How the liberal left killed the Labour Party

[Newcastle Fan]

Best piece of writing I've seen so far on the situation Labour currently find themselves in, definitely worth a read right through to the end, though I've posted a few snippets below. Even if you usually think I talk utter shit I'd recommend reading it, the arguments are pretty compelling.

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'Perhaps the most pervasive myth reeled out verbatim in stuffy community halls across the land was that Labour lost because they were ‘pro-austerity’. This

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into Labour’s defeat revealed that the opposite was true; the Tories didn’t win despite austerity, they won because of it. The result was brutal for the Left. Voters instead rejected Labour because they perceived the Party as anti-austerity lite. 58% agree that, ‘we must live within our means so cutting the deficit is the top priority’. Just 16% disagree. Almost all Tories and a majority of Lib Dems and Ukip voters agreed.'

'Time and time again I was told that people voted for the Conservatives instead of Labour because they were ‘basically the same’, and this meant Labour wasn’t far enough to the Left. It was a favoured argument by a chattering-Left whose lives would be relatively untouched by tax-credit cuts or benefits caps. Why would a voter, annoyed at Labour being ‘pro-austerity lite’, disappointed they weren’t left-wing or radical enough, choose to go and vote Conservative? It is counter-intuitive, and this argument is downright illogical. To argue this point is to simply pedal wilful ignorance.'

'To the middle-class liberals, the difference between the centrist Labour government and a Tory government seem academic. Anyway, a Tory government creates a righteous fire in our bellies and each protest we’ll plan for their fall. Of course we hate their cuts, but they won’t actually ruin our lives. So here we are, the Labour Party is becoming a minority party of sectional interests of a liberal middle class.'

 

[Hongkongphooey]

Bollocks

 

[Skandhaless]

So many words ,so little consequence

 

[Randy Ostrich]

58% agree that, ‘we must live withinour means so cutting the deficit is the top priority’.

But they Tories have proved themselves to be hopelessly shot at doing that. So there must be a lot of people daft enough to believe every random soundbite that's shoved down their necks.

They must also forget that the Tories promised to match Labour's spending plans before the recession.

 

[Frijj]

Breaking the GE down by political stances

Centre Right (50%, Tories, UKIP)

Centre (8%, LDs)

Centre Left (31%, Labour)

Left (Green, 4%)

Then all others over the remaining 7% or so

The right of centre has a 15% lead over the left of centre, and Labour will apparently win by going further left?

I hope we have a Labour govt in 2020 but they seem to be going about it wrong.

About 28% of polls since the GE suggest an increase on Labour's vote share of 31%, only 8% of polls have given a Labour lead and of those there is no clear lead (it's within or very close to the margin of error)

Yes yes polls I know but they consistently show that proportionally labour are failing to surpass the Tories

But they Tories have proved themselves to be hopelessly shot at doing that. So there must be a lot of people daft enough to believe every random soundbite that's shoved down their necks.

They must also forget that the Tories promised to match Labour's spending plans before the recession.

Aye but that's pre recession - nobody in a position to affect change saw it coming so of course they'd match their spending

 

[sidneyeric]

The Tories won because they're better lairs, and they broke the law..

 

[Oli Wagkz]

Blair killed the Labour Party.

 

[Frijj]

Blair killed the Labour Party.

three successive terms in govt

christ i bet they wish they were dead now!

given how many people seem to think cameron is blair's true successor he's a two term prime minister

the labour hard left seriously underestimate how popular blair was - HE PUT LABOUR IN POWER FOR 13 years

 

[heroesof73]

If the next election is Jezza v Bozza it will kill most peoples interest in voting

 

[Newcastle Fan]

Bollocks

Good nuanced analysis mate

So many words ,so little consequence

at least you cut down on the abuse this time

But they Tories have proved themselves to be hopelessly shot at doing that. So there must be a lot of people daft enough to believe every random soundbite that's shoved down their necks.

They must also forget that the Tories promised to match Labour's spending plans before the recession.

