Labour caught in struggle to survive media attacks, says John McDonnell
I am incredibly proud of John McDonnell here. He knows what the response will be to this, but he has made a stand. Between Jeremy Corbyn & John McDonnell we have the kind of strength, compassion, passion, determination, empathy and TRUST that has been missing. There is absolutely no doubt that the self-serving-sabotaging from those who seek only to maintain Neo Liberal Free Market economics and an elite, above EVERYTHING else, has damaged the party. That is not the fault of the leadership.
I agree with McDonnell’s self-criticism about framing and media messaging though; hopefully the changes made in this department will help. The media onslought is unprecedented: https://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/Mainstream-Media-Representations-of-Jeremy-Corbyn.aspx especially when you consider the policies are majority-popular with the general electorate: https://labourlist.org/2016/10/corbyn-policies-get-thumbs-up-from-public-but-people-still-trust-the-tories-more/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7lsRbDKOXg The big issue being TRUST. WHY oh why should Labour move back to a type of politics rejected everywhere (except MAYBE in Canada & Japan) in the world? A type of politics that has lost Scotland, damaged trust and the Labour ‘brand’, lost the last two General Elections and two Labour leadership contests?!
WHO would keep the membership, policies and have the resolve (Corbyn has the most strength and resolve of any leader I have seen) to face the media hostility? WHY did he win? WHY do Labour have the biggest political party in Europe? WHY has this team inspired so many?! So, instead of allowing the party to return to recent type, let us HELP the current, twice record-breaking mandate-elected leader, and not turn on him. It is very easy to cave-in to the constant agenda-driven attacks, as McDonnell says “It is exhausting”. So, WHY are they staying strong? Because it is the absolute best way forward.
Let us be grateful there are people willing to sacrifice themselves and their lives, receive unprecedented abuse/death threats/lies/mass hypocrisy/character assassinations thrown at them hour after hour, day after day. So instead of constantly tripping ourselves up in the race, then shouting “See, see, I told you they couldn’t run!!! They’ll never win!”, how about letting Labour have a CHANCE. If people don’t, remember that when you have a fully privatised NHS, virtually no worker’s rights, even more poverty and even more inequality. That will absolutely NOT be the fault of Corbyn or McDonnell. That would be the fault of those sniggering, sneering, ideologically empty, solution empty souls who seem to enjoy venting their frustration in entirely the wrong direction. Let us remember why this Mass Movement is here in the first place: https://ilikecorbynbut.com . Without Labour under Corbyn & McDonnell, the party WOULD NOT EVEN BE ANTI-AUSTERITY FFS!!! People have short memories, eh?!
#imnotturningonmyown #UNITE #dontdenydemocracyandtwohugemandates
#JC4PM
Adam Samuels
