What are the mechanics to "Proscribe Momentum" within the Labour Party. Is is something that it is beyond the power of the Corbynites to block?
Its for the NEC to rule on. The rule book is very clear that organisations such as Momentum are illegal. There hasn't been a move against it so far because its associated with the leader. But as its behaviour gets more and more outrageous I think a challenge against it is inevitable.
Once proscribed then membership would become a disciplinary offence - just as membership on Militant was. We really are repeating the 1980s - a coming thumping Tory majority, a coming Welsh Labour leader, a coming expulsion of revolutionaries
@MichaelLCrick: Legal sources say Jeremy Corbyn plans to attend in person next Tuesday's High Court hearing over Michael Foster action against Labour NEC
He's not going pro se is he?
That would be epic.
Pro se? Why can't you lawyers speak the Queen's?!
Because we like to show off.
I've come up with an awesome pop music pun for Sunday.
EU can't hurry Leave.
What is GOVE? Baby don't hurt me Don't hurt me No more
@MichaelLCrick: Legal sources say Jeremy Corbyn plans to attend in person next Tuesday's High Court hearing over Michael Foster action against Labour NEC
He's not going pro se is he?
That would be epic.
Pro se? Why can't you lawyers speak the Queen's?!
Because we like to show off.
I've come up with an awesome pop music pun for Sunday.
EU can't hurry Leave.
There is no such thing as litigating "pro se" any more TSE, they are litigants in person.
What are the mechanics to "Proscribe Momentum" within the Labour Party. Is is something that it is beyond the power of the Corbynites to block?
Its for the NEC to rule on. The rule book is very clear that organisations such as Momentum are illegal. There hasn't been a move against it so far because its associated with the leader. But as its behaviour gets more and more outrageous I think a challenge against it is inevitable.
Once proscribed then membership would become a disciplinary offence - just as membership on Militant was. We really are repeating the 1980s - a coming thumping Tory majority, a coming Welsh Labour leader, a coming expulsion of revolutionaries
How do you prove someone is a member of Momentum? You can't. And union leaders are totally invested in Corbyn. They will never do anything that might damage him as it would mean they would be voted out of office by the small numbers of their own members that participate in union elections.
Somewhat more more laudable than Trump's 'vote your feelings'. For him facts don't matter, just if you feel poor/scared/angry. I presume this is what is meant by post factual politics, you just have to instil an emotion and tgat is enough, even overriding when things go wrong. It really is as if he's taken 1984 as a playbook. Clinton as Goldstein, parading figures such as Cruz for the two minute hate, switching policy and denying there has been any climbdown etc. What happened to conservatism in America, where is the Reagan now?
Andrew Neil @afneil 23m23 minutes ago Trump tells NYT he was ready to scrap North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada if he could not negotiate much better terms
Which would create collateral benefits for us, I imagine.
Who with? A Trumpant US or a Trumped Canada and Mexico?
@MichaelLCrick: Legal sources say Jeremy Corbyn plans to attend in person next Tuesday's High Court hearing over Michael Foster action against Labour NEC
Given his antics at the NEC meeting (refusal to leave the room etc), this could be big box office, if it wasn't already!
And I assume several of his followers will be coming along to "support" their hero in his hour of need.
@MichaelLCrick: Legal sources say Jeremy Corbyn plans to attend in person next Tuesday's High Court hearing over Michael Foster action against Labour NEC
He's not going pro se is he?
That would be epic.
Pro se? Why can't you lawyers speak the Queen's?!
Because we like to show off.
I've come up with an awesome pop music pun for Sunday.
EU can't hurry Leave.
There is no such thing as litigating "pro se" any more TSE, they are litigants in person.
They'll always be pro se to me. I'll never change.
He thinks the Lord Chancellor should have some legal background.
Did he say the same about Chris Grayling or Michael Gove?
Call me old fashioned, but I think the Lord Chancellor should be a peer.
Keep on telling you Oxford is a compete dump.
Is that a chip of Red Brick or White Tile on your shoulder? ;-)
Joking apart, quality varies enormously between Departments - in my day the Oxford Engineers would cheerfully admit that Hull was better...
On topic - I disagree with Falconer - its a bit like arguing that you need a Medic to run the NHS, or Military to run Defence - I'd argue the opposite - these departments need to be (re)captured from Producer Interest.....
