Remember Jeremy Corbyn’s kinder, more caring politics where there will be no personal abuse? He said in his Labour conference speech:
I want a kinder politics, a more caring society. Don’t let them reduce you to believing in anything less. So I say to all activists, whether Labour or not, cut out the personal attacks. The cyberbullying. And especially the misogynistic abuse online. And let’s get on with bringing values back into politics.
To be fair to Corbyn, at least he said it. However, some of his party weren’t listening.
You just need to look at the Twitter feed of Labour MP Mike Gapes to see the abuse he’s getting from Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters for not toeing the party line. Like Corbyn clearly used to do for all those years Labour was in Government. To be fair, Corbyn himself has a more realistic outlook than some of his supporters, who are shaping up to rival the cybernats.
Gapes decided to go in for a lengthy spell of troll feeding yesterday and copped a load of abuse for his pains.
In today’s Times (£), Lucy Fisher uncovers evidence of the hard left seeking to deselect moderate Labour councillors:
Moderate Labour councillors have told The Times that they are being threatened with deselection by hard-left activists. In the London borough of Lambeth, the leader’s supporters have sought to oust Alex Bigham after he called for a halt to the party’s leadership contest this summer amid fears of an infiltration by Tory party members.
Far-left activists launched a counter-petition online, on the website Change.org, which has been signed 234 times. It demanded that he be “kicked out” of the party. Signatories have described him on the page as a “rightwing a*** wart”, a prat and an oaf.
Charming!
Labour moderates have sought solace in gallows humour with their A-Z of Corbsplaining, published on Labour Uncut. Some of it is quite funny.
New politics – What to call the absence of a party policy. Allows the shadow cabinet and the leader to hold opposing views without anyone looking incoherent or shambolic. Apparently.
Red Tory – Honorific, often suffixed with the word “scum.” Applied to anyone in the Labour party who does not have a “Jez We Can” twibbon on their Twitter profile.
Vladimir Putin – Heroic scourge of imperialist oppression and enabler of freedom. Generously provides Russian troops to neighbouring countries to help make sure they are enjoying their freedom enough.
The comments to it, as you would expect, are a fine example of that kinder, caring politics, although there is only one F word and use of “Tory scum” so there’s hope for them yet, I suppose.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
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19 Comments
A salutary reminder of why I left the Labour Party and joined the Liberal Democrats. It’s nice to be in a party where, even if people vigorously disagree with you, they don’t call you “scum” or tell you to f*** off and join the Tories because the leader isn’t the object of your uncritical adulation. To be fair, the election of Corbyn wasn’t the sole reason why I decided to leave Labour; it was simply the endpoint in a lengthy process of disillusionment which began halfway through the last Labour government. In retrospect I think I’ve always been a liberal of one sort or another. I suppose that explains my profound discomfort with both New Labour as well as the current Bennite leadership; despite their ostensible differences they’re both profoundly illiberal in their respective outlooks, albeit in radically different ways. Now that I’m a member of the Liberal Democrats I do now feel as if I’ve found my true political home at long last. And each new day, and each new headline provides me with incontrovertible evidence that I made the right decision.
To be fair the likes of Mandelson have driven socialists out of Labour for years, and replaced them with moderates who are in fact corporatists, so it is not surprising to see this happen in reverse. Where as I wouldn’t describe myself as a socialist, I find some aspects of Corbynism to welcome (rail renationalisation for one). Indeed it is because of Labour’s drift towards corporatism, I found the agenda of Charles Kennedy far more appealing to the corporatism of Mandelson (the real power behind Blairism) – the Blairite agenda is not and will never be radical liberalism.
I don’t think the Liberal Democrats should throw stones however. Nick Clegg recently said that “British people don’t want ‘Che Guevera Corbyn'”. Whether or not they do or don’t, they didn’t want Nick Clegg either, and there are a sizable number of people who do indeed want Corbynism, or some parts of it. As well as the rank and file Labour members and the wider left, there are large swathes of voters who are actually quite attracted to the economic positions of Corbyn, even if socially they are much more towards the UKIP position, and one thing all these voters have in common is their hatred of Osborne and almost certainly a negative view towards Clegg. Clegg needs to wind his neck in. A new chapter needs to be started under Farron, who is hopefully the most “Kennedyite” leader the party has had since Charles.
What exactly do you expect Jeremy Corbyn or his team to do to prevent people on twitter behaving badly? Shockingly partly leaders do not have the power to prevent their followers from tweeting.
