His constitunency is Rochdale what do you expect he basically has to act like a UKIP candidate to make people feel he sticks up for them.

It's a former Lib/Lab swing seat!

 

(granted, Lib Dems are total chameleons locally and Cyril Smith was the only anti-abortion pro-death penalty Lib Dem MP ever, but even THEN...)

It's a former Lib/Lab swing seat!

 

(granted, Lib Dems are total chameleons locally and Cyril Smith was the only anti-abortion pro-death penalty Lib Dem MP ever, but even THEN...)

 

Cyril Smith was a huge character. It would seem though that the above isn't even the worse thing about him, if investigation rumours turn out to have substance. Seems to be a tradition of, err, controversial MP's there....

Cyril Smith was a huge character. It would seem though that the above isn't even the worse thing about him, if investigation rumours turn out to have substance. Seems to be a tradition of, err, controversial MP's there....

Huge in more ways than one. Of course, before joining the Liberal Party, he was a Labour member, although there would still have been a lot of pro-capital punishment Labour members at the time.

And speaking on Simon Danczuk, a certain taboid newspaper which is not favoured around these parts have a front page splash regarding his behavour...

As much as I want him gone, I don't think I could bear the hysteria if he was deselected. It would be infinitely wise of the Labour First lot to completely disown him because he's had it coming.

As much as I want him gone, I don't think I could bear the hysteria if he was deselected. It would be infinitely wise of the Labour First lot to completely disown him because he's had it coming.

Did any of us ever really claim him?

 

I have a lot of complex feelings on this. On one hand it's super gross of him to be doing that in his position - and obviously given it got splashed she did feel it was gross. On the other hand, from the communications that have come out, at most of the stages that have been splashed there was seeming reciprocation and consent on her part (it doesn't look like he said anything sexual after she unfollowed him), which feeds into a pretty difficult discussion on what should and shouldn't count as consent, at what age someone counts as responsible enough to consent, and what is and isn't moral.

 

Unless people think the age of consent should be 18, it seems like this shouldn't be a deselection issue, and I'm wary of the moral hysteria that presents girls over the age of consent as being totally helpless and vulnerable and any sexual communication with them being 'predatory' - if people think they are, fair enough, but they should be arguing for a higher age of consent.

 

Basically I'd rather he either went for a hands up apology that he should have been more responsible in how he went about communicating with a 17 year old and it got left at that, or he resigned on the basis that it's gross hypocritical behaviour from someone who'd have probably attacked another MP who did the same thing as part of his child abuse stuff. Deselection over something that's such a moral grey area feels ehhhh to me.

 

I feel awful for her. It's also really sad to see a man's clear mid-life crisis playing out so publicly, when you factor in all the Karen stuff too.

Is Corbyn's team trying as hard as possible to have as much negative PR as possible?

It's one theory, yes.

Is Corbyn's team trying as hard as possible to have as much negative PR as possible?

The press are giving him a lot of help. Whether his Shadow Cabinet appointments are the right ones is a matter for debate. However, I don't see why the time it took should be such a big issue. Of course, it gave the press plenty of time to speculate about why it was taking so long. Some of that speculation may even have been accurate. But, when all is said and done, it is the end result that counts, not the time taken to get there.

 

That said, his timing was awful. How many people know that the government's dreadful housing bill was debated yesterday? Labour should have been concentrating on that, not a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle. The reshuffle could have been done at a weekend.

That said, his timing was awful. How many people know that the government's dreadful housing bill was debated yesterday? Labour should have been concentrating on that, not a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle. The reshuffle could have been done at a weekend.

Which is why the time it took was an issue.

Which is why the time it took was an issue.

If he started it on a Friday afternoon, it wouldn't be a problem.

Oh yes it would. Sunday is the main political news day!

Oh yes it would. Sunday is the main political news day!

But how often does that news make much of an impact with the electorate?

Well, however many of them read the Sundays. If newspapers have any impact, they would have impact on a Sunday.

I'm not going to forgive him letting the Tories get away with murder. Yes, the press are always going to give him a tough time, they are vested interests for the filthy rich, but he. Just. Is. So. Stupid. It's almost as if he wants the country to be effed up just so he can reap some sort of "I told you so" benefit out of it rather than actually try and be seen to do something about it, like he's supposed to.

 

All he has to do is make loud statement: "Look, I'm being honest, some disagree with me in the Labour Party, get over it, I'd like to instead turn your attention to the end results of Tory legislation of....and ....and not to mention...and.....and....and...." I really want to give him a huge metaphorical slap across the face with an oversized kipper while he's standing next to a theoretical smelly harbour for being so useless.

 

I really DO.

Well, however many of them read the Sundays. If newspapers have any impact, they would have impact on a Sunday.

A lot of those stories are favourable to the government. many of them are, of course, planted by the government. If a Labour reshuffle overshadowed one of those stories, that could be said to be a good thing. If he government announcement got top billing, what would have been lost? At the very least, having a weekend reshuffle reduces the government's chances of trying to use it to bury bad news.

 

From a PR perspective, the worst part of it is that it was built up to be a major reshuffle and ended up with very little movement. That is, until some of the people who were not moved proceeded to jump ship. Ideally, it would have been done discreetly, over the phone, with a single announcement of all the changes.

 

 

I don't get true big deal of the reshuffle, take away the hostile press coverage and the people in the cabinet that are opposed to Corbyns leadership anyway and he's done exactly the right thing getting people in his cabinet around him that agree with his policies....wow so controversial.

 

 

Yes, but part of Corbyn's big sell when he stood for election as leader of the Labour party was a new kind of politics - where other viewpoints would be listened to and debated. He has just used this reshuffle to effectively oust anyone who doesn't agree with him on absolutely everything. It was awful to watch, and doesn't in my mind portray him as a particularly proficient strategist (keep your enemies close) nor a very strong leader.

It was always just a slogan tho. You can't have a leader who has one view and a cabinet some of who have a different opinion. He has a mandate and should be allowed to take them down that route between now and 2020.

 

I also think there's certainly an element of power bases within the cabinet at work the way there was a systematic support for those who were asked to leave the cabinet.

 

Corbyn has simply shown he not only wants to be leader but he also wants to have power.

"It was just a slogan"

 

Can you even imagine the shit that would kick off if this was happening the other round? Get real.

 

Besides, there's plenty of non-Corbynite MPs who would diversify the Shad Cab and wouldn't cause trouble. He's just not been very good at finding them.