I have been fascinated by the comments regarding the media coverage and the "culture wars" on this thread as I can appreciate the two sides of the argument. Personally, I find "The Guardian" unsufferable and detest it's "worthy" credentials. Whilst I would agree that it is one of the more "Left-leaning" of the newspapers in this country, there is probably no other newspaper which is so earnestly middle class. There was an article in The Morning Star about 2 years ago which looked the newspaper's journalists from whom the BBC invited on to various news, sport, culture and discussion programmes and it found that "The Guardian" was disproportionately represented. (From recollection, something like 66% of cases.) In the space of 12 months, I believe that the number of times the BBC invited a Guardian journalist to comment was in the thousands. I have rarely heard journalists from The times or The Telegroph on BBC In the same period, the Morning Star was invited to contribute on somthing like 5 occasions. As far as the Beeb is concerned, The Morning Star does not exist even though this is the only "authentic"socialist newspaper in the country. It is also worth noting that BBC job vacancies are only ever advertised in The Guardian. I hate the Guardian far more that The Sun which does not really even proport to be serious. One of the biggest cries during Corbyn's tenure of the Labour Leadership was the failure of "Liberal" society and how this had effectviely emasculated the socialist movement I totally concur with this. You hear this argiment time and time again in the Left. The public's distate for "liberalism" is confused with socialism and I do not believe the two are at all the same. It is precisely because of papers like The Guardian that the general public has no sympathy for more left-leaning ideas because these are perceived to more concerned with things such as Trans issues , etc which has little bearing on the wider population who are struggling to pay their enegry bills or have been let down by the NHS. Personally, I do feel very strongly that papers such as The Guardian and the Independent have contributed to why the public at large has no appetite for Corbyn's Labour, The consistently focus on worthy issues which many people do not relate to. I just feel that this is a newpaper that the Labour party can well do without as a friend. It is a newspaper of the affluent middle classes that is there to assuge their guilt and I think the ideas it has formulated are directly responsbile for why someone like Boris Johnson can get elected. On the subject of John McDonnell, it is massive loss that he never ran for Lavour leader. Had Corbyn won the last election, he would have transformed the press and silenced the ridiculous kind of journalism espoused by the likes of the Mail, the Sun and the Express. I feel that a better presentation of "the Left" is outlined within The Morning Star. The comments about the "Telegraph" made here are also wide of the mark - I read this newspaper on a Sunday and think the standard of journalism is decent evern if I do not agree with the political views. The Left miscalculated that the New Labour element was dormant and the failure of Corbyn's administration to cpuple the will of party members with their Members of Parliament proved to be his ultimate indoing. Corbyn and McDonnell should have been far more ruthless and gone as far as deselction and expulsion of those MPS whose opinion were in contrast with the parrty members. The election success in 2016 inspite of having no real "opinion" on the prescient issue of Brexit is demonstrative that Corbyn should have been elected with a landslide in 2019 had the party not been sidetracked by other issues that were laegely fabricated by the press. I felt that 2016 demonstrated that there was an apetitie for Corbyn's politics and his ability to captire the imagination of a young and disillusioned electorate. If the issue of Brexit was set aside, I feel Corbyn would have emerged as this country's greatest MP since Lloyd George. It is a tragedy he never got elected. The failure of Jeremy Corbyn to get over the line in 2016 was an accident of Brexit. Had Brexit not been an issue, I think he would have swept the Tories aside. Many people felt empowered and inspired by Corbyn. He was a leader who was genuinely loved by many. Corbyn was truly something different and full of integrity that was the direct opposite of the kind of politics ushered in my "New Labour." I wish Corbyn and McDonnell had been braver and banished the descenting voices from the Labour Party They were doing an excpetional job at giving the Labour Party a true and authentic voice and , had they been eelcted, I feel that politics in this country would have been shifted towards the Left for good. It would have been a sea-change, The treatment of Dianne Abbott was an absolute disgrace and especially surprising that, as a former journalist herself, he own turned on her. It does make me angry that the 2019 campaign was such a train wreck albeit I am not sure what could have been done given that Brexit split opinion across the parties. I feel it was the wrong decision and I think the fact the EU was largely a capitalist enterprise made it difficult for the Let to embrace. In my opinion, the answer was to return the EU from within and quitting was never going to work. Unfortunately, it became a touchstone for rampart nationalism and ill-formed opinion. Labour has never really recovered from this and the inability of the campaign to remain to succeed is largely rooted in the mistrust of Liberalism. So, for me, the moral ground may rest with the likes of The Guardian but the way they presented the argument repelled more people than it attracted. The Left should have made the case for an Internationalist EU and I feel the ianbility of socialism to arrive at an alternative solution to Liberalism has presented the Right with a free hit. The Guardian and it's ilk has a lot to answer for, in my opinion. For me, the question that now needs to be asked is whether Democracy no ,longer works and why there is so much dissent for rational issues whether they be staying in the EU or vaccination.