Corbynistas show disturbing similarities to Ukippers and cybernats in that they regard anyone who disagrees with them not as opponents, but as implacable enemies. It’s this fundamental contempt for the expression of honest disagreement which lies at the heart of their appalling behaviour on social media. Add to this a paranoid conspiratorial worldview and you have an explanation as to why so many of their tweets are steeped in intolerance and ill-disguised hatred.
It’s twitter. Parts of the internet are the wild west. The thing is Liberals tend to be liberal. Go on to the daily mail comments section and it’s full of abuse, undisguised racism, claims that “lefties are going to impose sharia or ban middle aged white men from breathing in public or whatever. This I firmly believe is because that kind politics sometimes attracts shouty men with combative belief systems based on the idea that anyone who opposes them is evil and destroying or betraying the country. Also and I hate saying this it’s reflective of the way a fair few people talk when they try to argue a point,
And OK, Caron you keep us in line when we get “shouty” here, but actually there are plenty of people here who verge on this, so I would say glasshouses and stones, frankly.
David Morrison, Richard Reeves and Nick Clegg told people LubDems who disagreed with them to go away and join Labour. Doesn’t that count?
By 2020 mike gapes is going to be 68 with 70% pension he can tell corbyn to go anywhere.
Tim13. Nail on head. The poster has done her fair share but seems oblivious to that fact.
A-Z of Corbsplaining is a cracker. I had one accuse me of being out of touch because I was a finance worker. It doesn’t matter that all I do nowadays is admin, F is for Finance and presumably Faustian pact, what everyone in the sector must sign.
Had another suggest he would attack me physically and he was even defended by I think a Labour councillor because he used “a line from a TV show”. I suppose that makes it alright then.
Total respect to Labour Uncut for publishing their A-Z of Corbsplaining. It’s a good reminder that Labour hasn’t completely gone to pot just yet. There are still plenty within Labour who are as appalled by the direction they’re taking as the rest of us.
I had never heard of Michael Gapes until he wrote an article for the Daily Telegraph slagging off any Associate Labour Party members a couple of months ago as nothing more than a ‘rent a mob’ (my paraphrase) In any event he made wide sweeping disparaging comments about those people. . When I complained I got more of the same. It is a bit rich that a Labour MP (with his media ‘savvy’) should try and play the victim card here. In reality there is a fight for the life and soul and future direction of the Labour Party. Yes members of the public are expressing their opinions openly and some in a forthright manner. It called a free society. It is not orchestrated. It is social media in full flow. I do detect some glee on LDV, anyone might think LibDems are above this. Just to remind those LibDems that your party, hijacked by Orange- Tory lites has virtually been wiped out and is an electoral joke. It is hardly surprising that Corbyn supporters do not wish Labour to suffer the same fate.
The Liberal Party had its electoral low points Dave but it bounched back .Going back to a failed two-party system is not the answer.Britain has to meet new global challenges today.
There is a hardening of attidues in the UK something along the lines that prevails in Northern Ireland. In NI, it is very much economic decline that accentuates intolerance. The kind of thing on spreading on social media in the rest of the UK now.
“What exactly do you expect Jeremy Corbyn or his team to do to prevent people on twitter behaving badly?”
Do what he and his team are currently doing; lead by example. This, however, doesn’t mean they don’t at times take decisive actions and cut the ground out from under the feet of the worst offenders…
According to a recent opinion poll only 53% of those who voted Liberal Democrat at the May 2015 election plan to do so again. 23% have switched to Labour, 22% to the Conservatives and 2% to others. Only 5% of May’s Labour voters have switched to the Liberal Democrats, 2% of Conservatives and 1% each of former UKIP and Green voters.. However, recent local by election votes do not support Mr Orbison’s view that the party has been wiped out or is an electoral joke, except presumably to him and his friends who seem to be obsessed with opposing anything and everything which is supported by others, enjoy winding people up and have an oppositionist mentality which would appeal to people who have a purely negative view of society. I am not convinced such a party would be likely to win an election but then stranger things have happened and we live in interesting times.
Nvelope2003 – re your personal attack
You object to my reference to the LibDems ‘being wiped out and seen as an electoral joke’. The LibDems as an electoral force have disappeared in many areas and throughput the UK have suffered sweeping defeats at local elections and in the GE 2015? In many instances squeezed into 4th or 5th and losing many, may deposits. Satirical shows/media (perhaps not a scientific basis but an indicator all the same) refer to LibDems with ridicule and derision. Added what you say that only 53% of those who voted for the LibDems in the 2015 GE intend to do so again, then I frankly do not understand why you take issue with my description at all. You make reference to my enjoying ‘winding people up’. Do you mean I wind you up because you do not share my views? Are you suggesting that unless I or others who share my views should ‘shut-up? What sort of democracy would that be and what value the LibDems laudable preamble?
