Recent content by RowanDraper

I supported tuition fees that brought extra investment into Higher Education not to replace funding the Government had cut because of their austerity agenda. I supported pragmatic use of private providers to ensure that patients could be treated sooner rather than later and I didn't call my own...

I don't agree with your assessment. It is a misrepresentation of Labour. It's founding principles were to organise a group in Parliament to advance the interests of working class people. In that endeavour it was never a truly Socialist party because its members also came from trade union's, the...

I don't think that's an analogy that I'd agree with. What I'm talking about specifically is the use of private providers to deliver treatment when waiting lists are high. I want patients to be treated as quickly and efficiently as possible. As long as it is free at the point of use, like the...

My apologies. I've been away for a while and forgot to come back. I'll go through any outstanding replies today.

Early polling suggests that there is support in the country for a new party in the centre, with the formation of the Independent Group of MPs. The centre ground is where elections are won and have been for a long time. We need to take the country with us and too much of one side generally...

I will respond to the other comments tomorrow but I wanted to provide a quick reply to this. Thanks but I don’t understand your use of heart bleeds? I left the party because it’s allowing racism to flourish, not because of a selection battle. I’m also not complaining. I’ve given my reasons...

No. I’d personally like to fix the problems and invest in infrastructure like sorting out the Health and Social Care crisis. But having a choice between treating someone efficiently and quickly against slow and efficiently I’m always going to say that I want people treated as quickly as possible.

It is too simplistic to assess the 2010 General Election results through a prism of policies. It wasn’t. Gordon Brown wasn’t very popular in the country, and at the time of economic instability people were hurting and wanted to punish who they saw as in charge. Labour didn’t cause the economic...

Tuition Fees was a policy that increased the amount of money available as individual students chipped in as well as the Government putting money in. It’s hardly the most right wing policy either. Labour didn’t start privatisation, and not within the NHS - that was Major, but they accelerated it...

If I was after publicity surely the better strategy would have been to instigate several set piece incidents before resigning?

Absolute nonsense. If it wasn’t for the Blairites we wouldn’t have a National Minimum Wage. Tell me which Tory Leader would have delivered that back in the 70s, 80s and 90s?

Not saying that. If you read my context again you will see that I’m referring to local members and not MPs.

They aren’t but OK. What evidence do you have to suggest what the country wants? In this time of political crisis it’s not clear to me what the country wants. Polls suggest that people are rejecting the extremes of the left and the right but whether that is sustained we will have to wait and see.

Absolutely nothing. If it had been, why wouldn’t I have resigned in June or July?

TRANSLATION: Labour completed the selection process in June 2018. My supporters, who had been party members for many years, were outvoted by an organised effort by the hard left who have only joined the party since Corbyn’s election. Suggesting that I am throwing toys out of the pram nearly a...