Yesterday, I went to Owen Smith’s event (I can’t really call it a rally as I’m not sure 100 people sitting in a room constitutes that…). As I’m sure you’re aware, I am a big Corbyn supporter. So why did I go? Well, there are a few reasons. First of all, I think its important to hear both sides of an argument. I was pretty certain that Smith wouldn’t change my mind, but I felt it was important to hear what he had to say. Also, all I’d heard from Smith supporters, were reasons not to vote for Jeremy, rather than why I should vote for Owen in particular. I thought going to his rally would change that, and maybe I’d hear some genuine reasons to vote for him (I thought wrong, as it turns out, but we’ll go into that later on). Thirdly, although I am a relatively new member, I have always been a Labour supporter, and who runs our party is an important thing. If Jeremy loses the contest, Smith will be the new leader. I felt it’d be good to know what that leader is about.
So, my friend and I decided to go along. We’d spent the morning on a Momentum stall in a nearby ward of our constituency, handing out Jeremy leaflets. We headed over, and out of respect, removed our Corbyn badges. There were, as we counted, about 100 people present. I was struck by the difference in atmosphere to the room where Smith was about to talk, to the rally held by Corbyn in Leeds a few weeks prior. Now, this may be because I am a Corbyn supporter or it may just be how it is, but I felt a sort of electricity in the air at the rally in Leeds. People were talking to the people next to them, asking where they’d come from, discussing how they’d become a Corbyn supporter etc. However at Owen’s rally, I didn’t feel anything in the air. No excitement. No hope. No excited talking and sharing stories.
Owen finally came on stage. A couple of people stood up and cheered. Again, I was struck at the difference in reaction to Owen entering the room at his event, compared to Jeremy entering the room at his. The room took 5 minutes to quieten down after Jeremy’s arrival, which shows the optimism and hope that Jeremy brings with him into politics.
Owen spoke of his upbringing in Wales, how he came to be involved in politics. He spoke about how he didn’t vote for Jeremy last year but took on the role as Shadow Secretary for the DWP as he felt they should ‘make a go of it’. He spoke about how it was him, not Jeremy, who secured the U turns on welfare policies over the past 10 months. However, under Jeremy’s leadership we have become a party that vote against things, not just abstain on them. Would we have fought as hard against these welfare bills if the leadership had asked the PLP to abstain? If any of the other candidates had won last year, we would still be fighting for an austerity lite agenda. He said that Jeremy had left taking on IDS and Stephen Crabb down to him, and how he’d had no help from Jeremy at all. Well, with all due respect Owen, that was what your job was. You were supposed to take on the DWP, that is the brief of Shadow Secretary for DWP. He said that Jeremy spoke with slogans but took no actions- but then continued to speak in slogans himself (“British New Deal”, and “Anti Austerity, pro- Prosperity” to name but a few). He said that Jeremy wasn’t a leader, and that its all well and good having principles, but if you aren’t in power you can’t do anything about them. He said he was ‘fed up’ of Corbyn supporters claiming moral superiority over the rest of the Labour Party, and that we aren’t morally pure as we think we are, seemingly feeding into the “us and them” rhetoric.
When we were allowed to ask questions, a man at the front said that he wasn’t voting for Owen, because Owen was calling for a second referendum, and how would he create a story that would win over Leave voters who traditionally vote Labour. Owen’s response was a list of reasons why we should vote Remain. Owen also said that his principles tell him that we have to fight for the EU- but surely he’d just said that principles don’t lead to power?
Owen said that Jeremy and his supporters are talking inwardly, and that they are talking to themselves. However, I would like to compare the demographics of a Jeremy rally compared to Owen’s event. Out of the 100 people there in Halifax, there were maybe 5 young people, and a one or two people from ethnic minorites. People I know who want Jeremy as leader span a huge range of races, socio-economic backgrounds, genders, ages, previous voting habits…I have friends who have never voted, friends who have voted Tory, friends who have voted Lib Dem, friends who have voted Green- all of whom want to join the Labour Party or have joined the Party to become part of the movement created by Jeremy. The only people I know who are voting for Owen are people who would vote for Labour regardless.
At the end of the event, I went over to speak to Owen.I introduced myself and said I was a recently elected Town Councillor, and although I was voting for Jeremy, I would really appreciate it if he could denounce the names Corbyn supporters are called, such as Nazi Stormtroopers.
Owen: I already have.
