Policy review

by Rick Johansen

Just in case you were worried about the Labour Party at the moment, I thought I’d help you with some clarifications about its policies. It seems a little unfair to blame Jeremy Corbyn who has his hands full keeping a dignified silence on just about everything so, to save him the trouble, I’ll explain the policies myself.

The EU
Labour is both for and against freedom of movement, says Brexit is both positive and negative and won’t say whether MPs should have a vote on it.

Next week’s London Tube strike
Leader, shadow chancellor and shadow home secretary, as well as many in the cabinet, in support although Mayor of London opposed.

Trident
Party policy in favour of nuclear deterrent, leader against.

Immigration
Corbyn says it is “not an objective to reduce immigration”. Most Labour MPs don’t agree with him. The last Labour manifesto said it would employ extra border staff and top migrants claiming benefits. The Labour leadership doesn’t agree with either of these things.

Education
Labour is opposed to grammar and private schools, even though it’s leader, his son, the shadow chancellor (who now employs the leader’s son) and the shadow home secretary attended grammar schools. At least Ms Abbott didn’t send her own soon to a grammar school. She sent him to an expensive private school instead. Labour’s policies including on education, are spun by Seumas Milne who himself attended private school and sent his own children to elite grammar schools. Corbyn’s new peer Shami Chakrabarti sends her son to an elite private school and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry sends her child to a selective state school 14 miles from where she lives.
So, Labour says don’t send your children to selective or private schools even though its leaders did or their children do.

Defence
Corbyn, as we know, doesn’t want to renew Trident, whereas the party does, so he suggests building the subs in Barrow but then sending them out without weapons.

Northern Ireland
Labour policy supports the Good Friday agreement and the NI assembly. JC and co support “a united Ireland” and have always opposed the GFA and assembly.

Muddled? Of course it’s muddled. That’s what happens when you elect someone wholly unsuited to leadership as leader. Only 14% of people now see Corbyn as a PM, but don’t worry because polls always overstate Labour support. I’d say that the correct figure will be somewhere below 1%, maybe less.

Anyway, I hope I have cleared up a few things for you. Anyone like to guess Theresa May’s majority at the next election? She shouldn’t win at all given that a) she’s useless and b) the Tories are riven with splits but with Old Corbo in the top job, she’ll stroll it.

You may also like