To the left

You have probably gathered that a soggy, left of centre, do-gooding liberal like me reads the Guardian. Of course, I do. The news is presented fairly, the columnists are often, though not always, left of centre in a soggy, left of centre, do-gooding liberal way. I can’t deny it’s my echo chamber. It feeds my echo chamber, it makes me happy that smarter people than me feel the same way as me. And then today, on the very same page, there are columns by people I don’t respect, never mind want to read their stuff: Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Jones.

Corbyn writes an obituary of sorts about his friend Walter Wolfgang who, surprisingly given the Labour ‘leader’s’ tolerant stance on anti-Semitism, was Jewish. It doesn’t take long for Corbyn to return to familiar, comfortable territory. Walter campaigned against the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, presumably for reasons similar to Corbyn’s; that Britain should not involve itself in conflicts abroad where tyrants and mass murderers overturn democracy and commit genocide.

And Walter was a lifelong opponent of Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent that has kept us safe, or put us more at risk, depending on your point of view, since World War Two. Indeed, he became vice president of CND which he helped form in 1958. Personally, I don’t think that’s anything to brag about in this desperately unstable world, where even the Mad Mullahs have access to nuclear weapons, but hey, Corbyn, the pacifist, would far rather appease an enemy than stand up to it. No wonder he loved old Walter so much.

Owen Jones, the former journalist and author, now acts more as a cheerleader, a political outrider for Corbyn; loyally parroting his lines and ensuring that Corbyn’s reheated 1980s Bennism reaches the widest possible audience, making out that it’s actually something new. It really isn’t.

The headline to Jones’s article today is ‘Labour needs a reboot’. However, Jones offers nothing beyond one simple change to the shadow cabinet: Ed Miliband should return as shadow secretary of state at Environment. Now call me cynical, but much as I like and admire Ed Miliband, this is hardly cutting edge politicking. Jones offers Miliband’s podcast as a reason for giving him a job in the shadow cabinet, as well as his role on the advisory board Common Wealth (no, I’ve never heard of it either) and, best of all, he has ‘name recognition’.

This is more concerning than anything else. Four years after losing the 2015 general election, Ed Miliband is still better known than most of Labour’s front bench. Yes, he was leader of the opposition for five years but surely the lack of visibility of Corbyn’s current frontbench is down to their ineptitude and incompetence?

Jones says the Labour frontbench needs more ‘big hitters’ and he’s right, except that apart from suggesting Miliband is brought back from obscurity is his only so called big idea. Labour’s current frontbench is, with the notable exception of Keir Starmer, woefully poor yet Jones, obviously for political reasons, doesn’t mention that bit. But in what parallel world are the likes of Rebecca Long Bailey, Richard Burgon, Barry Gardiner, Dawn Butler, Diane Abbott, Emily Thornberry and especially Corbyn himself seen as ‘big hitters’? In fact, I am slightly surprised Jones has even suggested Miliband returning because he would so show up the second and third raters currently on the frontbench.

This is Labour today. A ‘leader’, with almost zero by way of leadership qualities, pushing the failed policies of the 1980s over and over again, without ever having a new idea of his own and one of his key outriders calling for changes at the top by having one minor change, leaving the architects of Labour’s disastrous outing in the European elections firmly in charge.

I’ve been wondering for quite a while what the point of Labour is and I am no nearer an answer. Corbyn doesn’t have the first clue of how to frame and influence the national debate and Jones knows something is very wrong but only wants to tinker around the edges.

Fair play to the Guardian for giving Corbyn and Jones column inches. What a shame they have almost nothing to bring to the table.