{UAH} Gordon Brown to break his silence on the Labour leadership contest
|
6:16 AM |
No comments |
Comrade Akim Odong/ WBK.
The Labour establishment is trying its best to derail the Corbyn
band-wagon, but his lead is still holding. Paradoxically, his
opponents have resorted to personal attacks. They wheeled out Tony
Blair last week, but his intervention was met with derision. Tony
Blair is the most unpopular and hated person in the Labour Party, his
intervention only helped the Islington marxist's surge, rather than
dent it. So they are wheeling out Gordon Brown who, unlike Tony Blair,
still has some respect in the Labour Party.
George Okello
Gordon Brown to speak on Labour leadership as poll gives boost to
Corbyn Labour MPs – among whom support for Corbyn is low – have been
pushing for an intervention from Brown, who they believe has more
credibility than Tony Blair
Friday 14 August 2015 20.21 BST Last modified on Saturday 15 August
2015 00.09 BST
Gordon Brown will break his silence on the Labour leadership contest
this weekend, as frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn was further boosted by a
survey suggesting he has more appeal for the wider electorate than
many of his critics claim.
The former prime minister will give a speech about the future of the
Labour party in London on Sunday, as the first ballot papers arrive
for up to 610,000 members and supporters in the dramatic contest.
Brown is staging his intervention after warnings that Corbyn would be
electorally disastrous from senior figures including Tony Blair, Alan
Johnson, Jack Straw, and Alastair Campbell, which have failed to dent
Corbyn's status as the favourite to win.
He is not at this point expected to pronounce on his choice of leader,
but the title of the event – Power for a Purpose – hints that he could
echo arguments from other party figures that Labour needs to elect a
leader with the best chance of removing the Conservatives from power
in 2020.
However, a poll conducted by Survation suggests Corbyn was rated the
highest when 1,000 people were asked about the candidates' personal
qualities and which would be best at holding the government to account
as leader of the opposition. He scored highest on a range of questions
with the wider electorate, faring particularly well among Ukip
supporters as well as those from his own party.
All three of Corbyn's rival candidates have intensified their
criticism of his policies over the last two days, having initially
held back over fears it would appear they were ganging up against him.
Burnham has appealed for a "silent majority" to reject Corbyn's
politics as Burnham's camp said their data shows the gap between him
and the leading candidate is much smaller than previous polls
suggested. The shadow health secretary singled out Corbyn's plans to
nationalise the energy sector and create an entirely free education
system as two policies that were unrealistic.
Earlier, Kendall said that choosing Corbyn would be tantamount to
submitting "our resignation letter to the British people as a serious
party of government", while Cooper was the first to deliver a detailed
critique of Corbyn's positions on Thursday over his plans to bring
back coalmines and print money to pay for infrastructure investment.
Throughout the various attacks on his candidacy, Corbyn has calmly
rebuffed the dire warnings, saying he does not get involved in
responding to such attacks.
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leadership frontrunner, says people are
being 'turned off' politics by the ways MPs exhange abuse in
Westminster At a rally in Edinburgh on Friday, where he received a
rapturous reception, Corbyn said: "People are totally and absolutely
and completely turned off by the politics of celebrity, personality,
name calling, abuse and all that kind of behaviour, so I'm not really
very bothered about what anybody says about anybody in our campaign,
including me. We are not responding, we are not dealing with that
level of politics."
Addressing criticism of his policies, 28 university professors wrote
to the Guardian on Friday endorsing Corbyn, and arguing that "rather
than a backward looking 'old Labour' approach to politics, this is
about recognising the inspiring possibilities for a fairer and more
equal society offered by an information economy in an interdependent
world".
Panic has been mounting in much of the parliamentary party and Labour
hierarchy about a Corbyn victory, after a YouGov poll showed the
leftwing backbencher's support as high as 53%.
Labour MPs – most of whom do not back Corbyn – have been pushing for
an intervention from Brown, who they believe may have more sway over
members and supporters than Blair.
There was also a blistering intervention from John Woodcock, chairman
of Progress, the group which describes itself as "Labour's new
mainstream". He urged his colleagues that they must be "passionately
intolerant of the self-indulgence of the new Bennites masquerading as
evangelists of a new politics". He also hit out at those who appear to
think questioning why the Tories were more popular at the election is
actively wicked, calling this the "flawed logic of the cult".
Two frontbenchers supporting Liz Kendall, Tristram Hunt and Chuka
Umunna, have begun to mobilise parliamentary colleagues, writing
privately to some Labour MPs asking them to meet four days before the
result is due out and making a case that more rigorous political
thinking needs to be done by moderates in the party. The group has
been dubbed "the resistance" by one MP.
Some MPs are also keen for Ed Miliband to speak out against Corbyn,
but the former Labour leader is understood to be abroad.