Me: I haven’t heard you doing so
Owen: I have, on national TV.
Me: Well I’m sorry but I haven’t heard you say that
Owen: well I’ve been called a Red Tory
(in hindsight, I wish I’d said at this point that being called a Red Tory and a Nazi are by no means comparable).
Me: yes abuse from anyone is wrong, however I’m asking you to publicly denounce the Nazi slurs. You don’t need to be defensive, I’m not attacking you, but that it would mean a lot to a lot of people.
Owen: Well it was only one man calling you Nazis!
Me: Yes one man but in a national newspaper!
Owen: (sarcastically) What would you like me to do- write everyone a letter?
Me: Well you could write an email, or put a statement on Facebook or Twitter.
All I had wanted him to say was that he was sorry we’d been subject to that and he had tried to denounce it but if we hadn’t heard his statement, he would try and make one more publicly. That would have sufficed. But instead he got defensive and angry like a child. That, to me, is not a leader. It was at this point that my friend cut in and said we had only come to make sure we saw two sides of the argument. He asked her if she was still voting for Jeremy. She said yes.
I left the event feeling incredibly disheartened and angry. Owen had done exactly as his supporters have done so far- give a list of ‘reasons’ not to vote for Jeremy but as far as I saw, no concrete reasons to vote for him. He lazily repeated criticisms of Jeremy such as ‘he’s a bad leader’ and ‘he hasn’t gone far enough’ with no way to back up those broad statements. And the way he handled my comment about denouncing Nazi Stormtrooper slurs was incredibly childish and petty. He got defensive very quickly- a trait which I don’t think would play out very well with the public or at PMQs. He had some good policies, but they were all policies Jeremy has already said himself.
I compared this to how I felt leaving the rally in Leeds a few weeks back. Heart full of hope, feeling optimistic about the future. Everyone you walked past when leaving was talking about how enthused and emotional they felt.
I commend Smith on his apparent switch to socialism and ‘radical’ policies, of which most are identical to Jeremy. I also hope that whoever wins, the other agrees to work alongside him. We are all supposed to be the same party, after all.
Jeremy is often criticised by his opponents for not being a leader, however what a leader actually is is never quantified. What is this miraculous leadership quality they are all looking for? Did Ed Miliband have it, in their eyes? Did Tony Blair? Owen claims that Jeremy speaks in slogans and not with actions, but I could not disagree with him more. For the first time in a long time, with Jeremy as leader, the Labour Party has a clear direction and is a distinct opposition party. That, for me, sounds like pretty good leadership.
I liked your point about coming away from the Corbyn rally with hope and optimism, and that it was shared by others around you. Whatever we may say about Corbyn, he does send out some positive energy which in today’s world is a precious thing.
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This made very interesting reading. Well done for giving the opposite view a chance, but I agree with your conclusions – follow the leader that inspires hope. JC gives it out in spades.
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A really interesting read and an impressive attempt to see both sides of the leadership issue. Your experience at the end is very telling, where Owen Smith seemed quickly miffed and resentful when asked to make a statement against the Nazi slur. I think you are right, comprehension and resilience lacking on a personal level. Why did he really take up this leadership challenge I wonder?
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guess everyone’s wondering why he took up the challenge when there were so many high profile figures amongst the rebels who would have put up a beter fight.
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Because JC would beat the pants off any of them and it would put am end to any personal leadership hopes. Owen smith knows that without JC in the race any of them would beat the pants off him so this is his one and only chance at leadership. Angela Eagle is just to thick to have worked any of the above out.
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My take on it is Smith is intent on becoming a career politician. He is certainly an opportunist. I was interested in him when he first came on the scene, but since then, I have seen several instances when he seems to become a bully or stamps his feet. Not a leader in my eyes.
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Being unable to deal with this adequately doesn’t bode well. If Smith is incapable of handling a complaint about a nazi slur, I wonder how he will cope with anti-semitism allegations. I’d suspect badly.
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Jeremy is the only way for me. He is true Labour and if he doesn’t get elected as leader, it will be because of dirty undemocratic tricks. I will most likely leave the labour party as will others in their thousands. you have been warned.
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I’m sorry, my last post seemed a bit aggressive…I didn’t mean it to be at all. I apologise, please forgive my anger. E x
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Not at all, I understand the anger! 🙂 x
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Not aggressive at all!! Forthright and assertive is how I would describe it. And I will NOT leave the LP as that would suit their right wing agenda. IMO if Smith wins the NEC/PLP will seek to exclude members from ever having a say in choosing a Leader; it will be like the Tories.
