The new shadow Defence Minister

[Rotate too late]

Well I certainly don't think you could make it up!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/12084846/David-Cameron-Questions-to-answer-over-Emily-Thornberrys-links-to-condemned-law-firm-Leigh-Day.html

[Rosevidney1]

Shameful! Disgusting. Appalling - but are we surprised at the shenanigans of the left?

[Courtney Mil]

It's all good news really. Corbyn has now sacked most of the more moderate and sensible people in the Shadow Cabinet and is slowly surrounding himself with fellow Trots making the party a laughing stock. No means of being a credible opposition and utterly unelectable.

What the hell does this woman Thornberry know about Defence? The whole things a joke.

[downsizer]

Trouble is the Tories could screw the pooch in a number of ways if they aren't careful and lose an election; as opposed to Corbyn winning it so to speak...

[sharpend]

Words fail me. Surely Comrade Corbyn is a Tory spy? He has done more for the Conservative party than anyone else.

[Thomas coupling]

Concur.
He's the best PR machine the Tories have ever had.
C'mon Corbyn keep fuc**ng it up baby.

[Xenophon]

Right .... stop all that scraping at once !

The bottom of the barrel has been reached.

[Could be the last?]

I agree with some of the sentiments of the previous posts - but it is certainly not good news. If Labour no longer present a credible opposition, or, the ability to bring reasoned debate to parliament, then this can only be bad for Defence and the Country as a whole. Notwithstanding the recent SDSR, if Dave and his cronies think that they can act with impunity, knowing full well that there is no credible alternative to their view of life, or, the direction that they are leading this country, then I suggest we are all up the creek!

[Courtney Mil]

And you really think this Shad Def Min or any other loonie left is going to stick up for the Armed Forces against the Conservatives? No matter who they choose. Cameron isn't anti-military. I suspect your conspiracy theory is a little out of control. Don't mistake balancing the books for anything more sinister.

[Mechta]

When a party only charges £3 for anyone to join as a registered supporter and have the opportunity to vote for its leaders, they've got to be pretty naive if they believe the leader they then get is the one that their bona fide members want.

Being 'Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition*' was probably beyond Screaming Lord Sutch's wildest dreams, however it certainly appears that the opposition benches are now occupied by his party.

*In the case of the new Shadow Defence Secretary, 'loyal' to who though?

[glad rag]

The Lord Duncan-Sandys

I hope you are right Courts however on the streets people aren't happy.

If things don't look up, the trot might just pull it off, with a combination of voter apathy (kinda know where that comes from) and sheer destructive "get them out type" voting.

Anyway Cameron's off this term so it's all conjecture who will be the Tory figurehead.

I think Osborne will have it and personally speaking I believe he is the new JC after curing my disabled daughter to the extent she no longer needs her disability allowance.

Read somewhere that on the first day back at work after holidays some city analysts earned more than the national average yearly wage.

Hmm all in this together??!

[Could be the last?]

No conspiracy theories, just basic democracy and parliamentary privilege!

And I would argue that after John McDonnel's (Shadow Chancellor) defence of Corbyn's reshuffle, democracy is certainly on the wain in the opposition. The justification given to Radio 4, at 0810 this morning, was that to remain on the front benches you can't openly disagree with Corbyn in the HoP. The 'so what' for Defence and the country, is that we now have an opposition leader and his shadow Defence Minister that are quite determined not to see the nuclear deterrent replaced. It was even stated that if there were to be any further 'free votes' the front benches would have to toe the party line. A sad day!

[smujsmith]

I try to avoid politics, but just a quick query if I may. Is Corbyns packing of his shadow cabinet with anti Tridenteers a sensible move for a man who believes he is there to oppose ? For that he surely does, he not only opposes leaving the EU, but our right to decide it by referendum. Whoever he stuffs his front bench with, he will lose his opposition to trident, he has too many enemies within his party who will vote for its replacement. As others have said, the real threat to our democracy is the lack of opposition to current government plans. An unopposed government is a most dangerous situation for any democracy. End of political input.

Smudge

[cynicalint]

But she does have military experience! Her profile says that she was given the honorary rank of Lt Col when she was conducting Courts Martial. That really equips her for the role, eh? (Not to denigrate the superb lawyers I worked with in my targetting work who really were all first class - thank you all!)

[Stuff]

Originally Posted by Mechta

When a party only charges £3 for anyone to join as a registered supporter and have the opportunity to vote for its leaders, they've got to be pretty naive if they believe the leader they then get is the one that their bona fide members want.

Point of order.

Corbyn was the leader their bona fide members voted for:



He was the clear winner in all 3 groups of voters, the proper members, the £3 supporters and the rest.

Source: Results of the Labour Leadership elections ? The Labour Party

I can't wait to see what he does next. It's better than Star Wars for entertainment value.

[Rotate too late]

I'm with you stuff, this lot are so dysfunctional its hypnotic. It's like watching a slow mo car crash!
My absolute fave at the mo is McDonnel, he actually used Thatcher to justify the reshuffle! THATCHER!! The lefts most hated adversary, and that's who he comes up with, dear old Maggie....sheer poetry. Well I'm sure he's off to have a few jars with his republican muckers to laugh about the good old days, you know, the ones they'll be constantly reminded of when the elections come about.....the Tory's do not deserve this much good fortune. They'll be laughing about this for decades, literally decades.

[Mechta]

Stuff, The proof of the pudding will be how many new full members renew their membership without a leadership election in the offing (although the way things are going, I wouldn't rule that out). There must have been plenty of current and ex service personnel who considered that a bit of sabotage was worth a quid:

Membership rates explained | The Labour Party

Membership rates explained



The Labour Party is a voluntary, not-for-profit organisation and as such relies on membership fees and donations in order to maintain a solid financial base from which to campaign. To ensure this continues, our membership rates are linked to the rate of inflation and are subject to increases on 1 January every year.

How much should I pay? *

• £1 14-19/Student Available to joiners under 20 or in full-time education.
• £12 Young Persons Rate annually (£1 per month) who are aged 20-27.
• £1 Serving or Former Member of the British Armed Forces Rate Introductory first year offer.
• £15 Local Join Rate A special introductory rate available to members recruited locally (£1.25 per month).
• £46.50 Standard rate (£3.88 per month)
• £23.50 Reduced rate Available to joiners who are currently out of work, work fewer than 16 hours per week, who are also members of an affiliated Trade Union or are on a low income (£1.96 per month)

[Thelma Viaduct]

It's only proving what a few have known all along, democracy is a lie.

Same sh1t, different coloured wrapping.

[Bollotom]

I did read that during his career, young JC voted against the whip over 500 times, thus now having shoewear on other cloven hoof. But, as said, that's entertainment.

[teeteringhead]

• £1 Serving or Former Member of the British Armed Forces Rate Introductory first year offer.

Hmmmm. Never mind JC's cloven hooves, I might just have grown horns myself.

The potential year's fun for a sov would be enormous!!

Probably a pretty lonely party in Teeteringshire though ..........