Is Labour Self Distructing?

[ToraToraTora]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49162506

[jim360]

I don't think there are many purist Labour members who would see Campbell's departure as anything other than a thing worth celebrating. Which is a shame, because he's right that Corbyn's leadership has damaged the party and continues to damage it.

[CrapAtCryptics]

I would agree and it has been hastened since 2015 when Corbyn was elected leader and started installing Momentum people- I dont believe anybody wants extremes of Government just some degree of competency.

[gulliver1]

Think the Cons are , Boris , First Achievement, = the" £ " in free fall , the lowest for two and a half years, he just can't help it can he . every time he opens it= disaster

[bainbrig]

I'm afraid labour has been disappearing up its own orifice since Blair (may his name be cursed) proudly announced that he was going to follow on from Thatcher's economic 'principles'. Laugh? I nearly did.

BB

[mushroom25]

//I dont believe anybody wants extremes of Government //

and yet since 2015, with every alleged lurch to the left, the party's support just keeps on growing - there's even a perception that they didn't quite win in 2017 because they're not yet extreme enough.....

[dannyk13]

Mushroom//and yet since 2015, with every alleged lurch to the left, the party's support just keeps on growing//
But the latest polls show the Conservatives 10 points ahead of Labour.

[ToraToraTora]

well BB St Tony was a huge fan of TGL, she was first through the door for a 1 to 1 after he was elected. You see he grasped that Labour of old are not electable.

[Old_Geezer]

They were perfectly electable. Public opinion sways left to right. What Blair saw was a chance to attract disillusioned Tory voters by becoming right wing and removing the chance for the public to vote left. Of course right wingers tried putting the rumour around that left wing politics were old hat and dead, but no one took that nonsense seriously.

[Old_Geezer]

Public opinion sways left to right and back.

[mushroom25]

//the latest polls show the Conservatives 10 points ahead of Labour //

i'm not sure you could place any kind of long-term judgment on opinion polls taken today, due to them being skewed by all partys' stance on Brexit.

[jim360]

// But the latest polls show the Conservatives 10 points ahead of Labour. //

Only *one* "latest poll" has the Tories so far ahead. The other four polls conducted in the last well all have the Tories in the lead, but by far smaller margins. All this can be put down to a "Boris bounce" for now. Prior to that Labour were either ahead of the Tories or tied in 17/24 polls conducted since the EU elections.

Mind, the claim that Labour's support "keeps growing" is even more wrong. Both Labour and Tory support has collapsed since March 29th, losing support to the Lib Dems (Labour Remainers) and Brexit Party (Tory Leavers).

[Gromit]

Is Labour Self Destructing (because Campbell does not want to join the party)?

No, it is a good sign. Blair/Brown/Campbell were ToryLite, and the voters got fed up of that sham. Labour had to go back to its principles and be more honest what it actually stood for (and against). During any change there are bound to be people left behind. The Blairites are dinosaurs and well past their usefulness.

That is not to say that every is rosey in the Labour garden, because it ain’t. Corbyn is a terrible leader, and the party is presenting a confused message. At the moment that hardly seems to matter, as the Government are in exactly the same position. They are all awful, so there is no clear winner (hence Labour demolishing the Tories’ majority at the 2017 General Election.

[youngmafbog]

"Labour had to go back to its principles and be more honest what it actually stood for (and against)."

But is that what they are doing? Certainly doesnt seem that way to me.

[dave50]

Labour are no longer the party of the traditional working class.

[youngmafbog]

I dont believe the 'traditional' working class exisits really anymore.

Labour have actually achieved their aim and workers are generally not exploited. People who would at one time be poor now own their own homes, drive nice motors and holiday abroad.

Perhaps that is why labour now target poor immigrants and the workshy?

[mushroom25]

//losing support to the Lib Dems (Labour Remainers) and Brexit Party (Tory Leavers). //

but Brexit doesn't delineate along party political lines (except maybe in the parliamentary labour party). what about labour leavers and tory remainers? both exist in not insignificant numbers.

[fender62]

labout are to militant, they espouse political correctness, human rights
but yet are full antifa and other do as i say, and not as i do..or your a
racist homophobe islamphobe yada yada yada. corbyn obviously loves fascists and jihadists or freedom fighters he would call them.

[ichkeria]

Lots of labour members admitted to voting Lib Dem in the euro elections (In fact I think there was an “I’m Spartacus” moment when many “owned up”)
Unless someone knows differently, only Alistair Campbell has been expelled.
Spiteful, divisive, incompetent, vindictive, sums up Labour’s leadership just now. I’m absolutely certain that the state of Labour just now partly explains the fact of what was effectively a coup by the right wing of the Tory party last week. They think they can get away with it because of the state of the opposition. Extremism breeds extremism.

[ludwig]

//Labour had to go back to its principles and be more honest what it actually stood for (and against). During any change there are bound to be people left behind.//

Absolutely, and in this case the people they're leaving behind are the voters.

[gulliver1]

Since my post at 09.57, GBP has dropped even lower, well done Boris.