Crossing the floor

If you have, like me, become fed up of the endless #piggate  stories flooding the press and social media, you will be glad to know that today's story has nothing in it about quadrupeds of any type!

Instead, I've been watching the steady climb of  membership figures since the announcement of Jeremy Corbyn as the new Leader of the Labour Party on Saturday 12th September.

An article dated 25 September last year (2014) on opendemocracy.net gace the following figures as having just been published in a House of Commons Library Report:

“Latest estimates suggest that the Conservative Party claimed 134,000 members, the Labour party 190,000 and the Liberal Democrat Party 44,000.*” They also say that, in June, UKIP had 39,000 members.

So how does that compare with the figures now, 12 months down the line?  It's hard to be exact as the latest "official" figures published by the House of Commons Library are dated August 2015, and show as follows: 

According to the latest party press releases and media estimates (at 11 August 2015):
- The Conservative Party has around 149,800 members, as of December 2013.
- The Labour Party has around 270,000 members, as of August 2015.
- The Scottish National Party has around 110,000 members, as of June 2015.
- The Liberal Democrat Party has 61,000 members, as of May 2015.
- UKIP has around 42,000 members, as of January 2015.
- The Green Party (England and Wales) has 61,000 members, as of June 2015.

However, what is clear is that whatever the figure was on 12th September, the Labour Party membership has climbed by more than 62,000 since the leadership election result - that's more than the total number of members that UKIP has, crowed the Independent.

Many of the new members are assumed to be from the 105,598 registered supporters (the £3 voters) signing up as full members, although there is evidence that some new members were not previously registered supporters whilst others have crossed the floor from other parties to join the Labour Party.  The total membership of the Labour Party is now reported in the Independent as approx. 360,000, which is probably more than the Conservative, the LibDem and UKIP totals combined!

So, apart from feeling smug, what should we as a party be asking all the new members to do?   We need action, we need people to spread the word about Labour Party policies, we need people to volunteer to deliver leaflets, attend meetings, organise awareness and fund-raising events, talk to anyone and everyone how a Labour government would result in a better, more socially just and caring society in the UK. How a Labour government would protect and improve the NHS; scrap student fees; bring essential services like the railways back into common ownership (not the same old nationalisation which was top heavy and didn't work);  build affordable social housing so that everyone who needs one can afford a home; by providing protection and support via the welfare system or otherwsie to the old, the sick and to people with disabilities of any kind;  to support small businesses and sole traders who have long-been ignored and neglected by all political parties;  by making our communities safer and giving our young people better opportunities for their futures. These are the policies that we need to explain to our friends, our neighbours and the wider society in which we live. Our vision is for a better future for us all in the UK, rather than the most wealthy 1% being OK and everyone else just getting by or suffering.

If you want to join us you would be very welcome:  https://join.labour.org.uk/ and if you are in the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency we will probably see you at a local South Lakes Labour event very soon!

Out of context comment reporting shows media bias: How surprising!

All social media has been alive with activity since the Labour leadership election campaign began, but since the result last Saturday there has been an increasing focus on the lies, spin, and disinformation appearing in the media.

One Facebook member was so incensed at the video which appeared on the Conservative Party's Facebook page that used the out of context claim that Jeremy Corbyn said the death of Osama Bin Laden was a tragedy, he issued his own video (embedded below) showing the actual context in which the words Osama Bin Laden and death and tragedy appeared. Another member created the image on the right to rebut the claims appearing in the press.

It is, as you will see, not what the subsequent media hype claimed it was! Meanwhile, the original Press TV broadcast video can be seen in full here: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=056_1441034465

It just goes to show how biased and unreliable the press are and how we can be misled by reading it.

Integrity or hypocrisy: the fuss about the National Anthem

Today's media is full of the story that (shock horror) the new Labour Party leader did not sing the National Anthem during yesterday's commemorative service at St Paul's Cathedral. 

Guess what?  Neither would I if I had been there!   My reason would be that singing "God save our Gracious Queen..." when I am neither a monarchist nor a Christian would be hypocritical.  But as he is the Leader of the Labour Party, and thus the Official Opposition, he is expected to compromise his principles and lie by singing about something with which he fundamentally disagrees.

Why should that be? It is such a rare thing to find a politician who has principles and who sticks to them regardless, that the media, and sadly some of the public, apparently  cannot handle it!  Have we really been so brainwashed that we cannot recognise respect and integrity when we see it?

Jeremy Corbyn's behaviour at the service was exemplary, he stood in respectful silence during the anthem, and clearly was not the only person not singing as the photo in the Daily Telegraph shows! 

Later he paid tribute to those who died during the Battle of Britain by saying, 

"My mum served as an air raid warden and my dad in the Home Guard.

Like that whole generation, they showed tremendous courage and determination to defeat fascism.
"The heroism of the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain is something to which we all owe an enormous debt of gratitude.
"The loss of life - both civilian and military - should be commemorated so that we both honour their lives and do all that we can to ensure future generations are spared the horrors of war."

It is interesting to compare Jeremy Corbyn's stance at the service to that of the Prime Minister and the Secretary of Defence, as reported by an  eye-witness,

"I would like to mention that during the service at St Paul's today, Jeremy Corbyn stood in dignified silence during the National Anthem, unlike the Secretary of Defence who was busy looking round and trying to catch the cameras. Thank you Jeremy for coming and paying your respects and not show boating and glad handing as Mr Cameron did. A man standing in dignified silence shows greater respect for the fallen than a noisy peacock and the PM and Defence secretary were not dignified."

The furore brings to mind an earlier occasion when the media reported inappropriate behaviour at a serious event. Do you remember the service for Nelson Mandela, at which David Cameron, Barack Obama (US President) and Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Denmark PM) were caught enjoying a selfie?  I do!

Surely Jeremy Corbyn's behaviour at the St Paul's service was far more appropriate than that displayed by David Cameron at both events?

Meanwhile, whilst everyone was being distracted by the media hype about the National Anthem, the Tory govt. voted in favour of swingeing cuts to tax credits that will cause untold hardship to those who earn the least. Perhaps the media should focus on this instead?!