The Ashcroft Poll – Is This Why Jeremy Corbyn Must Go?
by Rachel Bridgeland from truepublica.org.uk
Jeremy Corbyn is right to urge us to see through the media’s attempts to divide us. The media has encouraged those who voted to Remain see Leave voters as, at worst, a venal mob and at best misguided and stupid enough to think a government under the likes of Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage would be an improvement.
Against the wishes of many Labour MPs who hope to find a way to delegitimise the referendum and remain in the EU, Jeremy Corbyn has given a clear commitment to invoke Clause 50.
Anger did indeed motivate some Leave voters. During membership of the EU the division between rich and poor has increased, with the poorest suffering a fall in living standards. A UCL study has shown that the poorest 20% of British workers have indeed been affected adversely by immigration, so it was easy for the Leave campaign to focus discontent on this point instead of giving a voice to constructive and positive reasons people had for wanting to leave. Polling showed that support for UKIP actually fell during the referendum campaign.
Lord Ashcroft’s recent poll is considered more accurate than most. A larger number of people than usual were interviewed. Asked which of the following they considered to be forces for good, a considerable proportion of leave voters expressed support for multi-culturalism (29%), social liberalism (32%), globalisation (49%), the green movement (38%), feminism (40%) and even immigration (21%).
About half of the voters, whether leave or remain, felt capitalism was a force for ill rather than a force for good (51%:49%).
This, then, could be the reason why the Parliamentary Labour Party is so keen to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn.
The majority of the population, across all the political parties, want nationalisation of key industries and around half think capitalism is a force for ill. Because of the lack of proportional representation, when there is any choice at all in a constituency it is between three neo-liberal parties, all of which represent the moneyed classes and support free market capitalism.
Lord Ashcroft’s poll found the majority of those who voted to remain believe life is better today than it was for their parents’ generation. The majority of those voting to leave remember their lives before membership of the EU and believe life is now worse for their children. So both groups are voting for what they perceive to be a better future for the rising generation.
As far as interest in politics is concerned, both remain and leave voters shared similar levels of interest. However, 77% of those who voted to remain thought “the decision we make in the referendum could have disastrous consequences for us as a country if we get it wrong”, whilst 69% of leave voters thought the decision “might make us a bit better or worse off as a country, but there probably isn’t much in it either way”.
Leave voters have good reason to think that whatever the outcome the status quo is likely to continue, since all major parties support the current system of voracious capitalism.
The media as well as the official Leave campaign aim to minimise the debate to maintain the status quo. As Corbyn has pointed out, they are doing everything they can to divide us, especially pitting young against old. However, there is much in common between the voting choices across the generations.
The turnout for young people was only around 30% (4), meaning only a quarter of young people felt strongly enough to vote to remain in Europe. Therefore, as a proportion of their age group, less young people voted to remain than all other age groups.
So the ‘generation gap’ has to a large extent been manufactured, with the help of the usual suspects, including Change.org, (an American corporation with 100 million users which is now running a petition for London to secede from England) and other US organisations backed by George Soros, such as Avaaz. The day after the referendum I received this from sumofus.org, yet another American ‘organisation for change’ with connections to Soros: “I woke up tired, shocked and a little scared”. People have been stirred up by social media to express themselves in this way and to feel that only the feelings of the Remain supporters are legitimate.
Analysis of the 3.5 million signatories to the much touted petition requesting a 2nd Referendum has shown only 353,000 are from Britain, and many of these may be fake
The following 27 minute video about how Colour Revolutions are manufactured gives vital insight in to ‘mass’ movements for social change: The Revolution Business. Based on theories formulated by CIA asset Gene Sharp, and supported by Soros organisations which stir up vocal groups of mostly young people who are unrepresentative of the population as a whole, demonstrations and petitions are presented by international media as the voice of the people. Opposition from the majority of the population is demonised and foreign military intervention often follows. Weight of Chains, about how Yugoslavia was broken up in this way by the US and organisations funded by Soros, is another very watchable film, and the points made are very applicable to many situations and pretty well every country in which the USA has an interest in shaping politics.
