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Lenin's remark *'There are decades* where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.' would seem to fit the situation in the UK perfectly. The separation of political time from chronological time was startling in the extreme. But there seems now to be something of a desperate attempt to reunite political and chronological time. The Labour Party plotters now declare they are happy to wait and they tell us that they are getting feed back that Corbyn's support in the country is weakening. That is a cover, I feel, for their lack of a Plan B. Plan A seems to have been to get Hilary Benn to provoke Corbyn into sacking him and then to unleash the staggered series of resignations from the cabinet. This succeeded brilliantly and the Parliamentary Labour Party cascaded behind the plotters. But Corbyn refused to budge and the plotters and the sheep following them passed the motion of no confidence. Again Corbyn refused to budge under the most enormous pressure. That left the plotters in a dilemma. It became clear that if it went to a vote in the country then Corbyn would win. So now we have rumors of alternative candidates, who hesitate to challenge. The Blairite candidate Eagle is about to have an embarrassing moment when the Chilcott report into the Iraq war is released. She voted for the war. It is my guess from this distance, that the upping of the political temperature caused by the Brexit result, has actually worked for Corbyn. The size and intensity of the rally to support him seems to have spooked his enemies. The Scottish Labour MP asked Corbyn to "call off his dogs". But such requests show that Corbyn is the only one with "dogs"! For me the key is that the Unions have asserted themselves and have declared for Corbyn. That plus a popular movement among the young, would be enough to win him any contest. So what happens now? The plotters can press the split button, but I don't think they will. Their base is in the media and that would guarantee them some success. But like the plotters and splitters of 1981, they would eventually be reeled in, and they know it. The so-called moderates around Watson, the deputy leader, have mooted a "compromise" candidate. That does not seem to work. We would appear to have stasis. That won't last of course. But what happens next is anyone's guess. In the mean time the "blond Beast", Boris Johnson ,has fallen on his sword and announced he will not contest the leadership of the Tory Party. I will content myself with dismissing him as a ruling class libertarian twit. But his resignation does show that political time is still in hyper drive. comradely Gary _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