" I hate the Guardian far more that The Sun" really? Have you had a drink Ian? Proof read before you post, "John McDonnell, it is massive loss that he never ran for Lavour leader.
I have a grip of plenty, thank you ever so much for your concern. My point is that people post articles of different views all over here, some that are agreed with and some that aren’t. But to respond with a petulant foot stamping about Frost is pretty pathetic. Post about his shortcomings in his actions, by all means, but personal insults like those aren’t necessary.
Frost was a deflection on my part. If those of a certain persuasión want to criticise Corbyn and McDonnell, I am fine with that, but when Diane Abbott is constantly.being targetted, it raises a suspicion.
You don’t have Google? How about her dubious maths when talking police budgets? I could spend my time doing your bidding, but my life would look as uneventful as others on here who scour the internet looking for articles to make their point.
Abbott constantly targeted? This is hilarious when you think about the amount of articles, Twitter opinion pieces and the like posted on almost every Tory politician going. Criticise away, just don’t get too upset that someone picked on one of your favourites.
Wonderful post again and thank you Ian. Between 1964 and 1970,;we did have a PM.who came from Labour:s Left, Harold Wilson. Since then the centre line has moved considerably to the right. In the 60s there was a guy called Gerald Navarro, who was clownish and quite right wing, but never considered as Prime Ministerial. Fast forward 50 years and that figure has morphed into the PM. Mogg is today's Enoch Powell.
There are other politicians who mérit far more criticism than Diane Abbott. Shall we make a start with Ian Galloway and Rees-Mogg?
Good to hear you've got a grip of plenty. Is Frost fat or not? Someone else's comment not mine enjoy your eventful life.
If you want to post criticism about them, go for it. Some posters clearly disagree that she doesn’t merit criticism though.
No. From everything IOAG has posted about Diane Abbott, it seems he hates her for her politics, not because of her colour. That isn’t racist, and calling him a racist breaks forum rules.
Pretty much spot on. Exactly the way I see it. The rich and powerful have been extremely clever: They deliberately have associated left-wing politics with extreme liberalism, in order that all of the very serious left-wing points about wealth inequality can be thrown away with the bath water. They have succeeded in splitting the Labour Party fully. In all honesty the more I have studied politics and economics, the more I have realised that the current system is beyond broken, with neither party representing the interests of the common working man/woman. They have raised the taxes for middle and working class people again without closing any of the tax loopholes that the 1% exploit. They have simultaneously printed limitless money, whilst cutting public spending, decimating the NHS & public services and given their pals billions in the process. They don’t incentivise strong family units, they discourage saving by debasing the currency, they have reduced the education system to the point where it’s probably better to home schooled. They are fostering a sense of hopelessness by banging on about climate disasters and covid deaths as much as possible, meanwhile they fly in private jets and attend galas without masks and vaccines themselves. They undercut British workers by allowing as much cheap labour into the country as possible, then caused Brexit which undercut British businesses at the expense of bureaucracy. I believe there will be a tipping point in the not-too-distant future where taxes and high inflation mean there will be violence and civil unrest as people can no longer afford rent & food - although I hope I am wrong about that. Unfortunately, I just don’t trust politicians from either side of the political spectrum any more; to be either competent or to have the countries best interests at heart. It is pretty obvious to me that national governments aren’t fit for purpose in their current form as they are too prone to corruption and too slow to adapt to the pace of the modern world.
I am rather sensitive when people are critical of Diane Abbott and David Lammy, and by extensión Pritti.Patel. I shall message IOAG without being offensive to him.
Whoa there Ides! I take the dog for a walk and come back to this nonsense, you seem to be looking for racism when it is clearly not there. And to be honest, people who do that seriously damage the anti racism campaign. I'm not really sure what your motive is but just calm it down a bit. As for belittling Diane Abbott? She is a politician who is judged by what she says and does, so is Corbyn and so is McDonnell. I dislike them all and will continue to criticise them whenever I feel like it. I don't have to say anything nice about them or nasty about Lord Frost just to restore your faith in me. I don't think you are dealing very well with opposing views, which let's face it don't get seen on here very often. And as for being balanced, if that was a prerequisite for posting here this board would be empty. I've been reading this politics thread for a long time and from my experience there are lots of posters that are unbalanced.
