A warning for Dan Jarvis

Last Updated: March 10, 2016By


Mr Jarvis: Only Conservatives stab their leaders in the back.

Put your tongue on hold and support yours.

This Writer will certainly not support you if you try to undermine Jeremy Corbyn.

You would haemorrhage members and kill the Labour Party stone dead.

Dan Jarvis, the Labour backbencher widely touted as a potential challenger to Jeremy Corbyn, has warned that working people want a Labour party that does not just “oppose the government” but beats it.

Jarvis, the former paratrooper who is known to have been raising money from former Labour donors, denied that his words should be taken as a critique of the current leadership. He argued that Corbyn had called for debate within the party.

Source: Dan Jarvis distances himself from New Labour as leadership talk grows | Politics | The Guardian

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(
but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Donate Button with Credit Cards

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

HWG PrintHWG eBook

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

SWAHTprint SWAHTeBook

latest video

news via inbox

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

33 Comments

  1. John Gaines March 10, 2016 at 12:30 pm - Reply

    I recall that the Paras’ usually got us into trouble, ( I MENTION THIS AS HE APPEARS TO BE TRADING UPON A MILITARY BACKGROUND) £41Bns worth and, still counting in NI.
    Do not allow Him near anything he could screw -up; its, the mind-set, a cast iron guarantee that he will.

  2. Barry March 10, 2016 at 12:52 pm - Reply

    While Corbyn is beating the living excrement out of cameron every PMQ’s you have to ask why Labour would want to replace him.

  3. Phil Woodford March 10, 2016 at 12:59 pm - Reply

    I’m sure Jarvis will be quaking when he realises he doesn’t have the endorsement of Vox Political!

    • Mike Sivier March 10, 2016 at 1:27 pm - Reply

      Are you suggesting that I’m saying my influence will put people off this man?
      Far from it.
      I am merely stating my personal view, as an individual member of the Labour Party.

  4. Tim March 10, 2016 at 1:03 pm - Reply

    Jarvis with his backstory (ex-soldier bringing up a young family, single handedly, after his wife died) makes him very plausible as far as the public are concerned in respect to being a leading light, even leader, of the Labour party. It’s a difficult call: a leader who is hugely popular to Labour party members but who has precious little appeal to non-affiliated members of the public (and so could never lead Labour to victory in a general election), or a leader who is less popular within Labour ranks who has much wider appeal to non-party members (and so a fighting chance of defeating the Conservatives).

    As good a man as Jeremy Corbyn is he hasn’t got a hope of becoming PM, Mike.

    • Mike Sivier March 10, 2016 at 1:26 pm - Reply

      Who says Corbyn could never lead Labour to victory? People who have an interest in him losing and people they are leading by the nose.
      Which are you, Tim?
      Also, it isn’t that Jarvis would be “less popular within Labour ranks”. Corbyn is the man who encouraged hundreds of thousands to join. If people like Jarvis push him out, they’ll leave – accompanied by a couple of hundred thousand more members, disillusioned with the corruption the move represents.

  5. mohandeer March 10, 2016 at 1:56 pm - Reply

    I agree with Mike. Anyone who touts disrespect of JC will automatically find himself on the wrong side of a vast number of pro JC members, me included. I thought Jarvis was a level headed man with some merit, but his ambiguous remarks leave many Labour Party members perplexed and concerned. He really should make his position very clear on whether or not he support the elected leader of the Labour Party.

  6. Steve March 10, 2016 at 1:57 pm - Reply

    So the rough tough ex-para Dan didn’t fancy a straight fight last summer for the leadership of the party. A few months later he plucks up courage to stab the elected leader in the back.

    Two observations about this behaviour.

    1) Cowardly in not wanting to fight your enemy in a fair fight
    2) Feck all leadership quality on display taking the cowardly approach

    Ex fighting man? My arse.

  7. Steve March 10, 2016 at 2:01 pm - Reply

    Mike,

    You might like to read this:

    http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/03/10/dab-jarvis-analysis-of-a-speech/

    Richard has a far better understanding of Dan than most!

    • Mike Sivier March 11, 2016 at 2:00 pm - Reply

      Yes indeed!
      I put it up on This Blog, as you’ve probably noticed.

  8. Tim March 10, 2016 at 4:08 pm - Reply

    In fairness Jarvis said he didn’t want to stand to lead the Labour party because his children were too young to be left without their father should he have been elected leader. As Jarvis isn’t a member of the shadow cabinet he’s perfectly entitled to say whatever he wants privately or publicly. All this nonsense about “stabbing in the back” and twaddle like that sounds kind of Stalinist to me. I though Corbyn was all for open discussion and full-blooded democratisation of Labour.

