Why do some people think Corbyn was a ‘terrifying prospect’?

[StillCuriouser]

Taking a quote from a comment made on another thread.

I am not massively engaged in politics, but from what I understand Corbyn was pro-environment, pro-public services and re-nationalisation, he was a man who lived according to his own values.
He was laughed at for riding a bike and making jam. He was accused of being anti-semitic, though I didn't see any persuasive evidence of this, and- though not wanting to engage in whataboutery- Johnson’s awful racist remarks didn’t prevent him from gaining power.

I understand that people will have disagreed with him in policy. But what about him was did people feel was “terrifying” and so beyond the pale?
If Boris was electable and Corbyn was not I feel there must be something horrific about Corbyn that I am missing?

He lied about his role in the Good Friday process. He pretended it was him and not a dead woman Mo Mowlem that did all the work.
Starmer, for his many faults is electable. Corbyn is no. He can stay an independent in Islington if they want him.

Incompetence is a separate issue to politics.

The 2019 election was between two parties led by incompetents. One of them won, and look what happened next.

That's why he was terrifying.

Ranting about his kids going to grammar school (QEB) is ridiculous- they had two parents and I thought the marriage actually broke up over it. How is that 'hypocrisy' remotely comparable to the rank abuse of privilege you see in virtually allTories? I'm not sure hypocrisy is worse than being on the wrong side full stop. You may dislike it but it's not actually a political problem.

I do feel like Starmer is getting more support now. Depends what the bbc and news do next though really.

People don't know what communism is. They also don't know what socialism is. Corbyn was neither a communist nor a socialist.

Some people are afraid of anything that qualifies as 'the other'.

jErOmBlY cRoMbLyN EaTs bAbieS

He's a communist. Russia is a communist state. Corbyn wanted to get rid of the nuclear deterrent (deterrent being the operative word here). Russia has since invaded a sovereign state.

Just one example of Corbyn's dangerous political ideals.

Can you provide a source for this? I've never heard of this?

This thread shows despite his unpopularity some will think he was great and it was the mere electorate with the issue

Trouble is for Labour it did matter

Johnson probably could have been beaten just not by Corbyn, his MPs must have known there were issues but I assume the system is different and where Johnson could be removed but Corbyn said no

Eh? So youre in favour of mass murder and rendering the world uninhabitable?

True, but there’s no point in voting for something which is just as bad as what you already have.

Where to start, OP!

You surely can't have missed the serious concerns over institutional anti-semitism in the Labour Party under Corbyn? Here's one article which might interest you:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/antisemitism-open-your-eyes-jeremy-corbyn-labour

My Jewish friends (mostly Labour supporters) were really worried by it and wouldn't vote Labour while Corbyn was leader.

I'm not a Labour voter (have been in the past) but I think he was at best naive and prey to all sorts of nasty, vicious extremist influences. I just don't think he was particularly intelligent or even educated enough ever to be PM.

And personal appearance shouldn't matter, in an ideal world, but honestly - that scowling face! it was bad enough in the UK, but what if he'd ever had to represent us internationally - so off-putting. He had no charisma or people skills that were obvious to anyone. I remember seeing him at the State Opening of Parliament once, and his expression could have turned milk sour. Not a good look - whatever he was thinking.

Also, and I know this isn't Jeremy's fault, but his awful anti-vaxxer and climate change denier brother...a bit of a worry there in the background. What a weird pair they are.

The lost opportunity for Labour was surely David Miliband - potentially a great leader, PM and statesman.

Yes- the animals took over and everything was supposed to be equal and shared, but gradually the pigs gradually took over and kept telling the other animals to keep working for the good of the farm while they lived the high life. Not dissimilar to North Korea.

