I've been asking for some years what the modern Labour party stands for. I thought it was "nothing" but now think it is "hypocrisy" and "laughing in the face of its electorate."



Ed the Unelectable One has surpassed himself in the last few days. Panicked by Cameron he has shown just how weak he is by trying to show what a tough leader he is! Now he's talking about breaking links with the Unions. Now, for a man who owes his position to their votes that is a simply staggering show of hypocrisy. Why would ANYONE vote for a man when they know he would defecate on THEM at the drop of a hat? Not only that, but he has shown hinself a hopeless individual incapable of dealing with the relaities of a situation rather than theory. His party is broke and reliant on union funding. He looks like ke is going to kill the Labour party unless there is a rapid agreement for state funding. But, why would the Tories agree to that in the short term if they can see Labour will fold?



This Falkirk story could easily run until the next election if the union doesn't play ball and if it does the Tories will gain a landslide victory and Miliband will the man who put the final nail in the coffin of a once good party.



Best thing Labour could do now is get rid of the two Eds. They should have done so before but even now it would be a case of better late than never.



RIP Labour.

This should be fun.



Any suggestions for the top job in the [ionce good party[/i ?

No he isn't. What you are hearing are the ramblings of Blairites and the drunken thug of an incumbent in Falkirk.



What Unite have done in Falkirk is little different to the parachuting of an imposed candidate by Central Office. As for the unions pulling Labour's strings, they seem to be doing a real sh[ii[/itty job of it, given the compliant nature of Labour in opposition.

OMG ... Labour's finished !!

And still 5 points ahead of the Conservatives.

The polls are tightening, the economy is improving, Labour in crisis, the sun is out. Happy days.

The Labour party is in a dire way and if the Tories were half decent in government they should be looking at beating Blair's 179 seat majority.



But they couldn't even win a majority last time with Gordon Brown in power and the country coming out of the worst recession since the war. They have slipped in popularity since then. They might not even win a majority next time and rely on the Lib Dems again, or even worse could end up letting Labour in with a majority.



If that happens, I'm sure we would all agree, the Conservative party is finished.

Or worse, we end up with repeat terms of yo-yo coalition government with only LibDems as a constant making pacts with the other two parties in alternate terms - it'll be like Wilson and Heath all over again, without Jeremy Thorpe having to get involved though.

Just as well the Lib Dems aren't finished eh.



I bet they can rely on their strong student vote to carry them through.

...and all this after losing the gay vote back in '79 too.

If it gets back to where it was when the coalition took over, they will be doing well

Quote Ajw71="Ajw71"The polls are tightening, the economy is improving, Labour in crisis, the sun is out. Happy days.'" Not sure where you get your info from? but Labour still have an average of a 8 to 10 point lead in the polls, which would see them win a landslide in 2015. The Tories need to win by at least 5% to get a majority of 1! It just isn't going to happen. ukpollingreport.co.uk/voting-intention-2

Quote Ajw71="Ajw71"The polls are tightening, the economy is improving, Labour in crisis, the sun is out. Happy days.'" Not sure where you get your info from? but Labour still have an average of a 8 to 10 point lead in the polls, which would see them win a landslide in 2015. The Tories need to win by at least 5% to get a majority of 1! It just isn't going to happen. ukpollingreport.co.uk/voting-intention-2

As a Labour member I find this a bit odd. The need to select a candidate for Falkirk for the 2015 election has come about due to the incumbent, Eric Joyce, resigning from the party in March 2012 after getting drunk in The Commons bar and headbutting a couple of Tory MPs (can't be that bad a bloke then).



As to vote in the selection process you have to have been a member of your Constituency Labour Party for over 6 months Unite would have had to parachute new members into the constituency almost immediately.



As your CLP is determined by your address these people would have to already be resident in the constituency.



In addition, any existing Labour members who moved into Falkirk would also have to live in the constituency for 6 months prior to being elligible to vote.



It would need some planning to get in place enough Unite/Labour members who would compliantly vote the right way in such a short period of time.



Personally I am all for the unions being involved in the Labour Party as they gave birth to it. I would much rather see Labour field candidates who have come from the union movement or have been local councillors rather than a bunch of Oxford PEP graduates who were classmates of the current Tory front bench.