National politics

[Merddin Emrys]

 

[Dwyforite]

don't worry about Maggie,hugo she is going to be on that back burner for a long long time

[Hugo]

It's not Maggie I'm worried about, it's ME.    Anyone who shares a bed with Maggie and Adolph must be a worry.

I wouldn't be surprised if ME is one of the 150,000  " new Labour" supporters trying to get that left winger Jeremy Corbyn voted in as leader of the Labour party,

ME's never forgiven the Labour Party for voting in John  Bercow   as the Speaker of the House of Commons and he's getting his own back now.     
     

[Merddin Emrys]

No need to worry about me Hugo! And I have not joined Labour to vote the mad bloke in, good idea though! 

[Hugo]

Good on you ME,     
it seems that the Labour Party does not need any help from other parties as they are doing a good job of imploding in on themselves by even considering him as a candidate.
But that's democracy for you and I hope it doesn't bounce back to haunt the party.

[Bosun]

At last, with Derek Hatton and George Galloway (who can forget one of television’s most cringe-worthy moments, George Galloway on Big Brother) and other members of the Socialist Workers Party and ‘loony left’ re-joining the Labour Party at least they have something in common with the Conservatives, they all want Jeremy Corbyn to be the next leader of the Labour Party. He is a man so besotted with his own ludicrous ideals that he is prepared to condemn the Labour Party, not to Churchill’s ‘wilderness years’, but to ‘wilderness generations’, virtually guaranteeing a right wing Tory government and an ineffective opposition for at least a decade.
 
That is an obstacle to democracy that should be a concern to us all. 

It’s painfully obvious that the Labour Party has not learnt from the debacle of the last leadership election, when thanks to the union’s block vote, the party voted in the doomed non-entity Red Ed and passed over possibly the best leader they never had, David Miliband, who there is a very good chance, would be prime Minister now.

The interview by Siobhan Fenton posted by DaveR sums up the political weasel that is Jeremy Corbyn. Colin Parry, one of the most humbling and dignified people ever to speak on Northern Irish matters, summed it up perfectly.

[Ian]

One major issue with Labour leader-types is their misplaced concept of 'mission'.  If Corbyn really cared about Labour remaining as a credible opposition he would withdraw his candidature, but he will see himself as representing the underdog, the dispossessed, the homeless and the vulnerable against the 'evils' of Conservatism, whereas Tories never have the same issues, because they see themselves as representing the wealthier sectors of society, whose membership want only to become wealthier.

I wasn't aware Hatton had rejoined, as the last I heard was they were still refusing his application, but if he's ever allowed back in it will prove, beyond doubt, that the Labour party has learnt absolutely nothing from its past history.

[Hugo]

Both Hatton and Galloway are just massaging their own egos if they are thinking of rejoining the Labour Party.   If they had an ounce of credibility they would know that their very presence in the Labour Party would send any potential Labour voter  packing.

[Bosun]

Derek Hatton has posted this copy of his Labour Party membership card on his Twitter account.

[Hugo]

Thanks for that very depressing news Bosun,  I can remember Hatton from his days as an employee for Liverpool City Council.    If my memory serves me right he was an employee on  £11,000 approx per annum but I also remember that his expenses were about the same amount so that would account for him being able to afford his dandy lifestyle.
I've copied something I've just read from Wikipedia and it stinks


In a 2008 interview with the Sunday Telegraph,[9] Hatton revealed that he has become a capitalist running a property company in Cyprus and drives a £60,000 Range Rover. He justifies his change in attitude as "My days in politics were a very long time ago and I lost interest in it after I was expelled from the city council."

Hatton gave another interview to the Liverpool Daily Post in 2008 in which he reasserted his intention to seek selection as a Parliamentary Labour candidate for one of the Liverpool constituencies (or failing that, another North West constituency) at some point in the future. Hatton stated that he may challenge "one of the neo-Tory types currently representing Liverpool, like Maria Eagle maybe".

