Corbyn declares ‘democracy has been denied’ as he launches independent election campaign
Jeremy Corbyn declared “democracy has been denied” as he launched his campaign to be re-elected as the independent MP for Islington North on Wednesday night (29 May).
The former Labour leader was suspended by the party in 2020 for refusing to fully accept the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s findings that the party broke equality law when he was in charge.
“Islington North Labour members were denied any vote to decide who their MP is or who their candidate is,” Mr Corbyn said, before revealing that he had sent a message of support to Diane Abbott amid uncertainty over whether she will be able to stand as a candidate for Labour.
It is obviously futile to wave around a political cliché such as ‘democracy has been denied’. We may as well respond with 'democracy has been vindicated' before nipping off for a coffee.
Corbyn has always been part of the problem with UK democracy. Whatever democracy might be, Corbyn hasn't added lustre to it over the decades. From the beginning he attached himself to a party which kept the two party rotational system going to the detriment of voting options. In spite of his known frugality, he has benefitted personally from this system over many years.
What we could say is that Corbyn has at least highlighted a problem with UK democracy - it attracts charlatans and the party system tends to find charlatans more useful than people of integrity. Charlatans deliver the message.
Although he has spent his political life draping himself with the mantle of inflexible integrity, Corbyn is a charlatan, the political nostrums he sells never cured anything. If democracy has been denied, then he was part of that denial.
5 comments:
"Whatever democracy might be, Corbyn hasn't added lustre to it over the decades."
Quote of the day!
I can't see why the old fart is always banging on about democracy. It's never done him any favours, other than elevate him to Labour Party leadership. (And even that was a scam; my son said that lots of right-wing city boys in his company got the £3 membership in their lunchbreak down the pub, and voted for him because they knew it would guarantee Labour would be denied power.) When he offered his ideas to the electorate, they were soundly rejected. I suspect that he just misjudged the public mood, and would soon be talking about coups and forcible takeovers of Whitehall given a few glasses of dandelion wine down the allotment.
In one, AKH.
Excellent comment AK!
I remember him being interviewed outside the HoC wearing a jersey!
The interviewer, (an erudite and professional man, not like a BBC shrieker today), mentioned that he thought the dress code was rather lax for such a place!
Corbyn's reply was that his jersey "was knitted by my mum", which rather took the shine off his attempts to be in charge of a whole lot of citizens who needed proficient and accomplished representation in the serious role as their MP!
Few things irritate me as much as champagne socialists.
Sam - thanks and yes it would be interesting to know how many leadership votes Corbyn received from temporary members who wanted him to make his party unelectable. Which of course he did.
James - thanks (:
Scrobs - thanks, yes Corbyn never even mastered the basics of looking the part. A hopeless individual who should never have seen the inside of the HoC.
Jannie - it's champagne Greens with me, but there is a big overlap.
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