strong Socialist Party of Great Britain has launched a ferocious media offensive against Jeremy Corbyn, accusing him of being a capitalist shill keen to implement a "staid, unradical government" and Photoshopping his head on to ajar of Marmite "rich in BS policies – 100 percent capitalism".Despite the revolutionaries' complaints that the Tory press's bogeyman is "just Harold Wilson warmed up", could the Clapham-based outfit have ulterior motives? Despite the party pushing for the abolition of banks and money, London's property boom saw the value of its HQ almost double between 2013 and 2014 to £900,000 – with cash reserves taking its total wealth to just under £ 1.3m. Its media spokesman protests: "We are not a charity, we are not giving it away to the poor, we are using it to propagate the case for socialism."God forbid a politician comes along who wants to do something about the housing crisis and unearned income…Not sure we can complain really as it's a bit of a case of the biter bit. We use a Private Eye type front cover and they publish a Private Eye type piece on us.
Young Master Smeet wrote:https://twitter.com/reddeathy/status/639346991873531904I'm glad to see my Harold Wilson crack caught their eye. Personally I think we don't need to disavow it, it's a good article, we can safelyy ignore the scurrilous suggestion about our finances, since they've already included our rebuttal.Bill's right. And whoever was responsible for the meme should be congratulated, not called an idiot. Thank goodness we still have members prepared to nail the party's colours to the mast.
gnome wrote:Young Master Smeet wrote:https://twitter.com/reddeathy/status/639346991873531904I'm glad to see my Harold Wilson crack caught their eye. Personally I think we don't need to disavow it, it's a good article, we can safelyy ignore the scurrilous suggestion about our finances, since they've already included our rebuttal.Bill's right. And whoever was responsible for the meme should be congratulated, not called an idiot. Thank goodness we still have members prepared to nail the party's colours to the mast.
not a fan of the @officialSPGB in the bottom left hand corner. With regard to the actual Private Eye dig, from ALB original post I was expecting some far worse.
I have to jump to the defence of @officialSPGB. Those involved are doing a good job and their technique has led to a 100% increase in followers over four months. Tho' we will have to wait to see the reaction to the said tweetPublicity is publicity and the twitter account is being noticed. Onward and upwards
Perhaps a letter/tweet to Private Eyes saying that we were trying to get over the point that capitalism would still be here after a Corbyn government regardless of his good intent
Vin wrote:I have to jump to the defence of @officialSPGB. Those involved are doing a good job and their technique has led to a 100% increase in followers over four months. Tho' we will have to wait to see the reaction to the said tweetPublicity is publicity and the twitter account is being noticed. Onward and upwardsSorry, I think 'their' technique (one bloke) is counterproductive.Screen grab doesn't work, so here's th wording of the tweet from Derek Wall:"they are such hateful tossers, to my undying regret I once sent them a donation"I think when you piss off someone like Derek Wall, you know you're doing it the wrong way. I don't care if there is an increase in followers if we go about it in this way. At times it reads like an SPGB Parody twitter account.
imposs1904 wrote:Screen grab doesn't work, so here's th wording of the tweet from Derek Wall:"they are such hateful tossers, to my undying regret I once sent them a donation"I think when you piss off someone like Derek Wall, you know you're doing it the wrong way. I don't care if there is an increase inSadly, I can understand and sympathise with his sentiments but is this the result of the 'twitter' account?The party is in a serious situation when we are hated by the very people we are trying to attract.When members make personal and hatefull attacks on people with anti-capitalist leanings it turns them away.This is the why we remain small and unsupported.What are we gonna do about it?
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