miro_o-
miro_o in reply to @clubman
it can hardly be worse.
^ good until this bit.Thanks for that 'good', Miro_o.
I didn't mean that the Labour Party is inherently bad; for most of its existence it's been a worthy institution.
However, to use a modern expression (rare for me) I think it's a 'damaged brand'.
Apart from Blairism as a whole - which would have pretty much destroyed the party on its own - just one example of their recent crassness was the way they asked the Scots to vote to stay in the UK in 2014 because they feared losing the Scottish Labour MPs at Westminster (it's very unlikely Labour could ever form a government without their Scottish contingent). This was blatant self interest and backfired on the party. There are plenty of other examples.
With Labour still in existence, it's inevitable they will take some of the left vote through the inertia of many of their supporters. With the old party scrapped there would be a better chance of something like Podemos or the 5 Star Movement uniting the anti Tory vote.
P.S. The Liberals (or whatever they call themselves now) should follow the same example.
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clubman
Just as a matter of interest, not all the over sixty fives voted for Brexit - I didn't, and the only person I know who did was my daughter's grandfather in law (i.e. her children's great grandfather), but he is insane.
Just because the European bigwigs say they want us to leave quickly, they are not necessarily speaking the truth (remember Claud Cockburn's (google him) maxim: 'Never believe anything until it's been officially denied'). I think we can expect a severe economic spanking (devaluation of sterling followed by higher interest rates leading to unemployment and mortgage foreclosures; then, having been brought to heel, a second referendum (compare the Danes and Maastricht).
And this is my real reason for bothering to post: The Labour Party comes out of this very badly. I am a former member and Labour Councillor (1994-98), but I believe the party should now wind itself up. The last time Labour actually did any good was the 1966-70 government when H.Wilson managed to resist US demands for support in Vietnam (compare T. Blair /Iraq).
The Tories have never recently achieved a majority vote in general elections, so it is clear that most voters don't want them. Labour has made a terrible mess of things and has alienated its core vote all over the place, but a new party of the left will never get any traction while Labour still exists. Let it do the decent thing and fall on its sword. Then we'll see what develops - it can hardly be worse.