Naturally there would be some concern, nothing is ever cut and dried. It is a normal human and organisational reaction. Michael Crick could easily have said that there is some expectation the court application will fail. I would not read anything into anything, in my view, I have an LLB and an LLM including Admin Law, and I am not a Labour supporter, the paragraph in the rules does not say the Leader should have nominations. The Court might want to hear what the writer intended 30 years ago, if still alive. Presumably the Court will want to reserve judgement?
@MichaelLCrick: Legal sources say Jeremy Corbyn plans to attend in person next Tuesday's High Court hearing over Michael Foster action against Labour NEC
He's not going pro se is he?
That would be epic.
Pro se? Why can't you lawyers speak the Queen's?!
Because we like to show off.
I've come up with an awesome pop music pun for Sunday.
EU can't hurry Leave.
There is no such thing as litigating "pro se" any more TSE, they are litigants in person.
They'll always be pro se to me. I'll never change.
Naturally there would be some concern, nothing is ever cut and dried. It is a normal human and organisational reaction. Michael Crick could easily have said that there is some expectation the court application will fail. I would not read anything into anything, in my view, I have an LLB and an LLM including Admin Law, and I am not a Labour supporter, the paragraph in the rules does not say the Leader should have nominations. The Court might want to hear what the writer intended 30 years ago, if still alive. Presumably the Court will want to reserve judgement?
The rules were changed much more recently than that and the justification provided to the conference at the time was "to make challengers get nominations".
@MichaelLCrick: Legal sources say Jeremy Corbyn plans to attend in person next Tuesday's High Court hearing over Michael Foster action against Labour NEC
He's not going pro se is he?
That would be epic.
Pro se? Why can't you lawyers speak the Queen's?!
Because we like to show off.
I've come up with an awesome pop music pun for Sunday.
EU can't hurry Leave.
There is no such thing as litigating "pro se" any more TSE, they are litigants in person.
They'll always be pro se to me. I'll never change.
What are the mechanics to "Proscribe Momentum" within the Labour Party. Is is something that it is beyond the power of the Corbynites to block?
Its for the NEC to rule on. The rule book is very clear that organisations such as Momentum are illegal. There hasn't been a move against it so far because its associated with the leader. But as its behaviour gets more and more outrageous I think a challenge against it is inevitable.
Once proscribed then membership would become a disciplinary offence - just as membership on Militant was. We really are repeating the 1980s - a coming thumping Tory majority, a coming Welsh Labour leader, a coming expulsion of revolutionaries
You seem to be forgetting something.
Militant had only a small fraction of the support of Corbyn.
If Derek Hatton had been elected Labour leader with 60% of the vote, then there is no way that Militant would have been proscribed.
@MichaelLCrick: Legal sources say Jeremy Corbyn plans to attend in person next Tuesday's High Court hearing over Michael Foster action against Labour NEC
Given his antics at the NEC meeting (refusal to leave the room etc), this could be big box office, if it wasn't already!
And I assume several of his followers will be coming along to "support" their hero in his hour of need.
Comic Labour - the gift that keeps on giving...
Could be even more amusing if he brings along, oh I don't know, Diane Abbot? as his Mackenzie Friend.
Its for the NEC to rule on. The rule book is very clear that organisations such as Momentum are illegal. There hasn't been a move against it so far because its associated with the leader. But as its behaviour gets more and more outrageous I think a challenge against it is inevitable.
But that requires the NEC to take a position contrary to both the leader and the membership. Since the NEC is elected by the membership, that's a bit of a problem.
Also, Momentum seem to be one step ahead. They are rebranding themselves as a group of loyal Labour members who support the Labour leader. That makes it tricky to proscribe them.
Naturally there would be some concern, nothing is ever cut and dried. It is a normal human and organisational reaction. Michael Crick could easily have said that there is some expectation the court application will fail. I would not read anything into anything, in my view, I have an LLB and an LLM including Admin Law, and I am not a Labour supporter, the paragraph in the rules does not say the Leader should have nominations. The Court might want to hear what the writer intended 30 years ago, if still alive. Presumably the Court will want to reserve judgement?
The rules were changed much more recently than that and the justification provided to the conference at the time was "to make challengers get nominations".
What are the mechanics to "Proscribe Momentum" within the Labour Party. Is is something that it is beyond the power of the Corbynites to block?
Its for the NEC to rule on. The rule book is very clear that organisations such as Momentum are illegal. There hasn't been a move against it so far because its associated with the leader. But as its behaviour gets more and more outrageous I think a challenge against it is inevitable.
