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Anyone a monumentem (sp) member?

199 replies

BrandNewAndImproved · 21/07/2016 21:10

Never heard of them before Corbyn. Now they're everywhere.

OP posts:
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LazyCake · 21/07/2016 22:44

Yes, OP, I'm a Momentum member. What's sp though?

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GraceGrape · 21/07/2016 22:49

Think OP is saying that she's not sure how Momentum is spelled.

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LazyCake · 21/07/2016 22:56

Oh, ok. Thanks, GrapeGrace.

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BrandNewAndImproved · 22/07/2016 06:26

Hi lazy, so why does momentum support corbyn so much more then his own party? I really like JC but it's been all over the news recently that momentum people are thugs bullying others blabla. Why are they involved?

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eatsleephockeyrepeat · 22/07/2016 12:25

BrandNew I'll tell you my understanding of Momentum if it helps, although I'm not a member.

When there's a general election each political party has it's team or party member who go out and canvas for support for that party. Similarly when a party has a leadership election each candidate sets up a team of people within the party to canvas support for them within the membership. At the last leadership election Corbyn set up Momentum within the Labour party to be his team, and since then it's continued and it's grown, run by it's organisers.

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eatsleephockeyrepeat · 22/07/2016 12:25

BrandNew I'll tell you my understanding of Momentum if it helps, although I'm not a member.

When there's a general election each political party has it's team or party member who go out and canvas for support for that party. Similarly when a party has a leadership election each candidate sets up a team of people within the party to canvas support for them within the membership. At the last leadership election Corbyn set up Momentum within the Labour party to be his team, and since then it's continued and it's grown, run by it's organisers.

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eatsleephockeyrepeat · 22/07/2016 12:28

*team OF party members, not or!

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TheCunkOfPhilomena · 22/07/2016 13:44

Another Momentum member here. It's a movement to get people active in left-wing politics. Nothing sinister at all, all the other members I know are fellow law abiding people that are tired of the status quo within the world of politics and are campaigning for a change.

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BrandNewAndImproved · 22/07/2016 20:29

eatsleep so they're a party within a party?

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BrandNewAndImproved · 22/07/2016 20:30

Thanks cunk

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Sunbeam18 · 22/07/2016 21:10

They are not a separate party; they are left wing grassroots supporters of the Labour Party. Jeremy Corbyn did not set up Momentum.

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Sunbeam18 · 22/07/2016 21:12

The media hate momentum and try to make them sound like thugs to try to tarnish Corbyn.

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Sunbeam18 · 22/07/2016 21:19

That's just my understanding; I'm not a member but know people who are members.

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LazyCake · 22/07/2016 21:45

Yes, I think eatsleephockeyrepeat has summarised it pretty well, except that Momentum was not actually set up until after Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader. The idea was that it could be a rallying point for all the new members and registered supporters who joined up to vote in the Labour leadership election in 2015. Tom Watson was given the task of mobilising these people to become more involved in further Labour campaigning activities.

So it wasn't set up by Corbyn, although at the moment it is supporting him to continue as leader. Members of Momentum don't necessarily have to back Corbyn, but the reality is most of them do. I'm a Momentum member and am right behind Corbyn.

FWIW, I don't think Momentum members are thugs and bullies, I am certainly not. I'm a former primary school teacher, now a SAHM. Not into crazy revolutionary politics, just want this country to be a bit fairer.

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HappydaysArehere · 23/07/2016 10:53

Corbyn is being used by the hard, militant left. Seen it all before in the eighties. It's the last thing we need at the moment. This country needs stability and a good image if we are to survive.

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LazyCake · 23/07/2016 11:26

I agree with Happydays to an extent - there are doubtless people in the SWP who are hoping that their time has come. However, Corbyn's appeal goes way beyond that - he's connecting with a mass audience, often people who have never before been politically engaged, and lots of youngsters who have no history of involvement with the hard left, but care passionately about issues of human rights and international justice.

Whenever I've chatted with people from the SWP or similar organisations, they've been convinced that the UK is on the brink of Marxist revolution and that the end of capitalism is nigh. They're always wrong: the British people have never and will go in for this kind of thing. Just because SWP, etc are doing their usual thing of making trouble from the sidelines, doesn't mean Corbyn is in the wrong. Hundreds of thousands of people are backing him, and they're not the 'usual suspects'.

