That Corbyn fella...

I'm sure it's just coincidence that Cameron has decided to have this vote the day before the Oldham by-election.

Yes, it obviously started when journalists eavesdropped on Corbyn's shadow cabinet discussions.

The thing is that he is very far from being dictatorial. I personally don't think he's going to impose a three-line whip on anything. This is not only because I think he believes that's not right, but also because the press would then constantly go on about how he himself used to vote against his own party and blah.

I think he might say that he could well impose a three-line whip but not worry too much about people defying it, in his style, but then it's unclear what the point would be--reducing the number of dissenters?

I'm sure it's just coincidence that Cameron has decided to have this vote the day before the Oldham by-election.

Most definitely.

What exactly is a three line whip?

It's when MPs are told how they must vote by the leadership. It's enforced by the Whips - who are like prefects - hence whip. It's a three line whip because it's so important they do as they are told that in the written notice it's underlined three times.

The UK Parliament website actually has good pages on all this kind of archaic stuff http://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/principal/whips/

It's almost like an odd little game.

Was watching Labour initiate the V Bomber Nuclear deterrent program on Guy Martin's Vulcan doc the other night...

*While eating cake.

Or maybe he's still a politican and isn't stupid enough to try and impose dictate how his MPs should vote when there is a very good chance that it will cause division. Even more so when it's over an unpartisan issue the public is undecided on.

A cynic may even say that he ends up with the best of both worlds which ever way the vote goes. Pacifists, Corbinites and others opposed will say, "well really what could he do"? People who aren't directly opposed to him who are pro or imparcial will recognise that he didn't dictate. Those who are anti are left to try and get some milage out of any difference between his vote and others in his party.

It's just annoying that the result is likely to be massively different than if it was being held 6 months before the next general election.

Short termism, termed parliaments and no right of recall make politics more politicky.

Cheers. So obscure!

I was imaging 3 different groups of Whips running around making sure their MP's voted accordingly.

Looks like Labour may have increased their majority in the Oldham bye-election.

They sort of did. Smaller number but larger share of the turnout.

Farage was just on the radio saying it's because people who can't speak English were doing postal votes and also because Labour control the mosques.

He sounded like a ridiculous parody of himself. The man is a dangerous fucking lunatic and needs locking up. It was utter, unreserved bigotry.

A terrific result, especially in light of the ridiculously biased media coverage of Corbyn.

Some interesting goings on with the reshuffle. Gives the impression that Labour are moving to more traditional politics rather than the "new" politics that were talked about.

On the other hand, although a unified shadow cabinet is probably less interesting in terms of open debate within the party, etc it's probably better for trying to make the party electable.

I'm relieved he's kept Hilary Benn in the shadow cabinet. If he had been sacked altogether, there may well have been a leadership challenge pretty soon.

He has revealed his ideal bike:
http://www.stylist.co.uk/fashion/jeremy-corbyn-labour-leader-mp-for-islington-north-favourite-bike-best-for-commuting

Those quotes sound like they were written by Raleigh? Is he on their payrole?

This unisex model is a great all-rounder whether you’re a beginner or looking for a new ride, although as I’m a big believer in repairing rather than replacing, I suspect I will have my own long after my leadership.

No surpise that this wierd-beard communist would rather invest in a Dutch cycle company than one of our own.

What a bastard!

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/13/revealed-how-jeremy-corbyn-has-reshaped-the-labour-party

"Asked whether remaking the party to reflect leftwing values was more important to them than winning the 2020 general election, Parvin said: “Frankly, yes. There are a lot of ideologically driven people who feel that we’re going to lose anyway so we may as well lose on principle.” "

Great.

Wants politicians to be honest.

Compains when politicians are honest.

#scumbagstevememe

I'm I doing it right?

Labour has bigger worries than ignorance amongst a couple of hundred new members in a local constituency party in the peak district. Tory changes to TU and party funding, and twisting electoral boundaries being the biggest I can see. Oh, and the PLP's ongoing failure to take on the Tories in any visible way.

Great!

The little-spoken secret here in the UK is that the Tory's have a lock on power for, at least, the next ten years. To take power the Labour party would have to win back 106 seats, which probably isn't going to happen unless somebody slips Dave a hardon pill at the bacon factory on prime-time TV.

This also explains why a) the current Tory party, with a majority of 12, is acting like it shat gold bricks at the last election and b) the Labour party has gone 'weird', in a political mainstream sense, as it tries to work out a survival strategy for the next decade that wasn't immensely stupid - such as persuading people to vote for them because they were actually like Tories, but not quite like the Tories.

Maybe the tories can fuck up magnificently enough for people not to shit themselves at the prospect of a Labour/SNP coalition.

Corbyn seems to be a much better prospect than Milliband ever was, to me at least.