So children - today's 'put-down' comes to you through the Margaret Beckett window....

Let's get this out of the way first of all as a brand new blogger:

I am a socialist, always have been, always will be, would never vote tory.

When I say 'socialist' I mean I support the policies and principles of Jeremy Corbyn and respect his mandate as Labour Party Leader.

So now any tories or Neo-liberals who have stumbled across this in error - please feel free to leave and never return, no hard feelings.

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I went to bed last night having just recovered from being referred to as a 'Nazi Stormtrooper' in an article by Michael Foster - millionaire, 'new Labour' funder, crony and icon of modern socialist values. The article, amusingly enough, was in the Daily Mail.  I surmised that they have long been awaiting an opportunity to air some of their extensive photographic library of Nazi propaganda. They must have been rubbing their hands in glee when Foster tipped up with some psychotic style ramblings.

This slur (and we were wondering how long it would be before the nazis came up) came after almost daily, continued, relentless and ever more bizarre accusations of Corbyn's supporters being:

....Trots, entryists, jihadists, rabble, scum, dogs, Militant, SWP, misogynists, anti-semitic, bullies, morons, uneducated, middle-class, lower class, no class......etc etc. The list goes on but I shan't as it is well documented elsewhere.

In eager anticipation, I wondered what I would wake up as this morning.

It seems today I am a member of the Jeremy Corbyn Fan Club (Membership only £25, I'm still waiting for my badge, t-shirt and set of official photos of the great man himself). Margaret Beckett is of an opinion that many (most?) of the 300,000 new Labour Party members have joined as an homage to Corbyn and would leave Labour should he be deposed.  What she, and so many others either fail to recognise or choose to ignore, is that the vast majority of these new members joined because of the policies and values that Corbyn was speaking of. For the first time in 20 - 30 years, People who had been driven away from Labour from seeing them Progressively (pun intended) metamorphose into a slightly less nasty tory party could see a change.

I have to admit, Last May/June after the dismal General Election failure, I didn't know very much about Jeremy Corbyn.  I fathomed he was added to the Leadership list as a kind of joke 'Citizen Smith' type of figure to give the semblance that all elements of Labour's 'broad church' were represented whilst being absolutely certain that nobody would actually vote for him.  I didn't think much of his chances and to begin with supported Andy Burnham for leader.  Then Corbyn started talking - to us, the voters, the members and lapsed members, the young and the old, about his vision of a socialist Britain. And people started listening, and liking what he was saying. The onslaught of media and PLP criticism had already begun well before Corbyn was elected Leader with a resounding majority. Once elected, that onslaught became nastier, more venomous and vindictive.

Corbyn's words resonated with ordinary people because we could tell that he actually meant them and we believed that he would actually see them through. In this age where politicians are supposed to be slick and shiny-faced media-machines, Corbyn stands out like a sore thumb with his relaxed appearance and refusal to court and play the games as dictated by mainstream media. Corbyn has integrity and is genuine, as opposed to Owen Smith who began by saying that 'Austerity is right' and then changing his mind 3 weeks later, and making a series of highly dubious misogynistic remarks. His views seem to change with the wind, largely according to what Corbyn has said and has gone down well with the public. The first time I have heard the word 'socialism' used in a positive way since the 1980s was at a pro-Corbyn rally.  As soon as Smith saw how well it went down, suddenly he was a socialist too!  

I have supported Labour since I was old enough to understand what it was all about. Equality, fairness, opportunity, respect - for all, not just for those who can afford to buy it. I never thought in my lifetime I would see calls for re-nationalisation again, yet Corbyn has put this back on the agenda and voters like it. 

I lost faith in labour when 'New Labour' took hold of the party. At first, naively, I thought that Blair was just doing what the tories have always done to get elected - ie lying about all the things they would do and then doing the total opposite once in power. Clever I thought, using their spin and dishonesty to beat them. I was as thrilled as anyone in 1997 when Labour won, after '18 years of hurt' under the tories.  It wasn't long until I realised how wrong I was. Their introduction of university tuition fees in September 1998 went against everything I believed in. Even the nasty party hadn't attempted that. Now Corbyn talks about scrapping fees and introducing a National Education Service - music to my ears.

So, Margaret Beckett, Owen Smith, Tom Watson etc........

Yes, I have joined a fan-club. It's called the Labour Party and I joined because I believe in what it's all about, its principles, values, vision.  Corbyn has led the way and shown that such socialist principles can be popular and vote-winning and he should be allowed the opportunity and the freedom to lead the party into the next General Election. Instead of this unnecessary, unwelcome and pointless leadership challenge, PLP, Smith etc could put their energies into supporting and working with Corbyn to attack the real opposition (ie the tories) who are literally getting away with murder at the moment, largely unchallenged by a party turned in on itself.  

With over 500,000 members, you should be celebrating a change in fortunes, not finding new and more nonsensical ways to smear us. Those people are the ones who will be out on the ground campaigning for Labour provided you don't alienate them all now.