Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Election rules that would have made Stalin blush

If the lunatic new rules for Labour's leadership contest have been explained correctly, there are only two very narrow categories of people who will not be eligible to pay £25 and vote in the election -

1) People who have already paid to become full members of the Labour party over the last few months.

2) Members of other parties.

That's it.  In theory, there is absolutely nothing to stop millions upon millions of Tory and UKIP voters from paying £25 and voting for Angela Eagle (unless they've left a trail of evidence of their political views on social media), and yet more than 100,000 full Labour members will be totally banned from taking part.  It's very, very hard not to read this as a method of flushing out the people keenest on voting for Corbyn by fraudulently telling them that paying up and joining the party will make them eligible to vote - and then slapping a ban on them instead.  Many of those people will have been £3 registered supporters from last year's contest who were warned that they would need to become full members to be sure of taking part again - and having taken that advice, they now find that they still can't vote, and are practically the only people in the UK not eligible to become a registered supporter this time around.  'Cynical' doesn't even begin to cover this stunt - it would have made Stalin blush.

The only consolation is that anyone who took the advice of the Murdoch press and joined Labour recently to vote against Corbyn will also be banned from participating - but by all accounts they are only a small minority of the new members.

In spite of the laughably blatant gerrymandering, Corbyn should still be the favourite to win.  A closed shop based on the membership in February ought to favour someone who had a clear lead even among full members in the election last September.  The recent YouGov poll gave him a 10% lead over Eagle among members - and remember that the fieldwork was conducted when all the momentum seemed to be against him.  The mood music has got considerably better tonight.

And it's perfectly possible that the plotters may eventually look back on what happened today and conclude that they shot themselves in the foot.  Any victory for Eagle is now going to be of questionable legitimacy - but if Corbyn wins, they'll have to live with the humiliation of knowing that they couldn't even win with the help of a crooked franchise.

59 comments:

  1. No, I think members who missed the cutoff can pay the 25 quid to get to vote.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Several people who should know their stuff are saying that the opposite is true. At the very least, it's another point of ambiguity that will have to be cleared up.

      Delete
  2. Glasgow Working Class 2July 13, 2016 at 12:12 AM

    The fash lefties need to start up their own party instead of leaving their own fash parties and paying three quid to ruin a democratic party.
    We are going to have the Tories and their Tartan Tory pals in power for decades. Fuck we will have knickerless Imelda shoes in power until she snuffs it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The above poster is a right-wing English troll.

      Delete
    2. What a Gutless Baffoon this clown is. Its politics are doing well with about 1% of the vote. Hey Glasgow Working Arsehole Hell will freeze over before your loonies ever get in.

      Delete
    3. What a Gutless Baffoon this clown is. Its politics are doing well with about 1% of the vote. Hey Glasgow Working Arsehole Hell will freeze over before your loonies ever get in.

      Delete
  3. Angela Eagle is going to get her arse handed to her on a plate. I'm absolutely loving this! These careerist tossers have exactly the same smug, "entitlement" mindset as Ian Davidson, Jim Murphy, Douglas Alexander, Margaret Curran, and the rest of the SLAB MP's who were unceremoniously defenestrated in 2015, and I hope they suffer the same fate. He'll mend them!
    Alex Birnie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not sure "smug" is the word I'd use. The Labour rebels are becoming accustomed to the taste of defeat and humiliation in a way Murphy, Alexander and co never were until they were smashed in a rout they didn't see coming.

      Delete
  4. Glasgow Working Class 2July 13, 2016 at 12:28 AM

    Please help me mummy they think I am an arse

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Edith Snellgrove-WhitmanJuly 13, 2016 at 12:34 AM

      We KNOW you are an arse.

      Delete
    2. Glasgow Working Class 2July 13, 2016 at 1:18 AM

      We! so there is more than one Edith smelly fanny?

      Delete
    3. The above poster is a right-wing English troll.

      Delete
  5. Kuenssberg is tweeting that the *Labour Party itself* plans to challenge the NEC ruling on Corbyn's eligibility in the courts. You really couldn't make it up. It is utterly, utterly extraordinary.