One of Miliband's closest advisers, Tom Baldwin, wrote in the
Financial Times this week that something could be learned from the way
Corbyn has engaged people in politics, but he also warned that if the
party elects him it "will push Labour further away from an electorate
that concluded three months ago we lacked economic credibility and
were out of touch".
However, in the Survation poll, in which people were shown short video
clips of the candidates, Corbyn scored the highest for seeming in
touch with ordinary people at 57%, trustworthy at 40%, intelligent at
79%, and most likely to fare the best in a television debate against
David Cameron at 33%. Burnham scored highest for seeming tough at 43%,
and Kendall for seeming normal at 69%.
Asked whether the candidate would make them more or less likely to vote
for the Labour party, a net 32% said yes to Corbyn, compared with 25%
for Burnham, 22% for Kendall and 20% for Cooper.
Among Ukip voters, 39% of them liked Corbyn the most – higher than the
38% of Labour voters for whom he also topped the poll. But just 22% of
Conservatives liked him, compared with 25% who liked Burnham.
When asked who would make the best prime minister, Burnham was
narrowly ahead with 25% against 24% for Corbyn, and when asked who
would be most likely to win the next general election as Labour
leader, the two were tied on 26%.
Andy Burnham says that he has the best chance of beating current poll
favourite Jeremy Corbyn The two female candidates, Yvette Cooper and
Liz Kendall, were trailing the men on the vast majority of questions
asked.
Survation said its results on the face of it do not bear out arguments
from senior Labour figures that either Corbyn or his policies would be
deeply unpopular with the country.
The other camps and non-Corbyn supporters are likely to point out that
it needs treating with some caution, given voters who support other
parties could have various motives for saying they like or dislike
Corbyn.
The polling was commissioned by the Transport Salaried Staffs'
Association (TSSA) union and carried out this week, but Survation said
it was completely independent and followed the same online methodology
as on previous occasions when it has conducted polls on the Labour
leadership for the Mail on Sunday.
Responding to the survey, a spokeswoman for the Corbyn campaign said
they do not usually comment on polls but this one, along with a
another by YouGov, points to an "emerging, clear fact – that Jeremy
Corbyn reaches voters beyond Labour's existing vote, and that he has a
strong electability factor based on his ability to take on David
Cameron and stand up for ordinary people".
"These polls show the value of leadership – straight-talking politics
that give people hope and a real sense that winning with a better kind
of politics is possible," she said.
--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com or Abbey Semuwemba at: abbeysemuwemba@gmail.com.
The Labour establishment is trying its best to derail the Corbyn
band-wagon, but his lead is still holding. Paradoxically, his
opponents have resorted to personal attacks. They wheeled out Tony
Blair last week, but his intervention was met with derision. Tony
Blair is the most unpopular and hated person in the Labour Party, his
intervention only helped the Islington marxist's surge, rather than
dent it. So they are wheeling out Gordon Brown who, unlike Tony Blair,
still has some respect in the Labour Party.
George Okello
Gordon Brown to speak on Labour leadership as poll gives boost to
Corbyn Labour MPs – among whom support for Corbyn is low – have been
pushing for an intervention from Brown, who they believe has more
credibility than Tony Blair
Friday 14 August 2015 20.21 BST Last modified on Saturday 15 August
2015 00.09 BST
Gordon Brown will break his silence on the Labour leadership contest
this weekend, as frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn was further boosted by a
survey suggesting he has more appeal for the wider electorate than
many of his critics claim.
The former prime minister will give a speech about the future of the
Labour party in London on Sunday, as the first ballot papers arrive
for up to 610,000 members and supporters in the dramatic contest.
Brown is staging his intervention after warnings that Corbyn would be
electorally disastrous from senior figures including Tony Blair, Alan
Johnson, Jack Straw, and Alastair Campbell, which have failed to dent
Corbyn's status as the favourite to win.
He is not at this point expected to pronounce on his choice of leader,
but the title of the event – Power for a Purpose – hints that he could
echo arguments from other party figures that Labour needs to elect a
leader with the best chance of removing the Conservatives from power
in 2020.
However, a poll conducted by Survation suggests Corbyn was rated the
highest when 1,000 people were asked about the candidates' personal
qualities and which would be best at holding the government to account
as leader of the opposition. He scored highest on a range of questions
with the wider electorate, faring particularly well among Ukip
supporters as well as those from his own party.
All three of Corbyn's rival candidates have intensified their
criticism of his policies over the last two days, having initially
held back over fears it would appear they were ganging up against him.
Burnham has appealed for a "silent majority" to reject Corbyn's
politics as Burnham's camp said their data shows the gap between him
and the leading candidate is much smaller than previous polls
suggested. The shadow health secretary singled out Corbyn's plans to
nationalise the energy sector and create an entirely free education
system as two policies that were unrealistic.
