In over two years there has been no substantial evidence whatsoever that the dream of getting Jeremy Corbyn elected at the next general election is even remotely possible.
Before every modern left winger sends the hate mail, let me just make this point. We know it’s largely down to the PLP and we know the bias MSM have played their part in this too. The fact remains we have gone backwards not forwards.
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At the turn of the year we were told Corbyn was to relaunch himself and the party. However if someone can point out where the relaunch disappeared to that would be great. It’s almost March. Almost three months since the relaunch and all we have had is several car crash interviews from Dianne Abbott, mixed messages over immigration from different Labour MP’s, a mixed message on Brexit and importantly, an unclear message. We have lost Copeland, (no, there are no excuses, the public don’t care if the candidate likes Corbyn or not) and now a ‘soft coup’ has started, out of the public eye. So the public won’t really care what’s going on that much behind closed doors.
It also comes to something when a Tory MP becomes the first vocal opponent of the government’s PIP cuts.. this should be Corbyn’s bread and butter, and Labours. The messages are being lost. Yes Labour are opposing them, we know that, but who else knew?
It doesn’t matter why Corbyn has not succeeded, he simply has not cracked this particular nut. The PLP remains (which was a huge mistake, they should have gone at the start), the old Blairites remain in the shadows, the public is no nearer backing Corbyn evidenced by Copeland and the 18 point gap in the polls. Yes, I know, polls don’t mean anything. But seeing as they were usually accurate prior to the last 12 months it appears it’s convenient for us to dismiss them all together now. So I am guessing that in truth Corbyn is the most popular leader around and Labour are going to swoop to power in 2020? No. Didn’t think so.
There are some who insist in fighting on and fair play to them, you can’t criticise people for trying but sadly I still feel that no matter what happens here on in, Corbyn’s dream is dead in the water. Some people are behaving like a puppy lying by the side of their dead mother dog, pining for them and nudging them in the hope that they will stand up and play with them. Only for those on the outside to see it’s just a sad, sorry sight.
When Corbyn has gone, some within Labour’s membership will vote for whoever comes to the leadership table, as they say “better Labour than the Conservatives”. Some will move to the Greens, some may back Labour under a fairly left wing candidate like Angela Rayner, some will move back to places like Left Unity, some ‘won’t bother to vote’ again. This will result in two things, the true left and their cause will have been set back several years at the same time as a probable centre left Labour Party re-emerges. Resulting in the original status quo of the Lib Lab Con. The Neocons will have returned.
We think the long term solution (it won’t happen over night) is for the left to reconvene in one smaller fringe party, propelling it from obscurity into the limelight as what would surely be one of the largest socialist parties in Europe, taking over Labour perhaps? Any injection of membership fees means candidates can stand almost immediately and the battle for the true left begins. The disadvantage is that it will take time to build up MP’s, the advantage is that it will be a wholly left wing party built on truly socialist policies with the mechanism to ensure a left wing candidate goes all the way without any hindrance. The alternative is to keep fighting the PLP on their own turf.
Even during protests today the flags that can be seen flying are ones promoting the likes of the Socialist Party, you don’t see Labour flags. That has to speak volumes for what the answer should be, Socialist Party or any other party.
Some say that Labour was not theirs (the PLP) to start with. Perhaps not. It was once the party of the left, but the tentacles of the Neocons have reached far into the mechanism like a Cancer merging with the hosts organs. The damage is done.
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