Jeremy Corbyn, thoughts?

[bristolman]

I see the UK media's 'Get Corbyn' vendetta is continuing, now from the more right-wing Independent: yesterday they ran a 'Corbyn proposes female-only train carriages' in order to prevent harassment - as part of the concerted effort to portray him as a beardie loony leftie with zany ideas.

 

 

The problem is he is a beardie loony leftie with zany ideas.

[flag of convenience]

The problem is he is a beardie loony leftie with zany ideas.

 

Ideas that include taking into account ordinary people. Very loony and super zany thank goodness.

[bristolman]

Ideas that include taking into account ordinary people. Very loony and super zany thank goodness.

 

Unfortunately too many wacky ideas, well fortunately I suppose as it is unlikely he will ever get to No10 unless invited by Cameron lol

[flag of convenience]

Unfortunately too many wacky ideas, well fortunately I suppose as it is unlikely he will ever get to No10 unless invited by Cameron lol

 

Not sure if he'll be the man yet, but I find myself increasingly in favour of his style of politics. He does appear to have substance over style, unusual in a world of stuffy suites, where the same old agendas are wheeled out with frequency, usually not to the favour of the average citizen.

[grahamffc]

Not sure if he'll be the man yet, but I find myself increasingly in favour of his style of politics. He does appear to have substance over style, unusual in a world of stuffy suites, where the same old agendas are wheeled out with frequency, usually not to the favour of the average citizen.

 

I agree with this entirely, I don't pretend to be an expert on all his policies but having never voted left wing doubt I would agree. However I read that he had the lowest expenses of any MP when all that hit the fan because he "already lived in London so felt no need to claim for a second property or travel costs. He also rebelled three line whips more than any other Labour MP when they were in Government. Seems to be very genuine and doesn't believe politics has to be a house of cards style horse trading game so he is growing on me.

[MARYROSE02]

I am quite excited by Jeremy Corbyn, although don't know enough to be a follower yet. Anyone who had the potential to be a credible alternative to the Tories and Tory-Lite (AKA new Labour) can fuel badly needed alternative way of thinking. It's pretty scary that a large proportion of the electorate have been seduced into thinking there is no alternative to austerity, despite there being no evidence that it has worked anywhere. Focusing on punishing the very few people who are abusing the system and demonizing the Polish immigrants may win votes but it doesn't sort the UK's wider problems out. I don't see any evidence that privatization of the NHS is saving money or bringing benefits (worked for a long time in NHS). I think the way the young are being screwed over in terms of lack of opportunity, runaway housing costs, and the commercialization of university education in a race to the bottom is a disgrace. Yet somehow the message has been communicated that these changes are inevitable in order to 'balance the books'. Strong, radical alternative thinking is what we need with some decent policies to address the pressing need of ever increasing inequality. I actually don't give a stuff about leaders being from wealthy backgrounds if they are clever enough, understand priorities and needs of the whole population (not just supporting capitalists) and have sensible policies. I thought Tony Benn made a lot of sense and what drove him was huge intelligence but mostly integrity. Who cares if he was loaded? I think even Thatcher had more integrity than Cameron and the current shower. At least she didn't pretend that she wasn't screwing people over. OK if you've been poor you've had the life experience, but the poorer my mates are, the more likely they are to be raving Tories and blame immigrants, bludgers etc for the fact that houses are expensive and it costs 50 grand to get an education (of diminishing value now 80% of graduates get firsts or upper second). I've been pretty poor and now I'm comfortably off (Thanks to free university education for poor but bright people when I was younger). I think an awful lot of people of my age (50's) would wish that today's youngsters had the opportunities that they had, and I don't know why we should just assume that is not achievable given the right leadership and a drive to address inequality.

If he can offer a way to fund all the services an aging population will need I might even vote for him myself.

 

If all it took was to nationalise every business and kick out all the Tory fat cats then great.

 

But where and when has it ever worked? The Soviet bloc collapsed because their economic model could not work long term. China and Vietnam would have soon followed had they not implemented a form of capitalism

 

Perhaps the answer lies in German style social democracy. The SPD is the only socialist party I could ever vote for.

 

But no Western government, from whatever political hue, knows how to fund old age state pensions, or nursing home care, or in the case of the UK, pay full indexed state pensions to UK citizens who paid their full NI contributions, and now live in NZ, RSA, Canada, Oz.

