In a relationship the abused often defends the abuser by making excuses for them. Claiming, “they’ve changed”, “they didn’t mean it” or maybe “I deserved it”. All this sounds eerily like the left when it comes to their precarious position within the Labour Party. Lets be honest, socialists have not been welcome in the party for decades. Usually resigned to warming the back benches in parliament, while the neoliberal Tory reserve team lead the way. However, for four hopeful years Jeremy Corbyn was the leader and that man was a socialist.
I fall short of declaring that Jeremy was in control, as the Labour Party bureaucratic leadership made sure that wouldn’t occur. A fact that was clearly documented in the now conveniently forgotten 800 page plus report, explaining the lengths the party HQ would go to in order to keep him out of number 10. Furthermore, parliamentary MP’s and the media also contributed to the fate of Corbyn by weaponising anti-Semitism, while wildly overestimating the prevalence of this within the Labour Party, eventually leading to Corbyn’s demise as the leader.
It’s sad that we have to rake over old coals, but in an effort to make it abundantly clear, I will state anti-Semitism as with other forms racism is certainly not acceptable in the Labour Party or any other group. However, within Labour as stated in the Chakrabarti report the number of incidences are very small. Unfortunately, in the age of perpetual outrage, identity politics and fake news, non of this matters as Jeremy Corbyn was put to the “purity sword” in a desperate attempt to return the Labour Party back to the path of neoliberalism.
This latest instalment of “get Corbyn” centres around his suspension from the Labour Party by current leader Sir Keir “Mr Forensic” Starmer. The debacle was based around comments Corbyn made in the wake of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) which investigated Labour and claims of anti-Semitism. Corbyn rightly announced that anti-Semitism was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”. Cunningly (or not), Starmer forensically (of course) used this to oust Jeremy Corbyn, further utilising anti-Semitism as a political tool, while simultaneously devaluing the seriousness of racism.
Following Starmer’s banishing of leadership rival Rebecca Long-Bailey to the political wilderness without so much as a whimper, I suspect at that point he felt emboldened to pursue Corbyn. Starmer rose to the position of party leader claiming to be a leader for unity. If by unity he means muting and purging the left, then I guess he’s well on his way. The idea that Labour is a broad church and that it needs to stand together against the Tories, is comparable to an abuser claiming they “won’t do it again” after an incident, or suggesting, “it will be better from now on”. The left need to be aware of the power imbalance in this relationship, recognise it as abuse and move on.
It has been suggested that there is a need to stay within the Labour Party in order to set it back on the path to socialism, but this is delusional. Do you really think the Labour right is going to relinquish the reins of power, when their recent nightmare of Corbyn becoming Prime Minister nearly came true in 2017? Sometimes in life you need to know when to walk away, confident that you did everything you could to make it work. It has been said on numerous occasions that a split will mean endless Tory governments. This may well be true, but sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can make changes.
Exchanging the colour of rosette for another while colluding in maintaining neoliberalism is totally pointless. A Government that tinkers around the edges is not what the UK or the world currently needs. A protest party attacking the status quo using socialist core beliefs, has greater moral value than pandering to a failed system and indeed party. The illusion of any political progression within the status quo is exemplified every time the UK has a change of government. There are feelings of optimism and hope quickly followed by emptiness, despair and abject disappointment.
Frankly, the right of the Labour Party have more in common with moderate Conservatives than the party’s left. This stance, therefore, ideologically prevents any radical ideas from gaining traction. Labour are beholden to the establishment as are the Tories, while the left unsuccessfully continue to push for systemic change. One thing most people on the left agree on is economic inequality is a major issue, negatively affecting our health, education, crime rates and societal cohesion. In contrast, issues concerning massive economic inequality as witnessed in the UK is a pressing matter the ruling elite would rather people forget about. However, for any left leaning party to be worth its salt, addressing this area has to be a priority.
While the Tories are unabashed capitalists, who rule for the rich and powerful, Labour claim to be for everyday people. Regrettably, Labour’s adherence to slow incremental change very much underpinned by a Fabian 3rd way ideology will barely keep people a float during these challenging times. Fifteen members of the shadow cabinet are Fabian’s including Keir Starmer. This is a group that’s more concerned with appeasing their corporate masters than making life better for the most amount of people.
Lets be honest, this an internal struggle the left cannot win. Staying will just result in more compromise and deep regret. Encouragingly, pro Corbyn members made their thoughts and feelings apparent at the recent NEC conference by walking out. It has been strongly suggested that the Labour Party leadership “lobbied” for the establishment sweetheart Dame Margaret Beckett as Chair of the NEC (Labour’s guiding body), while current Vice-Chair Ian Murray was ignored, a role which generally goes to the Vice-Chair.
It has been proposed that Mr Murray, a senior member of the Fire Brigades Union has been bypassed primarily because he criticised Keir Starmer’s decision not to re-admit Mr Corbyn to the parliamentary party. An action effectively rendering Jeremy an as independent MP. However, Labour Party officials have predictably claimed that this was democracy in action. I would suggest the NeoLabouralism Party has used this moment to further marginalise what’s remains of the left, in their bid for pro establishment dominance.
It’s time to leave folks, the games up, the Labour party appears a dead duck and even if it wins the next election no discernible change will occur. As Neil Sedaka sang ” breaking up is hard to do”, but this is now a must for the left to flourish and influence society without ideological roadblocks. We must be mindful that politics extends beyond Westminster and the bickering elites that reside there. Outside of this bubble is surely now where many of the battles must be fought and victories gained if the left are to have any influence on the fate of society.
Left the building 