In his earlier life, Jeremy Corbyn was against membership of the EU. As leader of a party whose parliamentary representatives voted overwhelmingly to remain, Jeremy Corbyn supported this view. However, he explained that because of major faults in the EU his support for the EU project was only 7 – 7.5%. Not surprising when one of his major commitments is to attempt to renationalise the railways, which is prohibited under EU legislation.
Corbyn, like most of the population, is against rule by corporations. The economic power of the top 200 global corporations is twice that of 80% of all humanity and yet they employ just 18.8 million, 0.3% of the people in the world. Corporate lobbyists now termed “expert committees” meet daily with EU Commission officials to hammer out trade deals such as TTIP (Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership which will enable governments to be sued if they don’t open everything to privatisation, or attempt to protect their environment against corporate interests). The European Parliament, consumer and environmental organisations have no say in this deal.
Corbyn is for transparency and accountability. The European Parliament cannot propose any legislation at all. Legislation is formulated by the 5 unelected presidents of the European Commission, which includes ex-Goldman Sachs alumnus Mario Draghi. If our political representatives in the European Parliament make any decisions that conflict with the wishes of the EU Commission, they are simply over-ruled.
Corbyn is against militarism. He has chosen Clive Lewis as Shadow Defence Secretary. Lewis is against renewing Trident, which will cost up to £300bn, most of which will be transferred to the US, and simply guarantees the UK’s destruction in event of war.
As CIA documents from the US National Archives make clear the EU was a CIA initiative, the purpose of which is to make it easy for Washington to exercise political control over Europe. It is much easier for Washington to control the EU than 28 separate countries. Currently, US Special Operations Forces employ ‘military capabilities’ to achieve military and/or economic objectives in 134 countries. The EU is primed to form a EU army and paramilitary police force to suppress civil unrest and help the US to achieve objectives such as the dangerous game of baiting Russia by placing missiles in the EU countries bordering Russia – which has the added bonus of providing a useful buffer for the US should the US then initiate a war.
The UK is currently committed to switching to the euro. It is impossible to be a financial centre unless a country has its own currency and central bank. If the Brexit referendum is defeated the UK will be forced to accept the euro, enabling US financial dominance.
Corbyn knows that within the EU there is no way to stop these events unfolding.
There will be many Labour supporters who voted to remain in the EU whilst sharing Corbyn’s doubts. In addition, there are the 38% of Labour voters who voted to leave, which leaves them feeling unrepresented by only 2% of Labour MPs who share their concerns.
By refusing to give a voice to the majority of leave voters, and presenting the false analysis of young versus old and enlightened versus racist, remain voters are therefore incredulous that such a thing could have happened and many feel justified in ignoring a democratic vote. As Ashcroft’s results show, there is in fact little difference between the values of those who voted. People in both groups voted for a brake on rampant capitalism and a better, fairer, future.
The Establishment is preparing to maintain the status quo by offering either a post-Corbyn neo-liberal Labour Party that indefinitely postpones the signing of Article 50, or a Conservative party led by Boris Johnson, a Europhile until the conversion that increased his chances of becoming prime minister. Boris Johnson can also not be trusted to invoke Article 50. Neither party will represent the 50% of both remain and leave voters who believe capitalism is a force for ill.
At the current time, Jeremy Corbyn is the only chance we have of a prime minister who will represent the wishes of a majority of both leave and remain voters. That is why he is hanging on and that is why it is so important for the media, establishment and his own party to oust him. As Ghandi said, “the truth is still the truth even if you are in a minority of one”. I, for one, would be happy to see all of Corbyn’s detractors resign.
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Well, Chilcot has finally been published. Whether Corbyn stays or goes is now irrelevant.
Labour are finished. They are unelectable criminals.
No-one will ever trust them again. No-one will ever vote for them again. Now the process of putting Blair, Campbell, Hoon, Prescott, Brown, Browne, Short, Mandelson, Scarlett, and the others behind bars.
The Labour Party should either voluntarily close down, or be shut down by the Police. It is time for Labour to go. It is not enough to say that the Tories should be stopped. Being stopped by war-mongering lying criminals is not democracy. Britain will need to find alternative opposition parties. Labour have no magic grip on power.
Well said, but prosecutions are unlikely. I think corbyn (or someone trustworthy at least) should form a new party dedicated to restoring democracy. Even a dedicated leavers party formed of all political opinions, united to take us forward.
