To ask - Jeremy Corbyn - PM

[MommaGee]

There's stuff about how he thinks he'll be PM in 6 months. How the GLASTO coverage is a BBC plot to "see a MARXIST in power" etc etc but how?
TM is hardly going to call another election and Labor are likely to keep her long enough to get through the crap that is Brexit.

Apologies for all those thinking in thick but I don't see how JC has any even inkling of getting it, let alone a discussion on how much swing he'd need

It won't happen

The Tories now have a signed an agreement with the DUP and the Tories will back May to keep in power Tory rebels are dealt with harshly and swiftly unlike labour rebels (though that might ironically change under Corbyn and McDonnell)

I am sure there will be a Tory leadership contest before the next election but while the Labour Party (meaning Corbyn and Co) are promoting their agenda for change at yet another rally the government will be getting on with actual work Brexit, the terrorist issues, the dealing with the issues that have come about since the tragic Grennfell Tower

The Labour Party are split many centre MP's are keeping very quiet but of course Corbyn's leadership won't be challenged for now but he won't keep up this popularity soon the media narrative will change. Regardless of what anyone thinks of May this has been an incredibly challenging time to be PM this will work in favour for her and for the Tory party

I have no doubt Labour will carry on fighting yesterday we heard McDonnell make a claim that is irresponsible under the circumstances but civil unrest is what this nasty man would be more than happy to see and how they fuck does that help the people in need

I can no longer be a member of the party as Labour isn't just about Corbyn it's McDonnell to they work together think alike and will support each other we shall see the party change and I am not so sure people will like what will happen

'He is a protest politician - no more. He would be like a rabbit in the headlights as PM as he'd actually have to put some money where his mouth is.'

Exactly. Though with the current hero worship he probably will get in next time, then we will all get to see his magic wand spectacularly fail to work. Not a huge TM fan either, just loathe the way the media seems to pull everyone's strings so very easily.

It's very easy to spout populist political point-scoring when you aren't the one having to actually Govern and make difficult, pragmatic and often unpopular decisions.
If Corbyn ever does become PM it would be interesting to see how he copes with that.

I think the scales will fall from people's eyes.

It is easy to be the (not very gallant) loser and the fact that his supporters are calling him The People's PM is ludicrous. What people? A lot of people, sure, but not The People. JC and John McDonnell's understanding of democracy is very shaky.

I think the Tories are in a right state. Their head of PR is not one I'd be hiring!

I think that the Tories have not been very effective as an "opposition" to Labour. They have made so many misguided criticisms ("unelectable", "not a leader", the "magic money tree" nonsense, the stuff about the IRA that implies ignorance of how diplomacy works etc etc). If there really are genuine reasons to worry about them coming into power, then they have been drowned out by all the nonsense.

yeah I have to say, the tories should've attacked Corbyn on the likely unemployment effects of his policies earlier and more effectively - they're now saying 16 year olds will have a £10 ph min wage - lovely in theory, and how-many of them do we think are going to get jobs at that wage? What about the EU rates of youth unemployment of 1 in 4? Why does Corbyn think our economy can sustain a very high min wage for 16 year olds?

Or the fact that these cost rises (and corporation tax rises) are all timed with brexit.

But on the other hand pottered we cannot get people to pick fruit etc from the UK - hence the crisis among farmers. Do we want employment to be so high that there are jobs with no-one to do them? Getting the right balance is key.

Ooh can we talk about the Tory £1Billion Dup deal, and which tree that is going to come from?

His behaviour during the Brexit debate was seriously questionable. He simply didn't manage to mobilise the popular support in favour of Remain, did he? Given how brilliantly he did in the last election, it does make you wonder what he would have achieved if he had really put his back into it. Alan Johnson is bitter about it, he was livid at the lack of co-operation from JC during the campaign.

I find it strange how people manage to square their perceptions of politicians regarding Brexit. It is ok for Jeremy Corbyn and Tony Benn to be anti EU, but any Tory Brexiteer is automatically a bastard/thick/racist.

not to mention the economic history of why we moved away from 70s style control policies - because they didn't work. Economic liberalism has made people, on average, better off, although it's clear that specific groups have lost out and that needs to redressed in a targeted way.

I don't think free univ tuition for example will do much to help the sector of the lower earning, generally less educated men that are the clear losers from economic liberalism in the data.

you think we should have more unemployment badger so farmers can get people to pick fruit? Or is it more likely that they'll go out of business if they have to pay people £10 ph?

it does make you wonder what he would have achieved if he had really put his back into it.

