To actually be really cross with Labour for letting this happen?

[RunBackwards]

How did they manage to be so bad at the last two elections that places like Mansfied ended up Tory?

I’d be more inclined to be cross with the right wing media really

Well yes, cross all round really but if there was ever a time an effective opposition was needed.

I detest Corbyn for this. Last year there was a opportunity for a coalition/unity government which would have stopped / changed Brexit and avoided the right wing lunatics that currently govern us. But Corbyn wouldn't stand aside as leader, even though it was plain to all that no one would stand behind a hateful communist, the pure averis of the man astonishes me.
What's worse is the stupidity of the labour party letting itself be saddled by such a no hope candidate and a toxic pressure group such as momentum. The election was never really in doubt.

Voters shouldn’t be let off the hook so easily. I include Brexit voters in that who are claiming they were tricked. No they weren’t, they heard what they wanted to hear.

To me the labour party has become toxic & I hate all the identity politics. Who do they represent, they can't even decide amongst themselves.

@Tellmetruth4

Voters shouldn’t be let off the hook so easily. I include Brexit voters in that who are claiming they were tricked. No they weren’t, they heard what they wanted to hear.

Absolutely!

@headstrong27

To me the labour party has become toxic & I hate all the identity politics. Who do they represent, they can't even decide amongst themselves.

This. I should absolutely be a labour voter. I literally wouldn’t vote for them if they were the only party on the ballot. They are a misogynistic shit show and should be ashamed of themselves.

Yabu

Maybe blame the Tories for being shit in the first place? They’re the ones who’ve been in power for ten years.

Maybe blame voters who are so superficial in their voting intentions.

There are lots of reasons tbh.

@Tellmetruth4

Voters shouldn’t be let off the hook so easily. I include Brexit voters in that who are claiming they were tricked. No they weren’t, they heard what they wanted to hear.

This! The only people to blame for this corrupt Tory Government are the people who voted for it. I wasn’t a fan of Corbyn, but I sucked it up and voted labour because it was blindingly obvious to me what disaster a Tory Gov would be for this country. If you voted Tory you have NO-ONE to blame for this but yourself.

I agree the Labour Party are a total shit show (and I have never voted labour) but I want a good opposition to keep the torys on their toes. The majority voted for this. I keep thinking BJ and co don’t have a grip on things (except rishi) but I then revert back to “it could have been Corbyn and McDonnell) which would have been far worse

Similar here I should be a solid labour voter, I want to be! But I've had to vote libdem or local independant for years instead. I would like to see Labour dissolved and a new 2nd party established around a centre left ethos.

I agree OP. Corbyn has a lot to answer for. He made Labour completely unelectable at a time when we really needed them to be elected.

Honestly I think a lot of what Ben says is in line with what his constituents think. He's the kind of guy who thinks he's just saying what everyone else is thinking.
Strangely, and I shake my head whenever I see his twitter feed, in person he's quite a nice bloke. I'm pretty sure he's too new to have voted on any gay rights legislation.

His point would be that some of the parents that fail to feed their children are feckless, and a £20 tesco voucher won't mend that and won't get near the kids.

The scheme won't get near the kids that need it most, won't help the kids that actually are starving in the holidays, it will go to families that prioritise feeding their kids anyway. It will help them, but not the ones most in need.

I've never voted conservative.

I would like to see Labour dissolved and a new 2nd party established around a centre left ethos.

Yes pls

That's on the wrong thread. I was aiming for the MP targeted one, not the labour targeted one. 🤦‍♀️

The ones most in need should have been identified by children's services anyway except budget cuts 🤔

This happened by focussing too much on identity politics and not enough on the deprivation, poverty and lack of access to education that affects people in Britain of all genders, ethnicities and religions.

For a while now Labour has focused on radical theories rather than radical solutions.

Overhauling the university system to make it so that everyone can go to university without massive debt.

Overhauling the NHS and moving away from the outdated free of charge structure (that worked when we had lower population numbers) and transitioning towards a French-style mutual/social security funded system so that our health system is fluid and better funded, with easier access and better pay for staff.

Rent caps; Berlin-style, in London and SE cities as well as places like Manchester.

Massive tax hikes on second homes and buy to lets.

Clamping down on zero hour contracts and overhauling the apprentice system for well paid apprenticeships into in demand industries for school leavers.

Basically aggressively pushing for policies to level the playing field for all, rather than dicking around clamouring for more immigration and trans rights and Islamophobia etc would have had them undoubtedly win against the tories. I think we are set for another 50 years minimum of tory government. Unless a socialist party that understands the true meaning of socialism emerges, we are fucked for any kind of opposition.

Because Mansfield has, since the 1980s when the pits closed, closely followed by almost (if not) all the many manufacturing industries round there been a perfect target town for the Conservatives. Working class Tory Sun reading demographic. Lots of Eastern European immigrants in the last decade due to EMA links with Poland etc and who become the target for the "pinching our jobs" twattery, despite the fact that I've yet to see a Brit working in the freezing rain at a handcar wash. Etc etc.
That contributed to the Brexit stuff.
Perfect storm.

But yes, it's Jeremy Corbyn's fault

I personally think the hard left element put off many traditional labour voters. Can't see them winning them back either

@TheSeedsOfADream but the reasons why people feel like that need to be addressed. Calling them racist or stupid is going to alienate them further & means they won't engage in why their perception may be wrong.

I'll call racists racist.
And I've been engaging with people in Mansfield since 1965.

Because Corbyn was a dreadful Marxist antisemite (I used to be Labour, it’s not a Tory saying this) and because the lazy MPs in seats like Mansfield hadn’t done much campaigning, door knocking or voter engagement for years.

I don't think Corbyn stepping would have made enough of a difference, not whilst the Tory press exists. I blame the Tory voters for believing what they read in the likes of the Daily Mail.

I agree to an extent, but I am more angry with all the millionaires who voted Tory because they are selfish and everyone else who voted Tory because they are so lacking critical thinking skills that they voted against their own interests.

Corbyn and his narcissism have a lot to answer for. I’m hopeful Kier Starmer will win people back but they need to drop the toxic identity politics before I’d vote for them again. I’m one of the many women who’ve become politically homeless sadly.