We also need a newspaper that presents facts not spin. Unfortunately there is an uphill battle to re-educate the public regarding world events since 1945, especially since history is woefully taught in schools these days. It wouldn’t be indoctrination, but how would you fight that accusation?
What message does it send to the world – if psychopathic mass-murderers go unpunished?
It tells the world what most of them already knew: that we are run by psychopathic mass-murderers!
[[ A UCL study has shown that the poorest 20% of British workers have indeed been affected adversely by immigration, so it was easy for the Leave campaign to focus discontent on this point instead of giving a voice to constructive and positive reasons people had for wanting to leave ]]
Right. So the ‘poorest 20% of British workers’ (ie the ones most like to support Labour) didn’t have ‘constructive and positive’ reasons to leave, even though research shows that they did? What kind of Crouch End gobbledy-gook is this? You tell us they were right to cite immigration, and then say it’s not a ‘constructive and positive’ reason?
When will the closed-ranks kommentariat of the Labour Party finally admit that seeing Jeremy Corbyn repeating every word that the Old-Etonian Cameron said for Remain was clearly wrong. Seeing Corbyn speaking in turn after the General Secretary of NATO had said Britain ‘must’ vote Remain was wrong.
Under Tony Bliar, Labour supporters endured a decade of a wolf in sheep’s clothing – a rampant neocon warmongering Tory, wearing a Red Rose. Who was it set in motion the cuts program in Higher Education in Britain? Yes, it was Peter Mandelson, Bliar’s Black Cardinal. And then Corbyn does exactly the same – supports the Tories against his own members’ interests. Began leading Britain towards the TTIP signing desk.
Corbyn is a traitor, and a crook. He’s done nothing to attempt to reform the EU’s policies or the deal which Britain gets from them. He’s done nothing to undo the harm of the Bliar years. And when did he get the bright idea of trying to prosecute Tony Blair for the war crimes he committed 15-20 years ago? In his desperation on the morning that he lost the Brexit vote. (Nothing more was heard from the beardy nincompoop on the matter, which shows exactly his level of ‘seriousness’ in raising it).
And today, when Chilcot is finally published… will Corbyn find common cause (as he did over Brexit) with his dear Etonian chums on the other side of the house… and announce the Impeachment of Tony Blair over Serbia, Afghanistan, and Iraq? I doubt this little weasel has the guts to do his job, Instead he’ll join with Sir John in the whitewash surrounding Britain’s most notorious murderous tyrant in centuries. Jeffrey Robertson is already leading the way in this morning’s Graun – claiming that “there is no case for Blair to answer”, and that he cannot therefore be tried.
Too often we hear Labour politicians give out the latest refain “yes we recognise the concerns of working class people regarding the pressures large scale immigration have put on schools,housing,the NHS,policing and jobs and we believe there should be an open debate to address these issues”.
Then quietly move on after a few platitudes of ” We need to build more houses,schools,hospitals for everyone and then people wouldn’t have these fears of change,think how much richer our society is now that there are curry restaurants on every high street and we don’t have to rely on bland British cooking any more !”
End of debate,” now bugger off you racist oiks, your inferior working class culture/neighbourhood doesn’t deserve to survive the unstoppable globalisation or as we like to call it cultural diversification”.
(spoken in overheard whispers as the political elite get into their expenses paid for ,chauffeur driven limo back to their metroland civilization).
Like the EU project aims to kill of cultural cohesion to make the fragmented societies more compliant,less unionised ,ignorant of the historical struggles their forefathers went through to achieve a decent wage,pensions,the NHS,a welfare safety net,shorter working hours,health and safety standards,enfranchisement of all,paid holidays the right to roam in our own countryside,the right to question religious dogma without fear of prosecution of blasphemy,sexual and gender equality,a secular education free for all from 6 to 16.
These and a thousand other battles were fought and won by the working class over generations not granted by a benevolent ruling elite ,religious compassion,corporate largess or unelected foreign bureaucrats in the EU.
The UK population is projected to overtake that of Germany by 2030 in a space one third the size. Yes we will have a bigger economy because more people means more demand for everything that is in short supply now, some import businesses will do very well in meeting that growing demand others will benefit from big contracts to building more private estates,motorways and the continuous concreting over of the countryside.