    In the hustings to come, people need to continually ask Angela Eagle if she'd be willing to serve in a Corbyn shadow cabinet. When she says no, they should just remove the whip. Then do the same to every MP who says the same.

    ReplyDelete
  6. is what the nec did illegal? the 130k new members signed up on the condition of a vote? miss selling?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Glasgow Working Class 2July 13, 2016 at 1:13 AM

    Joke Nat si leadership pretending to their idiot camp followers they can do a seperate deal with the fash EU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow. Folks, you can almost hear the chunks of crayon pinging off 23's screen...

      Delete
    2. Hi Nadine. You're up late again, my lovely. Any Chablis left? Don't start on the gin. You know how depressed it makes you.

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    3. No, its Mundellino and RuthieCult* who are pretending Scotland can get a "different deal".
      If you lived in Scotland, you would know this.

      Delete
  8. And in the midst of all this infighting of course, the Chilcott report is forgotten and the war criminals escape their fate. Cynicism knows no bounds amongst our political elite. Time Scotland was independent.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Am I the only person that noticed Labour on 15% in the Scottish subsample of the ICM poll. Yes I know it's only 184 persons, but still!

    ReplyDelete
  10. No matter who wins. No matter who claims a "mandate". This will be a Pyric victory in spades.
    I cannot see Labour remaining intact.
    One half with most MPs and no funding.
    The other half with lots of members and money, but whose media coverage verges on poisonous claptrap( this especially applies to the BBC in London).
    The Tories and Lib Dumbs cannot believe their luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. More so UKIP, her Majesty's official opposition in 2020!

      Delete
  11. Strange to have an internal election and ban the membership from having meetings to discuss the same election.

    ReplyDelete
  12. These are my rules.
    If you don't like them,I have others.
    All part of the anti democratic top down English political establishment culture.
    Wouldn't be surprised,if Scotland decides to leave them to their own resources,that they disband parliament and revert to openly monarchic rule (saves all this voting malarky).
    Pathetic from the so called People's party.
    They have completely lost the plot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kezia lacks experience, gumption and leadership skills.
      She will probably ask advice from the ludicrous Lord Baron Foulkes and Co.
      DOOMED!

      Delete
  13. The people who most need the help of what the the Labour party is supposed to be and are likely to want to support Corbyn are not likely to have a spare £25 lying around.
    Thatcher would be proud her vile poll tax idea lives on.

    On a separate issue, I am a member (and elected shop steward) of Unite.
    Unite is affiliated to the Labour party, ergo I am a paid up member of the Labour movement.
    At the time of the Corbyn election I was asked by organisers from Unite to pay the £3 to become a supporter and have a vote.
    I pointed out that I was a member of the SNP.
    After consultation the supervisor of the organising team advised me that I would not be eligible to vote, because I did not "support the values of the Labour party".
    This surprised me because from what I have observed since the 90s, precious few Labour MPs support those values.
    So there I was, a socialist and paid up member of the Labour movement, political levy and all, and I was denied a vote.

    Since that date I have stopped paying the political levy and advised members to do the same.
    If Corbyn is removed from the leadership I will be actively campaigning for Unite to disaffiliate from the Labour party.

    ReplyDelete
  14. So, farewell then
    David Cameron
    I always said you were an incompetent fop,
    And so you were
    Also, Oink!

    LOL

    ReplyDelete
  15. Bumblefuck tories for unityJuly 13, 2016 at 12:05 PM

    Miriam Brett ‏@MiriamBrett · 2h

    When David Cameron arrived in office, 61,468 people relied on foodbanks. Today, as he prepares to leave, that figure sits at 1,109,309.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Bumblefuck tories for unityJuly 13, 2016 at 12:06 PM

    Krishnan Guru-MurthyVerified account ‏@krishgm

    The Conservatives have started offering refunds to people who joined the party after referendum thinking they'd have a say in leadership

    ReplyDelete
  17. Bumblefuck tories for unityJuly 13, 2016 at 12:12 PM

    Government proposes inquiry into moving to a 'pay NHS'

    Last week the government quietly announced a review into the biggest political hot potato of all - and almost no-one noticed.

    https://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/richard-grimes/government-moves-to-consider-nhs-user-charges

    ReplyDelete
  18. Cameron promised to “Stop Tories banging on about Europe."July 13, 2016 at 12:29 PM

    That's going well.

