What annoys me about the Labour Party

[Shabby Russian]

As someone who would self describe as being on the left of the British politics I haven't found myself willing to vote for the main centre left party in this country. And that is even more surprising, given that how to tackle climate change is for me the most important issue today and that I think Labour's solutions on this issue are more coherent than the party I do vote (Green).

So why don't I vote Labour.

1 - They don't support PR.
2- The link to the Trade Union movement has become increasingly toxic for both sides, probably more so for the Trade Unions. Workers in this country deserve a Trade Union Movement that is independent of any political party . And being a party that can attract a membership of half a million, Labour should be in a position not to need Union money to exist. At the present time the Unite union has a real malign influence over the Party, Corbyn was far to close to Unite, and the Labour Party had become in effect the political wing of the Unite Trade Union.
3 - Factionalism, all parties are guilty of this but none more than Labour. The need to label opponents is irritating. The need to use terms such as Blairite, Centrist, Extreme Left really pisses me off, and suggests a lack of ability to construct a coherent and reasoned argument against someone who doesn't share your opinion.

Everyone is free to join in and share there personal grievances against the party, and maybe we could forward to the leadership contenders. But please try and keep it devoid of pointless personal attacks on individual politicians.

[Borin' Baggie]

4 - They act as though they're entitled to the anti-Tory vote
5 - As with the Tories they're party before country
6 - As with the Tories, they copy policy from other parties then don't credit them for it
7 - They hate civil liberties
8 - They're more than happy to throw the smaller parties under the bus even if it means that the Tories will win a majority
9 - They embrace nepotism

[Derek Hardballs]

They fail to understand they have to appeal to moderate floating voters. Currently they look down on them!

They seem happier to be a pressure group than a Political Party that wants to win an election

They are obsessed with fringe politics such as Israel and Palestine, gender issues etc

I’m not particularly patriotic but many people are and they come across as anti-British. Not a winning policy with those they have to attract to win power.

They won’t allow a broad church of opinion and will aggressively push moderates out the party.

They are influenced far too much by Momentum and some of the less enlightened unions and their leaders ahem Len McClusky. (Spelling)

Half the party at least is in denial about the attraction of Corbyn and his policies

They don’t offer a realistic positive alternative to the Conservative Party. For example I’m happy for some things like water, and power to be nationalised and perhaps rail and would be happy to work with them as an Independant company. However I doubt that they would tolerate any interference from the private sector and would want every aspect of those things they’ve privatised to be in-house. That’s never a healthy balance between public and private

[Shabby Russian]

4 - They act as though they're entitled to the anti-Tory vote
5 - As with the Tories they're party before country
6 - As with the Tories, they copy policy from other parties then don't credit them for it
7 - They hate civil liberties
8 - They're more than happy to throw the smaller parties under the bus even if it means that the Tories will win a majority
9 - They embrace nepotism

I think point 8 is particularly apposite.

Points 4 and 5 are ones that can be made about any party, probably less about Labour than other parties to be fair. For example the Scottish referendum the party definitely put the interests of the country before the parties own interests, with disastrous electoral consequences.

Not sure they are guilty of 6 and 9, there will be examples but it's not widespread.

Definitely think 7 is unfair.

[Borin' Baggie]

4 - They act as though they're entitled to the anti-Tory vote
5 - As with the Tories they're party before country
6 - As with the Tories, they copy policy from other parties then don't credit them for it
7 - They hate civil liberties
8 - They're more than happy to throw the smaller parties under the bus even if it means that the Tories will win a majority
9 - They embrace nepotism

I think point 8 is particularly apposite.

Points 4 and 5 are ones that can be made about any party, probably less about Labour than other parties to be fair. For example the Scottish referendum the party definitely put the interests of the country before the parties own interests, with disastrous electoral consequences.

Not sure they are guilty of 6 and 9, there will be examples but it's not widespread.

Definitely think 7 is unfair.

No other party acts as entitled to the anti-Tory vote than Labour. There are 5 occasions post WW1 where they have shafted the Liberals/Liberal Democrats, most prominently in relation to the Lib Dem attempts at putting down Section 28 in the 1990s, the AV referendum, the 1970s crisis and the Blair ministries. And you can't accuse the Greens/SNP/Plaid Cymru for putting party before country, and the reason the Liberals/Lib Dems are now a minor party is a series of decisions from the last days of Gladstone through to 1922 not even mentioning the entire book of compromises that they made during the coalition that were not reciprocated. When have Labour been prepared to do that? Every time they've been asked to compromise for the good of the country they've sunk their feet in most recently a couple of months ago when they decided to go alone. For the Scottish referendum, other than the then backbencher Gordon Brown, what did Labour do? Scottish Labour were completely anonymous as they knew their voter base was split and the work done by Labour was done independent of the Westminster coalition, even refusing to work with their recent Holyrood coalition partners in the Lib Dems. That's not even mentioning their recent pivot towards supporting Scottish independence which is even more disastrous a pursuit than leaving the Single Market, for both England and especially Scotland.