I wonder how much the reporting had to do with the change in perception between the referendum and the election. Is it possible that Corbyn was doing good work during the referendum, but the media for whatever reasons did not report this? I remember hearing that he had failed to "get his message across" - but that would be so hard to do if the media were not interested in your message.

1ndigo so TM's stance on Brexit was hardly clear was it? She edged her bets by being very reserved herself about remaining. She played it well. Since then her judgement has been severely lacking.

that may be true badger. But if you ask Alan Johnson, he clearly feels that JC was uncooperative and could have done a lot more.

Ooh can we talk about the Tory £1Billion Dup deal, and which tree that is going to come from?

^^This

the thread is about Corbyn

I am not praising May. I am a Labour Party member and have been for years - I am passionate about the party so obviously I am going to have opinions on the party leadership and the direction the party is going

what goes on in the Tory party doesn't interest me as much but I do know that are far more likely to pull together, to back their leader to stay in power than Labour are, to be a true Tory and be in opposition isn't what they do but quite a few in Labour are quite happy to be in that position including Corbyn himself - this is why he rebelled against his party so many times

If businesses can only keep going because they rely on paying people a wage that they cannot reasonably expect to live on, something is already very wrong with our economy no?

Basically you're saying you'd prefer one fruit farmer to make a profit off the back of paying people a wage they cannot reasonably be expected to survive on than say that people need to make businesses work in a way that allows people a living wage. Yes, some would go under...but why shouldn't they if their own profit is made off the back of poverty?

Yes pottered I don't know. But I know that at least in some places where the fruit needs picking there is no-one to do this seasonal work - not because people don't want to work, but because they are all already working (in more permanent jobs). I think this is the case in Cambridgeshire. This sort of thing makes me feel fairly calm about unemployment rising to some extent.

About them going out of business... I don't know what would happen exactly. I have worked with enough economists now to be pretty sure that they don't know what would happen. They know what would happen according to their models, but as to how the models fit real life... real life has too many unexpected things in it! So I don't know whether they would go out of business.

But let me turn the question around. Who do you think should be picking the fruit? I don't mind whether it is someone from the rest of the EU, or someone from the UK, but I would like them to be paid a living wage to do it. If farming cannot survive while paying its workers a living wage, then what do you think we should do? Working Tax Credits perhaps - I might be fine with that. But I do think that picking fruit is hard work and if it needs doing then people should be able to make a living doing it!

Though with the current hero worship he probably will get in next time, then we will all get to see his magic wand spectacularly fail to work. Not a huge TM fan either, just loathe the way the media seems to pull everyone's strings so very easily.

This is an odd statement. The traditional media were dead set against Corbyn and had been ever since he was elected. Everything good he said was ignored, anything that could be spun in a negative light was sprawled across the headlines. Then the general election came along and finally people heard what he had to say because it had to be reported with some semblance pf equality on the BBC. Suddenly people noticed he was actually saying things they agreed with. The idea that his current popularity is somehow to do withhe media pulling strings is utterly at odds with what I have witnessed.

Ah user1497888420 beat me to it! Yes - in general I think that it is the companies that should pay the living wage to their employees. Why should the government prop up exploitative companies with tax credits? I think I was just wondering whether we might make an exception for farming...

In any case, the main point is that the workers need to be paid enough. Whether that comes from companies or the government top ups.

What I honestly think is that policies should be carefully evaluated rather than us hoping for the best - the low pay commission are the experts that were in charge of the minimum wage - I'm quite sure that Corbyn just banging it up isn't something most of them think is a good plan, whatever the models say.

If you don't

I don't think many fruit farmers have been making huge profits

they are entitled to make some profit

it was a lie that only some will pay, increase in wages will mean increase in money that needs to be returned into their accounts to cover this, increase in corporate tax (not good as we are facing Brexit) an increase in any costs to business is passed on to their customers/service users

we shall all pay more not just the few

I don't think you will get anyone saying the minimum wage shouldn't increase but it comes at a cost to us all as does an increase in other taxes

Sorry I don't disagree that worked should be paid enough - a too high min wage could increase state costs though if both the people running the farm and the workers end up on unemployment.

I don't think radical, untested hikes in anything are a sensible plan. Yes tax credits existed for a good reason.

Zara - I absolutely agree that TM hedged her bets over Brexit. She is on camera stating she believes Britain should Remain- so how she could win an election on a "hard Brexit" stance was clearly flawed from the outset. She had no conviction. People saw through it and didn't believe her and it's certainly why I didn't vote for her.

However, I just don't think JC has a leg to stand on here either. He is a Brexiter and as politically-motivated and hypocritical as the rest of them. Even worse, he's all mouth and no action.

I wonder what Spanish young people think of the lovely labour policies stopping them getting jobs in Spain.