Once proscribed then membership would become a disciplinary offence - just as membership on Militant was. We really are repeating the 1980s - a coming thumping Tory majority, a coming Welsh Labour leader, a coming expulsion of revolutionaries
Except that in the 1980s, the unions and the leader weren't lined up with Hatton.
What are the mechanics to "Proscribe Momentum" within the Labour Party. Is is something that it is beyond the power of the Corbynites to block?
Its for the NEC to rule on. The rule book is very clear that organisations such as Momentum are illegal. There hasn't been a move against it so far because its associated with the leader. But as its behaviour gets more and more outrageous I think a challenge against it is inevitable.
Once proscribed then membership would become a disciplinary offence - just as membership on Militant was. We really are repeating the 1980s - a coming thumping Tory majority, a coming Welsh Labour leader, a coming expulsion of revolutionaries
You seem to be forgetting something.
Militant had only a small fraction of the support of Corbyn.
If Derek Hatton had been elected Labour leader with 60% of the vote, then there is no way that Militant would have been proscribed.
Quite. There won't be an equivalent of Kinnock's speech to conference in 86 this time.
Naturally there would be some concern, nothing is ever cut and dried. It is a normal human and organisational reaction. Michael Crick could easily have said that there is some expectation the court application will fail. I would not read anything into anything, in my view, I have an LLB and an LLM including Admin Law, and I am not a Labour supporter, the paragraph in the rules does not say the Leader should have nominations. The Court might want to hear what the writer intended 30 years ago, if still alive. Presumably the Court will want to reserve judgement?
The rules were changed much more recently than that and the justification provided to the conference at the time was "to make challengers get nominations".
@MichaelLCrick: Legal sources say Jeremy Corbyn plans to attend in person next Tuesday's High Court hearing over Michael Foster action against Labour NEC
He's not going pro se is he?
That would be epic.
Pro se? Why can't you lawyers speak the Queen's?!
Because we like to show off.
I've come up with an awesome pop music pun for Sunday.
EU can't hurry Leave.
There is no such thing as litigating "pro se" any more TSE, they are litigants in person.
They'll always be pro se to me. I'll never change.
How very, erm, conservative of you.
I will never audi alteram partem on these matters.
@MichaelLCrick: Legal sources say Jeremy Corbyn plans to attend in person next Tuesday's High Court hearing over Michael Foster action against Labour NEC
He's not going pro se is he?
That would be epic.
Pro se? Why can't you lawyers speak the Queen's?!
Because we like to show off.
I've come up with an awesome pop music pun for Sunday.
EU can't hurry Leave.
There is no such thing as litigating "pro se" any more TSE, they are litigants in person.
They'll always be pro se to me. I'll never change.
How very, erm, conservative of you.
I will never audi alteram partem on these matters.
Not only an obscure foreign dialect, but a long-dead obscure foreign dialect
Amazes me that 170,000 people are willing to join the Labour party - why don't they go the whole hog and join the Conservative Party instead...at least they'd be in Government
Corbyn is representing himself at the high court having successfully petitioned that the General Secretary of the Labour Party wouldn't represent his interests.
The leader doesn't trust the General Secretary. The members don't trust the PLP or the NEC. The PLP don't trust the leader. Members are divided in that members who've been in more than a year are anti-Corbyn and less than a year pro-Corbyn. A rally last night attended by the Great Leader was told that 172 Labour MPs were "Tory Sleeper Agents" (the trigger word to activate them being "MOMENTUM")
And so this September Corbyn will be re-crowned as Great Leader and then the hate mob really fires up its campaign. You remember that LibDem conference in Sheffield where they had to be protected from residents behind a ring of steel? At this year's Labour conference it will be a similar security set up protecting Labour delegates against the vengeful mob of Labour members outside. Because MPs and their staffers are already being subjected to abuse and death threats and intimidation, but this is branded as "Tory lies" and the evidence ignored
And then the week after our chaotic conference May announces her intention to secure an early general election at the Tory conference. And after winning a 750 seat Tory majority in November, Corbyn announces that with the overwhelming backing of the membership he is carrying on.
So here's what will happen.
There has been a coup. But not the chicken coup by Blairites as alleged. The coup is Momentum. So the solution is simple.
Proscribe Momentum. Rules do not allow for a party within a party which with its own membership structures aims and constitution it is (sort-of, its only partially in the party). Momentum are expelled. The PLP declare Smith their leader in the Commons. He's backed by CLPs and the NEC and party officers. We keep the name and the buildings, and Momentum are ejected to form their own protest party.