    ROFLMAO

    ReplyDelete
  19. Out of touch and out of timeJuly 13, 2016 at 12:38 PM

    The incompetent fop is actually bringing up THE VOW.

    He seriously doesn't have a clue just how badly that preposterous lie has gone down in Scotland.


    Says it all.

    Totally out of touch to the end.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Blairites of Mass DestructionJuly 13, 2016 at 12:47 PM

    Éoin ‏@LabourEoin · 14m

    Holy Fuck. Labour HQ has just banned *all* Local Labour Constituency Groups from meeting

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It'll be to stop them deselecting the Blairites.

      Delete
  21. I don't know if this is surreal or just sickening. From the foundation of the Labour Party until it finally achieved full, unfettered power in 1945, it took two complete generations of men and woman with no thought of personal career advancement, toiling in obscurity, knocking on doors, passing out leaflets and holding public meetings before real, substantive change about. The trash which sits on the PLP benches today have no concept of that kind of service, and that's why they have no conscience about this kind of political "fixing". They're in it for career, and they don't give a curse about anything except office. Not even power matters to them because that brings responsibility. With office, however, come mercs and perks and foreign travel and all those lucrative directorship and consultancies. Thinking about it, I think the answer to my own question is "sickening". Perhaps "disgusting".

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  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  23. Aye , and the Branch office MSP's are no different. They believe in nothing and will say anything that they think will keep them in a job.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Bumblefuck tories for unityJuly 13, 2016 at 9:38 PM

    A bold move by May to make the new tory government a complete laughing stock so soon after the Cameroon hypershambles.

    I mean, they surely can't have their heads stuck so far up their arses inside the westminster bubble that they can't see the clear reaction from the public to May's 'reshuffle' is one of hilarity and utter incredulity.

    Bodes well for the all new Nasty party, doesn't it? ;o)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Boris Gump and the BrexitearsJuly 13, 2016 at 10:13 PM

    Laura Schneider ‏@alauraschneider ·52 minutes ago

    German TV news presenters can't help laughing as they announce #BorisJohnson as Britain's new Foreign Minister.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Glasgow Working Class 2July 13, 2016 at 10:33 PM

    The joke Nat si leadership are probably more Stalinist than Stalin. At least the Russians did have dissenters who went to the Gulag . Not one honest Nat si dissenter and no Gulag. Real shite bags.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The poster above is a far-right racist troll from EnglandJuly 13, 2016 at 10:43 PM

      .

      Delete
    2. Glasgow Working Class 2July 13, 2016 at 10:58 PM

      Nat si watchkeeper on duty again. You fash mob have lost so get it right up ye. Do weep and fondle yer thingy parsnip if it consoles ye.

      Delete
  27. Boris Gump and the BrexitearsJuly 13, 2016 at 10:48 PM

    Gordon Maloney ‏@gordonmaloney · 48m48 minutes ago

    The Tories, 2014: "Vote No, protect our international standing."
    The Tories, 2016: make Boris Johnson Foreign Secretary

    ReplyDelete
  28. Boris Gump and the BrexitearsJuly 13, 2016 at 10:49 PM

    Sunny Hundal ‏@sunny_hundal · 3 hours ago

    Just in from a friend who was at FCO: "Boris fucking Johnson in Beirut dealing with Syria? I can't even deal with this lunacy."

    ReplyDelete
  29. Bumblefuck tories for unityJuly 13, 2016 at 10:56 PM

    Faisal Islam ‏@faisalislam · 2 hours ago

    Wherein, less than a fortnight ago, the new PM, ridicules the negotiating ability of her new Foreign Secretary


    PeatWorrier ‏@PeatWorrier · 3 hours ago

    Fun times, again, for all those Scottish Tories who privately briefed the media that Boris Johnson was an odious union-bursting grotesque.


