As nastiness breaks out in Labour’s leadership contest, Kevin Macguire in today’s Mirror has rightly condemned attacks on Kendal but also pointed out the hypocrisy of those who condemn these but show no restraint in launching personal attacks on Jeremy Corbyn:
The success of Labour left-winger Jeremy Corbyn and the weekend’s large anti-austerity march in London won’t save Britain from next month’s poisonous Tory Budget and £12billion welfare cuts.
But they prove six weeks after the election the argument for a radical alternative economic and political approach remains as sound as ever.
Corbyn’s appeal is the very reasonableness with which he calmly explains how austerity is self-defeating, driving down the nation’s living standards and increasing the deficit by nobbling economic recovery. He challenges a failed economic orthodoxy which unfortunately triumphed electorally when 24% of the population put David Cameron back into Downing Street.
The Islington MP never expected he would be in the Labour leadership race and I sometimes get the impression that he’d even hate to win.
But Corbyn is one of the most decent people in British politics and doesn’t deserve the sneering that is coming from some sections of the Labour Party. The irony of condemning abuse of Blairite contender Liz Kendall is lost on MPs who then denigrate Corbyn.
Maguire is right. Labour lost the economic argument on Austerity and the electorate basically agreed with the Tories putting them back in power. So the people got the Govt they deserved. I hope they are pleased.
Which means that Labour has to rethink it stand on ‘austerity light’ which it was pushing for.
JC is not being hypocritical, in the sense that he’s not doing it deliberately; the Left unfortunately are self deluded and are convinced that they can spend their way out of any situation. Unfortunately in the end the Public have to pay up; nothing ever comes free, not welfare or education, or leisure.
“the Left unfortunately are self deluded and are convinced that they can spend their way out of any situation. Unfortunately in the end the Public have to pay up; nothing ever comes free, not welfare or education, or leisure.”
Unfortunately for you, you are entirely wrong, the Bank of England issued a Bulletin last year to enlighten people like yourself as to how money is created.
We do have the money for our public services, austerity is self defeating and the real objective of it is to create the conditions to asset strip the state.
This little video outlines why you are wrong and senior economists throughout the world explain why the Neo-Liberal agenda isn’t working for people, you could also Google these Academics to find out for yourself, Ha-Joon Chang professor, Cambridge economist, Mark Blyth Ivy League Brown’s University USA, Steve Keen Sydney University, Randal Wray University of Missouri, Kansas City, David Greaber, and in this video Bill Mitchel Newcastle University Australia.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnyDRwSqp2E
Nothing annoys me more than the constant bashing of bankers in the context of austerity. Bankers are not paid by the Treasury, their bonuses do not make the state poorer, they pay hefty taxes without which there would be no welfare at all. Quite simple really yet too hard to grasp?
Cameron’s support of austerity is perfectly logical, he see’s as a means to turn the clock of State back to the pre WW2 days. But for a so called progressives to swallow such guff is frightening, its not as if the info is not out there, and not only from lefties like most of us.
To suggest the best way to reduce the deficit is by cutting living standards is infantile. Besides the deficit is not even the worst of the UK’s economic problems.
As to the LP leadership candidates who support austerity, if they truly believe cutting the deficit is the most important problem the political class face they should be in a lunatic asylum.
They are neo liberal fanatics and like all fanatics they refuse to believe what is before their very eyes. Sad fucks for sure, but dangerous people nevertheless.
Imagine the profit which could now be being brought in for the govt by all the companies that were ours but were sold off cheap! British Gas, British Telecom, British Rail (which actually we subsidise even though it is now private), British Steal, Post Office, ————–. My cousin was telling me that the French have investments in our rail system the profits of which they use to subsidise their own! I also understand that Norway have investments in various oil producing countries but the profit from this goes directly into their welfare State! Its time we stopped being mugs and believing the Tory lies re the economy. The time for anti austerity has come.