Which - when Smith is proposing the very socialist left policies Momentum demand but done in a way thats actually effective and communicable - means Momentum get crushed by Labour at the ballot box. May even help split the anti-Labour protest vote in our "heartland" seats threatened by UKIP.
Its a battle for survival. An Extinction Level Event. A battle fought a century ago - does the Labour movement pursue the parliamentary route, or the revolutionary route? Momentum want revolution.
They will have to go.
In your dreams.
Ok.. so they Proscribe Momentum and their members are kicked out of the Labour Party. Momentum has less than 10,000 members. How are they going to stop the other quarter of a million or so pro Corbyn fanatics, who are Labour Party members, from having a democratic voice?
@AndrewSparrow: Pharmaceutical industry puts out statement suggesting it thinks Corbyn doesn't understand how medical research works https://t.co/2sMEXYv0Dl
Amazes me that 170,000 people are willing to join the Labour party - why don't they go the whole hog and join the Conservative Party instead...
Are you saying that the Momentum entryists are really Tory scum? When does the next purge start?
it seems to me that in the age of social media it's now relatively easy to "take over" a political party - to change its policies and to elect a leader that doesn't reflect the history of that party in any way
Miss Plato, there's a macabre but interesting division between those terrorists seeking mass casualties (Bataclan) and those seeking what they see as more specific legitimate targets [Hebdo].
Lack of legal experience. Not that stopped Gove or Grayling.
Oh so it's one rule for the 2 blokes and a different one for the woman. Textbook definition of sexism. Oaf.
To be fair Charlie Falconer, it is rumoured that both Anna Soubry and Dominic Raab refused to serve under Liz Truss for those exact reasons.
She's also very young in comparison to her predecessors and younger than both Soubry (by a mile) and Raab. Some people have problems with working for youngsters. Ego.
Amazes me that 170,000 people are willing to join the Labour party - why don't they go the whole hog and join the Conservative Party instead...
Are you saying that the Momentum entryists are really Tory scum? When does the next purge start?
it seems to me that in the age of social media it's now relatively easy to "take over" a political party - to change its policies and to elect a leader that doesn't reflect the history of that party in any way
Only if your leadership election rules come straight from the House of Dumbery.
» show previous quotes It's all to easy to play that game, without answering the accusation itself, which is all that you are doing here. "Oh! Look! He called me a racist - he can't be right!"
So, Malc, what do you think? Do you agree with Lowlander's opinion that Scottish People are superior to English people.
First off he did not say that from what I read and secondly if he did say it I would disagree totally.
Mr. M, true but it's worth recalling that the rules could've worked perfectly well, had Labour MPs not been thick as two short planks. Their role was to act as gatekeepers for the shortlist. They ignored that, to their cost.
Mr. M, true but it's worth recalling that the rules could've worked perfectly well, had Labour MPs not been thick as two short planks. Their role was to act as gatekeepers for the shortlist. They ignored that, to their cost.
True. Vampires can only enter your house if you invite them in.
SDP2 is formed with about 40 - 50 splitters actually splitting.
Toies win 2020 comfortably.
Lab poor 2nd (150 - 175 MPs)
SDP poll about 22% max 10 MPs
2025 SDP2 wipeout
So you're predicting more or less a rerun of the 80s. I don't think it will play out that way. Labour will get crushed between UKIP and the new Democratic party.
Kin hell typing on a phone Latin phrases is a nightmare.
Bloody autocorrect.
Probably why the Romans didn't have smartphones.
Which reminds me
A Roman walks into a bar, holds up two fingers, and says 'Five beers please'
You really should save those gems for the thread headers!!!
I've got another science gag lined up for this weekend.
It'll be my last thread for three whole weeks.
I hope it's another chemistry joke. They make me feel right in my element.
Until June 26th the shadow cabinet was in danger of becoming the seventh noble gas, they weren't very reactive to the dangers of Corbyn
Why does hamburger yield lower energy than steak?
Because it's in the ground state.
I've got a mathematical joke lined up as well.
Averages can be so misleading, I mean the average person has one testicle and one breast.
That would be a mean person.
The median person has two breasts. Very à la mode.
A physicist, a biologist and a mathematician are sitting in a street cafe opposite an empty house. They see two people go into the house. Time passes, and after a while they see three people walk out of the house.
The physicist says "The assumption that the house was empty was false." The biologist says "The people who went into the house have reproduced." The mathematician says "Now, if exactly one person enters the house it will be empty again."
Mr. Eagles, everyone knows the appropriate gene-splicing is octopus and lemur. You'd have to be some sort of drunken lunatic to cross an octopus with a cow.
