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I have snipped this from the Independent UK edition. "Jeremy Corbyn’s critics warned that they will wage a “war of attrition” until they force him out of his job after he suggested that Labour MPs who refuse to back him could be sacked by local party activists. Senior Labour MPs rejected Mr Corbyn’s plea to rally behind them if he defeats his challenger Owen Smith in the September leadership election. They told *The Independent* they are prepared to trigger another leadership election next year – and even a further contest the following year. Many of the MPs who have quit the Labour frontbench because they have no confidence in Mr Corbyn will not return if he defeats Mr Smith." So the bluster continues. The above threat needs to be seen as campaign rhetoric which both recognizes the likelihood of a Corbyn victory but which refuses to admit its legitimacy. The message is clear. The only way to peace is to get rid of Corbyn. The Party is there to be "responsible" and not to be responsive to the wishes of the party members. There will be, I would guess, no protracted campaign. The anti-Corbyn forces of the Blairites, the Old Right and the Soft Left had one shot in the locker and this is it. Still, the threat reveals something of the anger and desperation that is in the Blairite camp. As they see it, their party has been taken away from them and they want it back. My guess from here is that the threat of prolonged guerrilla war will be met with a tide of anger. There will be dis-endorsements to follow this. There has to be. I watched the full speech of the Corbyn launch and he was very good. What was most clever was his placing his campaign firmly on the terrain of anti-austerity and anti-poverty and for social justice. Already his enemies have strengthened him by putting him back among the people where he can speak to the themes he has given his life to. The great Irish patriot Patrick Pearse in his oration at the grave of the rebel O'Donovan Rossa said "Fools, fools, fools, they have left us our Fenian dead and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland will never be at peace". I think the anti-Corbyn forces have made a similar miscalculation. They have driven Corbyn out among the people and he has drawn strength from that source. It is a bit much to ask of the Blairites that they know anything of Irish history. Maybe though they could look up the myth of Antaeus. comradely Gary _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