As for thinking point 7 is unfair, strong elements opposed the works of Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe in drafting the ECHR postwar, they were in charge the first time the UK were taken to the ECHR, the HRA 1998 curbed the extent of the ECHR on British interests through British courts and that's not even mentioning the myriad of rights curbed under Blunkett, Clarke, Reid, Smith and Johnson.

[Ossian]

A few things, albeit nowhere near as many as annoy me about the Tories...

• The way that some are so steeped in factionalism that it frequently becomes an excuse to overlook or undermine the history of their own party. Ralph Miliband spent a sizeable chunk of the 1950s attempting to trash Attlee's legacy; several of the original crop of leadership contenders couldn't wait to take snide digs at the only leader to actually win an election in the last 45 years.
  
• The cringing timidity over the origins and development of the 2007/08 financial crisis.
  
• The wilful blindness when it comes to the distinctions between socialism and social democracy; the most important of those (distinctions) being that one has the advantage of actually being electable.
  
• Producing manifestos which the front bench are then unable to coherently defend.
  

Other than that, it might be worth Labour remembering that it isn't just the former coal, steel and shipbuilding communities in the north who have been alienated. They also need to give people like me - and probably other posters on here - a reason to vote for them; before another party does. Our needs might be less critical than those of many disillusioned former Labour voters in places like Teesside, but the votes are just as important.

[baggy1]

The ability for the party to be taken over by lobby group has been the most frustrating over recent years.

The lack of a coherent approach to decision making and the reliance on the party vote line as opposed to vote the leaders in and let them make the decisions,

The inability for the leaders to differentiate between their personal views and whats best for the party / country

The alignment to foreign policy that doesn't impact on the reason for the party (see below)

One point I will make about the OP is that the link between the unions and the party is something that is the core fundamental of the party. The Labour party are simply the political wing of the Trade Unions, by suggesting that the link is somehow broken means a different party altogether.

[Cheshire East Baggie]

A few things, albeit nowhere near as many as annoy me about the Tories...

• The way that some are so steeped in factionalism that it frequently becomes an excuse to overlook or undermine the history of their own party. Ralph Miliband spent a sizeable chunk of the 1950s attempting to trash Attlee's legacy; several of the original crop of leadership contenders couldn't wait to take snide digs at the only leader to actually win an election in the last 45 years.
  
• The cringing timidity over the origins and development of the 2007/08 financial crisis.
  
• The wilful blindness when it comes to the distinctions between socialism and social democracy; the most important of those (distinctions) being that one has the advantage of actually being electable.
  
• Producing manifestos which the front bench are then unable to coherently defend.
  

Other than that, it might be worth Labour remembering that it isn't just the former coal, steel and shipbuilding communities in the north who have been alienated. They also need to give people like me - and probably other posters on here - a reason to vote for them; before another party does. Our needs might be less critical than those of many disillusioned former Labour voters in places like Teesside, but the votes are just as important.

Interesting point that, Oss. They've lost many core voters (mostly because there are many fewer actual working class, working, trade-union-represented people and they've lost the benefit-dependent folk over the racism and xenophobia that is Brexit) and they don't seem to realise that they have no appeal (in their current guise) to anyone with any common sense. The point I wanted to pick up on is the "before another party does". In England that "other party" will only ever be the Tories. But what do the Tories stand for? What have they delivered for anyone earning less than a six figure salary in the last 40+ years? Nothing much except for a vague feeling that it could have been worse. Labour need to understand what they are up against and try to address it. That's what John Smith and Tony Blair did. Like him or not, Tony Blair played the system and made it work. Funny how he is still lampooned as Tony Bliar. Maybe he gave Boris the confidence to take lying to another level.

[Ossian]

Chesh, I completely agree. I could never bring myself to vote Tory; the reasons are too numerous to itemise here, and would similarly be too tedious to inflict on anyone reading. Hence the musing about the mythical (at least for the time being) 'other party'.

[Shabby Russian]

The ability for the party to be taken over by lobby group has been the most frustrating over recent years.

The lack of a coherent approach to decision making and the reliance on the party vote line as opposed to vote the leaders in and let them make the decisions,

The inability for the leaders to differentiate between their personal views and whats best for the party / country

The alignment to foreign policy that doesn't impact on the reason for the party (see below)

One point I will make about the OP is that the link between the unions and the party is something that is the core fundamental of the party. The Labour party are simply the political wing of the Trade Unions, by suggesting that the link is somehow broken means a different party altogether.

There are and always have been Trades Unions not affiliated to the Labour Party, teachers unions, police federation, even the railway union de affiliated. 
I might be wrong but I don't think in any other country has there been this link between a political party and the Trade Union movement.
As for the first point you made, I suspect you think Momentum is the lobby group that took over the party, apologies if that is not who you had in mind, the truth is that Momentum have not wielded the power that the Unite union have. If Momentum had the power many thought it had, the Brexit position would have been more strongly remain than it was.