I AGREE with Henry McLeish that we need a new radical constitution, if we are to maintain some form of union (“An Independent Labour Party could set a new political course”, Agenda, The Herald, July 28). However, a federal Britain would not work since England would easily outvote the other constituent countries. A confederal system requiring unanimous consent or other looser arrangement might be acceptable to the great majority of Scots.
I disagree with him when he talks about the style, tone and intolerance of the “old left” in the Labour Party. He has been reading and, worse, believing stories in the Tory press. All the instances of bullying or intimidation by Corbyn supporters have been shown to be unproven, exaggerated or bogus.
I profoundly disagree with Mr McLeish when he talks of the political extremism of the left in the Labour Party. Is it extreme to advocate decent homes for all, a welfare state with a well-resourced national health service, free education at all levels, adequate, secure, well-paid jobs, proper pensions, curbing corporate greed and tax avoidance and a wealth tax to end the obscene concentration of our riches on a tiny few? A public procurement programme building houses, schools, hospitals and improving our transport infrastructure would stimulate the economy help our manufacturing industry. We spent more than £200 billion bailing out the banks; let’s spend to improve our people’s lives and help the economy.
These are the policies that Jeremy Corbyn has advocated, and they have struck a chord with so many people. They are not extreme left but core Labour values, why most of us joined the Labour Party. They have now been “adopted” by his challenger, Owen Smith. Interestingly, Theresa May has also been talking about a fairer share of the cake for the majority.
The reality is that voters are fed up with the Tweedledee-Tweedledum politics of the Westminster elite and have stopped listening to a media owned by a few rich tax exiles. The establishment are scared, hence the attacks on Mr Corbyn.
Bob Thomson,
Past chairman/treasurer, Scottish Labour Party,
741 Shield Road,
Glasgow.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here