I will admit I didn't discover Jeremy Corbyn until last year's leadership election. I had left the Labour Party many years ago completely disillusioned, and indeed angry, with the party my Dad and I had loved and worked so hard for. In May 1997, we opened the champagne in the wee small hours when Michael Portillo lost his seat. We knew then that Labour had finally won. Unfortunately Tony Blair's vision of the future narrowed to just his own, as the old song goes, the working class can kiss my arse, I've got the foreman's job at last.
I was never able to forgive Tony Blair for taking the UK into the Iraq war and all the lives lost in the Middle East and in acts of terrorism since. I'm afraid the Blair government challenged everything I had previously believed in, and this was compounded by their assistance to the parents of Madeleine McCann whilst they were suspects in the Portuguese investigation. My research into the Madeleine case has uncovered much that I really wish I didn't know, but that is for another time.
It is bizarre watching so many labour grandees being paraded before the public as if they know all there is to know about winning elections, even though their middle of the road policies have lost the last two. They claim Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable whilst going to extraordinary lengths to keep him off the ballot paper and preventing his supporters from voting for him. These claims are even more absurd when set against a backdrop of images of hundreds of thousands turning out for Jeremy Corbyn rallies.
The 174 PLP MPs do not have the support of the Labour Party members or even the general public. And it is the members the plotters are at odds with. The public want change. They are not prepared to tolerate austerity any longer, particularly as it is the low waged, the unemployed and the disabled who are constantly being punished.
In the past few years we have become de-sensitised to the suffering of society's most vulnerable, they are a curiosity of parasites and scroungers paraded before us nightly as reality TV. This nasty narrative has grown up out of this new approach to benefit claimants. They are now seen as the 'undeserving poor', and that punishment and further deprivation is the only way in which to solve poverty. 'So you want to start a small business or apply for a job? If we reduce your benefits further it will keep that incentive going. If you turn up for that interview hungry and in rags it will increase your chances. Good luck'.
I think we are collectively waking up to the fact that for the past decade, no-one in Parliament is speaking up for the poor and the vulnerable. And I think many of us are a little ashamed. I read a great tweet today (@THemingford) 'Corbyn forced me to think about other people'. He is forcing this government and the right wing media to face up to the inhumanity of this constant state of austerity.
This dominant ideology that the poor are to blame for the state of the economy is a myth. How many kids must go without food, shoes and basic necessities in order to pay back the bankers losses and give tax perks to billionaires? Austerity is ideological, it solves nothing. There are only two ways to revive an economy, war or investment. Not so much war these days as the Department of Defence has far less employees. When you can wipe out an entire nation with just one bomb, it cuts down on the wages bill. That wise old fox John McDonnell, knows that investment will boost the economy and revive the country's morale. He is not just plucking vote winning tag lines out of thin air, he has done his homework.
To be honest I don't care very much what happens to the plotters and the 174 MPs who are ignoring the wishes of the Labour party members. In fact I would go so far as to say, I don't want a future where 174 labour MPs are going to block every change Jeremy Corbyn tries to introduce. I want to see Labour MPs who are just as committed to fighting poverty and injustice as the elected leader. The policies of the Labour party should not be based on the needs of its' millionaire donors, they should be based on the needs of the millions they are supposed to represent.
The 174 may have been a very big, intimidating gang when the chicken coup began, but when selection and reselection begins, they will each have to win back the support of their constituency parties as individuals. 'Will you go out and do a leaflet drop on my behalf', might well be met with, 'why did you try to split the Labour Party when we needed you most?'. That's the thing about General Elections, there is no way of subverting the votes by bringing in NEC type rules. You can't price the voters out or bar them for any previous political views they may have held. For the 174, natural justice will prevail. My hope is that they are up against candidates who not only share Jeremy's vision for justice and equality, but are prepared to vote for it. Let the electorate decide.
Yes, I agree, the labour Party should support the weak, vulnerable and poor. The WORKING man on the other hand should FIND himself a new party or better still create one. They'll get no joy from this bunch of losers and so called Socialists.
ReplyDeleteThe WORKING man, that's quite a loaded phrase there. As opposed to what - the idle rich? If by working man, you mean people who go out a do a job of paid work each day, you can kind of see why it was called the LABOUR party.
DeleteYou see Labour was created to protect the working man (and woman), that is people who have to earn a living as opposed to inheriting a country pile and a title.
Life is indeed great when you are working, but not so great, should you have an accident or fall ill. Employers will not take care of you, they are in the business of profit. And if they could chain their workers to the benches and double their productivity on the lowest level of pay, they would. Had it not been for the Unions and the Labour Party, working people would have no rights whatsoever.
