‘Ok this is obviously aimed at a niche interest group but Jeremy handed me his empty coffee cup at tonight’s gathering outside the Playhouse in Nottingham.
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The 61-year-old also urged a “younger generation” of Labour reformers to the lead the fightback against Corbyn and described likened the fragmentation of Labour to a “Syriza moment”.
Speaking ahead of a rally in Manchester, a fortnight before the leadership results are declared on 12 September, Mr Corbyn said: “For too long, talk of Northern regeneration has been little more than Southern hot air”. So I am auctioning it to benefit Age UK Notts [Nottinghamshire].
“We want to hear them give a sermon on housing for our young people, the NHS, education, terrorism – stuff about nuclear isn’t in the here and now, it isn’t on our doorstep”. It might help get the Tories out.
Despite that, just as much as what is being said, it matters how it is being said. Based on current information, there is only one sensible choice: Jeremy Corbyn. Last week’s New Statesman front page featured Corbyn facing up bravely to Darth Vader, last Saturday’s Times editorial expressed anxiety about him as if he were Darth Vader, while Seamas Milne, in the Guardian two days before that, rightly summarised the Corbyn campaign phenomenon as “a democratic explosion unprecedented in British political history”. We don’t yet properly understand this. Those in this bubble feel good about what they’re doing.
The Labour leadership hopefuls, including Corbyn, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall, this week held a meeting with party bosses amid claims of left and right-wing infiltration into the contest. There is a sense of real change because of course the impact on politics is indeed real.
Hs younger brother Jeremy is favourite to become the next Labour leader despite starting the race as the 100-1 outsider. And, in the absence of a credible Labour leader who can revitalise the party and engage with the voters on the issues of importance to them, then sticking with what they know will be the preferred option.
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Flint said Labour needed to recognise that people would not simply vote out of solidarity with those who were the most needy.
