Denial of the Labour Kind. Chapter 4. A Case Study.

Guido has a good clip from the today program here.

Labour MP Claudia Webbe was asked the question "In what way was the Labour Manifesto Popular when you went down to your worst defeat in decades?"

True to type, she started to revert to spouting rhetoric, rather then answer the question. When (with some difficulty) pressed further, she then started to rant about the media, Brexit and anything else she could use to blame on Labour's failure. Rather than the Labour party leadership and by extension their policies and manifesto.

Yes, it's a laudible aim to house the homeless, it's a laudible aim to take in genuine refugees, and all the rest of it.

But only in the Leftist Labour Twitter bubble does rhetoric win elections.

Policies need to be credible, costed and above all they need to be rooted in reality.

Labour's manifesto was all rhetoric and nowhere was there an accurate description of how it would be paid for. Stealing companies and putting them back into public ownership is not a credible policy.

Nor is the open borders policy. Not without a massive surplus of cash in the exchequer to cover the cost.

Nor is a plan to build millions of houses without the money or permission to build. Unless the green fields of the home counties are to be replaced by shoddily-built Soviet-style concrete apartment blocks.

Claudia Webbe's appearance, her lack of engagement, her inability to listen and instead spout rhetoric rather than answer a direct question, is the epitome of why Labour lost.

They are doing too much talking an no listening. They are plucking policies from thin air that their Twitter bubble likes, but everyone else can see would bankrupt the country.

It's frightening that a constituency would elect an MP like this to Parliament. At the very least after the biggest party defeat in 70 years or more the least you'd want is your MP to be reflective, humble, understanding, able to listen and accept change.  Not to be dogmatic, blame everyone including voters for the losses. That's a bold strategy to win votes right there.... and yes, I'm being sarcastic.