Daily Archives: February 4, 2019

Will Labour MPs accept May’s ‘pork-barrel’ bribe? And if so, should they be Labour MPs?

You knew this was coming: Any story about an offer made by Theresa May was going to get the image implying she’s a liar – because she is.

Theresa May is trying to split Labour MPs by offering money to be invested in their constituencies – but only if they vote for her duff Brexit deal.

Sadly it seems she may even manage to lure in some Brexiter Labour right-wingers – like John Mann, if this Guardian report is to be believed.

He’s quoted as saying “it will persuade Labour MPs towards the deal”.

This Writer reckons John McDonnell has it right (as usual). He described the offer as “pork-barrel politics”, saying: “If there is money there to spend on our constituencies, it should be done anyway.”

Damn straight. In making this offer, Mrs May is saying she is withholding cash from constituencies that need it.

What will it say about Labour MPs if they take her up on her offer? Should they continue as Labour MPs or should they be shown the door?

Here’s the link to the McDonnell article in the Graun – and consider the comment from “Monsignor it’s all Corbyn’s fault…” beneath it:

Fair point?

Also, it seems not all Labour MPs are equal as at least one has not been offered any help at all. So Mrs May is playing favourites, it seems:

And the matter was raised on Andrew Marr’s talk show with Labour’s Barry Gardiner – who made the right points:

https://twitter.com/LabourNewsroom/status/1092077467999920128

Right. His vote is not for sale.

Nor should that of any other Labour MP.

What’s more: Mrs May does not have a glowing reputation for honesty.

Why would any Labour MP believe this liar will honour any offer she’s making now?

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Is this ‘signature check’ an attempt to cut the number of disabled people who can vote?

What do Vox Political readers think of this comment received on This Site’s Facebook page?

“We had a letter from the council this week for my wife to re-register for postal voting, with the reason being they need to confirm her signature regularly.

“Can we say something about this?

“We think they are trying to reduce the amount of disabled people allowed to vote. They are saying your signature may change over time.”

Has anyone else received this kind of contact from their council? If so, what happened and what is your impression?

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Should Labour be worried about opinion poll slump? Apparently not.

Not bothered: This was taken on an earlier occasion but may well illustration Jeremy Corbyn and Jennie Formby’s response to the Opinium poll.

A new opinion poll has suggested the fortunes of the Labour and Conservative parties have been reversed, with Labour falling six points and the Tories up four, giving Mrs May’s party a seven-point lead.

The Opinium poll for The Observer gives the Conservatives 41 per cent and Labour 34 per cent. It suggests that Labour has lose support from both sides of the Brexit debate.

Approval for Theresa May’s handling of Brexit has risen to -30 per cent, while approval for Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of it has fallen to -40 per cent, according to the poll.

It also shows increased support for Mrs May’s deal – although most people still think it is bad.

But is it cause for Labour MPs to be concerned?

Consider:

There’s a lot here to support “Bob”‘s claim. What, suddenly support for Labour slumps and Mrs May enjoys a surge? After the month she’s just had?

It’s not realistic.

Shaun Lawson has written a Twitter thread that appeals for common sense, as you can see:

Is this why Theresa May is trying to bribe Labour MPs with financial incentives for their constituencies if they support her deal? If they refuse, she can say not only that they have betrayed their voters by turning down the investment, but also that they have betrayed Brexit – “the will of the people”.

It’s interesting that some hard-right (centrists? Don’t make me laugh) Labour MPs are planning to quit the party. I’ve seen a rumour that Jeremy Corbyn has been given an ultimatum – to show he has achieved real change over claims of anti-Semitism in the party within a week – in order to provide these MPs with an excuse to leave that would be extremely damaging to the party they’re planning to quit.

So there are many possible reasons for Labour to be slumping in the polls, including misdirection from the Tories (and their puppet media) over Brexit and also false claims about Jeremy Corbyn from MPs who no longer represent the interests of party members.

But let’s get back to the substantive issue: Does this poll mean anything?

I’d say the answer to that is no – for a very simple reason provided in this response to the first post in Shaun’s thread:

https://twitter.com/DelicateDave/status/1091860961462534144

Polls can influence politicians as well as the public.

But it seems Mrs May is not sufficiently influenced to call an election – despite having been urged to do so since before Christmas.

Perhaps she knows something we don’t.

Perhaps that’s why we shouldn’t be overly concerned about an outlier among recent opinion polls.