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I accept your apology! Surely in threatening to resign you are doing exactly what a few Labour MPs are doing, who want to split the Labour Party, if Jeremy is re-elected. The Party needs you to get stuck in, whoever wins. That is one of the lessons that I have learnt over my 42 years of membership. Please don’t take your bat home.
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That is what the PLP and plotters want , so they can take back over the party again. They will attack Corbyn next year.
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No worries, Emma. I quite understand how angry and frustrated you are by all the corruption that is rife in parts of our party, but please, PLEASE, never leave us. It’s only by having tens of thousands of people like you in the Party that we will ever overcome these snollygosters and achieve Jeremy Corbyn’s vision of a prosperous society, and a fair and honest welfare system that cares for ALL people living in the UK. x
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Not sure this is a great indication of staying power – after all, many people have been promoting progressive ideas, keeping the party going through thick and thin, the structures that have given you a chance to vote this time. People have stuck with the struggle and had to take some beatings! Please do not in any way succumb to anything that appears to be pessimism, in good times and in the bad ones. After all, that is a very big part of the good example that Jeremy Corbyn had demonstrated sand that inspires you!
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Hi Emma
I support Corbyn and I want to see the Labour party change to its social values. However the most important is the membership. Whoever is the leader its important that the members who have recently joined./re-joined stay in the party and select the MP’s and influence policy. This is a long term thing, to have a PLP that represents the social values of the LP.
Jim
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Here here!
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I can understand and share your frustration and anger if that happens. But, I would like you to consider one or two things, please.
One,.Why would people who you have no respect for nor would associate with their principles and attitudes, be successful in getting their way to make you leave the party?
Two, If people leave in the thousands as you say, what chance do us, true Corbynite-inspired socialists have to populate the branches and CLPs to ensure that Jeremy’s legacy, efforts and commitment, which has seen such a resurgence in belief and confidence to create and obtain a society may have only dreamt about all their lives, has not all been in vain?
He is the catalyst, we are the realisation of the truth, enforcers.
Please stay strong, if he was to fail, and i don’t think for a moment that he will, but if he was to do so, he can still be content in the knowledge that he has got 100s of thousands of us still here to make sure that this is not only not the end, but it is only the end of the beginning.
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Reblogged this on Nathan Lee Davies.
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Fabulous article. Eloquently put and makes for great reading if you’re feeling disheartened. I’m reblogging this, if you don’t mind?
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Of course, go ahead! 🙂
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Excellent piece; thanks for going – for me. I don’t doubt for a second this man’s ability to cut to sarcasm. Sarcasm is not called the lowest form of witt, for nothing. I have noticed Smith – at every opportunity – makes personal attacks on JC. JC does not reciprocate. I’ve see JC at both Sheffield (last Friday), and a few weeks ago at Hull. Both places buzzed with excitement, before, during and after; I understand exactly the ‘feeling’ you tried to describe. He gives us all such hope for a better future. Such a lovely man.
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I watched the ‘gathering’ on live feed. Like you I wanted to hear him speak. I left my comments on the site afterwards. I think you will find we have mimicked each other. 75% accusations and JC,denouncements. 25 % talking in the first person. I will, I want, I promise, I can. He does not understand the concept of inclusion.
Glad to read your blog and please keep going x✌️🌹
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Great piece of research and writing. Keep going! Shared on my facebook timeline.
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The most interesting point of the Jeremy Corbyns Liverpool rally was people stayed behind afterwards to take a selfie with Jezzer, shake his hand or just to shout hello. Even when he disappeared into St Georges Hall, people stood around chatting and explaining where they had come from. Corbyn is not a messiah or a cult idol. His fans are not extremists, entryists or ideologues. It is just that ordinary people have recognised a fellow human being. Truthful, honest, kind and emphatic. That’s what attracts people to Jeremy Corbyn and his style of Politics. The desire to have a Labour Leader and a future PM who actually believes that all people deserve to be able to lead a decent life.
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I went to Corbyn’s Sheffield Rally just this last friday. It was right in the centre of Sheffield outside the City Hall. As you can imagine the whole square was packed, literally thousands of people, the event was announced 3 days prior.
All the usual stuff, great speeches, great atmosphere full of ambition, hope, determination….but one small, momentary exchange that I witnessed impressed me and made me giggle.