You're calling people daft for not voting for the party you want them to, while ignoring the reasons they are giving for not voting labour. It's a bit of a poor strategy for attracting these voters back isn't it?

For the record I agree that the idea Labour caused the global financial crash is absurd, and that the tories can claim no moral high ground due to pledging to match labours spending and further deregulation.

 

[Bagpuss]

Best piece of writing I've seen so far on the situation Labour currently find themselves in, definitely worth a read right through to the end, though I've posted a few snippets below. Even if you usually think I talk utter shit I'd recommend reading it, the arguments are pretty compelling.

You must be logged on to see external links

'Perhaps the most pervasive myth reeled out verbatim in stuffy community halls across the land was that Labour lost because they were ‘pro-austerity’. This

You must be logged on to see external links

into Labour’s defeat revealed that the opposite was true; the Tories didn’t win despite austerity, they won because of it. The result was brutal for the Left. Voters instead rejected Labour because they perceived the Party as anti-austerity lite. 58% agree that, ‘we must live within our means so cutting the deficit is the top priority’. Just 16% disagree. Almost all Tories and a majority of Lib Dems and Ukip voters agreed.'

'Time and time again I was told that people voted for the Conservatives instead of Labour because they were ‘basically the same’, and this meant Labour wasn’t far enough to the Left. It was a favoured argument by a chattering-Left whose lives would be relatively untouched by tax-credit cuts or benefits caps. Why would a voter, annoyed at Labour being ‘pro-austerity lite’, disappointed they weren’t left-wing or radical enough, choose to go and vote Conservative? It is counter-intuitive, and this argument is downright illogical. To argue this point is to simply pedal wilful ignorance.'

'To the middle-class liberals, the difference between the centrist Labour government and a Tory government seem academic. Anyway, a Tory government creates a righteous fire in our bellies and each protest we’ll plan for their fall. Of course we hate their cuts, but they won’t actually ruin our lives. So here we are, the Labour Party is becoming a minority party of sectional interests of a liberal middle class.'

What a load of absolute shite. The myth that austerity is the solution has been peddled so many times it has been accepted as the truth.....6 years in and the deficit is a staggering £75 billion a year and despite all the cuts is actually rising. Interest rates are at the lowest rate they have ever been, our infrastructure, schools, hospitals, roads and railways are falling apart as the govt stubbornly refuse to spend. Borrowing at virtually zero interest they could give the economy a monster injection of steroids but instead they allow everything to decay and fall down around our ears. Then in 20 years time when there is no choice but to replace schools etc as they are literally falling down (to be fair they are now) they will then borrow at far higher interest rates and cost us billions more. Absolute madness, unless of course you are in the pocket of the bankers who will benefit from that borrowing at those higher rates

Good nuanced analysis mate



at least you cut down on the abuse this time



You're calling people daft for not voting for the party you want them to, while ignoring the reasons they are giving for not voting labour. It's a bit of a poor strategy for attracting these voters back isn't it?

Or the article is just a load of shite.

 

[Randy Ostrich]

You're calling people daft for not voting for the party you want them to, while ignoring the reasons they are giving for not voting labour. It's a bit of a poor strategy for attracting these voters back isn't it?

No, I'm calling people daft if they really believe that the Tories are fiscal geniuses.

 

[heroesof73]

The Tories won because they're better lairs, and they broke the law..

all MP`s lairs paid for on expenses anarl the animals

 

[redandwhiterob]

Blair killed the Labour Party.

Only a idiot would believe someone who won three successive elections for a party killed it

Not one single person voted tory in 2010 and 2015 because labour wasn't left wing enough imo

 

[Newcastle Fan]

What a load of absolute shite. The myth that austerity is the solution has been peddled so many times it has been accepted as the truth.....6 years in and the deficit is a staggering £75 billion a year and despite all the cuts is actually rising. Interest rates are at the lowest rate they have ever been, our infrastructure, schools, hospitals, roads and railways are falling apart as the govt stubbornly refuse to spend. Borrowing at virtually zero interest they could give the economy a monster injection of steroids but instead they allow everything to decay and fall down around our ears. Then in 20 years time when there is no choice but to replace schools etc as they are literally falling down (to be fair they are now) they will then borrow at far higher interest rates and cost us billions more. Absolute madness, unless of course you are in the pocket of the bankers who will benefit from that borrowing at those higher rates



Or the article is just a load of shite.

