The Jeremy Corbyn interview

I found it ok. I liked Corbyn’s calm and considered approach and his responses were fine with me.

Andrew Neil is decent but I dont think he is interested in truth but controversy. He sticks with points that will result with headlines rather than focusing on the details.

I guess it's all down to perspective but I feel that the majority will see it differently to yourself.
The interview with Mr Johnson will I feel be equally as uncomfortable for die hard Tories.

Of course the centre-left hasn't vanished - they just have no control of the party. The way Labour is structured, it's almost impossible for them to gain any traction and either get rid of Corbyn, or have a non-lunatic as leader. It's nailed on that no matter what happens in the next GE, the Labour Leader in 2020 will be from the militant hard left. It will be one of McDonnell, Long-Bailey, or Rayner. Thornberry is also a possibility.

As for Corbyn not leaving - the only circumstances I see that happening are if he feels tired of it and no longer wants it - weighed against his burning desire for Marxist Revolution. Let's not forget he lost a VONC by a massive, massive majority and simply ignored it. If he doesn't want to go, no one will make him. The Corbyn Project is not and never has been about winning power. It's about ideological purity of the Labour Party.

The centre-left in Labour is far far too weak to move against the hard-left. Apart from anything else, they have lost a lot of their key people in retirements, resignations and defections to the Lib Dems. A lot of those that are left like Kier Starmer and Cooper are really, really damaged by their allegience to Corbyn through all this.

I'd love to be more positive about this and tell you that you were being overly negative about the whole thing. But I can't. I think this analysis is very accurate. I suppose the question left is where do those centre-left people go - where is their home now? I don't believe they will allow follow Chuka et al.

I think they can stay in the Labour Party. We are a broad church of different views. There is no need to move to the Lib Dems like Mr Umunna did or become an independent. The Labour Party is for all views.

What kind of a question is "Will you apologise the the Jewish community for anti-semitism?"
And why did he spend half of the interview repeating it, even after Corbyn had repeatedly answered it?

Then there was the "would you kill a terrorist if you didn't have to?" one. I think he may have been drinking.

I found it ok. I liked Corbyn’s calm and considered approach and his responses were fine with me.

Andrew Neil is decent but I dont think he is interested in truth but controversy. He sticks with points that will result with headlines rather than focusing on the details.

That is true. It was quite uncomfortable cos Neil went on the attack. I hope he does not let Johnson off easily.

I haven't watched it yet - I will tonight when I'm home. But you seem to be going against the consensus there. From what I'm seeing, and not just from boris' fan-girl papers, is that his performance hasn't gone down terribly well. Not a disaster, and it won't be a key moment, but he certainly didn't do well or give a performance that will boost his campaign. Even left-wing papers and comentators are politely describing it as a 'difficult' evening for corbyn.

The comfort for me though is that Neil is one of the few ********s who is an equal-offending ********. He was pretty awful to Sturgeon in their interview, and I do believe he will be just the same with Boris, and that could be far worse because Boris has plenty of things that are pretty indefensible, and against someone as stuborn and dickish as neil who will keep interupting and asking and not letting it rest, I can't see it going well for Bojo.

I can understand people calling it "difficult", in the same way that Xmas dinner where grandad gets drunk and starts shouting the same things over and over is "difficult". However, he handled it pretty well didn't come out of it badly.

It was pretty disastrous.

He missed a golden opportunity to capitalise on his relative successes in previous television appearances. All he needed to do was say 'sorry'. But he didn't. He wriggled and writhed and evaded and acted too much like a professional politician. All he needed to do was say sorry sincerely for what Labour had done, or not done. But he didn't - and what will be remembered is that he was offered four times to apologise and he didn't.

I actually think this has damaged him quite seriously. Not with voters who'd already made their minds up about the man, but those who were still considering him.

The antisemitism,

the spraying money around, the Brexit position... it just comes across as a risk.

He also triggers memories of the 70s for too many people over the age of about 50.

Such a shame we don't have a credible opposition, but once Labour lose this election (relatively badly, I suspect) then at least it will have to be an end to this failed Corbyn project and Labour can get back to something a bit more centre-left and electable.

I couldn't agree more.

He won't, nobody gets an easy ride off Neil, the easiest possible ride is one where you answer the questions asked instead of trying to answer some different one but politicians are incapable of that. Given the state of politicians today there is no way to win against Neil, only lose less badly than the other interviewees.

Corbyn's problem is that he is a man of principle. He wouldn't "apologise to Britain's Jewish community for anti-semitism" because it would have been inappropriate for him to do so, because neither he, not the PLP is responsible for it. However, he did unequivocally and repeatedly condemn it and all forms of racism and bigotry.

It's difficult to see how it could have a negative effect. Rational Labour voters can see it for the non-issue it is. Tory and Brexit voters aren't going to vote Labour, but would look more favourable on him if they thought he was anti-Jewish.

What antisemitism? He repeatedly condemned antisemitism.

And yet too others, Brexit, further austerity and the erosion of the welfare state are far more of a risk.

My parents remember the Winter of Discontent. Both are voting Labour.

Labour is a credible opposition. The problem is that too many people just suck up the media Kool aid about Corbyn. However, this can't really be undone so, through no fault of his own, Corbyn has to go.


Starmer for PM!

Half the interview wasn't spent on it, about 30% was spent on antisemitism and only a small part of that on an apology (which Corbyn refused to give yesterday and is still refusing to give today).

I would like you try to arrest a terrorist wearing a suicide vest if you think it unnecessary.

Maybe i'll agree with you - when someone uploads it to youtube I'll give it a watch. So far I can only find small edited bits, which I don't want to watch because they are too easily manipulated.

Half the interview wasn't spent on it, about 30% was spent on antisemitism and only a small part of that on an apology (which Corbyn refused to give yesterday and is still refusing to give today).

I would like you try to arrest a terrorist wearing a suicide vest if you think it unnecessary.


You mean somebody is not interested in the truth when they give somebody many opportunities to answer the question asked? Corbyn was simply incapable of answering most of the questions, and when he did he often contradicted himself.

It's on iPlayer

I don't believe these people believe that it is a place for them and their views any longer. The entryism is complete. It's not really credible to describe New New Old Labour as a 'broad church' ! It is a marxist party, with zero possibility of winning an outright majority.