 

Tell me why that last point is fair? Imagine if you paid into a private pension fund, as I did with Royal Mail, and at 60, they said "Sorry, you are in Australia so you lose your full pension rights!"

[MARYROSE02]

Tony Benn? Chief hypocrite. Rid himself of his peerage and his double barrelled name, but not his money and his luxurious lifestyle, and he did not will any of that wealth to good socialist causes.

[akiralx]

The problem is he is a beardie loony leftie with zany ideas.

 

You seem to have been reading too many right-wing UK newspapers...

 

The main issue is that what we have is not real Capitalism: this current faux-Capitalism is not sustainable, when profits are privatised - but losses are nationalised (i.e. the public bail-out of banks). If banks are too big to fail, then they are too big to exist, as was said recently.

 

The world's economies will collapse under the current model, if among other things large corporations are allowed to continue their globalised tax evasion.

[Bungo]

You seem to have been reading too many right-wing UK newspapers...

 

The main issue is that what we have is not real Capitalism: this current faux-Capitalism is not sustainable, when profits are privatised - but losses are nationalised (i.e. the public bail-out of banks). If banks are too big to fail, then they are too big to exist, as was said recently.

 

The world's economies will collapse under the current model, if among other things large corporations are allowed to continue their globalised tax evasion.

 

Talk about exaggerating! What on earth have you been reading?

 

You don't think the banking crisis was a unique situation? Companies have been making profits and losses for many years and still do. To make a blanket statement like profits are privatised and losses are nationalised is just wrong.

 

As for taxes, there are some well known avoiders in the world, but they are small in numbers. The vast majority of larger corporations do not want the reputational damage that comes with avoiding tax and they do pay up.

[flag of convenience]

If he can offer a way to fund all the services an aging population will need I might even vote for him myself.

 

If all it took was to nationalise every business and kick out all the Tory fat cats then great.

 

But where and when has it ever worked? The Soviet bloc collapsed because their economic model could not work long term. China and Vietnam would have soon followed had they not implemented a form of capitalism

 

Perhaps the answer lies in German style social democracy. The SPD is the only socialist party I could ever vote for.

 

But no Western government, from whatever political hue, knows how to fund old age state pensions, or nursing home care, or in the case of the UK, pay full indexed state pensions to UK citizens who paid their full NI contributions, and now live in NZ, RSA, Canada, Oz.

 

Tell me why that last point is fair? Imagine if you paid into a private pension fund, as I did with Royal Mail, and at 60, they said "Sorry, you are in Australia so you lose your full pension rights!"

 

Your not suggesting capitalism in its present form is working are you? China is learning the hard way about capitalism. Of course if it wasn't all state owned enterprises owing other state owned enterprises the system would be shown for what it is. It is still a command economy and unlikely that public consumption will replace the development boom and save the economy.

 

We need to change entirely our focus and redefine the capitalism we want. The constant push for productivity and growth does not necessary work. Growth on increasing population as in Australia's case is nothing short of daft. We all lose out in the medium term.

 

No one knows what their super will look like in coming years. The bias that exists at present may well be hard pressed to be able to continue. There needs to be a better more gentler way. We need to exist as something other than an economy. Corbyn has certainly the right ideas. Blair confirmed that with his spray against him. The Daily Express is running itself regard attempting to discredit him so he's definitely doing a lot right to inflame the likes of that lot.

[flag of convenience]

Talk about exaggerating! What on earth have you been reading?

 

You don't think the banking crisis was a unique situation? Companies have been making profits and losses for many years and still do. To make a blanket statement like profits are privatised and losses are nationalised is just wrong.

 

As for taxes, there are some well known avoiders in the world, but they are small in numbers. The vast majority of larger corporations do not want the reputational damage that comes with avoiding tax and they do pay up.

 

I wonder what you have been reading??So you are denying the losses were not socialised? Yes it was rather unique as the system faltered very close to collapse. No tax avoidance is widespread and rather accepted. Just what large companies do you have in mind?

[akiralx]

Talk about exaggerating! What on earth have you been reading?

 

You don't think the banking crisis was a unique situation? Companies have been making profits and losses for many years and still do. To make a blanket statement like profits are privatised and losses are nationalised is just wrong.

 

As for taxes, there are some well known avoiders in the world, but they are small in numbers. The vast majority of larger corporations do not want the reputational damage that comes with avoiding tax and they do pay up.