Don't use your lack of compassion for those less fortunate by elevating yourself above others because you have a job. You are fortunate if you are working, but your resentment towards the unemployed makes you sound envious, as if their lives were somehow more enjoyable than yours.
Personally I think the political parties and the electorate's perception of them are totally confused. It should be for the Tory party to protect the weak, the poor and the vulnerable. Rather in the mode of the more altruistic business owners of yesteryear. Think of the Quakers and Cadbury's who assuaged their consciences at being stinking rich by providing for their employees in worthwhile ways . Their ' Go directly to Heaven ' card . A sort of benign capitalism.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand the working man deserves, and by god,
needs his own party dedicated to furthering his needs and desires. If the working man only knew it , he is a God. What is capitalism without him? How can the rich just get richer without the fruits of his labour and sweat? can he look to Socialism ? No he can't! Socialism supports the vulnerable, the poor and the great unwashed . Socialism supports mass immigration to the detriment of the working man. Toryism supports mass immigration to the detriment of the working man. You see? They're natural allies. The Socialist have gone so far left they've met the Conservatives on the right! A new Party ! Watch this space.
Yeh, I wouldn't give up the day job. I don't think waiting for crumbs from the rich man's table is something anyone in the 21st century wants to return to. It may feel as though we are back in Dickensian times, but we are actually not.
DeleteYou seem to be going along with the post above in separating the 'working man' from the 'poor' and 'undeserving poor' without realising there is only one degree of separation. If you have to work for a living and for some reason cannot, then you will quickly fall into the latter categories unless you have a personal fortune.
What is wrong with helping the vulnerable and the poor? It is through helping the poor that society has made such such huge humanitarian advances. The NHS, the Welfare State, probably our entire social infrastructure. Would you prefer we were still shitting in the streets and shouting 'Bring out your dead?'.
Who says socialism supports mass immigration to the detriment of the working man. The immigrants are also working men (and women) - they too are looking to improve their lives. Immigrant workers are no different to indigenous workers, they too are competing in the global job market. British employers are paying immigrant workers less because under two successive tory governments, they are allowed to get away with it. If the employers were paying a fair wage, the indigenous workers would be competing for those jobs just as vigorously.
We are in the 21st century, people will travel to find work and a better standard of living. We no longer settle in next door to our mums with our extended family living within 2 streets.
Our kids are moving on. They seek more out of life than remaining in their childhood neighbourhood. Should they be disbarred from applying for jobs that are perfect for them in other countries?
I've only read your last 5 blogs tonight Cristobell and I agree with every word. Not since I was a teenager has there been such an exciting time in the Labour movement when they all turned blandly blue in the 90s. For nearly 3 decades there has been no polarisation in British politics and, of course, that's just the way they've liked it. And it's why they're terrified of the movement of support forming exponentially behind Jeremy Corbyn by ordinary people. It's hard to find a positive article about Corbyn from any media outlet and I think there's a reason for that. The wonderful Craig Murray has it sussed, I believe. Can't link, but worth a read if anyone wants to paste the address below into the search bar.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/07/barbarians-at-the-gates/
Keep posting good stuff CB!
Dee Coy from MMM
Hi Dee Coy, great to see you :)
DeleteThese are indeed very exciting times, I have felt disenfranchised from the Labour Party for many years - they banned me when I organised an Anti War rally in my home town :(
I have wanted to like the Labour leaders over the past couple of decades, but it has been incredibly hard (impossible), in a nutshell, they have all been so uninspiring! To be honest I can barely remember their names, let alone anything they have stood for or fought for.
In a group of mixed ages the other day, mostly old, we all said we hadn't seen a politician for years! I wasn't a fan of John Major, but I did admire him for literally going out with his soapbox and appealing directly to the voters. Jeremy is doing the same, happily armed with a lot more than a soapbox!
I cannot believe the way in which this next excitement is sweeping across every class and every generation. We oldies are just as keen for radical change as the youngsters. We can see the devastation of austerity and the way in which this 'blame the immigrants' and 'blame the undeserving poor' ideology has taken an evil grip over our society. I am shocked to the core that abuse of immigrants and the disabled is now seen as socially acceptable. In the eternal quest for wealth, what have we become? Why have the most sophisticated weapons of mass destruction when there are people sleeping on our streets and relying on food banks? It's madness!
Many thanks for your kind words Dee Coy, whether I have few readers, or many, I am determined not to stand by idly. I think genuine, altruistic leaders like Jeremy Corbyn only come along once in most of our lifetimes, and this is a chance we cannot miss.
As for Madeleine, I will continue.......
Brilliant writing :)
ReplyDeleteBrilliant writing, keep posting :)
ReplyDelete