The commentators                    05-08-15

...on the Labour leadership

Watching Jeremy Corbyn I was reminded of those times I’ve seen Nigel Farage. Not because they are in any way alike politically. But because strip away the aura – an aura that they themselves have not actually generated, but that has been projected onto them by others – and there is nothing there. Nothing except the sort of meaningless slogans and sound-bites and homilies that were they produced by a mainstream politician would invite ridicule and contempt.
Jeremy Corbyn is just another false prophet. And that’s not a criticism of him, because he has never presented himself as a prophet, sincere or otherwise. He was standing on that stage simply because it was his turn. His turn to bring
H-O-P-E to the masses
- Dan Hodges, Daily Telegraph
Alan Johnson
Only Yvette Cooper, above, can unite the party to win again. Those members who can’t give her their first preference should give her their second. After over a century of male leaders we have an election where the most qualified candidate to lead our party back to government happens to be a woman. Let’s end the madness and elect her
- Alan Johnson, The Guardian
Should Jeremy Corbyn become leader, which remains far from certain, he may prove inadequate or dangerous. He may, on the other hand, fulfil the expectations of the Tory grandee Ken Clarke, who thinks he could win an election. Either way, time is growing short for Labour centrists to realise that they, not Mr Corbyn, are the problem in an age when voters crave leaders who “speak human”. Though Ed Miliband never mastered this political Esperanto, he did dabble briefly in Aristotle’s politics of virtue, under which politicians inspire a more ethical public realm
- Mary Riddell, Daily Telegraph
Two months ago, the Socialist 1980s throwback Jeremy Corbyn was of interest only to readers of the Communist Morning Star. Yet such is the momentum behind this fanatical class warrior that, on Monday in London, he addressed a cheering throng of supporters in the street on top of a fire engine, because there was no room in the hall he had booked.
Meanwhile, the only two candidates with a chance of stopping the terrifying Corbyn bandwagon – Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper – have decided now is a good time to go on holiday!
Such insouciance would be laughable if there were not so much at stake
- Daily Mail
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The only reason this case from Shoeburyness reached the public consciousness was because someone mentioned age. That turns out to have been a side issue, and we shall probably never know the full story. That may be right and proper, a family's private traumas should not be aired for public entertainment. 
But if women are being coerced into signing away the right to look after their children when they are not mentally fit, in order that councils can meet adoption targets - as the grandparents' lawyer and MPs suggest - then we need to know.
The journalists covering this story have fallen for the clickbait angle and missed the real issue.
Editor's blog: Grandparents' tale of woe

Comment archive, 2015

For EI daily digests from June to December 2014 please click here
June 5 Fifa
June 4 Politics
June 3 Charles Kennedy
June 2 British politics
June 1 Fifa
labour leadership contenders
May 22 UK politics
May 21 UK politics
May 20 The Labour party
May 19 The NHS
May 18 UK politics
ballot box
May 8 General election
May 7 General election
May 6 General election
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Sturgeon and Salmond
April 24 General election
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April 21 Drowned refugees
April 20 Scottish National Party
Westminster
April 10 General election
April 9 General election
April 8 General election
April 7 General election
Ed Miliband
March 27 Prince Charles's letters
March 26 UK politics
March 25 Cameron's exit strategy
March 24 Lee Kwan Yew
March 23 UK politics
Jim Murphy, Scottish Labour party conference
March 13 UK politics
March 12 Jeremy Clarkson
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Rifkind and Straw
February 27 UK politics
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February 24 Rifkind and Straw
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Merkel and Putin
February 13 UK politics
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Alexis Tsipras
January 30 Rape law
January 29 UK politics
January 28 UK politics
January 27 Greece
January 26 UK politics
Hebdo demo
January 16 World politics
January 15 Election debates
January 14 Charlie Hebdo
January 13 Charlie Hebdo
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Picture
May 29 Fifa
May 28 The Queen's Speech
May 27 Europe
May 26 UK politics
New Tory MPs
May 15 Ukip and Labour
May 14 The Labour party
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May 12 UK politics
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Picture
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manifestos
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dissolution parliament
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March 30 Depression 
George Osborne
March 20 UK politics
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Boris Nemtsov
March 6 Scotland and the election
March 5 Isis
March 4 UK politics
March 3 Radicalisation
March 2 Russia
Copenhagen
February 20 UK politics
February 19 Chelsea and racism
February 18  UK politics
February 17 UK politics
February 16 Copenhagen 
education
February 6 UK politics
February 5 Isis atrocity
February 4 UK politics
February 3 UK politics
February 2 UK politics
Pope Francis
January 23 UK politics
January 22 Chilcot inquiry
January 21 Page Three
January 20 Anti-semitism 
January 19 Religion and freedom
Charb
January 9 Charlie Hebdo
January 8 Charlie Hebdo
January 7 UK politics
January 6 UK politics
January 5 UK politics
Comment digest courtesy of
Editorial Intelligence
Calais
August 4
Labour
August 3
Calais
Jeremy Corbyn
July 31
Calais
July 30
Calais
July 29
Labour
July 28
Lord Sewel
July 27
Labour
Jeremy Corbyn
July 24
Labour
July 23
Labour
July 22
Labour
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Counter-terrorism
July 20
Boris Johnson, Greece
Picture
July 17
UK politics
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UK politics
July 15
Iran
July 14
Greece
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Greece
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July 10
Budget
July 9
Budget
July 8
The Budget
July 7
Greece
July 6
Taxation
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July 3
Grexit
July 2
Heathrow
July 1
Grexit
June 30
Grexit
June 29
Tunisian massacre
Alexis Tsipras
June 26
Monarchy and Brexit
June 25
UK politics
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UK politics
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June 22
Greece
Labour hustings
June 19
Greece and Europe
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Social mobility
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Politics
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June 8
Politics
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