National politics

[DaveR]

Struggling in Scotland maybe, not a bad night at all everywhere else. Especially giving the press bashing and anti-Semitism rubbish they've been faced with

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/elections-2016-labour-wins-key-southern-england-councils-in-boost-for-jeremy-corbyn-a7016121.html

 

If Labour can't win in Scotland, then they have zero chance of winning a UK election.

[born2run]

Struggling in Scotland maybe, not a bad night at all everywhere else. Especially giving the press bashing and anti-Semitism rubbish they've been faced with

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/elections-2016-labour-wins-key-southern-england-councils-in-boost-for-jeremy-corbyn-a7016121.html

 

If Labour can't win in Scotland, then they have zero chance of winning a UK election.

Why not? The Tories didn't win in Scotland.

[Ian]

Struggling in Scotland maybe, not a bad night at all everywhere else. Especially giving the press bashing and anti-Semitism rubbish they've been faced with

It was a bad night everywhere else. Labour should have made enormous gains, given the egregious Government we have, but it didn't. It's managed to do something quite astonishing in UK politics: make no progress during the mid-term of an unpopular government and even lose ground in what should be a Labour stronghold.

[Ian]

Why not? The Tories didn't win in Scotland.

No, but they wiped Labour out and performed yet another first for any party.

[Ian]

And while we're on the subject of egregious, Neil Hamilton has snaked his way onto the WA through UKIP. This is someone who has taken money for asking questions in Parliament, performed a Nazi salute in Germany by his own admission, sued numerous papers and then withdrawn the actions, has an 'interesting' history with Movimento Sociale Italiano, an Italian neo-fascist party led by one of Benito Mussolini's ex-ministers, Giorgio Almirante, membership of the Eldon League, the Powellite faction of the Monday Club and whose track record of being excoriated in the press and being described on the front pages as a 'Liar and a cheat is widespread. Lots of fascinating information here

[born2run]

Struggling in Scotland maybe, not a bad night at all everywhere else. Especially giving the press bashing and anti-Semitism rubbish they've been faced with

It was a bad night everywhere else. Labour should have made enormous gains, given the egregious Government we have, but it didn't. It's managed to do something quite astonishing in UK politics: make no progress during the mid-term of an unpopular government and even lose ground in what should be a Labour stronghold.

I disagree, this is a good result overall. http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2016/05/jeremy-corbyn-has-defied-odds-and-embarrassed-his-critics

I don't know about 'enormous gains' everybody was talking about a disaster for Labour and it's been FAR from it.

[born2run]

And while we're on the subject of egregious, Neil Hamilton has snaked his way onto the WA through UKIP. This is someone who has taken money for asking questions in Parliament, performed a Nazi salute in Germany by his own admission, sued numerous papers and then withdrawn the actions, has an 'interesting' history with Movimento Sociale Italiano, an Italian neo-fascist party led by one of Benito Mussolini's ex-ministers, Giorgio Almirante, membership of the Eldon League, the Powellite faction of the Monday Club and whose track record of being excoriated in the press and being described on the front pages as a 'Liar and a cheat is widespread. Lots of fascinating information here

Sounds like the perfect candidate for the bonkers Kippers if you ask me 

[Ian]

I disagree, this is a good result overall.

Liam Young is extremely Pro-Corbyn, and hardly objective. And the consensus is that Labour 'wasn't as bad as expected'. That's rather a long way from 'doing well'. Even Corbyn used the phrase 'holding on', but for an opposition during a mid-term with an unpopular government whose splits and divisions are extremely obvious not to pick up between 100 and 200 seats across the country is a failure, by any standards. Sadly, because disaster was averted no one in the Labour Party will mount a leadership challenge until after Labour is wiped out at the next general election. Then Corbyn might resign and we might get someone who knows what they're doing.

Sadly, this isn't even new. The list of missed opportunities and out of touch leaders in Labour is staggering: Ed Milliband, Gordon Brown, Neil Kinnock and now Corbyn. The even sadder thing is some Labour voters are voting UKIP, presumably unaware that UKIP represents the far-right.

[Fester]

Ian, that is probably because it is quite natural for working class, 'socialist' folk to have certain 'far right' opinions. 

[Bosun]

Struggling in Scotland maybe, not a bad night at all everywhere else. Especially giving the press bashing and anti-Semitism rubbish they've been faced with

Of course it's rubbish. Even with Labour MP Naz Shah, the ex major of London Ken Livingstone and 50 other Labour Party members suspended for anti-Semitism, besides Jeremy Corbin's own anti-Semitic poisonous conduct...........

Really?

[Fester]

... also, any Assembly Member crowing about their 'success' would do well to remember that they only polled a percentage of the 45% of folk who could be bothered to turn out.
Hardly a ringing endorsement is it?

[Giggly girl]

The mess that is posing as the Betsi Cadwaladr board, affected the outcome of the elections in this area. 

[Ian]

Ian, that is probably because it is quite natural for working class, 'socialist' folk to have certain 'far right' opinions. 

That's a very good point, Fester, and that's exactly how the National Socialist party in Germany gripped power in the 1930s.

I suppose the worrying aspect of the election of Corbyn is that it's a symptom of the country becoming fractured into extremes, once again. As things go Osborne will succeed Cameron, and I suspect he's sightly to the right of Mussolini. For a blissful while UK politics had become centrist but no longer, I suspect. We don't learn, as a population, do we? Divisions over race, religion, wealth, beliefs - they've all been the cause of conflict - sometimes bloody conflict - throughout the world. Seems that's exactly where we're heading.

[Ian]

Giggly girl - I couldn't agree more.

[Ian]

... also, any Assembly Member crowing about their 'success' would do well to remember that they only polled a percentage of the 45% of folk who could be bothered to turn out.
Hardly a ringing endorsement is it?

That reminds me that Labour saw swings against it almost everywhere.