Just to add my tu'penny's worth to Jons post below. (and thought i'd give you a nice picture)
I think its unlikely that Blair will survive this for much longer his speech today was quite vicious and came over really paranoid.
Even though the 7 who resigned were only minor players its the fact that they're Blairrites and Blairs reaction to them.
Channel 4 news is reporting a massive bust up between Blair and Brown with Blair accusing Brown of instigating the "coup"
Combine that with the backlash over Lebanon and the leaked news that he will make another statement tomorrow - it really does look like his time is up.
So comrades its time to step up our campaign John Mcdonnell is on GMTV tomorrow @ 6.30am set your alarms!! and there will be a comment piece from him in the Independant.
He was also on the BBC today progam and Sky News Today - coverage is still availiable on the websites.
Tomorrow is also the national Launch of John Mcdonnell's campaign @ the Mechanics institute in Manchester which looks to be a great line up (see Jon's previous post) shame i cant be there but im sure it will be very well attended!
The fight begins! :) Bring it on!
10 comments:
Oops, posted to the wrong article there - I will have to look more closely at the titles next time :S
But, chicken little, the sky won't fall in on our heads if we are honest about our policies.
John McDonnell stands out in for having had both the politics and the backbone to stand up for the policies of our trade union(s).
We should nail our colours to the mast of the policies which our members have agreed.
Were there to be more than one candidate who supported our policies then we would have a difficult discussion as to who to support. Who else is there?
And - chickenlittle - you want to watch out for that foxy loxy. He might not really be your friend...
Oh Curses, I had just deleted that comment because it was in the wrong post, but you've already replied to it.
Here is the original comment
"It's all very well repeating the john McDonnell line ad infinitum, but the Unions (and every other organisation) would be idiots if they came out for one potential candidate before they know who the other candidates are going to be.
The leadership campaign may be a while off yet, and until it begins I (as a Unison member) certainly don't want my representatives to nail our colours to any mast. Particularly the mast of a candidate who in all likelihood will not get enough signitures to allow him to contest the election."
Anyway, in response to your comment - Who else is there? That is the point, isn't it? We don't know. Why should we assume, with only two MP's declared as candidates, that nobody else will come forward who will, to put it coarsely, make us a better offer.
McDonnell probably wont get enough signatures to stand. If he does he wont win. If he did win, he would not have the support of the PLP. I don't just want a candidate who supports our aims. I want one who has a cats chance in hell of implementing them too.
When you find a good candidate, with majority support in a PLP selected through recent years, who will deliver what we want, please let us all know their name!
In the mean time, I am inclined to support a candidate who has a proven track record of support for union policies and - more importantly - of organising alongside trade union and Labour Party members.
How do we know a candidate cannot get on the ballot paper when we have hardly started to campaign?
Beware of the lessons of defeatism which we all learned in the long years of defeat.
The sky won't fall on our heads if we back a socialist for Labour leader.
First off Jon, I've seen you speak, and I know you're a good traide unionist, and a good lefty persuader. Frankly, you can do better than patronising jokes about the sky falling in. Secondly, I'm not a defeatist.
McDonnell is a good potential candidate. If it's a choice between him and Brown, I'll back him every time. But truthfully, as appealing as socialist purism is to me, I can't subscribe to it, if it seems that the left candidate and the right candidate are both equally unlikely to deliver what I want, and if there is a middle way available that will provide at least some of what we both want to see.
fair enough - but you chose the email name comrade! It does rather invite the "sky falling in" and "foxy loxy" points...
why not just post in your own name?
As for another candidate "emerging" I think it is up to trade union activists to get in there and work with potential candidates - they won't spring out of the ground.
John has put himself forward and I back him because I share his politics. I wish you luck if you are looking for a "middle way" candidate for the good reasons you outline (though I don't agree with you) - but you may have a long wait...
Heh - Chickenlittle's as real a name as any other!
Damn, I bet a drink with Islington GMB branch secretary that Blair would still be prime minister by the end of the year, looking shaky now. Not that I want him too but I agree it is about a change of direction not a change of leader. By the seven dwarfs are now eight.
"And nowwwww the end is near .... I did it my way" Hopefully the next Labour leader will do it the labour way rather than his way. JOhn McDonnell at least offers a clear alterntative to what Brown has delivered so far. So he might not get on the ballot but thats something we deal with then. We unite behind a candidate who supporrts OUR policies even if it makes him unpopular with some in our party.
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