London Mayor Sadiq Khan Says Labour 'not Doing Enough' On Anti-Semitism

[naomi24]

The highly vocal mayor of London, who seems to have something to say about everything, has criticised Jeremy Corbyn on his failure to deal adequately with charges of anti-Semitism within Labour ranks.

https://news.sky.com/story/london-mayor-sadiq-khan-labour-not-doing-enough-on-anti-semitism-11307258

Does anyone else suspect, as I do, that Mr Khan is lining himself up to be Labour’s next leader. Oh Jeremy Corbyn. Watch your back!

[ToraToraTora]

I think Khan has, with some validity, concluded that Labour, having become almost communist by the next election, will be hammered by the Tories and thus he will be their saviour in the aftermath. The ever growing anti semitism issue is a good pan handle for him to grasp to further that aim.

[Jackdaw33]

As the Grand Ayatollah of Londonistan Mr Khan is free to pronounce on whatever subject he thinks fit.

[anotheoldgit]

He can't even get his Capital in shape, so what makes anyone think he could lead a country?

[naomi24]

TTT, that about sums up my thoughts on it.

[ToraToraTora]

also I think this whole anti semitism thing coupled with Agent COB failing to back Britain over the Russian nerve agent debacle will have weakened his position. May even get challenged again before 2022.

[Kromovaracun]

//Does anyone else suspect, as I do, that Mr Khan is lining himself up to be Labour’s next leader//

Yes, I do. Sadiq Khan is a politician, and he's doing what any intelligent and ambitious politician in his position would do.

I really doubt he'll succeed though. Corbyn has already won two leadership elections and increased Labour's majority for the first time in ages. I think he's there until he wants to leave.

[naomi24]

Krom, Yes, Corbyn increased Labour's vote, but in light of all the negativity surrounding him, not to mention the dubious antics of Momentum, do you not think he is fast losing whatever credibility those who voted for him thought he had - and that perhaps his cronies haven't noticed?

[Kromovaracun]

//do you not think he is fast losing whatever credibility those who voted for him thought he had - and that perhaps his cronies haven't noticed? //

I don't get the impression he has lost any of his base supporters, no. In fact if anything I think he has increased them. Some people are very attracted to the fact that his ideology and approach is "outdated", either because they are simply old-fashioned traditional leftists or because they have grown up under Blairism/Thatcherism all-round and it seems new to them.

Is that base really big enough to win an election? As yet, nobody knows. The normal rules we thought we knew about election winning in Britain don't seem to apply anymore. Regardless, none of this is anything like as serious as the two previous attempts on his leadership, and I can't imagine anyone going that far over this for a long time yet. Not even Sadiq Khan.

[naomi24]

Krom, //I don't get the impression he has lost any of his base supporters//

I get the opposite impression. Even people on here who were ardent supporters have now said they wouldn't vote for him. I think Khan is just awaiting his opportunity - and I think that will come. Maybe not until after the next election when Jeremy will be voted into oblivion.

[Kromovaracun]

//Even people on here who were ardent supporters have now said they wouldn't vote for him//

Yes, I'm one of them! All the same, I don't get any sense that he is losing momentum, so to speak. This is a light breeze compared to what his leadership has withstood in the past - virtually all his MPs (and Sadiq Khan then too) ditched him in the last election and campaigned on the basis of asking their constituents to just ignore him (which they certainly won't do next time). I think he is far more likely to be waited out. He's not a young man, and there's a decently high chance he will either die, retire, or become too ill to continue in the next few years. I think the odds of that are higher than of him being successfully dethroned.

[jim360]

AB is far too small a sample to tell if Corbyn's support has meaningfully fallen away. There's also an interesting question about what counts as "core support" in this instance, and where the voters are going if they have deserted Corbyn. I suspect you'd be hard-pressed to find many (ex-)Corbynistas who would have given the Tories a second look, for example, although they may be out there.

The best measure we have suggests that there hasn't (yet) been a meaningful change in Labour (or Tory) support in the last year or so. The Tories have had the better of recent polling, but only by a small margin, and it's a brave person who can look at those figures and proclaim that Labour support is melting away under Corbyn's leadership.

[ludwig]

I do sense a reduction of messianic zeal surrounding the dear leader of late.

People are fickle. He could well turn up at Glastonbury next year and be booed off, depending on what happens between now and then.

[naomi24]

jIM, //AB is far too small a sample to tell if Corbyn's support has meaningfully fallen away. //

I wasn't actually using AB as a yardstick. but like Ludwig I too sense an air of disillusionment.

[ludwig]

There's a long time til the next election. Perhaps there's a sense that he's peaked, and the sharks are starting to think about circling, if not actually circling yet.

[jim360]

I wouldn't be too surprised if more than a few reluctant Corbyn supporters are wavering, and maybe that will start to show up in coming elections and polls and the like before too long.

Still, I would be surprised to see truly die-Hard Corbynistas moved by his response to the Salisbury incident. If you buy into his view of the world then I can't see how you would then not buy in to his interpretation of the incident. Under other circumstances, his hesitation to condemn Russia might even be appropriate -- this wouldn't be the first time officials have been too quick to point the finger and then shown to be wrong, after all. So, for that reason, I would tend to think that his (wrong) reaction to the nerve gas attack would play well with his fans, and only turn off those who didn't really like him in the first place.

[Kromovaracun]

You also need to remember the two-party system. The only remotely likely party an ex-Corbynist is likely to support is the Lib Dems - which is, bluntly, pointless. When it comes down to it a lot of them will just pinch their nose and vote Labour for lack of an alternative.

[ludwig]

//When it comes down to it a lot of them will just pinch their nose and vote Labour for lack of an alternative.//

There are a good number of floating voters that go back and forth between Labour and Tory.
I'm sure there are alot of Labour (not Corbyn) supporters that have been pinching their noses up until now, but will be getting tired of doing it.

[ludwig]

Once the bullying and deselection of the traitors and infidels gets into full flow, that won't look good for him either.

[naomi24]

^That doesn't look good for him now ...not at all ... but whether or not his ardent fans have even noticed remains to be seen.

[Kromovaracun]

//There are a good number of floating voters that go back and forth between Labour and Tory. //

I don't think many of them have ever been likely Corbyn voters though. Floating voters tend towards the centre politically and only matter when they are in swing seats - the locations of which changed significantly in the last election.