But it's not a load of shite is it? It makes some extremely accurate points.

 

[Frijj]

No, I'm calling people daft if they really believe that the Tories are fiscal geniuses.

none of them are

tories aren't, labour aren't, this whole 'household budget' analogy that thatcher peddled to the housewives of the 70s and 80s is utter bullshit because a household can't borrow money from other sovereign states at tiny interest rates and invest in national infrastructure to stimulate the economy, whereas a country can do that quite successfully IMO there

 

[Skandhaless]

Good nuanced analysis mate



at least you cut down on the abuse this time



You're calling people daft for not voting for the party you want them to, while ignoring the reasons they are giving for not voting labour. It's a bit of a poor strategy for attracting these voters back isn't it?

Wouldn't want to be one dimensional

 

[Wierd Valley Mackem]

Best piece of writing I've seen so far on the situation Labour currently find themselves in, definitely worth a read right through to the end, though I've posted a few snippets below. Even if you usually think I talk utter shit I'd recommend reading it, the arguments are pretty compelling.

You must be logged on to see external links

'Perhaps the most pervasive myth reeled out verbatim in stuffy community halls across the land was that Labour lost because they were ‘pro-austerity’. This

You must be logged on to see external links

into Labour’s defeat revealed that the opposite was true; the Tories didn’t win despite austerity, they won because of it. The result was brutal for the Left. Voters instead rejected Labour because they perceived the Party as anti-austerity lite. 58% agree that, ‘we must live within our means so cutting the deficit is the top priority’. Just 16% disagree. Almost all Tories and a majority of Lib Dems and Ukip voters agreed.'

'Time and time again I was told that people voted for the Conservatives instead of Labour because they were ‘basically the same’, and this meant Labour wasn’t far enough to the Left. It was a favoured argument by a chattering-Left whose lives would be relatively untouched by tax-credit cuts or benefits caps. Why would a voter, annoyed at Labour being ‘pro-austerity lite’, disappointed they weren’t left-wing or radical enough, choose to go and vote Conservative? It is counter-intuitive, and this argument is downright illogical. To argue this point is to simply pedal wilful ignorance.'

'To the middle-class liberals, the difference between the centrist Labour government and a Tory government seem academic. Anyway, a Tory government creates a righteous fire in our bellies and each protest we’ll plan for their fall. Of course we hate their cuts, but they won’t actually ruin our lives. So here we are, the Labour Party is becoming a minority party of sectional interests of a liberal middle class.'

Hope you have your tin hat on Our lefties are going to hate that!

 

[Bagpuss]

But it's not a load of shite is it? It makes some extremely accurate points.

Only if it agrees the position you already took anyway..You like the article as essentially it agrees with what you already believe....You start with a bizarre title "How the liberal left killed the Labour party."......That would be the Labour party that has its biggest membership in generations, the party that has held up extremely well in locals elections where they were supposed to get massacred.....The Labour Party is alive and very much kicking and as a result the rest of what you post is utter nonsense.

 

[Newcastle Fan]

Only if it agrees the position you already took anyway..You like the article as essentially it agrees with what you already believe....You start with a bizarre title "How the liberal left killed the Labour party."......That would be the Labour party that has its biggest membership in generations, the party that has held up extremely well in locals elections where they were supposed to get massacred.....The Labour Party is alive and very much kicking and as a result the rest of what you post is utter nonsense.

I started the thread title with that because that's the title of the blog post

The fact the Labour Party has a huge membership is irrelevant. You already know this of course, you've had it explained to you numerous times on here, you just choose to ignore it. The Tory membership halfed under Cameron yet he managed to win a general election in spite of this. There is no correlation between party membership and electoral success in the modern era.

The Labour Party also produced the worst opposition performance in local council elections in decades. How is that alive and kicking?