“In order to win an election, you must appeal to centrists and Conservative voters.” – a claim I have heard one to many times and one that inspired this blog post.
Following Labour’s defeat last week in the Copeland by-election, it is easy for supporters to feel disillusioned and even feel ready to give up. But for the left of the party, surrender is not an option.
One cannot compromise by moving to the centre when the aim is to achieve a left wing, anti-austerity government, for the simple reason that the centre does not represent these views and therefore, a centralist party will never achieve such aims.
When we look back at Ed Miliband’s failed austerity-lite manifesto, it is perfectly clear to see why Labour did not win the last election. It was a pendulum that swung between Tory policy and a failed attempt to mask such right-leaning proposals in an effort to try to keep left voters interested. Miliband suggested that his party would not radically depart from the Tory-led government’s austerity programme and stated that Labour would find a way of “doing more for less”.
In this instance we not only saw views and values of a centralist party – not representative of the left – but also saw an overwhelming election defeat. Those arguing that appointing a centralist leader with such policies will offer a quick fix to Labour’s problems clearly have not thought this all the way through.
When it comes to the idea of replacing Corbyn with a more ‘media friendly’, liberal leader for the sake of possibly winning more votes, it is important to ask ourselves – at what cost?
In this instance we not only saw views and values of a centralist party – not representative of the left – but also saw an overwhelming election defeat. Those arguing that appointing a centralist leader with such policies will offer a quick fix to Labour’s problems clearly have not thought this all the way through.
When it comes to the idea of replacing Corbyn with a more ‘media friendly’, liberal leader for the sake of possibly winning more votes, it is important to ask ourselves – at what cost?
We are living in a society where, in the first half of last year, more than 500,000 three day emergency food parcels were distributed to people in crisis - over 188,500 of which went to children.
2016 also saw 200,000 more children living in poverty than the previous year, with figures reinforcing projections from experts such as the IFS and the Resolution Foundation that UK child poverty is set to rise by 50% or more by 2020.
2016 also saw 200,000 more children living in poverty than the previous year, with figures reinforcing projections from experts such as the IFS and the Resolution Foundation that UK child poverty is set to rise by 50% or more by 2020.
Not only this, but just over the past week we have seen Conservative ministers introduce emergency legislation which denies 160,000 vulnerable people from receiving benefits that are rightfully theirs – this is following the UN enquiry that took place at the end of last year, which showed that austerity policies introduced into welfare and social care by the UK government amount to “systematic violations” of the rights of people with disabilities.
The government continues to cut our services in social care and the strain on the NHS continues to grow, at the same time as we are seeing it being sold off to private companies, piece by piece.
Taking all of these factors and more into consideration it is clear that being anything other than radical with our views and demands is nothing more than being complacent. The truth is that there is no quick fix when it comes to the fight for an equal, socialist society. What we need now more than ever is a mass increase in popular and industrial action – backed by the whole of the Labour party and by our trade unions - to hold our current government to account for their actions.
We need to fight to save our NHS from collapse, we need to fight to build more affordable homes and we need to fight for an environmentally conscious future. Now is not the time to back down, it is the time to step up.
We cannot allow Theresa May to use Brexit as a free pass to make a TTIP-like agreement, that may have a detrimental effect on our workers rights and public services, with the US or any other country for that matter.
We must aim for a future in which a left government possess the ability to nationalise various industries and services, while enforcing fairer pay and putting an end to the racist rhetoric that we have seen increase dramatically under this Conservative government as a result of their neoliberal policies. None of this will ever be achieved by compromising or by moving to a middle ground.
Even if one were to suggest that Labour must find a new leader in order to win the next election – who would take Corbyn’s place? Who is the magical, media-friendly candidate that will not only keep the thousands of people who have joined Labour under Corbyn but also win over the centre and take back the discouraged voters that have turned to the far right? All while sticking to the policies set out by Corbyn.
If anything, all a change in leadership would do is leave those who have found revival in politics through Corbyn’s policies feeling disillusioned and left behind, therefore causing significant damage to Labour’s growing following.
We saw the failure of Owen Smith and – dare I say it – Angela Eagle last summer when the pair took it upon themselves to challenge his leadership. Resulting in wasted time that could have been spent focusing on the crumbling of the Conservatives after Cameron’s resignation.
Whatever steps Corbyn makes, he will be portrayed as a weak leader by the mainstream media and opposing parties - as well as by some within his own – especially if he were to step down from the party. That in itself would be a defeat of the left and the chances of the PLP replacing him with anyone that mirrors his views are slim-to-none. The only option that we have in this situation is to stand our ground and continue to fight. If we don’t stick to our morals, then what do we have left?
And for those that tell us that our views are not viable – that we have seen socialism attempted and in turn, seen it fail - we must ask them how many times we must see austerity fail before we seek another option?
