to think Corbyn is dead in the water

[oldshilling]

Yes he's a nice chap with a nice beard, but silliness (principled though it might be) like refusing to sing the national anthem is not going to endear him to more than a small minority of the population.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34263447

And the signs are that he intends to be the gift that keeps on giving, in terms of pointless gestures that don't really achieve anything but make him a mega-target for the right-wing press.

Either he gets turfed out before the next GE, or he surpasses Michael Foot as the biggest loser in Labour's history.

Look if he's so useless then stop talking about him and get on with your day. Why waste your time on him?

Critics of him to veer from saying he's dangerous to the country to he'll never win an election. So really you have nothing to worry about then. Great.

I wouldn't sing the NA at gunpoint. I wear a poppy but if he wears a white one, wouldn't worry me. He has the courage of his convictions and I admire that. I think he's made politics more interesting, and I say that as a Tory!

He's inconsistent.

If he genuinely stood by his principles, he wouldn't have accepted his position on the Queens Privy Council.

Refusing to sing the national anthem does minimal damage to the ambition of the party, whereas remaining outside the privy council would do far more damage.
I don't think he's a man of principles, so much as a man determined to make a point.

I wouldnt sing it either. Good for him

giddy you can obviously see invisible words. Do point out to me where I said I was sticking with the Tories, Cameron or Osbourne? Or just go on making stuff up, whatever suits you best.

I don't know anyone who would sing it. It's very much perceived to be an English national anthem. He did the right thing, standing respectfully for it but not singing.

Beehoven

Explaining the IRA stance. And a bloody good explanation too imo.

'He has the courage of his convictions and I admire that. I think he's made politics more interesting, and I say that as a Tory!'

Olddear Hear hear!

Courage of your convictions - is a great virtue.

I think that now all the hysterical sheep following has stopped and the smokescreen of his apparently impeccable principles dissipated, his unworkable policies will be exposed for what they are to the clear light of day.

He will sink without trace.

The Loony Left has returned! Goodbye Labour Party.

Absolutely, a politician with principles refusing to conform to 'standards' devised by the right wing media is madness which must be stopped immediately so we can all get back to the X Factor.

I'm loving all the Corbyn bashing, It's hilarious and also the sound of a thousand barrels being scraped with every new ridiculous headline.

Lets drag his beliefs through the mud but major cuts to the most vulnerable and also public services are the kind of behaviour to be proud of??

Rebelled against his own party 500 times, never worked in a job outside politics, pie-in-the-sky Marxist policies, appoints his IRA-sympathiser mate as Chancellor, seems to delight in thumbing his nose at the Establishment in a school-boy like manner.

The more I find out about him the less appealing he gets. He acts like he's never grown up.

He can't just dismiss the media - it's how the wider public will get to know and understand him. And the press will turn on him if he keeps being dismissive - even the Guardian and the Mirror are already ambivalent. He'll find himself out in the cold before you can say Leon Trotksy.

Like all those vulnerable adults earning 50k + not being entitled to child benefit. Nooo we can't cut that!

Running scared when it comes to PMQ and handing it over to someone else, because it will show his bonkers policies for what they are.

no it is not the English national anthem - we have land of hope and glory
God save the queen is our British/UK national anthem at the moment until someone comes up with a better one with a better tune and words
to all you anti-monarchists - what would you have in place of a monarch - a president like other countries
as the Queen is a hardworking ambassador for this country who has no real power I don't understand the venom directed at her.

I think that now all the hysterical sheep following has stopped and the smokescreen of his apparently impeccable principles dissipated, his unworkable policies will be exposed for what they are to the clear light of day.

The only hysteria is coming from the right wing gutter press with their bile and hate. JC has galvanised those who felt shut out of politics. It is hilarious watching the press get their knickers in a twist over JC whether it is his dress sense or not singing the national anthem. The public will get tired of the propaganda.

Good for him.

Rebelled against his own party 500 times, never worked in a job outside politics, pie-in-the-sky Marxist policies, appoints his IRA-sympathiser mate as Chancellor, seems to delight in thumbing his nose at the Establishment in a school-boy like manner.

and the Tories and Cameron?
Self interest
Bullingdon Club
Disaster capitalism
food banks
zero hour contracts
Bedroom tax

Balthazar - I don't want to be Corbyn-bashing. I'm a Labour member and activist - I worked my arse off at the last election. And I do admire his principles, and agree with some (not all) of what he believes. But there's a naivety there, a guilelessness that really worries me, and lot of other Labour supporters. Don't think this is some sort of reactionary anti-Left response - it isn't. It's not that I think the Tories are better - I really, really don't think that. I want him to be great - I just have a shedload of misgivings.

The public see him and labour for what they are.

Totally and utterly unelectable now with no credible policies and divided loyalties.

As a labour supporter it's like déjà vu all over again and back to the wilderness.

He's like an annoying teenager that won't actually mature and he never needed up as he's never had a proper job and was born rich and posh.

Honestly I despair

Joining the Privy Council is working with the system as it is, hoping, perhaps, to change it. Not singing the anthem shows he would prefer there wasn't a monarchy and/or that he is atheist. Two different things.

Ghost I agree with all your points about Cameron and the Eton club.

I would love there to be a credible and viable Left that would represent a real threat to the Tories.

But unfortunately Corbyn has done nothing to persuade me that he's not living in cloud-cuckoo-land clinging to outdated ideological policies that the populace will see through.

There's a naivety there that's extremely worrying. And it's combined with a cynical, dismissive attitude towards the media that isn't a go-er in this political age (in fact, in any democracy politicians have to take the press seriously).

The queen has a shitload more power than many people realise Mollie

And being a Republican isn't anything against her personally but against the ideology of a monarchy.

Comparing his privy council appointment and not singing the anthem is like comparing cheese and a beard. If he had refused his place on the council he would have put the whole labour party in a very difficult position in parliament potentially weakening their role, and would not have access to highly confidential discussions.

I know it's the UK anthem, but to Wales and Scotland (and maybe NI, but I don't know anyone from there to ask) it feels like an English national anthem b