I agree with some of the points in the previous few posts. Corbyn has his faults and clearly there are isolated elements of the Labour Party that have hijacked the legitimate criticism of the state of Israel to express anti Semitic views. And it’s not enough to point the finger at the tories and larger problem they clearly have with islamaphobia and racism in general. The labour response to complaints has been indecisive and inconsistent. That’s not good enough. The recent comments by the chief rabbi however are clumsy and laughably partisan.
However, for me, the biggest difference between the two men is one of authenticity. Corbyn has spent his entire political career fighting injustice and supporting the marginalised. This is the precise reason why he is portrayed by the right wing media as some kind of ultra left wing agitator, when actually if you look at his past record he’s pretty much been on the right side of future public opinion and future political decision every single time. Johnson however, is a different beast. A privileged opportunist, capable and enthusiastically committed to saying or doing whatever is required to win power. Massively dishonest, and leaving a trail of misconduct, shady dealing and broken or manipulated promises in every single position he has ever held.
Nows there’s an argument for having a mendacious snake at the helm. Useful on the international stage, right? The trouble is that Johnson actually isn’t very good at it. And our allies and enemies have his measure.
Only one option for me, regardless of Brexit. A vote for the tories is a vote for food banks, homeless folk freezing to death, the continued privatisation of the nhs, the continued privatisation police & criminal justice service and the cynical exploitation of the tax system to make the rich even richer at the expense of the poor.
As a southern, middle class, small business owner, I might be better off voting Tory. Millions of others won’t be though and our country deserves far better. Interesting how brexit is being pushed down the agenda now isn’t it? I nearly voted leave actually. I don’t like empires or super states and I thought about whether a vote to leave might actually usher in a positive fundamental change to how we conduct politics in the country. Then I remembered the tories and the media stranglehold their friends have. ? A vote for Labour now is a genuine opportunity to make a lasting positive change to how we allow ourselves to be governed and how we treat each other. And you know that if we then have a second brexit referendum on those kind of terms. I might well vote for it.