John Rentoul's "20 Corbynite Denialist memes"
John Rentoul of the Independent tweeted today that when he put out a list of the 20 top Corbynite Denialist memes, "I was making fun of him, not expecting him to copy them."
These were the ideas concerned, and the two reasons I am taking the trouble to reprint them are
a) know your opposition so you can have your arguments ready to respond, and
b) sooner or later the Conservatives will lose an election, even though Labour seem to be doing their utmost to put that date back to 2025, 2030, or even later, and when it does happen we will need to avoid the mirror-image mistakes.
Anyway, here are Rentoul's "Top 20 Memes of Corbynite Denialism" (note, contains irony):
1. 76 per cent didn’t vote Tory.
2. Ed Miliband wasn’t left wing at all, let alone too left wing.
3. Tony Blair lost 4 million votes.
4. Ed Miliband won more votes in England than Blair did in 2005.
5. Nobody wants the first past the post system.
6. Millions of non-voters would vote Labour if armed with a bold programme.
7. The SNP’s success proves a left-wing programme would be popular.
8. Labour would have won if it hadn’t been for the right-wing media.
9. Greece proves neolizards and their austerity agenda secretly control this country.
10. If you offer people a Tory-lite party they'll vote for the real thing.
11. Anybody could've beaten the Tories in 1997.
12. Labour lost in 1983 only because of the Falklands war/SDP defections.
13. Harold Wilson was a better election winner than Blair (argued by Corbyn himself).
14. Blair won only because the Conservatives were having a breakdown (the Ken Livingstone gambit).
15. The Tories attack Corbyn because they are afraid of him.
16. If the centre ground is the key to winning elections, Nick Clegg would be prime minister.
17. Opinion polls show that nationalising the Royal Mail, railways and energy companies is popular.
18. There’s £50bn in uncollected tax.
19. Many UKIP voters are basically left-wing working-class voters crying out for a radical alternative.
20. Jeremy Corbyn offers hope.
These were the ideas concerned, and the two reasons I am taking the trouble to reprint them are
a) know your opposition so you can have your arguments ready to respond, and
b) sooner or later the Conservatives will lose an election, even though Labour seem to be doing their utmost to put that date back to 2025, 2030, or even later, and when it does happen we will need to avoid the mirror-image mistakes.
Anyway, here are Rentoul's "Top 20 Memes of Corbynite Denialism" (note, contains irony):
1. 76 per cent didn’t vote Tory.
2. Ed Miliband wasn’t left wing at all, let alone too left wing.
3. Tony Blair lost 4 million votes.
4. Ed Miliband won more votes in England than Blair did in 2005.
5. Nobody wants the first past the post system.
6. Millions of non-voters would vote Labour if armed with a bold programme.
7. The SNP’s success proves a left-wing programme would be popular.
8. Labour would have won if it hadn’t been for the right-wing media.
9. Greece proves neolizards and their austerity agenda secretly control this country.
10. If you offer people a Tory-lite party they'll vote for the real thing.
11. Anybody could've beaten the Tories in 1997.
12. Labour lost in 1983 only because of the Falklands war/SDP defections.
13. Harold Wilson was a better election winner than Blair (argued by Corbyn himself).
14. Blair won only because the Conservatives were having a breakdown (the Ken Livingstone gambit).
15. The Tories attack Corbyn because they are afraid of him.
16. If the centre ground is the key to winning elections, Nick Clegg would be prime minister.
17. Opinion polls show that nationalising the Royal Mail, railways and energy companies is popular.
18. There’s £50bn in uncollected tax.
19. Many UKIP voters are basically left-wing working-class voters crying out for a radical alternative.
20. Jeremy Corbyn offers hope.
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