(16 May 2015, 10:29 pm)aureolin wrote Labour is in real turmoil at the moment, and I just hope the members select a strong enough candidate to take the party forward. Like Andreos1, I was pleased that Chuka pulled out the race for the leadership. Although very highly rated within, to me, he represents the New (blue) Labour years. For the Labour party to be a force again, it needs to offer a clear alternative, not a lesser form of Conservatism.
On the issue of Murphy/McCluskey/Unite... if I'm honest, I'm really surprised that Unite haven't made noises about de-affiliation yet. I'll give them a year or two before that one comes up, because I really don't think there's any benefit to Unite from the relationship. The Labour Party won't even support their action these days. If Unite de-affiliate, then others will follow suit.
I wish they'd stop banging-on about failing to attract support from the middle-classes. For one, there is no such thing as the middle-classes. Unless you can afford to pack in your job and live off the wealth you've accumulated then you fall into the category 'working class' - which is what Labour is meant to represent. Secondly, as Andreos has already mentioned, the 'middle-class' to which the Blairites seem so intent on pandering towards are essentially floating voters. They are not Labour's core support base. If they focus solely on attracting the middle-classes they'll lose support elsewhere as real Labour voters (and maybe the Unions) migrate to support different parties.