Two women, early to mid 50s, dressed in all their splendour for a Friday night on the town, it has to be said, evidently already with a few down them, who’d stumbled (literally) on the gathering, one realised what it was all about:
“Y’know what I like about him…?”
“Who?”
“Him you daft bugger”
“I know who you mean, but who is it?”
“Jeremy Corbyn”
“Oh, riiiiiiight…him. Go on what do you like about him? His eyes? hahaha!”
“…hahaha! no, what I like about him is..he’s genuine. You don’t get that from the others.”
Then they disappeared off through the crowds to get on with the rest of their night.
Pretty much everyone there thought that, but if only Ken Loach (who was there filming) had caught that, he’d have struck movie gold 😀
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Reblogged this on Mark Catlin's Blog.
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I loved reading this. Well done for articulating what a lot of us feel to be the case.
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Thank you for a well written article. I have shared it to my facebook to spread your message, which needs to be seen! Keep up the good work!
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Thank you very much!! Xx
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I don’t think you really went to that event with an open mind
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I went in the interests of balance. As I say in the post, knowing I probably wouldn’t be swayed. But I think it’s important to hear both sides. I went in thinking Owen was a decent man- I left not thinking that.
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I also enjoyed reading your blog, I may have gone too if I had been aware it was happening. You are right that the term leader is not being defined. So what is it that Mr.Corbyn’s PLP critics wanted? To be told each day what he expected them to do? For him to do their jobs for them?
I expect his style is different to the party leaders before him, could you imaging Mr. Blair working with Dennis Skinner in his cabinet? But this is what Jeremy Corbyn has done, tried to be inclusive as he formed his team. The positive thing that can be taken from the attempted coup and the Leadership contest is that there are other members of the PLP ready and able to replace those who have deserted their jobs, attempted to deny us democracy and failed The UK at this important point in our history.
That should be their legacy, the way these MP’S are remembered, that they chose this point to look to thier own carreers rather than stand up for the electorate by helping shape the future of a UK going through BREXIT.
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I’m starting to worry that if Owen Wins we will have to step away form the Labour party… I am not interested in a say to win anything campaign and then a switch to centrist policies when in power. That would be exactly the sort of politics I’m trying to change.
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don’t worry. for a start it won’t make any difference and secondly Corbyn is going to win.
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A very well written and thought out piece. I cant get out to the rally’s myself (though i watch JC’s on the net) and i have been bothered that i haven’t heard Owens side. now i glad i hadn’t wasted time.
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Thank you. I really enjoyed reading your article.
All the best to you.
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Yeah, it’s interesting how Owen reacted because I’ve been seeing a similar thread from people who’ve encountered Owen. He does seem to rile quite easily (but I guess it must be dawning on him that, like Angela Eagle before him, he’s being used by certain parts of the labour Party). Thanks for writing the article as I feel that it’s important that people do see what Owen and many of the PLP who support him have to say in order to rationally critique their views. What’s become apparent now is that the majority of what Owen and his supporters say (the latest one is Sadiq) come straight from the PR company that they’re hiring…The Article 50/We need to be in power/Jeremy is a weak leader shtick is just being repeated over and over and over again in the hope it sticks BUT without regard to how much damage it’s causing the party to the wider public…
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Thanks for going to the trouble of checking out an Owen Smith rally. Being one of the stormtroopers I think it is important to get both sides of an argument. I haven’t a clue what it is about Jeremy that makes people act as I have done(Joining the Labour Party) but in some measure, it must be evident that some kind of leadership quality exists within him which Smith and so many others lack.
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Really enjoyed reading this.
I too am a supporter of the Labour Party. I’m disappointed but what I would class as aggressive publicising of Owen Smith’s campaign. Numerous emails asking whether I would be voting for him and also a phone call (which I didn’t answer) from his team. It seems to me that Owen is desperately trying to gather votes, personally I don’t think he stands a chance. Good luck Jeremy, I’m with you!
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I had a call from Smiths office, all chatty and lovely then when I was asked who I would be voting for CORBYN before I got the end of his name out of my mouth they cut me off. Such ignorance in my opinion when a debate why would be the correct way.
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And that’s the attitude the canvassers were telling us to use last year: if their board said a house had a Tory, Lib or UKIP voter then ignore them and hope they forget there’s an election on. No confidence that anyone could be convinced of our argument; just preach to the converted til they (literally in cases) beg and shout at us to bother someone else.