 

I don't think you understand the phrase: under capitalism you can make profits and succeed, or make losses and go bust. But banks make losses and are bailed out by the taxpayer. Hence losses are nationalised. But in the good times banks don't give profits to the taxpayer - they keep them. Surely you can see the issue here?

 

I think you underestimate the size of assets in offshore tax havens:banking assets in Cayman alone account for around 1/7th of the world’s $30 trillion in banking assets.

 

Apple, Google, Amazon etc don't seem bothered by any 'reputational damage'? It doesn't exist, it seems. They avoid paying taxes on a colossal scale and still prosper.

[MARYROSE02]

Your not suggesting capitalism in its present form is working are you? China is learning the hard way about capitalism. Of course if it wasn't all state owned enterprises owing other state owned enterprises the system would be shown for what it is. It is still a command economy and unlikely that public consumption will replace the development boom and save the economy.

 

We need to change entirely our focus and redefine the capitalism we want. The constant push for productivity and growth does not necessary work. Growth on increasing population as in Australia's case is nothing short of daft. We all lose out in the medium term.

 

No one knows what their super will look like in coming years. The bias that exists at present may well be hard pressed to be able to continue. There needs to be a better more gentler way. We need to exist as something other than an economy. Corbyn has certainly the right ideas. Blair confirmed that with his spray against him. The Daily Express is running itself regard attempting to discredit him so he's definitely doing a lot right to inflame the likes of that lot.

China is learning that they can't apply Socialist control to the market. E ğ this week their state run media made no mention of the stock market crash.

 

But had they not adopted capitalism, they would be North Korea "Heavy".

[flag of convenience]

China is learning that they can't apply Socialist control to the market. E ğ this week their state run media made no mention of the stock market crash.

 

But had they not adopted capitalism, they would be North Korea "Heavy".

 

Well no they are learning what many in the west are well aware. That being present way capitalism is going is unsustainable . As many small time Mum and Dad investors have allegedly lost all their money I'm sure many are fully aware.

 

Well no China was already open to the west so rather unlike PRK. I expect there is a lot to play out here which will impact far beyond China's borders.

[flag of convenience]

Tony Benn? Chief hypocrite. Rid himself of his peerage and his double barrelled name, but not his money and his luxurious lifestyle, and he did not will any of that wealth to good socialist causes.

 

Tony Benn was one of the greatest orators and men of principle in Parliament and out, that spoke with wisdom and behaved with integrity all his life. You repeat this nonsense with frequency, which leads me to believe that you have not an iota of knowledge in the area. Like his politics or despise them he was a man of Socialist conviction that never wavered.

[MARYROSE02]

Tony Benn was one of the greatest orators and men of principle in Parliament and out, that spoke with wisdom and behaved with integrity all his life. You repeat this nonsense with frequency, which leads me to believe that you have not an iota of knowledge in the area. Like his politics or despise them he was a man of Socialist conviction that never wavered.

Anthony Wedgwood Benn became Tony Benn? Why?

 

Thank God he never became Comrade First Minister of the UK.

[Johndoe]

Well no they are learning what many in the west are well aware. That being present way capitalism is going is unsustainable . As many small time Mum and Dad investors have allegedly lost all their money I'm sure many are fully aware.

 

Well no China was already open to the west so rather unlike PRK. I expect there is a lot to play out here which will impact far beyond China's borders.

 

And eventually play out via civil unrest in China. It'll take time but it's inevitable IMHO

[Johndoe]

Tony Benn was one of the greatest orators and men of principle in Parliament and out, that spoke with wisdom and behaved with integrity all his life. You repeat this nonsense with frequency, which leads me to believe that you have not an iota of knowledge in the area. Like his politics or despise them he was a man of Socialist conviction that never wavered.

 

Despite the constant accusations that he was a "toff". Some folk seem to think that all politicians are in it for their own gain. Whether one agrees with their policies or not, to be dismissive of them with that opinion of them is ridiculous. Most of them could earn a lucrative living without politics. Most of them go through hell with the constant media intrusions on their lives and someone always looking to dig up dirt on them. Whether you like their policies or not, most are politicians because of the courage of their convictions and Tony Benn was a man of huge socialist conviction

[akiralx]

Anthony Wedgwood Benn became Tony Benn? Why?

 

Thank God he never became Comrade First Minister of the UK.

 

I'd hate to think his name was your only objection to him... You know Churchill was Spencer-Churchill until he dropped the Spencer, and was grandson of the Duke of Marlborough.

