Op-ed: The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Tom Watson said magnanimously Saturday that now is not the time to ditch Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The wording of the above depends on the publication. "Ditching" is the obvious choice for the Daily Mail while other publications opt for "now is not the time for a leadership contest" and "Tom Watson stands by Corbyn."

Mr Watson was speaking at the Labour Party's Scottish conference Saturday two days after two by-elections.

Politics is certainly a funny old game.

Plenty of party members would rather Tom Watson was ditched but he seems to be sitting pretty as the party's Deputy Leader.

Perhaps it is time the Labour Party ditched the role of Deputy? Is it really a necessary role?

As many party members believe rightly or wrongly that Mr Watson was well in the so-called chicken coup of 2016 we definitely need a Deputy Leadership challenge.

Watson still has a great deal of support especially from the right-wing of the Labour Party or as they prefer to call themselves soft left or moderates.

He is still tied to Tony Blair's Progress organisation, a party within a party if we are to reciprocate with words used to describe Momentum.

Labour Party candidate Gareth Snell won the Stoke Central by-election Thursday but the party's Copeland seat was lost.

The Labour Party's share of the Copeland vote has been decreasing over some time and in some ways defeat was perhaps a natural progression. People have their own ideas on what went wrong in Copeland and all perhaps have some truth to them.

But no political party can afford to lose seats.

The prime objective of the Labour Party has to be forming a government and removing the slash happy Tories who are now lead by unelected Theresa May.

BRexit is occupying most headlines and analysis and is detracting from Mrs May's dreadful government.

By the time voters wake up to what is happening it could be too late.

Boundary changes which will reduce the Labour Party's chances of election success are imminent meaning we could soon be a one party state.

Mr Watson also said Saturday that the Labour Party does not need progressive political alliances and this woman agrees with that.

We need a real Labour Party government and soon.

Is it going to be another case of years of Tory misrule until finally the worm turns? That is what happened during the Thatcher years and beyond until 1997.

That left the new Labour government with a mountain to climb.

Watson was in this woman's opinion also right when Saturday he said "We have to do better, we cannot sustain this level of distance from our electorate" as long as the WE means every single person attached to the Labour Party.

The electorate are being drip fed negative news re the Labour Party and many times it is via our own MPs, councillors or affiliates. Too many people have their own agendas, groups, big egos and more.

WE need to take a long hard look at ourselves top to bottom.

Our paid representatives should be leading by example.

This woman looks forward to getting back to attacking the Tories in her blogs but will continue to offer honest opinions as a long standing Labour Party voter until those in authority get their act in order.

It's not the time to ditch Corbyn, says Tom Watson
Tom Watson stands by Jeremy Corbyn despite Copeland defeat

Op-ed: I rarely watch BBC Parliament these days; since retirement I have the time but not the blood pressure for it.

But on those occasions this woman tunes in however briefly one thing stands out - Ministers spend too much time on cell phones, Ipads and other online devices.

Two images today caught two Tory Ministers who at one point appeared to be texting each other like naughty kids in a school classroom.

This is not a rare occurence or limited to one political party.

Within a few minutes of viewing we spotted a range of MPs using decices offering Internet access.

It could be in some cases they are referencing information but as most MPs still have a mountain of paperwork with them that is a nonsense.

Perhaps Parliament would work better and be less of a public joke if Internet devices were left at the door.

In case it has crossed your mind this woman does not use a cell phone or take her IPad with her when she goes out and that is not only since retirement; it is the norm.

When she goes out the Internet stays home unless she is on vacation for a week or two.

Using such devices in parliament during a debate is many things including silly.

It makes those texting or similar appear distracted rather than paying attention to matters in hand. They often look sloppy as they forget they are on camera. It spreads chinese whispers, gossip and imformation leaks.

Overall it undermines parliament and our democracy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/bbcparliament