Fullerene

If it was just the Guardian than that might be true but other papers and news channels are saying the same thing. Other Labour politicians are more careful about how they say things to allow all options to remain open. However Jeremy Corbyn then comes out and says what he thinks - which is an opinion that hasn't changed in decades. Jeremy Corbyn is all for following the wishes of the membership but that is only if they wish for the same things that he does. I suspect he expresses a lot of opinions that Labour party members agree with but on Europe he does not.

It must be depressing spending your whole life surrounded by toadies. For example, every time the Queen farts, somebody else says "excuse me" and pretends it was them.

This sentiment alone is worthy of a knighthood. Arise Sir Danger.

Newspapers tend to reinforce the opinions of their readers - otherwise their readers would desert them. However they also form opinions for their readers on those subjects where their readers have none. So, yes, the Daily Mail can stop rowing so hard against the EU and it doesn't matter - the mood and direction has been set, so the hatred of the EU can continue without much assistance from the Daily Mail. What gets me is why anyone should have had strong opinions about the EU in the first place. It was set up to create a level playing field so that 6 countries, and now 28, could trade easily with each other as well as with other countries in the world. Yes, it has its good points and its bad points but not to the extent of "let's have nothing to do with it". UK newspapers are far less influence on the EU than they have with any UK government. It was in their interest to whip up hostility to the EU and that goes a long way to explaining where we are now.

Again I agree with you but that leader is not Corbyn. Yes, all those other things are wonderful but Brexit has an urgency that overrides everything else. His attitude to the EU is the same as it was 40 years ago yet he refuses to admit it. How do you demonstrate leadership while being so duplicitous on a matter like this?

I totally agree with you on that but if he did not realise that was part of the job then he should not have accepted the role. Resorting to claims of conspiracy is never going to lead to success. Believe me, I probably agree with him on a lot of things but I think he is his own worse enemy. He comes across as dogmatic at a time when it is hopelessly inappropriate.

I have strong opinions on some things but I also have no opinion on other things. For the latter, I rely on politicians to do the hard work and then convince me one way or the other. In other words, he should have made up his mind and come out fighting - just like he did for the 2017 election. Also, some of your recent replies suggest paranoia and conspiracy similar to North Korea and Enver Hoxha's Albania. Jeremy Corbyn is supposedly one of two people who could be Prime Minister at the next election and yet he was easily outmanuevred by Jack Straw's son. Good luck as PM combatting Trump, Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jung-un - and the EU as well. IIRC: He blocked efforts by Alan Johnson to push a more pro-EU campaign during the referendum.

Jeremy Corbyn loves giving speeches where he says "I have always believed." It demonstrates conviction. Jeremy Corbyn does not like giving speeches where he says "I now believe." It suggests he is fickle. He made up his mind on the EU a long time ago and he will not budge. If he was persuaded otherwise on state aid, he would simply grab some other excuse. He is totally out of step with his own membership even though they were the ones that got him where he is now.

You are right but I was listing reasons that might not be applicable now. I think there are plenty of people who just don't like foreigners - let alone immigrants. They are probably furious that cheap flights and a drop in the pound encourages tourists to come here. The irony is that it will still be easy for people to visit here but a poor exchange rate and long queues in the blue passport lane will make it more difficult for us to go to Europe. Q.: What do you call a tourist in Burnley? A.: Lost

We use to dream about living in a shoebox.

I think people should stop saying "we" as if everybody who voted the same way on anything did so for the same reasons. Some people voted Leave because they believed it would mean more money for the NHS. Maybe not you - but they did. People were told it would be the easiest deal in the world and some people believed that. The impression was given that it would all be straightforward and you would hardly know the difference. In that case, if membership hardly affects things then why bother with it. Some people only made their decision in the polling booth and decided to vote Leave. They weren't angry, outraged or furious with anyone. They simply decided on balance that we might as well Leave. Some people voted Leave as a protest vote. Some people voted Leave because they don't like austerity. Some people voted Leave to have a go at David Cameron and George Osborne. Given the complete absence of any workable plan, it seems ridiculous. It is like deciding to sell your house, and after two years looking for a new house and failing to find one, you still want to stick by your original decision to sell your house.