The UK like the rest of this beautiful but human abused planet, is a finite space,with finite resources,the promise of continuous growth in jobs,quality of life,the welfare state and unplanned population is an unsustainable Ponzi scheme.
With the effects of climate change hitting all countries sooner and harder than scientists publicly predicted,threatening to exasperate matters even more so.
Importing the surplus population of other countries to suppress wages will make the stockmarket rise but also devalue the the worth of those dependent on selling their labour particularly the young throughout Europe denied the same dreams we had of a better future.
How long before we replicate the war torn countries where the dreams ambition becomes one of mere survival ?
Labour and the Greens are in denial about this political hot potato of a sustainable REDUCED world population, shifting the human deckchairs on planet Titanic may be PC but is not a solution if we are to meet carbon emission targets we will need to cut future demand or live with nuclear power stations in a continuous traffic jammed ,ghettoised,low wage,urbanised distopia.
This is the debate that the former industrial areas that voted Brexi want and demand .realistic policy answers to
Yes, but the jolly old Germans are cheating, aren’t they? By drafting in millions of Syrians (whom Britain is loth to accept, despite having started the war that caused the to flee) to fill up the numbers!!
US expansionism by means of monetary control, knows no bounds and is conducive with the current political assassination attempt on Jeremy Corbyn by the Neo-cons within the present Labour Party and the machinations taking place to undermine and reverse the democratic vote of the majority to leave the EU and break the US financial stranglehold on the people’s of Britian and Europe.
Dear Patrick! In what way is your beardy Corbyn not a neocon himself? He joined forces with David Cameron over Brexit. He was delighted to be seen supporting Jens Stoltenberg’s position on “remaining in Europe in order to prevent attacks from Russia”. Sorry Patrick, but aside from his Michael Foot donkey jacket and unkempt beard, everything Corbyn does and supports is as proudly neocon as a broadside from Timmy Garbage-Trash.
Can’t agree Corbyn is – personally – any kind of neocon. On the contrary he’s an old school 1960s-70s Labour Left-winger, and he still believes in the founding principles of socialism. But he never sought any kind of leadership prior to 2015 and is not really built for it. He was only standing on a point of principle – so there would be a non-Blairite candidate – and probably never expected to win. He evidently made the decision – or was advised – that compromising with his own Blairite wing was a good idea. But clearly that is not the case. He should learn from the past and now go forward with a manifesto he actually personally believes in, and a Shadow Cabinet that actually supports him.
Is he tough enough for this? I’m really not sure he is tbh.
The source you use for the point you make, “A UCL study has shown that the poorest 20% of British workers have indeed been affected adversely by immigration” is a secondary source that does not provide a link to the study. Perhaps it would have been better to find the actual study yourself? The studies into immigration effects on the UK Labour Market have actually pointed to the opposite of what you claim in your article and, therefore, invalidate much of what you say. Here are some sources:
UCL study Positive economic impact of UK immigration from the European Union: new evidence – 5 November 2014
– See more at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1114/051114-economic-impact-EU-immigration#sthash.PtF3q7yk.dpuf
LSE study Immigration and the UK labour market – http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/EA019.pdf
Both of these studies prove that immigration has a positive effect on the economy by CREATING jobs rather than taking them, immigrant share of the job market has always been the same percentage, as the LSE study concludes, “There is still no evidence of an overall negative impact of immigration on jobs, wages, housing or the crowding out of public services. Any negative impacts on wages of less skilled groups are small. One of the largest impacts of immigration seems to be on public perceptions.”
The data from these studies does not fit the conclusions you provide.
Hi Graham,
While not the author of this article – I can provide a rough reply. For one thing “positive economic impact” and “negatively effecting bottom 20% of workers” are not mutually exclusive things. Working people 24 hours a day, for free, would provide a “positive economic impact” by increasing production and decreasing outgoings, however you could hardly argue that his is of benefit to the workers themselves.
As I said – I’m not the author (and for full and official reply you should contact her), but I don’t at all see a contradiction between immigration being good a for an economy that serves the 1%, whilst simultaneously being bad for working class people.
Well done, thank you for the clarification.
