T_i_B
T_i_B's JournalWrong
You don't qualify as a member of the Labour movement by being "ideologically pure".You become a member of the Labour movement by being a member of a trade union or the Labour party, which of course was created by the unions to represent working people.
For instance, I am not currently a member of the Labour movement as I am part of neither. I have been in the past but not for some time now. Regardless of what you think of Chukka Umunna, he is very clearly part of the Labour movement as a Labour MP who has previously served in a Labour shadow cabinet.
Umunna came to Labour through his background in employment law, and most Labour MP's have backgrounds in, and extensive links to trade unions.
The whole matter of how left wing you may or may not be is irrelevant to whether or not you could be considered part of the Labour movement.
2 obvious answers, and a 3rd not so obvious one
The Lib Dems are rising in the polls because they are the only party currently holding Theresa May to account and pointing out that the current strategy for leaving the EU is suicidal. It's certainly noticeable that Labour are losing more votes to the Lib Dems than the Tories or UKIP.
You would have to have been living under a rock between 2010 & 2015 not to know why they are not doing better. The coalition destroyed their credibility and also had the effect of wiping the party out at grassroots level in many places. If Labour wasn't such a horrific mess right now the Lib Dems might still be in decline.
The Lib Dems also have a reputation for dirty campaigning, which makes it hard for disillusioned Labour MP's and activists to make the switch to their side.
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