David Owen Interview | Labour Party | SDP | Afternoon Plus | 1981

[@tubularbill]

I just can’t get his Spitting Image puppet out of my head....lol

[@Zadakleader635IvanTheRobot]

seriously, me neither lmaoo

[@SeansLipSyncingSock]

“Ohhh, hurt me, David!”

[@pov_music]

CH- CH CHECK YOUR BODY

[@MrDavey2010]

Solid sensible politician who was able to construct an argument. Sorely missing nowadays.

[@kevinlongman007]

He got it wrong on Robert Mugabe...but he was correct about Labour heading to disaster by moving to the left.

[@whatamalike]

We're doing pretty good thanks.

[@kevinlongman007]

@@whatamalike Really? I don't think Labour won the 2017 general election even though it was against an incompetent government who had a disaster of an election campaign...and militant was the reason we were in Opposition during most of the 1980's.

[@whatamalike]

@@kevinlongman007 Give us a break mate, we've had everything thrown at us and then some from the right wing media. It has nothing to do with incompetence on labour's part and/or so-called 'militancy' but rather the muck racking from a few billionaires in print and television media. But things are changing, watch this space.

[@kevinlongman007]

@@whatamalike But that's nearly always been the case for Labour. I think we shall soon find out if Corbyn is capable of winning a General Election or not.

[@whatamalike]

@@kevinlongman007 Not on the scale we've had over the last 3 years! Remember when Milliband got grilled over the photo of him eating a bacon sarnie? That was NOTHING compared to what we've had since! So whenever people claim that the bad press against Labour is just sour grapes/childish blame-gaming I furiously disagree. But like anything let's see. I've spoken to many folk who don't agree with corbyn's approach to things like Public ownership of utilities and rail and by extension not really on board with his leadership, but also believe the smear against corbyn has been unprecedented, damaging and totally uncalled for; especially the anti-semitism scandal! And despite all that; we're still ahead of the Tories in the YouGov polls and have been bar a few blips over the last 18 months :)

[@racheljayne3501]

He was very handsome back in the day... and the voice, oh yes!

[@stevenharry8]

Hello ❤

[@alaskagyal]

House of Commons, Commons of House!

[@altelectionuk]

Hello among us fan

[@SeansLipSyncingSock]

“I’m a cool cat!” “And I’m a little mouse!”

[@kevinlongman007]

Owen was also correct regarding the union block vote in Labour leadership elections...that is why Labour ended up with Ed Miliband as leader instead of David Miliband who would have been the better leader.

[@briandelaney9710]

Owen was fine with the block vote up until then when it pleased him

[@kevinlongman007]

@@briandelaney9710 Well up to and including the 1980 Labour Leadership elections only Labour MP's voted (and the same for the Deputy Leader) and it was not until Kinnock won in 1983 that the unions got a vote and Owen had left the party long before then...

[@lunahlulah6772]

The puppet was scarily accurate!

[@bee-beargaming]

I'm here bc I want to see what he looks like in real life

[@WorldNews92]

Ironically, one of issues he parted with over Labour -- EEC membership -- he eventually campaigned for thirty-five years later.

[@WorldNews92]

Furthermore, his prediction that OMOV would lead to a less radical leader for the Party led to OMOV doing the exact opposite. And now the Bloc vote itself is being touted as returning to "more sensible leadership".

[@m.solo-manc]

should have stayed in the Labour Party challenged Kinnock after the 87 loss leadership election and we could have won the 92 election

[@FreeAnalyst]

Interesting to see how pro-EU David Owen was in those days. He wouldn't countenance leaving the EEC (as it was known in those days). By the time of the 2016 referendum, he was was throughly pro-Brexit. Just goes to show how bad things have got in EU when the likes of even David Owen want to leave it.

[@zeddeka]

FreeAnalyst what nonsense. David Owen was one of the most toxic, hubristic personalities in British politics and destroyed pretty much everything he touched. It's no surprise that he turned in Europe, as he turned on pretty much everything else he was involved in, whether that was the Labour Party or the SDP. Roy Jenkins famously said that he had a personality like the fabled Upas tree. Grandiose to behold from a distance, but destroyed everything around it. Denis Healey perhaps put it more bluntly. "The good fairy gave him film star looks and a sharp intellect. The bad fairy made him a shit".

[@JDrakeify]

Not really, his eurosceptic turn fits in pretty well with the way his politics have evolved over the years. He has changed his mind on almost every single issue (sometimes multiple times) since this interview. He was a social democrat at about this time, then basically a soft thatcherite in the eighties. He is now anti-austerity and anti-trident, and since Corbyn became leader, he has become a Labour donor and supporter again. And equally, it should be said that many of the leaders of the Leave campaign in 1976, such as Barbara Castle and Michael Foot, shifted to become pro-EU before they died.

[@kevinlongman007]

David Owen is a famous example of a flip flopper.

[@tomgibson6801]

will never forgive owen for his and the rest of the gang of fours betrayal but he's got better since the lib dems got formed

[@kevinlongman007]

@@tomgibson6801 Owen was dead set against the SDP joining the Liberals and i don't think he ever was a Lib Dem.

[@richardlaversuch9460]

Dr Owen's faith in Mugabe misplaced...

[@lawrence142002]

To be fair to him, he wasn't the only one.

[@richardlaversuch9460]

@RichardTheThird Pinochet supporting us over the Falklands, key in our victory for democracy there; protected Chile from Marxism; and helped establish democracy from 1990 onwards.

[@richardlaversuch9460]

Someone to argue against Capitalism and Marxism needed now

[@anothertime1282]

That would be fascism, I assume.

[@grahamstewart615]

He was agent provocateur inside the Labour Party.

[@MVERLAINE1]

Pity he didn't stand up for his European principles in the 2016 Referendum

[@bigbenji6]

2010+ Austerity

[@lina-zz9kk]

he dosnt think he is mr wonderful at all