There is no doubt that the challenge to Corbyn’s leadership resulting in his re-election on an even larger mandate, has done the party a very great deal of electoral harm. Because, while the party has the largest membership in Europe entirely because of the populist Corbyn and his sidekick John McDonald, it is plain for all to see that they do not lead a populist party in the Commons. So ordinary Labour voters are not voting for them. In by-elections, admittedly in seats where they are no hopers, they are doing very badly. Perversely their performance in the Commons has been robust, especially over the procedural arguments surrounding Brexit. Corbyn, although bullied by May, has become a good deal more incisive. His shadow ministers are performing well. Sir Keir Starmer is emerging as a star debater and a formidable media performer. But sadly that is not what motivates voters. They wait, impatient, frustrated and angry. Something has to give. It has. Populism is sweeping the democratic world.
Populism crosses social divides, class boundaries and party loyalties. It is loyal only unto itself. It can be harnessed as a great force, as Brexit and Trump have both demonstrated, but as Cameron and Clinton will attest, it also destroys. It has to be offered radical change, as everything to do with the status quo, the niceties of protocol and the processes of government it despises. Because the format of globalization which has evolved is one which bears down upon ordinary people and for the first time for a hundred and fifty years, has halted the rise in living standards and advances in prosperity.
In England there are three politicians who understand this. Boris Johnson, who rides roughshod over diplomatic convention to say it as people see it. Nigel Farage who has become some kind of hero at Trump Tower and, for the left, Jeremy Corbyn. Boris knows if May falls on the tricky Brexit course, he will take over to rescue the Tory party and the people from whatever shambles then prevail. Nigel has ruled himself out of coming back, which means nothing. Jeremy is shackled by a parliamentary party living in the past. Had Corbyn walked out of the Labour party when it tried to dump him and used Momentum to start a radical left movement, he would by now be setting the pace, have 300,000 members and be en route to electoral success. But he is nothing if not loyal to the party he has spent a lifetime serving. Sadly the brutal truth is Labour came fourth in the most recent by-election and lost its deposit in the one before that.
The reason is that once again Labour has no narrative in the chaos of the current Brexit reality. Its economic policy is the same tired old stuff about borrowing more and taxing the rich, it is at odds with most of its heartland bedrock over immigration and all the rest of it is tinkering around here and there, very worthy, but in today’s politics, pretty worthless. What is needed is a radical programme to build 2 million new homes for affordable rent, spend up to a trillion on infrastructure renewal over five years with dynamic QE, bring the currency, interest rates and the money supply back under political control, introduce electoral and structural reform to modernize our democracy so that it is 21st century fit for purpose, abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected Senate, abolish the abused Corporation and Capital Gains taxes and replace them with an unavoidable turnover tax and capital transaction tax, find a way of funding the NHS and linked social care, so that its income rises with demand and is not capped, and sort out the schools and higher education so that it is good for everyone, not just the postcode lucky, the sharp elbowed and the well off.
Finally it must demonstrate a return to government responsibility for the management of taxpayer funded services and restore ministerial responsibility for the running of all public services. In simple terms dismantle the quango state and the contracting out of public services to private companies. If Labour does all that it will stand a very good chance of winning. But it must understand that the years of tinkering at the margin and dancing on the edge are over. Labour must be radical and bold. Or Labour will be beaten.
I wrote a dissertation about all this and published it in book form Turn Left To Power- A Road Map For Labour. This might be a good time to read it.
Turn Left To Power offers a collection of fundamental reforms which amount to a political revolution, post Brexit, as globalization fails to bring improving prosperity to the majority and becomes the mainstream political challenge worldwide. From £1.99