And as I write this Owen’s campaign rings, asks who I’d vote for (quite timidly asking it as Corbyn or… Owen?) then when I say ‘Corbyn all the way’ asks one more question and wraps the call up. I ask why he’s not tried to change my mind and he says this is just information collection and that he has a lot of calls to get through. Have to say my guy was super-polite though.
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Well written and perceptive. Thank you.
One thing that has struck me about the hustings debates is how often Owen Smith says “I” or “me” and how rarely Jerry Corbyn does. For me good leadership is to a large extent about being inclusive, representing the “team” and not simply promoting yourself. I get a strong impression that many in the PLP actually have a problem with that style of leadership. I have no idea why.
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Reblogged this on dainagregory.
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I really enjoyed reading your refreshing account comparing a Smith meeting to a Corbyn Rally. I agree with your reservations around Smith. As an MP he has never once voted against the Party Whip and I find this a worry since he does not appear to be an independent thinker, instead he has been a yes man and therefore not the sort of person I want to lead the Party.
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thank you for this. We are all so different but we all see the good in Corbyn
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Reblogged this on jeanid123.
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Thank you so much for putting yrself through this and reporting back. I could not bear it myself! Good points and thanks for attempting to get him to publicly denounce the dreadful slurs against us; if he had any common sense he would have done so already. I woke up to Hodge interview on the radio last week and her description of us as trots…. the double standards and media complicity are incredible.. onwards peeps x
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My friend and I had the same experience at an Owen Smith talk. We are members and wanted to see what he had to say. Very same experience as you, except Corbyn supporters were called a cult, worshipping at his feet. That Jeremy thinks he is the only Socialist in the village. The slurs just kept coming. When my friend and I defended our view point, Owen supporters could not believe we had attended. On leaving the talk, about 60 to 70 people, other people came up to us and quietly said that they were Corbyn supporters. Smith also assumed that we had only joined the party last year and that we are not real Labour supporters. I did, my friend has been a member since 1997. The assumptions being made were terrible.
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Thank you. Taking a bullet for us all.
Your interaction with Mr Smith and your thoughts on ‘leadership’ are not that great a surprise.
The section of the PLP who are most vocally anti-Corbyn have this underlining resentment based on a ‘we didn’t know what line to take, we were never told’. If you look at Heidi Alexandra’s piece in the Guardian yesterday, her main complaints was that she did not realise that supporting the Steven’s Plan, Not supporting the NHS Reinstatement Bill or the Junior Drs Strike would put her at odds with the membership, as a Labour Shadow Health Minister. MPs are infantilised. This is down to Blair/Brown/Campbell/McTiernan et al. Labour MPs have forgotten how to think for themselves. Margaret Hodge on radio this week said effectively under Blair and Brown the PLP was silenced, That’s what they mean by leadership. Of course, they are resentful when called out for their own action/inaction – it’s teenage behaviour.
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I don’t think you really were there with an open mind either. I also don’t think measuring crowd size or whether there was a state of delirium at respective rallies is an accurate measure of someone’s worthiness to be Prime Minister – otherwise Michael Foot would have been PM with a landslide victory.
As one reporter who was there on Saturday remarked on Twitter, “Owen Smith spends hour taking questions across range of issues. Debate afterwards is about how many people were at event. Deary me.”
The point both Owen and Gary (who spoke at the start) made was that we need to be appealing to people who do not attend rallies or political meetings, and at present all the polls tell us that we are not doing that by a long, long way. Winding up crowds of the already converted into a state of adoration and frenzy achieves little in terms of making a Labour government a reality.
I see that JC has already done nearly three times as many of these rallies to save his own job as he did for the whole of the EU campaign, which would have protected millions of UK jobs for average working people.
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Yes crowd size isn’t everything but did I spend the whole blog post talking about size? Nope. Also ‘delirium’ isn’t what I said. I was people feeling full of hope and optimism. Also lots of people who go to Jeremy rallies aren’t usual Labour voters. As I said, I didnt think Owen would change my mind but it’s important to hear both sides. I thought I’d leave thinking Owen was a decent man but I’m afraid I didn’t, especially as he was extremely rude to me.