Earlier, Kendall said that choosing Corbyn would be tantamount to
submitting "our resignation letter to the British people as a serious
party of government", while Cooper was the first to deliver a detailed
critique of Corbyn's positions on Thursday over his plans to bring
back coalmines and print money to pay for infrastructure investment.
Throughout the various attacks on his candidacy, Corbyn has calmly
rebuffed the dire warnings, saying he does not get involved in
responding to such attacks.
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leadership frontrunner, says people are
being 'turned off' politics by the ways MPs exhange abuse in
Westminster At a rally in Edinburgh on Friday, where he received a
rapturous reception, Corbyn said: "People are totally and absolutely
and completely turned off by the politics of celebrity, personality,
name calling, abuse and all that kind of behaviour, so I'm not really
very bothered about what anybody says about anybody in our campaign,
including me. We are not responding, we are not dealing with that
level of politics."
Addressing criticism of his policies, 28 university professors wrote
to the Guardian on Friday endorsing Corbyn, and arguing that "rather
than a backward looking 'old Labour' approach to politics, this is
about recognising the inspiring possibilities for a fairer and more
equal society offered by an information economy in an interdependent
world".
Panic has been mounting in much of the parliamentary party and Labour
hierarchy about a Corbyn victory, after a YouGov poll showed the
leftwing backbencher's support as high as 53%.
Labour MPs – most of whom do not back Corbyn – have been pushing for
an intervention from Brown, who they believe may have more sway over
members and supporters than Blair.
There was also a blistering intervention from John Woodcock, chairman
of Progress, the group which describes itself as "Labour's new
mainstream". He urged his colleagues that they must be "passionately
intolerant of the self-indulgence of the new Bennites masquerading as
evangelists of a new politics". He also hit out at those who appear to
think questioning why the Tories were more popular at the election is
actively wicked, calling this the "flawed logic of the cult".
Two frontbenchers supporting Liz Kendall, Tristram Hunt and Chuka
Umunna, have begun to mobilise parliamentary colleagues, writing
privately to some Labour MPs asking them to meet four days before the
result is due out and making a case that more rigorous political
thinking needs to be done by moderates in the party. The group has
been dubbed "the resistance" by one MP.
Some MPs are also keen for Ed Miliband to speak out against Corbyn,
but the former Labour leader is understood to be abroad.
One of Miliband's closest advisers, Tom Baldwin, wrote in the
Financial Times this week that something could be learned from the way
Corbyn has engaged people in politics, but he also warned that if the
party elects him it "will push Labour further away from an electorate
that concluded three months ago we lacked economic credibility and
were out of touch".
However, in the Survation poll, in which people were shown short video
clips of the candidates, Corbyn scored the highest for seeming in
touch with ordinary people at 57%, trustworthy at 40%, intelligent at
79%, and most likely to fare the best in a television debate against
David Cameron at 33%. Burnham scored highest for seeming tough at 43%,
and Kendall for seeming normal at 69%.
Asked whether the candidate would make them more or less likely to vote
for the Labour party, a net 32% said yes to Corbyn, compared with 25%
for Burnham, 22% for Kendall and 20% for Cooper.
Among Ukip voters, 39% of them liked Corbyn the most – higher than the
38% of Labour voters for whom he also topped the poll. But just 22% of
Conservatives liked him, compared with 25% who liked Burnham.
When asked who would make the best prime minister, Burnham was
narrowly ahead with 25% against 24% for Corbyn, and when asked who
would be most likely to win the next general election as Labour
leader, the two were tied on 26%.
Andy Burnham says that he has the best chance of beating current poll
favourite Jeremy Corbyn The two female candidates, Yvette Cooper and
Liz Kendall, were trailing the men on the vast majority of questions
asked.
Survation said its results on the face of it do not bear out arguments
from senior Labour figures that either Corbyn or his policies would be
deeply unpopular with the country.
The other camps and non-Corbyn supporters are likely to point out that
it needs treating with some caution, given voters who support other
parties could have various motives for saying they like or dislike
Corbyn.
The polling was commissioned by the Transport Salaried Staffs'
Association (TSSA) union and carried out this week, but Survation said
it was completely independent and followed the same online methodology
as on previous occasions when it has conducted polls on the Labour
leadership for the Mail on Sunday.
Responding to the survey, a spokeswoman for the Corbyn campaign said
they do not usually comment on polls but this one, along with a
another by YouGov, points to an "emerging, clear fact – that Jeremy
Corbyn reaches voters beyond Labour's existing vote, and that he has a
strong electability factor based on his ability to take on David
Cameron and stand up for ordinary people".
"These polls show the value of leadership – straight-talking politics
that give people hope and a real sense that winning with a better kind
of politics is possible," she said.
--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com or Abbey Semuwemba at: abbeysemuwemba@gmail.com.
0 comments:
Post a Comment