I'm excited about the future. Smile

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LazyCake · 23/07/2016 11:29

Oh, ps. Maybe should say SWP = Socialist Worker Party.

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pleasemothermay1 · 25/07/2016 06:24

However, Corbyn's appeal goes way beyond that - he's connecting with a mass audience, o

been at that wacky bacy again 😂😂😂😂 you really think he can covince Tory and UKIP supporters to vote for him

Or SNP voters they have a hard left leader who is actually effective

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LazyCake · 25/07/2016 06:42

I didn't say that, pleasemothermay1, I said he has mass appeal. I think Corbyn has the capacity to re-galvanise the traditional Labour voters that were lost over Iraq and the successive failures of Blairism. I think he also has the potential to attract a lot of people who have previously voted Lib Dem (pre-2010) or Green. And then there are the vast swathes of people who don't vote in General Elections (remember it was exactly these people who swung the referendum to Brexit), although as a result of the actions of the rebel MPs, Corbyn is having a hard time getting a chance to reach out to these people.

We're discussing this and other things over on www.mumsnet.com/Talk/politics/2684166-Well-done-Labour-NEC-Corbyn-can-stand?, if you're interested.

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SanityClause · 25/07/2016 08:09

I'm interested in Momentum. What is their structure? How are local and national leaders elected? How do they work with the Labour Party? Is it necessary to be a member of the Labour Party to be a member of momentum? What are their policies? (As in what are they for, as opposed to what are they against?) Which current political thinkers are they aligned with? How do they work with the Labour Party to have their policies taken up by them?

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Showmethewaytogohome · 25/07/2016 08:25

I am am member. I joined after watching momentum effectively hijack my Local Labour Party's AGM and helicopter people onto the exec committee

I knew nothing about them prior to that. So Momentum is actually a registered company set up by Jon Lansman - it only has one director. As yet there are no published accounts

There is no 'structure' there are no policies, there is no rule book. No one knows who runs it or how. It is highly efficient and organised especially on social media. It is acting as a shadow party within a party even though it is completely undemocratic by its very set up. It's aims are to blindly support Corbyn - even though technically it was not set up to do so and this is not part of it's ethics (oh it has written those up on the back of a fag packet)

Other aims openly spoken about are that it wants to take over CLP (local labour parties) and deselect any anti Corbyn MPs - which is almost all of the party - and replace with pro-Corbyn candidates. Anyone thinking this is a little concerning now?

I have seen evidence of bullying and intimidation with my own eyes. Since I have started speaking out locally my linked in account is getting very popular (being checked out). I also believe in my area they have breached data laws

I am very concerned about them - I am ordinary LP member - no links with any candidate at all. Oh and Groupthink is rife - no facts or discourse can be made against Corbyn or momentum.

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LazyCake · 25/07/2016 08:26

Hopefully somebody who is more clued up will jump in and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that - at least until the recent crisis - Momentum was simply a platform for new members (esp. young people, students, etc) to meet, connect via social media, etc. and start to get involved with mainstream Labour campaigns. It's a very new organisation, and was never intended to be constituted as a party-within-a-party with a local and national leadership, policy framework, etc - these are supplied by the Labour Party itself, although Momentum members have been encouraged to get involved with policy-making processes to push their issues of concern to the fore. I guess it's not totally dissimilar to longer-standing groups such as Young Labour, Labour Women and BAME Labour.

TBH, although I voted for Corbyn in 2015, I didn't bother joining Momentum until the recent coup attempt. I think it's galvanised a lot of armchair supporters to become more involved.

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Showmethewaytogohome · 25/07/2016 08:29

Oh and they are technically not part of the Labour party at all - they are not an affliate. They are just a company - I wonder where all that money goes? Here is an article about Jon Lansman

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/12060177/The-cheerleader-for-Corbyn-who-supports-sons-schemes-to-sell-off-homeless-hostels.html

The Marketing Director is James Schneider - www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/12047894/James-Schneider-face-of-Momentum-activists-with-education-and-childhood-home-paid-for-by-fraud.html

Both good working class activists (not)

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UnexpectedBaggage · 25/07/2016 08:31

Momentum=Militant of the 70s and 80s. Same faces but older with new recruits.

In this area many of the are also members of the Socialist Workers Party.

Corbyn needs to get a grip.

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Showmethewaytogohome · 25/07/2016 08:33

Unexpected - you are very right. Meetings full of men in their 50's and 60's. Middle class. Pulling the strings

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