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Again, a Smith supporter spends the whole post denouncing Corbyn. Tell us why we should vote for Smith and not why we shouldn’t vote for Corbyn. My personal view is that it was never meant to get this far, they were supposed to get Corbyn to stand down, not be on the ballot, and then Hilary Benn would have stepped up to the vote. He’s been uncharacteristically quiet don’t you think? They had no plan B for when Corbyn refused to play their divide and conquer game.
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Oh please, JC was not the only Labour member that was charged with making sure the remain vote won, all the coupsters as elected representatives also have to equally share any blame. 67% of Labour voters chose remain, what more would you have liked Corbyn to do campaign for the Tories as well? As far as Smith is concerned, the only time he really makes sense is when he copies Corbyn`s policies
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Nonsense.
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Thank you for this report – you have given a good insight into Owens politics!
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I wonder if you realise that a big chunk of your article was about not feeling the high from being at a rally. From the shared hysteria.
As far as I can tell Owen meetings are meetings, not rallies. They aren’t advertised much.
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Pretty sure most of my article was about what he said, and how he spoke to me after the meeting actually.
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Cracking Leadership qualities those… hold meetings but don’t tell anyone..
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I went to Leeds rally too 🙂 It was great!
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I also saw first hand the difference between OS & JC supporters when I attended the recent meeting of my Constituency Labour Party where we voted in favour of Jeremy by a 2 to 1 majority.
It was a real pleasure to listen to many long-term Labour Party members express their heartfelt support for Jeremy Corbyn’s values and some new young members spoke excitedly about the potential of a country they would want to grow up in.
Owen Smiths apparatchiks were not very convincing though as they supported their leaders ill fitting off the shelf ‘radical’ policies. Selling the line that their man has the force of personality to win elections they attempted to present real feelings through exuberant pitches but they just came across like over enthusiastic estate agents who haven’t made a sale for sometime.
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Well done for taking the time out to attend and write this. I guess the turnout says it all. Owen seems to be trying his best, given that no major player in the Party has stood against Jeremy. It would be good know why it is that they all find so difficult to work with a man that so many of the public like? It will interesting to see what Owen does when he looses. Now Following you. A xx
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I really enjoyed this article. I haven’t seen Smith denounce the storm trooper claims and I think that would hugely improve his own reputation. If he’s so against abuse of Labour members then surely this huge example of this would be an example to reject? There is no excuse for what members were called and if we are in a situation where it’s a ‘he said’ ‘she said’ childish behaviour then how is he to unite anybody? These people are members of our party-the same as any others. It’s likely they’ve voted labour in the past, even if they didn’t feel they could financially support the party. We should be embracing new members and encouraging them to participate in politics-the labour party is supposed to represent the masses in comparison to the Conservatives so our power should be in the masses and using our members to spread the message.
This situation where a potential leader is treating members as ‘us vs them’ isn’t conducive of a union between any different beliefs within our party. It isn’t that case at all. If your members speak (however long they are members) they have spoken. Your responsibility is to work for your party and to put everything into bringing an effective opposition to the Conservatives. Instead all we’ve seen when the Conservatives were at their weakest were attacks on our own leader, those who support him, those who are new, etc etc etc. They’ve done more damage than the Conservatives ever could alone-including heckling our leader in parliament. It’s truly shameful. How are we supposed to raise our children to trust politicians when this is the kind of atmosphere that our politics inspires?!
Now it’s one thing for them to lose confidence in the leader. The way to handle that would have been to come to the members and discuss it calmly and sensibly. Not make a disgraceful public show of our party in front of the news media. Why would anyone who isn’t labour vote for a party whose elected officials act in such a way and try to ‘blame’ their own members when they don’t agree? That’s not increasing trust in politicians or the political process. They could have acted with dignity and grace coming to the membership to ask for another election. They didn’t. They aired it like dirty laundry in public view. As a member that made me feel really let down.
Whoever you believe in should have the courage to step up and denounce the abuse, and not pointing to other abuse to excuse it. They should be secure enough in their own position and ideals to refrain from insulting those members in the party who don’t agree with you. They should also be confident enough to preserve ‘one member, one vote’ because if you truly represent Labour values well then it will be rewarded by those votes. Anything less looks like an attempt to stifle a democratic process that many of us hold dear within our party.
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i’m still waiting for someone to explain to me WHY Corbyn is not a leader/unelectable. personally i’m convinced Smith is leader material for the same reason jeremy isn’t – that Smith is malleable and will do exactly what the PLP tells hims to.