    Paul Kavanagh‏@weegingerdug

    Philip Hammond is new chancellor, the man who warned Scotland if we were independent we'd be defenceless against attacks from outer space






    Craig Smith ‏@Smicht · 3 hours ago

    The transformation of UK politics into a real-life Carry On film is almost complete.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glasgow Working Class 2July 13, 2016 at 11:04 PM

      If the French people get a vote then the EU corruption will end soon. And Scotland will not be crawling.

      Delete
  30. Glasgow Working Class 2July 13, 2016 at 11:38 PM

    I'm going to keep insulting you Jock Nat Sis until you know your place and get back in your stinking box.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Bumblefuck tories for unityJuly 13, 2016 at 11:41 PM

    Faisal Islam ‏@faisalislam · 2 hours ago

    Wherein, less than a fortnight ago, the new PM, ridicules the negotiating ability of her new Foreign Secretary


    PeatWorrier ‏@PeatWorrier · 3 hours ago

    Fun times, again, for all those Scottish Tories who privately briefed the media that Boris Johnson was an odious union-bursting grotesque.


    Paul Kavanagh‏@weegingerdug

    Philip Hammond is new chancellor, the man who warned Scotland if we were independent we'd be defenceless against attacks from outer space






    Craig Smith ‏@Smicht · 3 hours ago

    The transformation of UK politics into a real-life Carry On film is almost complete.


    Commissar Del ‏@Farseer_Del · 1h

    Yeah, you say that, but you'll probably finish the first page of a redraft and come back to find Noel Edmonds has become king

    ReplyDelete
  32. Boris Gump and the BrexitearsJuly 13, 2016 at 11:45 PM

    ariq panjaVerified account
    @tariqpanja · 4h
    Our emissary to the world: Boris Johnson left Foreign Office to mop-up after Iraq trip, emails reveal

    ReplyDelete
  33. Boris Gump and the BrexitearsJuly 13, 2016 at 11:54 PM

    Stephanie BakerVerified account
    ‏@StephaniBaker

    I guess she forgot about when Boris described Obama as a part-Kenyan who disliked the UK. The special relationship just took another knock.


    Ed Saunt
    @edsaunt · 4h

    Boris Johnson will deal with a US President whom he called a 'sadistic nurse' (Hillary) or described as 'stupefyingly ignorant' (Trump) #

    ReplyDelete
  34. Glasgow Working Class 2July 14, 2016 at 11:51 AM

    Look you fash Nat sis you lost the Scottish referendum and you lost in an all UK referendum. Someone do tell knickerless to stop grovelling to Bruxelles and Kaiser Merkel it is as embarrasing as Chamberlain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glasgow Working Class 2July 14, 2016 at 4:57 PM

      The poster above is an expert on nationality!

      Delete
    2. The poster above is a far-right racist troll

      Delete
  35. Boris Gump and the BrexitearsJuly 14, 2016 at 1:10 PM

    Tom London ‏@TomLondon6 15 hours ago

    Cameron worst PM since Chamberlain (and quite possibly longer than that)
    A nasty, shallow chancer who has trashed so much that is good in UK

    ReplyDelete
  36. Bumblefuck tories for unityJuly 14, 2016 at 1:14 PM

    Kate Connolly ‏@connollyberlin 4 hours ago

    Afghan taxi driver in Frankfurt bursts out laughing when I tell him I'm British. "Your country's pretty f****d up, isn't it?!"

    ReplyDelete
  37. Boris Gump and the BrexitearsJuly 14, 2016 at 1:16 PM

    Ricky GervaisVerified account ‏@rickygervais 17 hours ago

    Phew!
    Just when Britain was starting to become a laughing stock around the world,
    Boris Johnson is appointed foreign secretary.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Boris Gump and the BrexitearsJuly 14, 2016 at 1:28 PM

    Liam StackVerified account ‏@liamstack 4 hours ago

    BBC: US State Dept spokesman reacted to Boris Johnson's new job as foreign minister by stifling a laugh

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glasgow Working Class 2July 14, 2016 at 5:01 PM

      Well they need to laugh since losing to Vietnam.

      Delete
    2. The poster above is a far-right racist troll

      Delete