Leading to Oblivion

I was reading the other day that some 180,000 people signed up as Labour Party 'registered supporters', in order to be eligible to vote in the forthcoming leadership election, during the two day sign up window earlier this week.  I've also seen various political pundits and members of the Corbyn camp assuming that the majority of these new sign ups are Corbynites. Really? They could be in for a rude awakening - I'm one of that 180,000 who forked out twenty five quid for the privilege of participating in the contest and I certainly have no intention of of voting for the bearded bastard.  Despite all the sycophantic Momentum cronies continually trying to 'big up' his supposed leadership, I've still neither seen nor heard anything to convince me that he's leading the Labour Party to anywhere other than oblivion. If they honestly believe that Labour could possibly win a general election under Corbyn, then they are even more delusional than I thought.

Then again, as I mentioned in an earlier post, they do seem to fall back on the kind of conspiracy theories, ('false flag' attacks and the like), which are usually the preserve of the extreme right.  Today, they seemed to be moving further into such territory, with claims that Corbyn was a victim of 'dirty tricks' co-ordinated by MI5.  Aside from the fact that the Security Service (to give them their proper name),  would be hard-pressed to organise the proverbial bum rape at a barracks, the truth is that Corbyn is a victim of his own incompetence and lack of leadership skills.  He preaches only to the 'converted', makes no attempt to reach out to Labour's broader electoral base, (indeed, he seems to have no understanding of the fact that average Labour voters aren't left wing firebrands who want radical change and who certainly don't favour unilateral nuclear disarmament - although they might be persuaded to such policies if Corbyn and his acolytes could be bothered to articulate convincing arguments for them to an audience outside of Momentum),  and seems to have gone out of his way to alienate his own MPs.  But what do I know?  I'm just one of those 'Blairites' hell bent on derailing Corbyn's march toward a socialist utopia. (A march, incidentally, which seems to involve treading all over long-held Labour traditions and campaigns of intimidation against those who dare to differ from his line).

But the fact is that I'm a long-term Labour voter, somewhat to the left to boot, and, right now, I fear for the Party's long-term future as a credible political force in the UK.  Which is why I became a 'regisetred supporter'  - as long as Corbyn and his cult retain control of the leadership, the Party can only fail to do its job of representing and helping the less privileged in society.  The fact is that I was prepared to give Corbyn a chance - I thought that, so long as he could achieve some kind of consensus within the party, there might be a long-term chance of at least increasing its presence in Parliament, even if that wasn't an out right majority. I was prepared to dismiss his critics among Labour MPs as embittered and out-of-touch right-wingers.  But the fact is that he has made no attempt to build consensus, nor has he made any serious attempt to reach out to those in the party who disagree with him.  His leadership has been woeful, reaching a nadir with his non-performance in the EU Remain campaign.  I also cannot ignore the fact his critics among Labour MPS now encompass the full spectrum of opinion, from left to right.  And if we can't dislodge him from the leadership this time, then we have to try again next year.  After all, I seem to recall Corbyn, in his days as a leftie back bencher who spent his time defying the Party whip and trying to undermine the leadership, demanding annual leadership contests.  It looks like his wish has come true...