Neoliberalism doesn't work.

it was more than criticism of Israel,
he defended the artist who drew that blatantly obvious anti semitic mural, he was “present but not involved” at a wreath laying for those behind the murder of Israeli athletes at the Munich olympics, he associated with members of Hamas who call for the death of all Jews not just Israelis. As a Jew I was extremely nervous at the thought of him gaining any power alongside his terror excusing sidekick the brainy wonderful Dianne Abbott

His learning difficulties are reason enough to exclude him. Despite a private education and supportive and rich parents he only achieved 2 grade E at A-level then failed his college course on trades union studies.

He has nothing to commend him, and has never met an antisemite that he didn’t like.

I agree, OP. It's all smoke and mirrors. People have swallowed the daily Mail and if you ever try to get any evidence-based sense out of them over why corbyn would have been unfit, all they can do is repeat the things they have been told 🤔.

I wouldn't disagree with any of that. However, Boris Johnson was even more unfit to govern and just as economically incompetent.

At least Corbyn wanted to redistribute wealth, not just make the rich richer and reward cronies.

I'd rather Corbyn over Johnson but neither were fit to govern.

I’ve been politically homeless for years. Generally if I aligned myself with anyone it would be the Lib Dems - I would say I’m central/left at a push

there was no way I could vote Tory because I know Boris would be a disaster. I live in one of the safest Tory seats in the country so me voting is essentially a waste of time.

but I couldn’t vote for Corbyn because to me, he was unelectable. He would have been average on the domestic stage but a disaster on a global stage. As someone who is newly self employed, I personally felt that a vote for Corbyn was a vote against any form of ambition or trying to better yourself. But equally I don’t agree with the Tory style of “helping the rich get richer”….

for me, Corbyn is exactly the sort of person you need in the back benches reminding labour of who they are supporting - being a bit of a pain in the arse to keep people focused on their core values. But that doesn’t translate to leadership capabilities.

I don’t dislike starmer, I feel he would be a competent, safe pair of hands, but he’s so scared to say an opinion in case he pisses off a minority (hence the issues with not saying what a woman is). He’s too much on the fence and I still don’t know what he stands for other than “he’s not Corbyn”

For me it was Corbyn’s position on Brexit that was a real turn off, and his voting record. Neither Corbin or Johnson appealed as leaders. I voted green at the last election, as I thought that the climate emergency was being largely ignored, oh, and a cat in a blue rosette would win a seat for the conservatives where I live. We need proportional representation, but that’s another thread topic.

But in general, socialism (not communism) has delivered most of the benefits we enjoy today such as the NHS, and capitalism hasn’t delivered because the version of it that we have rewards shareholders whilst simultaneously running down our infrastructure. I’m a business owner and see higher taxes to pay for infrastructure as solid investments that everyone benefits from - businesses, individuals, and the quality of life for society as a whole.

One of the reasons socialism doesn't work is America sanctions any country that imposes it.

When socialism runs out of money the people starve, when capitalism runs out of money they just print more (although that now means butter is 10 pound and energy bills will eat up your wages, woo privatisation).

People just didn't trust Corbyn.

People did trust Boris.

And that shows just how much people are hoodwinked.

We don't know how well Corbyn would have done.

But we do know Johnson has lied to us continuously and it's now caused further political divide.

Hes an antisemite. There's plenty info out there about this and why he is, and the problem of antisemitism in the left, if you can be bothered to post here I'm sure you can Google and find out why.

He was awful over brexit. A strong Labour leader who took a proper pro EU stance during the lead up to referendum would have prevented the whole damaging mess in the first place.

I think he'd have taken a mealy mouthed stay out of the Russia invasion and insisted the UK stayed neutral rather than support the Ukraine. I think his tendancy to hang out with terrorists was a security issue.

I'm a left wing voter and despise the tories but Labour were never going to win with him as leader. The idiotic rule change made it possible for him to be nominated and entryist voters kept him in power.

Kier starmer is honourable and intelligent and would make an excellent PM I just hope he gets a chance to do so next election.

The same country that keep voting for disaster capitalists and what is essentially an oligarchy. Corbyn actually wanted to fix the damage that's done.

Maybe learn the differences between socialism and communism?