    • Mike Sivier March 10, 2016 at 6:42 pm - Reply

      Is that what you think this is? Open discussion and democratisation?
      Jarvis’s speech can be summed up as “Don’t think. Don’t question. Obey.”
      So it seems while Corbyn is for open discussion and democraticsation, Jarvis isn’t.
      The backstabbing comment is relevant as it is a Tory characteristic that Jarvis seems to be adopting. Odd for a Labour MP, isn’t it?
      And, in fairness, saying what you want isn’t the same as gearing up to challenge your leader for no reason at all.

      • Tim March 11, 2016 at 9:01 am - Reply

        “Don’t think. Don’t question. Obey.”

        But surely the opposite of this should be: Think for yourself. Question everything. Do what you think is right? And therefore speaking your mind and questioning the leadership, even challenging it if you feel it is necessary, should be every Labour party member’s right? We don’t live in North Korea, Mike. Jarvis isn’t a traitor just somebody with a slightly different point of view and take on things. Only tyrants want to stifle free speech.

        • Mike Sivier March 11, 2016 at 1:49 pm - Reply

          Nobody’s saying he’s a traitor but your reasoning is flawed. Yes, the opposite of what he’s saying is “Think for yourself. Question everything. Do what you think is right.” But according to your argument, Dan Jarvis is reserving that right for himself and telling us to do the opposite.
          You say yourself, only tyrants want to stifle free speech.
          So let’s not encourage the creation of one.

    • jeffrey davies March 11, 2016 at 7:41 am - Reply
  9. rupertrlmitchell March 10, 2016 at 4:53 pm - Reply

    I haven’t anything to add other than I totally agree with you Mike. Back stabbers don’t belong in the Labour party

  10. bevchat March 10, 2016 at 9:13 pm - Reply

    What part of we the Labour members have voted for their leader do the centrists not understand….The Labour members and JC supporters wont support this man…maybe those who do should go join the Tory party!

  11. Terry Davies March 11, 2016 at 6:53 am - Reply

    jarvis has a right to speak about what he believes. Im not familiar with his political stance.
    if he is hiding behind a military stance then he is a sheep and follower, likely to get blairite support and not be a man of strong principle. if this is the case resignation of this man is a must perhaps he is more suitable in the tory party.
    he is undoubtedly not sharing values of the labour party and has no leadership qualities having been a follower in the military arena.
    how did he vote on the ESA changes? anyone know if he abstained??,

  12. jeffrey davies March 11, 2016 at 7:40 am - Reply

    im fed up when will the party rid itself of the blair babies the peasants have had enough jeff3

  13. John March 11, 2016 at 10:09 am - Reply

    I hope you’re going to do a series of “A warning for …..”, because Jarvis isn’t the ONLY one backstabbing Corbyn, to the best of my knowledge. I still can’t understand for the life of me, why they’re doing this. Whatever they try, clearly isn’t gonna work, and all they’re gonna do is destroy the LP membership in the process, so what’s the point? Do they not want the Tories to be ousted or something?

    • Mike Sivier March 11, 2016 at 1:19 pm - Reply

      Jarvis is the one being groomed to challenge for the leadership.

    • hayfords March 11, 2016 at 2:52 pm - Reply

      It is quite clear why Jarvis and others are doing what they are doing. They believe, quite correctly, that Labour is unelectable with Corbyn or any other left of centre leader in place. Recent history has shown this. Foot, Kinnock, Brown, Miliband all failed to be elected. Blair was elected and reelected.

      The UK electorate has moved to the right and will only elect centre or right of centre governments. The rise of UKIP is one of the symptoms of this. If the Labour party continues its current path, it will be out of power for the foreseeable future. Boundary changes and the rise of SNP will contribute to Scotland and the UK becoming one party countries.

      Corbyn may have been elected by a majority of the membership but these are activists and only amount to 0.5% of the electorate. In the wider electorate there is no appetite for Corbyn.

      • Mike Sivier March 11, 2016 at 3:24 pm - Reply

        You are mistaken.
        The UK electorate did move to the right, but now it is moving back to the left again. Look at Scotland. The SNP may have been elected after giving only lip-service to the claim of being socialist, but that’s why they were elected.
        I’m glad you agree that the Tories’ gerrymandering of boundaries is corruptly intended to create advantage for them.
        The majority of the Labour membership are not activists. They are simply people of particular political beliefs who have chosen to put their money where their mouths are.

      • philwoodford (@philwoodford) March 11, 2016 at 5:44 pm - Reply

        Using the SNP as an argument that the British electorate is moving to left is ridiculous. Their voters amounted to 4.7% of the UK electorate, but due to the perverse nature of first-past-the-post, they got an enormous number of seats.

        More than 10 times as many people voted for either the Tories or UKIP.

        Time to wake up and smell the coffee, Mike, and start honing messages that appeal to this much more significant group of voters.

