Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think Corbyn is dead in the water

435 replies

oldshilling · 15/09/2015 18:39

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.

OP posts:
MaudGonneMad · 15/09/2015 21:43

Our government sells weapons to be used by thirteen year old soldiers in the democratic republic of Congo.

Yup. All the handwringing about Corbyn's links with/sympathy for Hamas, Hezbollah and the IRA conveniently glosses over the horrific death toll enabled by the UK government-sponsored arms industry. It's the equivalent of pointing out a speck in your neighbour's eye while you are blinded by a massive plank in your own.

ElizabethG81 · 15/09/2015 21:44

AlpacaLypse, you'd like to replace one Christian themed national anthem with another Christian song? In 21st century Britain?

spanisharmada · 15/09/2015 21:44

He's obviously the Anti-Christ, especially with those initials.

missmartha · 15/09/2015 21:44

I honestly don't know, though this has probably been covered earlier in this thread, I haven't read it all, how he can lead Her Majesty's Government if he doesn't approve of Her Majesty.

Just seems odd to me.

Micksy · 15/09/2015 21:45

I live oop north. I know one person only who is openly a Tory. She's a teacher and a single mum, not sure what's going on there.
I doubt any of us are foolish enough to believe that the snapshot we see of the British public is in any way representative of the nation as a whole.

MaudGonneMad · 15/09/2015 21:45

You work the system you've got, until you can change it. It's pretty simple, really.

Ta1kinPeace · 15/09/2015 21:45

alpaca
Without exception, they are all people whose current job was advertised in The Guardian. And nearly 25% of them live in Hampstead. And the other 75% would like to.
THat says a lot more about You than it does Corbyn Grin

MamaMary · 15/09/2015 21:46

I don't think he ever intends to lead government.

I don't think he's leadership material.

ElizabethG81 · 15/09/2015 21:47

missmartha, so republicans aren't allowed to become Prime Minister?

Scremersford · 15/09/2015 21:47

GhostOf Well I'll be damned. Imagine having a job with benefits like holidays, sick pay, maternity leave and the right to union representation. Perhaps you can raise this the next time you see your GP or maybe you don't use public services? Maybe we need more bankers and city speculators.

We all have very strong employment rights, and have done since the 1970s, whether or not we are a member of a union. I work in a field which doesn't have a union, and I've had no problem with my employment rights. I do think unions provide a way of achieving overpaid jobs for the boys, easy jobs at that - generalising hugely, some of them have more difficult jobs. But seriously, its sexist, outdated - the fact that a few women benefit doesn't mean these boys clubs should be tolerated simply because some union official who hasn't done a proper job in years labels himself a left winger and can spin a good line about Cameron/Blair.

BuggersMuddle · 15/09/2015 21:47

I have many, many concerns about Jeremy Corbyn, but not singing the national anthem isn't one of them.

I'm no left winger, but all these bloody rah rah patriotic, CofE, public school educated monarchists give me the willies to be frank. Does anyone actually think they all believe the shite they pedal? I certainly don't, so it's refreshing to see someone not crafting an image based on political expediency.

This is not to say I'm on balance, happy about Corbyn (I'm not). I am however Scottish, atheist and in principle republican, so you won't catch me singing God Save the Queen any time soon.

MaudGonneMad · 15/09/2015 21:49

Do you know why you have very strong employment rights, Scremersford? Holiday entitlement? Pensions? Health and safety legislation? Maternity pay? To name but a few?

This ignorance would be amusing, if it wasn't so depressing.

Scremersford · 15/09/2015 21:50

Alpaca But the absolutely best thing about Corbyn's victory is that it's got us talking, properly, about politics

I think that might be a bit of a generous description! The left have hardly ever been reticent in churning out their conscience grabbing, right-on mantra. Corbyn is a trigger for stating that you can't argue against him because He is For Peace. Therefore he Must be Right. Cameron Makes Cuts, So He is Bad. Everyone else is wrong. Over and over again.

AlpacaLypse · 15/09/2015 21:50

ElizabethG81

Yes, although Jerusalem of course is more mono-theist religion themed than purely Christian. More importantly, the tune is so much better... Smile Got a better idea? (genuinely interested here!)

I like the lyrics in that they are about our country rather than our monarch, and wanting it to be a wonderful place.

Micksy · 15/09/2015 21:50

Mamamary, where do the thoughts in your head come from? I mean that as a very serious question. You have read over and over, messages from the media that he is not leadership material. Have you gained this impression at all from looking directly at footage of the man, without having a media interpretation given to you immediately?
Do you think your opinion might be different without that media input, telling you "what everyone else thinks"?

Ta1kinPeace · 15/09/2015 21:51

Scremers
We all have very strong employment rights, and have done since the 1970s, whether or not we are a member of a union. I work in a field which doesn't have a union, and I've had no problem with my employment rights.
But it was BECAUSE of the unions fighting for their members that such things became the law for all of us.
We take it for granted because we forget that people fought long and hard to make the law change.

I'm not a fan of what unions have now become but am not arrogant enough to dismiss the huge good they did for workers in this country in the past.

AlpacaLypse · 15/09/2015 21:53

Scremersford

You and I are on this thread talking about it. I rest my case.

GhostofFrankGrimes · 15/09/2015 21:53

I've been a union activist and plenty of women were involved there were specific posts to champion women's causes and then there's things like this

www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2013/06/wins-historic-equal-pay-case-worth-millions-of-pounds-for-members/

outdated? I don't think so.

ElizabethG81 · 15/09/2015 21:54

AlpacaLypse, I think a new song should be written. Something that contains no references to anyone's God, religion or a monarch. It can't be that hard Smile

SeekEveryEveryKnownHidingPlace · 15/09/2015 21:56

This is my favourite thing he's done so far! The national anthem is wank, and why should respectful memories about the Battle of Britain be framed as hoping a god you don't believe in will keep a queen you don't give a toss about alive indefinitely? She seems to be doing a good enough job of that by herself anyway.... We've already had weeks of sycophantic toss about the amazing job she's done for the country by .... Erm.... Managing not to die for quite a long time!

NewBallsPlease00 · 15/09/2015 21:56

I didn't vote labour, but have previously
Big contributing factor was balls lack of credibility
This is just as bad; a vegan for farm affairs and no senior women- I'm not about jobs for the girls but really no one suitable
The anthem is more than about monarchy- today it was about nationalism and. Respect for those who were in BOB
The man will not convince me any more than balls

ElizabethG81 · 15/09/2015 21:56

People taking their employment rights for granted remind me of women who proclaim that they're not feminists. Not got a single clue.

UnderTheGreenwoodTree · 15/09/2015 21:58

I'm a Corbyn fan. I like a man with principles, and in the face of Cameron's government, we best hang onto to all the politicians with "pretty" principles we can.

regenerationfez · 15/09/2015 22:01

Not being appointed to the privy council would have meant Labouyr may not have been able to be the Official Opposition. It is far more important that he compromise on that than singing the National Anthem.

Micksy · 15/09/2015 22:01

I don't think people realise what zero hour contracts mean. They mean you're rota-d to work from 2-9 but you get to work at 2?? and your employer makes you sit in the staff room till 5, then sends you home for no pay at all.
This kind of absolute piss taking is why unions were invented in the first place. These days, the people who most need them, have no representation at all. We need more unions. More, more, more and much more, because no one should have to do nothing in a MCchicken hut for three hours for no pay whatsoever.
If you've never had to do that, great for you, but there's not a speck of food made in a factory or served in a chain restaurant that hasn't been touched by staff who work regularly under these conditions.

Swipe left for the next trending thread