Are the left the only people who can defeat the nationalist right?

The hard right can only be defeated from the left, not from the centre

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/18/hard-right-left-centre-party-politics-blair-clinton?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

Owen Jones is probably the UKs most prominent left journalist. Here he is writing about Anglo american issues and drawing comparisons berween the two situations. There seem to be a lot though they are not universal. His biggest argument here is to say that the liberal Centre have abandoned the needs of the working class and middle class people, giving the right opportunity to expoilt this. Are the left the only people who can redress this?

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Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

Trying to define where the 'centre' is these days is ridiculous !
The 'traditional' centre ground in the UK for example is the Liberal Democrats.
Yet they hold just 12 seats !
12 out of 650 !

That tells you just how few believe in them.

The fact that the centre left just collapsed in America at the last election is down entirely (in my view) to it's choice of candidate. It's as simple as that !
The Democrats saw the one who raised the most money as the 'best' candidate, and the nation disagreed.
Given her 'controversial' period in office,where's the surprise ?
You can't have half the electorate saying..."Christ ! ANYBODY but her !"

In the UK Labour needs to remember it's supposed to support those who work for a living. It's as simple as that !
And you win no friends when you misjudge the mood of the nation over the whole BREXIT debate !
You win no friends when you find Labour MP's abstaining from votes on increasing the minimum wage !

So nobody's sure what they stand for anymore.....AGAIN !

So quite where, or WHAT the centre-left is supposed to be, nobody knows !

I hate to say it but i think unless there are some clear (maybe even radical) ideas forthcoming from ANY of the parties in the UK at least, you'll see the return of the type of politics we saw under Thatcher.
And that did few favours for anybody !

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Picklebobble2 I don't think it'll be exactly like Thatcher but a more explicitly nationalist and anti migrant right. The tories are already halfway there and there will be a come back for UKIP when hard Brexit doesn't happen.

I think the days when you could just chase the centre to win votes are long gone. Your point about the lib Dems reveals a lot. Given Brexit and the aledged weaknesses of both major parties, their performance is staggeringly bad.

Also, a lot of people who still attack corbyn on electability have need to compare Labour to other social democratic parties in Europe, which are all polling at equal or worse than their historic floor. Narrative matters and you need to have a base.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@Burnley123 I was just wondering how many Thatcher-era Tory Lords there are in the House of Lords......Who'd want Theresa May's job ?

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Picklebobble2 There are a few but since Blair, they are mostly appointed. Basically the Lords is as divided as the Commons and the Chequers deal would get shot down by both sides their too, if it reached that point. Which it won't.

I can see May going to that house in a couple of years though.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@Burnley123 Replaced by whom ?

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Picklebobble2 Hopefully Corbyn but it's so messed up and hard to predict.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@Burnley123 Lol. I meant Tory leader replacement.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Picklebobble2 Well... It could be Boris but most Tory mps hate him. It could happen though. I don't think a Remainer could win with their members and Jacob Reese Mogg is probably too much for their mps so...

Sajid Javid would be my best bet and would be a strategically smart move for them. He is a Brexiteer but not an ultra Brexiteer so he would have potential to unite them. Also, as a BAME man he would give them an image makeover. He is suave, urbane and articulate so if they are going for optics, it would work.

His politics are terrible and he's ultra right wing but I could see him winning a Tory leadership contest.