Offering honest opinion

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Yesterday was another tough day.

I wrote an honest opinion that suggested that the policy options that I have long proposed on this blog will not see the light of day under the current Labour leadership, whose views they seem to have influenced. As a result I suggested that leadership should now stand aside to give someone else the chance to deliver on those promises. Knowing that this choice would ultimately rest with the Labour Party membership, who seem inclined overall to share some of the opinions that I promote, I thought that an appropriate and measured suggestion since no party leader has any hope of winning an election without the backing of their parliamentary party.

I am sorry to say that many seemed to not read a word I said on policy, and appeared to only note any personal comment.

Others never got beyond the headline and declared I am now a Blairite.

I had hoped for better. I had presumed reasoned argument might be of benefit, and that policy was more important than person if it had become apparent that a person could no longer deliver, whether that was fair or not (and politics is not fair). Clearly that was a mistake on my part.

But let me reiterate.

I have not changed my opinion.

I remain firmly apolitical: I did not say vote Labour or anyone else yesterday, any more than I did before Jeremy Corbyn borrowed my ideas (as have others from several parties done in the past).

What I did was say that if those ideas, that I think serve the interests of those in greatest need in this country, then Labour might need to change leader and then make sure that whoever followed Jeremy Corbyn was committed to these ideas.

As a result some offered abuse.

Others just lied as to my motive.

In spite of that I will stick to my unchanged ideas on tax and economic justice, and to saying what I think without following party lines.That is what I have always done: for the record nothing has changed. As ever I will offer my honest opinion, which has rarely been the easy one.

But I will say I would really prefer that people do a little reading and thinking before commenting. And that where it is apparent that this has either not happened or that abuse is the sole aim of a comment then the delete button will be used without hesitation because I have not got the time available to moderate the intemperate outbursts of others just because I have, as wise people do when circumstances change, altered my apparent position.

Let me also add that for much of today I will be out of blog action. Please don't hurl abuse in that case because your comment has waited for hours to be published: I have a day job to do as well as this.


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