The Labour State

We are Labour

Hi folks, long time no see, haven't blogged much since the general and labour elections. To be fair not much has changed since then, the Conservatives are continuing a lot of policies that I disagree with and Labour are frustrating me as much as they were back in September conference season. I decided to write a little blog about the problems I think are still facing Labour and how they might be tackled.

It isn't too much of a secret that Jeremy Corbyn was not my choice of Labour leader, but unlike many, I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt as I agreed with most of his key policies. I would scrap Trident, I think the railways should be renationalised and I would generally agree with his belief in discussion instead of war. What has, and continues to, frustrate about Jeremy is the way he has run the party, his lack of leadership and the rudderless, toothless approach. I can't think of one area where Labour have made advances against the Conservatives. I think it is telling that even while Tories use awful language to describe refugees and benefit receivers, the NHS is in an appalling state and Tories are split over Europe, that no progress has been made in any sort of polling.

The man in charge

I believe this is because the Labour party are being allowed to appear like a disjointed, disunited, unfocused bunch of MP's with very different policies. Other than the railways I struggle to think of any clear policies that Labour stands for. While the leadership continues to allow MP's to openly disagree with each other, argue and confuse the electorate it not only simply looks bad, it splits media attention and sends no clear message. I want to compare this to the opposition, the current government, who even over Europe have no cabinet members speaking out against each other and won an election by consistently repeating phrases and messages that got drilled in to the electorate, about the SNP, about the economy and Labours record on it. Even if these were pure fiction, they were repeated so often they became fact.

This lack of leadership means Labour can make no clear stance on a subject, MP's can not go in to the media and repeat it, no pressure is built on the Tories and no progress is made in the polls. This is the very core of modern politics. These problems are on display regularly every Wednesday during PMQ's, a range of questions are asked, no follow up or rebuttals are offered and no pressure is built. There are a lot of things that can be thrown at this government, pick one for a period of time, focus on it and attack. Labour loses a lot of any potential momentum built by answering questions or even philosophising over issues that not only aren't in huge public interest but only serve to offer more bullets for most of the media to aim at Corbyn. I'm thinking Falklands, IRA questions and Trident. It is almost sadomasochistic.

Labour's record in government versus Tory rule.
Thanks to LabourEoin on Twitter

One other issue I wanted to talk about is this new found desire for many Labour members to criticise and denigrate the achievements of the last Labour government. If Labour wants any hope of winning in the future, it has to embrace its past and make the public remember the great things that Labour were able to do and could do given another chance. This includes cutting homelessness by 41%, opening over 3500 Sure Start centres, record low NHS waiting times and introducing the national minimum wage. These facts should be praised, shouted from the rooftops not brushed from history because it's 'blairite'.

To have any chance of repairing after just 10 years of Tory rule, Labour has to win over 2 million new voters. This means people who voted Conservative, UKIP, SNP, Green. It will require clear, wide reaching policies and reversing lies over the economy in particular. I am not saying Corbyn needs replacing, I am saying Corbyn must wake up to real politics. Focus on issues that capture public focus, get the whole party repeating this issue, target Tory records and speak as one party. It will take leadership and a plan, it's time to step up.


P.S. As an added bonus I've added a video by Kate Tempest. She is an awesome spoken word artist who has released a poem/song about the current state of Europe. Have a look at the lyrics, they are spot on and they cut deep. I particularly liked, "It’s big business baby and its smile is hideous.
Top down violence, structural viciousness." I believe she actually read this at a Labour party gathering over Christmas.