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What qualities and skills do you need to be a future Labour PM? I would suggest:
-Clear principles and vision
-Integrity
-Hard working
-Ability to take hard decisions
-Organised and efficient
-Ability to work effectively under stress
-Good team player and motivator
-Good communicator
-Ability to appreciate and respond to different opinions and perspectives
The question is who achieves the most of these Corbyn or Smith? Also what qualities have I missed?
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Thank you for writing this. You have summarised so well what so many of us feel.
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A very interesting and balanced view of the leadership election’s candidates. I’m 61 and in my lifetime I have not seen such an outpouring of support for any political leader ,as that shown for Jeremy Corbyn. I find it exciting that , after decades of apathy because there has not been an alternative to the Thatcher /Blair policies ,we have somebody who understands the frustrations of working people. I have found it offensive that Corbyn supporters gave been derided and insulted ,we come from all walks of life. Well done.
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I went to a JC rally in Bournemouth, it seems like there were more people in the queue for the hotdogs than at the Owen Smith “coffee morning”
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Keep up he good work! Its great to see your enthusiasm and participation in politics – as Jeremy says, together we can do it!
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Sensible stuff. I’m 47 and for the first time in my life there’s a possibility of genuine political change. I was in the Poll Tax protests in London in the late eighties. I’ve seen people charged by mounted police for disagreeing with neoliberal policies. Now there’s a chance they really might be resisted. Good luck and I’m with you.
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Owen Smith represents NOTHING and stands for NOTHING except treachery, lies and deceit. He is the quintessential modern Labour MP: empty, vacuous, out of touch and meaningless. A joke in fact!!
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The problem is a lot of your assertions are anecdotal, meeting a couple of people at a rally or knowing friends joining doesn’t mean really anything tbh. If Jeremy is winning so many people over how come we struggled in the council elections? How come he’s got the worst approval ratings after 10 months than any other labour leader in the history of our party? How come 30% of Labour voters prefer Teresa May to him? I’m yet to be convinced the vibe at rallies/meetings is a credible indicator of how Labour will do in actual elections (after-all less than 1% of the electorate are members of political parties) Again if you look at polling Smith is more popular with Labour voters than Corbyn and has more of a chance of winning over undecideds.
I’m a politics student at university and thus have a lot of time on my hands and read a lot about politics. But I’ve yet to see any credible policies while we’ve been in opposition, no real alternatives which are fully costed and could be implemented. Apart from his policy proposals in his first campaign (none of which have been fleshed out in opposition) and his ‘radical anti austerity’ agenda which yes is a slogan with nothing behind it. Yes MP’s abstained on the welfare bill in the second reading as a parliamentary tactic to try and get some concessions, but actually pretty much every labour MP voted against it on the third reading.
Yes Owen was in charge of his department, but that also should come with support from the leader of the party. Being a leader is having a coherent set of policies, be flexible and realistic when needed, be a convincing speaker and someone who can negotiate. Someone who is intellectually up for the challenge, someone who is competent at their job and most importantly someone who can win. I’d argue Miliband had a few of these qualities, Blair had a lot and Corbyn has very few. This is seen in his approval ratings which are in the toilet.
I agree Owen should have simply said those comments shouldn’t have been made and simply explained why. Just like John McDonnell should apologise for calling Smith supporters part of the Establishment and part of the 1%. The truth is the amount of abuse radiating from the party at the moment is reaching epidemic levels, Jeremy has done nothing about it. He hasn’t done enough he’s simply ignored it which is what he said people who receive abuse should do. In the words of one MP Jeremy just watches on as bad things happen, just like in the antisemitism inquiry when one man launched a tirade against MP’s he stood by and watched, and later chatted to the bloke very cordially….
The reason why I’m voting for Owen Smith and not Jeremy Corbyn is because all the evidence points to an electoral evisceration under Jeremy, under Smith it simply points to not gaining enough seats to win the election. I’m not a fan of his policies and i don’t think he’s particularly inspiring but he’s the least worst candidate on the ballot. Corbyn’s incompetence has led to a mass resignation the scale of which has not been seen before in British politics, the inability to cobble together a front bench team is now permanent, an inability to challenge the conservatives and with few to no workable policies of our own. Unless you think every shadow cabinet member resigning was lying (these are the people who know jeremy best and work with him every day) then there are serious questions about him being able to lead the party, in my view his position is untenable.
Here’s just a small list of the problems 🙂 http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/08/shouldnt-vote-jeremy-corbyn/
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