Huh? Taking into account some (lower-class) sector’s unfavorable consequences from a general increase in employment and GDP!?
Doesn’t sound like standard economic thinking to me! ;^ ) What’s next!? A living wage!?
People are not just statistics they are human beings with lives. If the impetus for taking on migrant workers is to employ them as “cheap” labour then Kit is quite correct. When jobs are advertised abroad but not in the UK, it is for the most part because they want “cheap” labour. British workers are, therefore, excluded precisely because their labour comes with a price tag which includes shift enhancements, overtime rates, work and pension rights, health and safety conditions, many and sometimes all of which are thrown out the window to serve the interests of those who have wealth but want more by whatever means available.This means that while the “statistics” reflect facts, the reality is overlooked in terms of human endeavour, that of the migrant worker and British unemployed. Various immigration/employment studies are available with various outcomes, dependent on the focus. I voted to remain so that we could change the way migrants are treated in this and other countries within the EU, not to benefit from their exploitation to the detriment of employment possibilities and the self interest of others. This is a reality of Corporate EU and Britain.
While the studies may show an increase in available jobs at the same time as an increase in immigration, they do not differentiate between full time and zero hours contracts. That definitely has an effect on lower paid workers and places more reliance on social services and benefits.
The LSE was one of camerons experts in the run up to the referendum, and supports the views of corporations not the people.
No the data in these ‘studies’ fit the pre-ordained conclusions they were intended to. GIGO.
I thought he said he was 7/10 in favour of the EU not 7%? Big difference no? am I mistaken? Could you provide the quote please?
Exactly right – 7 to 7.5. Talking to Adam Hills on “The Last Leg”.
Corbyn’s one mistake was not to allow a free vote for the referendum as Cameron did. If he had done there wouldn’t be this nit-picking about how much he was for or against the EU. Nor would they be able to accuse him of not getting the party to follow a remain vote. People would just have voted according to their conscience. I assume he was pressured by the PLP to come out for a Labour Remain vote.
Yes, absolutely, and considering his own anti-EU POV it only served to make him look weak or vacillating or insincere. A free vote would have put him in an immensely strong position right now, and served to remind people that opposition to the EU has a long and respectable left wing tradition.
‘Weak’,… ‘vacillating’…. ‘insincere’. Sums him up perfectly, Catte!
It was a three-line whip in the Graun, with everyone from alleged ‘Socialist’ Owen Jones, through the gin-sodden drivel of Polly Toynbee, and culminating with the furious neocon bellowing of Garton-Ash. The idea that people whose lives have been crushed and whose cities and industries have been closed down by EU policy-making didn’t have to vote for those exact ruinous policious wasn’t given column-inches. Or should those be column-centimetres, mes petites amis?
You are correct, he said 7 to 7 1/2 i.e 70 to 75%
Change.org is Soros-backed?
Soros owns by proxy most of the NGO’s and huge sites like Avaaz and yes, Change, org. receives much of it’s funding from indirect sponsorship of George Soros and his associated Cabal. If you pursue long enough, you can find the links, they are there, but just hiding.
Thanks. It just figures.
Reblogged this on TheFlippinTruth.
Friends! Only last week, Jeremy received a resounding vote of confidence, in the shape of a full 40 votes from the Parliamentary Labour Party, and since then the number of resignations from his Shadow Cabinet each day has never gone above the high single figures.
My Blog, as ever, explains the situation in terms that can be understood by the meanest intelligence, e.g. myself:
https://supportourjeremy.wordpress.com/2016/06/28/jeremys-decisive-40-vote-triumph-should-be-respected-friends/
He never had support from the Parliamentary Labour Party. He was elected by the biggest popular membership mandate ever in the Labour Party, with his support coming from rank and file members and the Trades Unions.
The issue is whether that democratic mandate translates to securing votes from the wider electorate who are not members of the Labour Party…….
So where are the calls for a vote of no confidence in the present government and preparations for a general election?
Apart from the MSM hand wringing and insults there seems to have been no movement since the referendum result.
Corby needs to start things rolling in a positive manner. A manifesto for real change, a commitment to true proportional representation, the invoking of article 50. Let’s get on with it before the opposition regroups.
Reblogged this on HumanSinShadow.