        Interesting, isn’t it, that one of the claims of the Corbynistas last year would win back Scottish votes. The Scots are not mugs and we’ll see that writ large in May.

        • Mike Sivier March 12, 2016 at 2:27 pm - Reply

          Sure, more people voted for the Tories or UKIP – and more people didn’t vote at all than voted for both of those put together, because they did not believe their views were represented by any party standing in their constituencies.
          Many, if not all, of those will be left-leaning voters who were unhappy with right-wing, neoliberal Labour.
          Of course, these non-voters are by for the most significant group – much more so than your minority of Tories and UKIP dupes.

      • hayfords March 11, 2016 at 6:15 pm - Reply

        It is worth considering that if you exclude Blair, Labour has not won an election since 1976 when Callaghan was elected. In that 40 years the electorate has moved to the right. I know that Blair looks to be on the right as far as current Labour members think. However the public views him as a centrist PM.

        Again, if you exclude Blair, Labour have only been in power for 16 years in the last 71 years. That doesn’t look like an appetite for Labour and certainly not left leaning Labour.

        • Mike Sivier March 11, 2016 at 6:56 pm - Reply

          You might just as well say that if you exclude last year, the Conservatives haven’t won an election since 1997. So what? Labour DID win in 1997 and unfortunately the Tories won last year. But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong about the direction of travel for the electorate RIGHT NOW.

  14. suefewuk March 11, 2016 at 12:00 pm - Reply

    I totally agree. The backstabbers seem to be appropriating the issues and language that got Corbyn elected as leader, especially the big issue of inequality, but seem to forget that until Corbyn became leader that issue, and others surrounding social justice, had been buried and forgotten for decades.

    It is Corbyn who has highlighted the selfish individualism; social injustices, and the attack on the poor and vulnerable by this heartless Tory government. He is showing us that we can expose and fight against the implementation of a Randian neoliberalist agenda that encourages such greed and selfishness. We want a democratic leader in the Labour Party, who can lead us, not a dictator who is merely lusting for power so he too can become one of the elite 1%: using any means by which to obtain it. We know for a fact that this is definitely not part of Corbyn’s approach. And perhaps Jarvis is by not a power hungry wannabe 1 per center, yet.

    However, his military background concerns me: there is a certain type of person who wants to be a soldier – and they are then inculcated with forceful authoritarian discipline. I doubt very much that he can fully overcome his military training and become a truly democratic leader.

  15. Tim March 11, 2016 at 3:08 pm - Reply

    Corbyn is level pegging with Michael Gove in opinion polls testing the popularity of politicians amongst the general electorate. Now, personally, because I want the Tories gone more than anything I would love Michael Gove to become the next Tory leader after Cameron. But I would love someone a good bit more popular than Gove, amongst unaffiliated voters, as leader of the Labour party because nowhere in history has a leader that unpopular clawed his way back in the public’s affection or imagination and gone on to become Prime Minister.

    Labour will lose the next election under Jeremy Corbyn.

    When it happens and happens badly if this blog is still going I will post “I told you so.”

    • Mike Sivier March 11, 2016 at 3:21 pm - Reply

      If you want someone more popular than Gove leading the Labour Party, you want to tell all the Blairite backstabbers to back off and actually show some support for their party, its members and its leader.
      Then you’ll see Corbyn’s ratings rocket.
      You are pointing your aggression in the wrong direction.

      • Tim March 11, 2016 at 6:00 pm - Reply

        To be honest I would rather have a Labour government led by pretty much anyone than a Tory administration led by Boris Johnson, Teresa May, or George Osborne (God forbid!) or some other morally bankrupt and cruel Conservative. In fact although I loathe him I’d rather have Tony Blair and New Labour back than another ten or twenty years of pernicious government the same or similar to what we suffer under now.

      • Phil Woodford March 12, 2016 at 3:11 pm - Reply

        Corbyn’s ratings would ‘rocket’ is people stopped criticising him? I sometimes wonder if you actually believe the tripe you write, Mike. The only rocket Jez is going to see is the one that’s placed up his rear end after he leads Labour to disaster.

        • Mike Sivier March 16, 2016 at 10:23 am - Reply

          Did I write “people”? No – I wrote “Blairite backstabbers”. If they stopped attacking Corbyn from behind, then the Tory media would not be able to continue what has been a remarkably vitriolic campaign of negative coverage of Mr Corbyn, and the public might be able to judge him on his own words and actions, rather than those of a Tory stooge (and I count the Blairites in that description).
          You’re entitled to your opinion about what I write, but I doubt that many people agree with it. Last week alone, This Blog had around 180,000 readers, making it one of the most popular independent political columns in the UK – if not the most popular outright.

Leave A Comment