I plead guilty to criticising Farron and some on LDV, who I feel have taken the opportunity of taking cheap shots at Corbyn, that is a debatable issue about tactics and strategy. I believe such an approach will not benefit the LibDems and will confuse the voters to as the position of the LibDems e.g. the response to the Fiscal Mandate and EU In. I see issue of tactics and strategy as currently being ‘up for debate’. I don’t see how contributing to this debate is negative, opportunistic or indicative of ‘having a negative view of society’ as you claim. I fully concur with much of what both Farron and Corbyn have said as to the kind of positive, kinder place the UK ought to be. I see nothing negative is sharing those aspirations.
Dave Orbison: I did not intend my comment to be a personal attack but your comments are symptomatic of many on here. The Liberal Democrats did perform very badly at the May 2015 election and the silly comments from the sort of comedians who appear on the shows you refer to were only to be expected – after all they get paid a lot of money to make cheap jokes. I remember similar jokes in the 1950s about the whole parliamentary party fitting into one taxi.
Most analyses of the reasons why the L D vote collapsed seem to indicate that the electorate wanted more austerity, not less and they perceived the Conservatives as the party most likely to pursue that policy, whilst the Liberal Democrats and of course the Labour Party would oppose it. The inquiry by the Labour Party about their own failure seemed to indicate the same reason.Not surprisingly only the hard core and those who wanted to vote Lib Dem to keep another party out stuck with the party. Yet the total percentage of those saying they would vote Liberal Democrat is about the same as it was in May. Possibly the Labour and Conservative voters who voted Lib Dem to keep out the Conservative or Labour candidate have reverted to their normal allegiance therefore some new voters must have switched to the Liberal Democrats.
I have not made any silly comments about Mr Corbyn or his policies and I do not favour cuts to the incomes of working people but there is a great deal of wasted expenditure and I think it is wrong to be critical of reducing waste as the economy will not grow until the state stops wasting money and directs it to things people need.
nvelope2003 – “the electorate wanted more austerity”. I disagree. I think that is your interpretation of the GE result. Labour’s position in England and Wales did not collapse -though results were disappointing. Labour did collapse in Scotland. Yes, many will say that this was all to do with their position on independence but I think that it’s not as simple as that. Many votes in Scotland were lost because Labour shared a platform with the Tories and the SNP were clearly anti austerity. The LibDem vote collapsed all over as many (as with the SNP) were horrified that the LibDems had done a deal with the Tories and many simply did not accept the Coalition austerity line. Not all of course. The problem for Labour was exactly the opposite of what you suggest. They were offering just a Tory lite version with hardly any difference with Cameron’s lot. The great unknown is how many people, disaffected by a choice of austerity, austerity or austerity- lite stayed at home but who would have come out to vote had they been given a real alternative. None of the major parties offered that (except the SNP who did very well). Only time will tell but I hope that Corbyn will be able to offer an alternative to austerity on 2020. I hope too, that the LibDems do the same. I want both parties to offer something very different to the Tories and I don’t care if they vote Labour or LibDem so long as it helps bring about a change of direction and some hope in this country.
Dave Orbison: The Green party did offer total opposition to austerity and despite an aggressive campaign and contesting most seats scored 3.7% of the votes cast and one MP. Labour and the Liberal Democrats opposed the harsher elements of austerity so it would not be unreasonable to expect those who were against that policy to switch to the Labour Party or the Liberal where they had the best chance of winning but they did not. Many former Labour and Liberal Democrat voters preferred to vote UKIP. Many of the “none of the above” voters who traditionally had voted Liberal also switched to UKIP when they discovered what the Liberal Democrats actually stood for and found a party which better reflected their wishes.
I agree that many former Liberal Democrat voters were unhappy about the coalition with the Conservatives as I was and either abstained or voted Green or Labour ( especially those Labour supporters who had voted Lib Dem to keep the Tory out) hence the small rise in support for those parties.
Turnout did actually rise slightly, not fall as is often suggested. The increase in support for the SNP had more to do with the outcome of the referendum than austerity. I suggest that many who had voted no because they were worried about the consequences of a yes vote chose to express their real feeling by voting for the SNP in the knowledge that this would not have serious consequences. The SNP seem to have accepted that there is no certainty that they would win in the near future, especially with the collapse of oil prices and they seem to acknowledge that Scotland could not be independent without a drop in living standards as they no longer want full fiscal autonomy.
The SNP are also very anxious to kill of the Liberal Democrats in order to buttress their position in the event of a future decline in support. Presumably they hope most Liberal Democrats will switch to the SNP.