[MARYROSE02]

I'd hate to think his name was your only objection to him... You know Churchill was Spencer-Churchill until he dropped the Spencer, and was grandson of the Duke of Marlborough.

He and Wedgie were of the same class. Ironically Winston probably got on better with the hoi polloi.

 

I look back with nostalgia for Harold Wilson, George Brown. Jim Callaghan, Barbara Castle, despite their faults but I loathe Benn.

[bristolman]

He and Wedgie were of the same class. Ironically Winston probably got on better with the hoi polloi.

 

I look back with nostalgia for Harold Wilson, George Brown. Jim Callaghan, Barbara Castle, despite their faults but I loathe Benn.

 

 

[flag of convenience]

Anthony Wedgwood Benn became Tony Benn? Why?

 

Thank God he never became Comrade First Minister of the UK.

 

A great shame he didn't in my book. It would be more than likely a far fairer and definitely more decent country today.

[flag of convenience]

And eventually play out via civil unrest in China. It'll take time but it's inevitable IMHO

 

Very likely. Besides the massive growing inequality, the social implications of so many excess men unable to find a partner, due to the one child policy, must be of great concern as well.

[flag of convenience]

He and Wedgie were of the same class. Ironically Winston probably got on better with the hoi polloi.

 

I look back with nostalgia for Harold Wilson, George Brown. Jim Callaghan, Barbara Castle, despite their faults but I loathe Benn.

 

I guess it must have been Tony Benn's intellectualism that put you off track.

[Zack]

Where you people (the EU Tory Babies born in the late 60's) get the idea that union Bosses rule the Roast and do everything for their own ends is,Absolute Rubbish.You Read To much Tory Propaganda or is it just bred in you?.you have been completely brainwashed by the Tory Press.One Terrible Government was Brought down by the Union's and that was the Tory Government Under the homo sexual Heath.He Tried to bring in laws to jail workers that with held their labour.(Went on Strike)He Actually jailed some dockers.The Tories Wanted to Smash the Trade Unions In Britain.To get into the position they are today.The Tories Joined the EU because of two things.The wealthy British Elite were going to get very rich,They would receive huge EU bonuses,depending on how much land they owed and what sort of business they were in.Thatcher always said,All that cheap Labour on tap from the EU.Thatcher Wanted to smash the unions and get revenge on the miners for Getting rid of Heaths Bad Tory Government.I was a Coal miner, everyone in the North East Coal mining Industry had a ballot to strike or not to strike,Over Thatchers Policy to close All deep coal mines down in the UK.Scargill never used any of us for his own ends We all backed him to the end.When a sttlement was agreed Thatcher Never won anything.The Brits are living her legacy NOW A multicultured country of hate and split in half. All Tories say that.It's rubbish Thatcher put Thousands and not only coal miners on the scrap heap,she destroyed all our heavy industriesShe Detroyed Britain.And our Armed Forces.She sent so many good naval Ships to the Scrap Yards their wasn't enough births on the Tyne or the Clyde.It was a very bad time for all concerned.A disaster.Then Thatcher Lied About the Falklands. lies to get the public behind her.The Falklands Didn't have a population of British Nationals.Only 23% were descendants of British Nationals.Then She really put our forces in the gun by invading the Falklands,But she didn't care about them.She had cut the Navy down so much ,the Navy had no ships to Transport the Army to war.All our Aircraft Carriers and troop carriers had been scrapped.She had to commandeer Liners.The Frigates she had built on the cheap.were useless against the French built Exocet Missiles.The Landing Craft we had were useless.She sent the British Army to the Falklands Heavily Out numbered and ill equipped,due to her cuts.Infact if the Argies had not surrendered when the did we would have ran out of ammunition.Thatcher the Tyrant received the publics admiration for winning the war.She did NOTHING She was a disaster till the Tories found the guts to kick her out of office in shame. If it hadn't been for the sheer Bravery and Guts of our Troops,the war would have been lost.Then Thatcher a kick in the guts Thatcher wouldn't allow the wounded to be seen by the public at the Victory Parade.I'd like to point out that the 255 brave lads that lost their lives,and the bulk of the British Infantry that fought and died there,the majority were all from The North and Scotland.They Died in vain.Thatchers Lies.I notice now That Tory Supporters Always Ridicule,anyone from the North as the cloth cap lefty benefit Cheats.Every time the Labour Party or any thing connected to them comes up in the press.