I have decided this week to cobble together a manifesto that might, but probably might not, be acceptable to all wings of the Labour Party. I make no apologies for my criticism of Jeremy Corbyn’s performance to date as leader, even though his election was not meant to happen and no one was more surprised than him when he stormed to a landslide victory last summer. I am not going to deny his mandate as leader in terms of is authority and on the subsequent the decisions he makes and I currently believe he will see Labour through to the 2020 general election. The question is this: can a Corbyn leadership unite the entire Labour Party, from MPs to ordinary members slogging away in constituencies in which they know there will never be a Labour representative, never mind those who already have a Labour MP?
I shall also compose my manifesto in the certain knowledge that it will have no influence in the country. How could it, since barely a couple of hundred people read this website on a normal day? However, there is an argument to be had and it would be better to have it now, especially if we can compromise on certain of the most important subjects. And compromise we will need to do, somehow, or our divisions on critical areas like the hard left’s support for unilateral disarmament will sink Labour long before the general election comes along.
We will need to come to accommodations on many areas of policy, which will be very tough. For example, I am implacably opposed to the academy and free school policies introduced by firstly by the Blair government (in terms of academies) and then taken to another level by Michael Gove in the last Tory government in which some Lib Dems had jobs. I am opposed to faith schools too: all faith schools, whether Catholic, Muslim or CofE but politicians of all colours have supported them, including – in only a slightly qualified way – Corbyn. I would get rid of the lot tomorrow and not only that as the next Labour leader (!) I will seek to introduce a wholly secular country, removing entirely all aspects of religious privilege. Few politicians are with me on that one, so I may have to give a little.
The same goes for all manner of issues, like Labour MPs accepting large wedges of cash from dubious sources to MPs associating themselves with extreme protest groups and extreme politicians. These are all areas that need addressing because, as things are going, Labour is on a long walk to oblivion.
As I hope to elaborate during the week, Corbyn first needs to get control of those who surround him. Stop giving a free rein to loose cannons like Ken Livingstone and Diane Abbott who seem to invent policy on the hoof and ask John McDonnell to engage brain before opening mouth. His Chairman Mao moment at the autumn statement debate blew a golden opportunity to attack the Tories – the real enemy, surely? – and his ludicrous idea to match George Osborne’s deficit plans was dropped only when the leader himself told him not to be so silly.
To date, the “straight talking, honest politics” has been nothing more than a throwback to the 1980s, where Labour was nothing more than a talking shop, irrelevant to the read needs of the country. The real “straight talking, honest politics” must reflect the broad church that is Labour. If it doesn’t, the party will be obliterated in 2020, if it hasn’t fragmented long before then.