Yikes. I will rephrase. "If it wasn't for the unelected editors of the Sun, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, we would probably never have had this mess in the first place."

Actually I agree. In fact, if we had replaced all the unelected editors of the Sun, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express a long time ago, we would probably never have had this mess in the first place.

Yes. You are right. Didn't check my facts before I printed them. Maybe I can get a job at the Daily Mail now.

There were 16.8 million people, in the UK, who voted Remain and in England and Wales they are denied a voice. Sure, the Liberal Democrats, Greens and Plaid Cymru are in favour of a second referendum but are any likely to win a General Election. Yes, Leave won the vote by 600,000 votes - less than 1% of the population. If Corbyn still wants to go ahead with Brexit then the obvious question is this: Why vote Labour if you are a Remain voter who seriously thinks Brexit will be a disaster for the UK that will obliterate everything else on Labour's agenda? I think a lot of people, including traditional Tory voters, voted for Labour in 2017 thinking it might be the best way to thwart Brexit. IMO, if Corbyn continues to back Brexit, a lot of Remain voters will not even bother to vote. Brexit is the number one issue and everything else on Corbyn's agenda is a distant second.

Sometimes I think Jeremy Corbyn has the exact same view of the EU as Dennis Skinner, for example. I bet there are times when he wishes he wasn't leader of the party and could then criticise the leadership for not getting us out quick enough. He must be so frustrated that so many of his followers are more pro-EU than he is. When are they going to realise his playbook is out of date and needs updating?

Further correction. He played for Derry City Football Club who are in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Similar concept to Berwick Rangers playing in Scotland. BTW: Ulster consists of nine counties: Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry/Derry, Monaghan, Tyrone.

Corbyn would love a hard Brexit. I am not sure. I think he would just like to get Brexit out of the way so we can talk about more important things. Probably sees himself following in the footsteps of Clement Attlee who wanted to get the Second World War out of the way for similar reasons..

So Jeremy Corbyn says Brexit will still happen even if Labour wins a snap election. He is happy to do what the Labour members want - provided they want what he wants. Great. Still going off a cliff but maybe we get to choose a different cliff.

Not entirely. There is probably some House of Commons rule that calling someone stupid leads to immediate suspension from the house. Also, members of the house are addressing the speaker when they speak. No cross-talk is allowed. Instead of calling Theresa May a "stupid woman", he should have addressed the speaker and said "Mr Speaker, she is a stupid woman". Sounds daft but rules are rules.

Westminister is designed with two sides facing each other, as if for a fight. There is an invisible line running down the middle and huge importance is placed on grabbing the mace, or "crossing the floor" and there are people there who are convinced that all the shouting and jeering and the combative nature of the place is a highly effective way to run government. Yeah, acting like a bunch of drunken louts is obviously the best way to do things. None of that namby-pamby, "let's be polite and listen to anyone", semi-circle nonsense.

Total agree. I remember reading a Robert Peston book that talked about this. Somebody fully trained on cancer research, for example, can make more money in the city speculating on the future of companies involved in cancer research than doing the work themselves.. Similarly for every other specialised subject you can imagine. I find it very disheartening.

I still love the expression "As quiet as Aberdeen on a flag day".

Leave means Leave. Talk about missing out on the detail. "Would you like to buy my car?" "Maybe. What can you tell me about it?" "It's my car." "Sounds good. How much?"

Jeremy Corbyn is popular in the Labour Party because of his position on the political spectrum. For example, he is not likely to invade Iraq or Libya or anything like that and he is in favour of nice things and so on. However, he is reading from a script and one that was written decades ago. He doesn't want to talk about Brexit because there was a time when the Labour Party was against Europe, he was part of that and he does not want to be described as a turncoat. We are talking about a part of the politic spectrum where suspicion, paranoia and accusations of betrayal are rife. While I might agree with him on a lot of things, he is just an incredibly weak leader.