Lack of legal experience. Not that stopped Gove or Grayling.
Oh so it's one rule for the 2 blokes and a different one for the woman. Textbook definition of sexism. Oaf.
To be fair Charlie Falconer, it is rumoured that both Anna Soubry and Dominic Raab refused to serve under Liz Truss for those exact reasons.
She's also very young in comparison to her predecessors and younger than both Soubry (by a mile) and Raab. Some people have problems with working for youngsters. Ego.
She did seem like an odd choice - I wonder why May gave it to her particularly?
@MichaelLCrick: Legal sources say Jeremy Corbyn plans to attend in person next Tuesday's High Court hearing over Michael Foster action against Labour NEC
He's not going pro se is he?
That would be epic.
Pro se? Why can't you lawyers speak the Queen's?!
Because we like to show off.
I've come up with an awesome pop music pun for Sunday.
EU can't hurry Leave.
There is no such thing as litigating "pro se" any more TSE, they are litigants in person.
They'll always be pro se to me. I'll never change.
I'm quite unclear whether they have ever been litigants pro se; at least, not since the 19th century.
I had originally opted for the word 'zenith', but that doesn't really apply to the top of things (you don't say zenith of the building, do you?). Probably should have stopped being fancy and just said "top"...
There IS a way out of this for Labour that will keep the Party intact, but it would require some ingestion of humble pie, and a period of 2-3 years of biting of tongues, holding of noses and a lot of patience.
Most of the complaints about Corbyn from the PLP are not about his policies, but about the man himself, his lack of leadership qualities. Smith has gone on record as saying he agrees with most of Corbyn's policies and would be happy to serve under him if he lost this election. The PLP have made this election all about saving the Party from splitting, which considering it is their actions that have brought us to this point seems a bit rich, but that is by the by.
If Owen Smith wants to save the Party from splitting, the easiest way to do that is to step down from this contest in which it looks likely he will be mullered anyway. If he does that in the spirit of calling for unity and the Labour rebels fall into line and actually start showing some support, albeit like-warm support, for the democratically elected Labour Party Leader, then Labour would recover in the polls to the point that they may just be in a position to be the largest Party at the next election.
Corbyn is no spring chicken, If the next election is in 2020, he will be 74 and potentially the oldest PM since Winston Churchill, in an age where politicians are generally getting younger. He has been under a lot of pressure and it will have taken it's toll. He may well feel that having got the Party back into a position of stability, albeit precarious stability, he could step back and allow someone who shares his views to carry on and with his full support, if they made it onto the ballot and with JC's backing, the membership would probably go along with this.
So, you would then have a more stabilised Labour Party going into the election with a younger, fresh-faced leader who has the backing of the membership and none of the baggage that Corbyn has. One proviso is that the new leader could not be McDonnel, because he is too inextricably linked with Corbyn and has baggage of his own
What are the mechanics to "Proscribe Momentum" within the Labour Party. Is is something that it is beyond the power of the Corbynites to block?
Its for the NEC to rule on. The rule book is very clear that organisations such as Momentum are illegal. There hasn't been a move against it so far because its associated with the leader. But as its behaviour gets more and more outrageous I think a challenge against it is inevitable.
Once proscribed then membership would become a disciplinary offence - just as membership on Militant was. We really are repeating the 1980s - a coming thumping Tory majority, a coming Welsh Labour leader, a coming expulsion of revolutionaries
How do you prove someone is a member of Momentum?
They must have a database, and I bet their information security isn't that great.
@MichaelLCrick: Legal sources say Jeremy Corbyn plans to attend in person next Tuesday's High Court hearing over Michael Foster action against Labour NEC
He's not going pro se is he?
That would be epic.
Pro se? Why can't you lawyers speak the Queen's?!
Because we like to show off.
I've come up with an awesome pop music pun for Sunday.
EU can't hurry Leave.
There is no such thing as litigating "pro se" any more TSE, they are litigants in person.
They'll always be pro se to me. I'll never change.
I'm quite unclear whether they have ever been litigants pro se; at least, not since the 19th century.
I think pro se is the general legal principle we were taught as such.
Comments
Once proscribed then membership would become a disciplinary offence - just as membership on Militant was. We really are repeating the 1980s - a coming thumping Tory majority, a coming Welsh Labour leader, a coming expulsion of revolutionaries
'its a game of GOVE and take, surely.
And I assume several of his followers will be coming along to "support" their hero in his hour of need.
Comic Labour - the gift that keeps on giving...
