I don't know what you call that automatic applause that occurs at socialist meetings whenever certain trigger words (currently "NHS", "Junior Doctors" and "refugees") are mentioned, but it's bloody annoying. In the last six months I've heard Corbyn speak (in August) at the Winter Gardens, and this week, the Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, at the King's Theatre in Ramsgate and I've heard a hell of a lot of this. For some reason I think it's clap trap - but it can't be can it? Perhaps claptrap is what the politician says to provoke applause and I noticed McD commented on something at the beginning of his speech, saying he hadn't said it to promote applause.
There was an awful lot of "spontaneous" applause on Tuesday night. Not just for McD - but for every word that issued from the mouth of another speaker, and a tremendous deal of it for the striking junior doctors present. Yes, we want to show our appreciation, and Raushan, our local socialist restaurateur definitely deserved it for her work and her kindness but actually a lot of the claptrap is counter-productive since it slows the flow of the speech and the ideas. And a great deal of what is being said to provoke it isn't especially new or interesting - usually a re-statement of long-held positions.
Both Corbyn and McDonnell said one, different, interesting thing which I wanted to applaud. At the Corbyn thing I applauded and people followed (it was an attack on the supremacy of the market - seldom mentioned) and McDonnell said the new mantra for the LP should be "invest, invest, invest!" This received zero applause. Was it because it was a new idea and people weren't sure about it? Is it because a lot of socialists actually are economically illiterate? Or frightened of investment because it has capitalist overtones? I don't know, but I found it disconcerting. It was an enjoyable speech and quite funny, when he dealt with personal anecdotes, but I was much more interested in HOW Labour would implement policies, which McD was trying to explain. I was glad to hear about all the advice they were taking, they sounded as if they were getting it sorted and using a diverse number of people, many sensible former civil servants etc. as well as everyone's favourite comedy game theorist, Yannis Varoufakis. As a former fan of Mr V. I was thrilled to hear that, nevertheless, I feel applying too much game theory to negotiations has not been a success for the Greeks, so God forbid a future Labour government should make too much use of him.
There was an awful lot of "spontaneous" applause on Tuesday night. Not just for McD - but for every word that issued from the mouth of another speaker, and a tremendous deal of it for the striking junior doctors present. Yes, we want to show our appreciation, and Raushan, our local socialist restaurateur definitely deserved it for her work and her kindness but actually a lot of the claptrap is counter-productive since it slows the flow of the speech and the ideas. And a great deal of what is being said to provoke it isn't especially new or interesting - usually a re-statement of long-held positions. Both Corbyn and McDonnell said one, different, interesting thing which I wanted to applaud. At the Corbyn thing I applauded and people followed (it was an attack on the supremacy of the market - seldom mentioned) and McDonnell said the new mantra for the LP should be "invest, invest, invest!" This received zero applause. Was it because it was a new idea and people weren't sure about it? Is it because a lot of socialists actually are economically illiterate? Or frightened of investment because it has capitalist overtones? I don't know, but I found it disconcerting. It was an enjoyable speech and quite funny, when he dealt with personal anecdotes, but I was much more interested in HOW Labour would implement policies, which McD was trying to explain. I was glad to hear about all the advice they were taking, they sounded as if they were getting it sorted and using a diverse number of people, many sensible former civil servants etc. as well as everyone's favourite comedy game theorist, Yannis Varoufakis. As a former fan of Mr V. I was thrilled to hear that, nevertheless, I feel applying too much game theory to negotiations has not been a success for the Greeks, so God forbid a future Labour government should make too much use of him.
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