UK and Europe World • Page 7

Oh yeah I didn't mean to put words in your mouth there, sorry! I'm honestly not sure what could be asked about the NHS that wouldn't make Corbyn look good. I guess because a lot of the problems surrounding Labour's appeal are his leadership (he still comes out as less favourable than the party as a whole, even now), the questions relating to him kind of need to dominate in this case. You've probably seen on social media all over the place, his IRA position and position on nukes seem to be the go-to right wing criticism of him. By Andrew Neil putting these issues directly to him, it allows the general public that probably don't focus on politics that much to be able to say "look, I've seen exactly what he says on this particular position and I am making a value judgement based on my own perspective, not on what this facebook post comment says". If anything, I think it benefits Corbyn's position to be asked tough questions like this because it makes his position clear to the public. Does it make for an easy interview? Of course not, but it helps get rid of doubts about him. It also doesn't give a platform to anger about Labour's economic competence which is what dominated the Labour narrative in the last election, which I applaud.
Tl;dr I meant issues with Corbyn not labour in general oops

 

Haha no worries! I can see your point there to some degree. It just doesn't seem fair that Neil questioned May mostly on Tory policy whereas with Corbyn the interview was focused almost entirely on his past. It was also ridiculous when Neil literally started quoting from the worst Labour MPs like John Woodcock and Neil Coyle.

Overall though, I think the BBC is pretty terrible. Owen Jones wrote a really good article on it a few years back:

but the most important line which sums up my point about Neil's questions is: "the BBC's agenda [is] shaped by supporters of government, big business, the free market and western foreign policy. That does not just subvert honest journalism: it undermines our democracy." Sorry to quote an entire article at you lol, but he puts it much better than I can.

 

Yeah completely agree on that bit about quoting Labour MPs to him- the fact of the matter is the Labour party is just more obviously venting its criticism than the conservatives- someone in the main politics thread made a point that the left tends to be way more self-critical than the right so we get criticisms like that. I'd be shocked if the Tories weren't talking shit about May, Fallon, Boris etc on a regular basis, they just present the illusion of a united front much better. Owen definitely picks up on the main issue with the BBC in the biased positions the reporters come into politics from, one that I completely agree with. I just don't like people on our side screaming bias immediately if something negative about Labour is picked up on- it almost feels like it hurts our image more than the negativity itself. Yes biases need to be dealt with but calling out every criticism (not that that I think you do at all) derides the whole argument and makes the left look like we're tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorists.

 

Yeah true, for example I really don't like the Canary because it does exactly what you're pointing out here, in that it turns everything into a massive conspiracy theory when there's no need. At the same time though, I get fed up of certain political commentators who will instantly scoff at any accusations of bias in the media as if it's non-existent. I mean...

 

Definitely! It's difficult not to see it as an issue, it's more about how we present it to the rest of the world. It's why I'm an advocate for a more bi-partisan approach to campaigning. It shouldn't be around a narrative of 'x party is wrong, y party is right', it should be a case of 'this is the right thing to do, here's why' so the tribalist politics don't get in the way of the substantive points. It's difficult to appeal to voters if we start with a stance where we position ourselves diametrically opposed to the positions the voters believe they start in because it just gets their walls up. That comes to publications like the Canary, AnotherAngryVoice and EvolvePolitics as well.

 

Say what you will about Corbyn, but he's done a fantastic job trying to put his message out to all kinds of different communities. The fact he's reaching out to fans of alternative music, grime, rock, football fans and all sorts really speaks volumes. If anything it just says how dated the Conservatives view of media channels is.

 

Dammit, Jeremy

I guess nobody's perfect

 

What a guy

 

I guess the rumors of labour already being completely prepared should the day ever came was actually pretty legit

 

idk if it counts for anything but arsenal is my fave team to play as in FIFA haha

 

This thread has gone all wrong

 

Corbyn's genuinely a massive Gooner, I'll give him that. Not a fake like most politicians trying to pretend they like football, Seen him at the Emirates before leadership.

 

Pretty depressing stuff:

Amazing really when you think about how astonishingly bad the Tory campaign has been versus how great the Labour one is. But I guess most people don't really pay attention to that stuff so it doesn't affect how they vote.

 

I'm not entirely sure how much I believe that last part of the tweet. After the error of the 2015 election and brexit being so wide I've heard that polling companies have allegedly altered their methods to include more Tory voting types. That isn't to say Labour is in for a landslide but the polling bias a lot of people turn to shouldn't be quite as evident as it has been in recent elections. Who knows.

 

Annexation Symptoms - Roads & Kingdoms

 

Dianne Abbott's criticism has nothing to do with the colour of her skin or gender. That's just a scapegoat excuse for someone who genuinely seems inept to be Home Secretary. But that said, Amber Rudd is hardly any better.

 

All the evidence suggests otherwise, just click on the tweets I posted above and read the entire threads. You can deny reality all you want, but Abbott has faced an extreme whirlwind of racism and abuse throughout her career. It's sad that you used your first post in this thread to say that the first black woman elected to parliament deserves the abuse she recieves. Pretty disgusting, actually. Also, when @5Stories likes your post, you know you've written something terrible.