It emerged on 28 May 2015 that Hatton had attempted to rejoin the Labour Party two days after Labour's defeat in the 2015 general election. His application was rejected by Iain McNicol, the party's general secretary.[10]

In a BBC Newsnight broadcast on 27 July 2015 Hatton claimed not to be a property developer, and that he was a card carrying member of the Labour Party. He supported the campaign of Jeremy Corbyn to lead the Labour Party.[11

[Cambrian]

Hugo, I seem to recall Mr Hatton was nominally a fire-fighter employed by Merseyside County Council but was able to act as the Deputy Leader of Liverpool City Council.  This was one of the reasons why Mrs Thatcher wanted to outlaw "twin-tracking" by people employed by one - usually Labour controlled - council whilst holding paid office in another. The practice was very prevalent in London Boroughs.

[born2run]

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/jeremy-corbyn-llandudno-labour-party--9830578


It was standing room only during the visit of a political leadership hopeful as he raced through North Wales and warned Welsh Labour not to take its support for granted.

Jeremy Corbyn MP, seen by many political commentators as an unlikely saviour of the Labour party, was at St George’s Hotel Llandudno for a rally before zipping up the coast to Connah’s Quay.

More than 500 turned up to the hotel’s ballroom to hear the man now tipped to take over talk about how he plans to lead the party out of the political doldrums.

There were no spin doctors smoothing his path and no pre-selection of questions ahead of the talk - and he even managed to share a few words with the Daily Post before he went on stage to rapturous applause.

Mr Corbyn said: “One should never take anyone’s support for granted.

VIEW GALLERY    Jeremy Corbyn attends a meeting at the George Hotel in Llandudno during a visit to North Wales
“I’m MP for a constituency which has had a Labour MP since the 1930’s and I work extremely hard at representing it and I never take anything for granted and neither should we.

“People put their trust and faith in Labour to deliver for them.

“It’s up to us to then retain that support but also to bring people with you and to educate them.”

He also said Wales deserved special treatment after five years of austerity.

“Wales deserves a special look because of the jobs that have been lost, particularly over the last five years as austerity has bitten,” he said.

“It’s bitten into public service jobs and many of those lost what were relatively good permanent jobs with reasonable pension arrangements.

“Many of those people are now sadly working on zero hours contracts or short term working.

“There’s a great deal of under-employment in the whole of the UK, particularly in some parts of Wales.”

'Devolution I support'
Mr Corbyn also had time to praise First Minister Carwyn Jones and the work the Welsh government had done on keeping the NHS a public body.

“I’m going to meet him tomorrow I hope,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to meeting him and of course other members of the authority.

“I congratulate the Welsh Government on this, ending the internal market in the NHS, and that we have an NHS where people work for the NHS rather than the private sector.”

He also gave his views on devolution.

“Devolution I support. The Welsh Government needs more powers to develop the economy, particularly to improve the living standards of the poorest in Wales, where there is a big income gap between North Wales and other parts of Wales and so of course with England.

“I think they should have taxation powers. It doesn’t mean they have to use them.”

The Labour leadership ballot is set to close on September 12

[DaveR]

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/jeremy-corbyn-llandudno-labour-party--9830578

“I congratulate the Welsh Government on this, ending the internal market in the NHS, and that we have an NHS where people work for the NHS rather than the private sector.”

Because that's what important, of course, rather than actually treating patients.

[born2run]

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/jeremy-corbyn-llandudno-labour-party--9830578

“I congratulate the Welsh Government on this, ending the internal market in the NHS, and that we have an NHS where people work for the NHS rather than the private sector.”

Because that's what important, of course, rather than actually treating patients.

Why would people working for the NHS rather than private companies necessarily mean less people were treated?
Working for an organisation not run for profit, should and if run properly WOULD mean that more patients would get treated and treated quicker and more effectively.

[Bosun]

"Standing far outside Labour’s traditions, Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership would consign the party to oblivion and public disrepute. Its MPs should refuse co-operation"  is the start of the Times editorial today, a brilliant piece of writing that I cannot find on-line to be able to post a link here, but, if you possibly can, find a copy of the Times today to read it.