Joking apart, quality varies enormously between Departments - in my day the Oxford Engineers would cheerfully admit that Hull was better...
On topic - I disagree with Falconer - its a bit like arguing that you need a Medic to run the NHS, or Military to run Defence - I'd argue the opposite - these departments need to be (re)captured from Producer Interest.....
Militant had only a small fraction of the support of Corbyn.
If Derek Hatton had been elected Labour leader with 60% of the vote, then there is no way that Militant would have been proscribed.
Also, Momentum seem to be one step ahead. They are rebranding themselves as a group of loyal Labour members who support the Labour leader. That makes it tricky to proscribe them.
No nay never no more,
Will I play the wild Gover
No never no more.
Consuetudo pro lege servatur
Now I find that most of the time
GOVE's not enough in itself
Bloody autocorrect.
A Roman walks into a bar, holds up two fingers, and says 'Five beers please'
With a pair of Caesars!
It'll be my last thread for three whole weeks.
I like them too, periodically...
Miss Plato, there's a macabre but interesting division between those terrorists seeking mass casualties (Bataclan) and those seeking what they see as more specific legitimate targets [Hebdo].
Disraeli said:
» show previous quotes
It's all to easy to play that game, without answering the accusation itself, which is all that you are doing here.
"Oh! Look! He called me a racist - he can't be right!"
So, Malc, what do you think?
Do you agree with Lowlander's opinion that Scottish People are superior to English people.
First off he did not say that from what I read and secondly if he did say it I would disagree totally.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Turkish_purges
Because it's in the ground state.
It is going to be bloody but FWIW.
I reckon Jezza wins (and keeps the Labour name for the members)
SDP2 is formed with about 40 - 50 splitters actually splitting.
Toies win 2020 comfortably.
Lab poor 2nd (150 - 175 MPs)
SDP poll about 22% max 10 MPs
2025 SDP2 wipeout
Labour needs Buffy. Corbynistas have Faith on their side.
(just kidding, of course)
Averages can be so misleading, I mean the average person has one testicle and one breast.
The median person has two breasts. Very à la mode.
.... or something.
What do you get if you cross an octopus with a cow?
A reprimand from the scientific integrity and the professinal ethics committee.
The physicist says "The assumption that the house was empty was false."
The biologist says "The people who went into the house have reproduced."
The mathematician says "Now, if exactly one person enters the house it will be empty again."
Reminded me of the spherical cow...
I can't tell you for legal reasons!
....
GOVE
GOVE on your side!
But above all this, I wish to you Gove.
Q: What was the name of Celine Dion's Oscar-winning song from the film Titanic? Was it:
(A) My Heart Will Go On
(B) My Love Will Go On
(C) This Film Will Go On And On And On And On...
And we can even have a discussion on people confusing 'apex' for 'nadir'.
"Jeremy Corbyn said it was wrong for medical research to be “farmed out to big pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer” (Guardian)
Is nationalizing pharmaceuticals Labour policy?
That AV?
The antonym ought to be zenith, surely?
Mr. Nunu, it's deeply concerning.
Most of the complaints about Corbyn from the PLP are not about his policies, but about the man himself, his lack of leadership qualities. Smith has gone on record as saying he agrees with most of Corbyn's policies and would be happy to serve under him if he lost this election.
The PLP have made this election all about saving the Party from splitting, which considering it is their actions that have brought us to this point seems a bit rich, but that is by the by.
If Owen Smith wants to save the Party from splitting, the easiest way to do that is to step down from this contest in which it looks likely he will be mullered anyway. If he does that in the spirit of calling for unity and the Labour rebels fall into line and actually start showing some support, albeit like-warm support, for the democratically elected Labour Party Leader, then Labour would recover in the polls to the point that they may just be in a position to be the largest Party at the next election.
Corbyn is no spring chicken, If the next election is in 2020, he will be 74 and potentially the oldest PM since Winston Churchill, in an age where politicians are generally getting younger. He has been under a lot of pressure and it will have taken it's toll. He may well feel that having got the Party back into a position of stability, albeit precarious stability, he could step back and allow someone who shares his views to carry on and with his full support, if they made it onto the ballot and with JC's backing, the membership would probably go along with this.
So, you would then have a more stabilised Labour Party going into the election with a younger, fresh-faced leader who has the backing of the membership and none of the baggage that Corbyn has. One proviso is that the new leader could not be McDonnel, because he is too inextricably linked with Corbyn and has baggage of his own
It could work... couldn 't it