Article by John McDonnell

fluffymike Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 06:34:04 PM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/27/gordonbrown.labour1?gusrc=rss&feed=commentis free

some very interesting and valid points as usual from John...





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Article by John McDonnell | 10 comments (10 topical)

Re: Article by John McDonnell (#1)

by Curlew on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 07:45:45 PM GMT

John's right.  Brown's missed his chance for a mandate.  He may well have won that leadership election and members would now be supporting him regardless of their feelings as the debate would have taken place, their views would have been considered.  Without the mandate labour supporters are now disowning him.  I wonder how many LP members in Henley did not vote.


Re: Article by John McDonnell (#2)

by grimupnorth on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 11:21:51 PM GMT

It is fair to say that even those  of us who supported John's  leadership campaign could ever have  imagined  the parlous state Labour is in  one year on.
The article is spot  on. How many Labour Mps there   must be  now who wish  we had  had  a contest  - instead of  the wretched "coronation" which has brought  us to the edge of the electoral abyss.


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Re: Article by John McDonnell (#3)

by Al on Sun Jun 29, 2008 at 07:01:41 PM GMT

The so called coronation might not have helped, but it's not like it's played even an iota of a part in the state we're in now.

 Even if we had a 'contest' Brown would have won and done exactly the same thing, so it's a bit of a waste of time even thinking about it if you ask me (which no one does, I accept!), except to learn the lesson and move on.


Re: Article by John McDonnell (#4)

by Proudvotinglabour on Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 10:38:32 AM GMT

John appears to have missed the turning for "wishful thinking", gone sailing through the little hamlet of "toytown" and ploughed straight through to the metropolis of "deranged cuckoo land".

Does he really, really, believe that if there had been a contest 12 months ago - there was a contest of sorts by the way, did he even have enough support to get enough signatures on a ballot paper which he failed - but if there had been an election does he really, really, think he would have won?  MPs would have voted 80-20 against him, the unions would have voted 60-40 against him at best, and the ordinary members would have gone 65-35 against if he was lucky.

So the position we would be in now would be that Gordon would be doing all the things he is currently doing, against the backdrop of global tubullence that would have made McDonnell hide under his desk reading Das Kapital for the answers, but he would be doing all these things able to point to the fact that the party had given the extreme left a kicking in the process.

Please, please, stop.  You did not have enough support to get on the ballot paper, live with it!


Re: Article by John McDonnell (#5)

by fluffymike on Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 03:26:57 PM GMT

Maybe because too many MPs were afraid for their careers if they didn't do the right thing?

Even those who opposed the 10p tax issue and are now running around saying Gordon must go...

At least McDonnell had the guts to express his doubts and opinions a year ago instead of cowering away... and if there hadn't been so much gutlessness being displaye in some quarters, we might well have had an election that debated issues, and either Brown might have learnt somethging about debating or John would have shown a lead on the things that people on the doorsteps care about, and the people who have to go knocking those doorsteps might have been a lot more intune with what John was saying than the ivory towering dwellers who are only just realising those ivory towers have some seriously dodgy foundations...

Maybe they'd appreciate getting a new builder in too now...


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Re: Article by John McDonnell (#6)

by Free Radical on Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 03:41:29 PM GMT

The story I heard is that John McDonnell jumped the gun in announcing his candidacy thereby fatally splitting the Campaign Group. Is this true?


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Re: Article by John McDonnell (#7)

by fluffymike on Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 04:19:05 PM GMT

I really don't know about that - but he'd been campaigning for about a year before Blair was forced to quit...


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Re: Article by John McDonnell (#9)

by grimupnorth on Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 11:42:22 PM GMT

No.


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Re: Article by John McDonnell (#10)

by sgthowie on Wed Jul 02, 2008 at 12:22:01 AM GMT

I know what a bunch of craven hearted, careeristic boot lickers many Labour MP's are.

The just rolled over to have their tummies tickled by Gordon Brown in the same way they had done with Tony Blair.  What a cynical attempt at calculation to advance their own careers by most of them. 

McDonnell also had around a dozen CLP's in Yorkshire and elsewhere who asked their MP's to nominate him to allow a contest but the MP's decided to go against the wishes of the CLP instead.

What a total disregard for the views of the party membership.  I tell you if polls showed McDonnell going ahead in one or both of the TU or party members section then MP's would have backed McDonnell once he started offering them jobs. 


The Labour Party has lions at the grassroots but mainly donkeys in the commons.  Those who loyally backed Gordon are privately giving him till the end of the year before they consider dumping him and in the meantime are fighting over who can kiss the rump of David Milliband first. 


 


[ Parent ]

Re: Article by John McDonnell (#8)

by Curlew on Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 10:15:03 PM GMT

By avoiding an election Brown also avoided discussing any of his plans - he was able to avoid coming off the fence on such issues as 28/42 days - he was able to avoid discussion about moving the tax burdens from the poor to the rich. He was able to avoid promising ANYTHING. 

That is why an election would have made a great difference.

If the members had then still voted for him they would be supporting him now as it was their CHOICE.

It's called democracy.


Article by John McDonnell | 10 comments (10 topical)