Additional Blog 1 General Election 2019. What Follows Next

For this Blog I want to step aside from the work on Education that I have been doing and consider the latest situation regarding politics in Britain. I write this after the 2019 election results have been declared and various commentators have had their say. I have just started to read The Authoritarian Personality and this has led me to ask the question “Why so many people voted for a man and a Party whose policies and views are in total opposition to their basic needs?”

There is no doubt that the manifesto set out by the Jeremy Corbyn led Labour Party was directly relevant to working class people. It dealt with issues like climate change, the NHS, the minimum wage, education, transport and energy supply in a way that was progressive, meaningful and more in line with the needs of the majority of people and of planet earth than any other Party.

What was striking about this election was the abuse piled upon Jeremy Corbyn as an individual. The bias in the printed media was to be expected. They are all owned and controlled by that privileged elite that has benefited during the years of austerity in which the majority have seen their standard of living fall. What was different this time was the extent to which TV and radio echoed these attacks on Corbyn personally and the Labour Party and its policies in general.

The immediate response of those on the right wing of the Labour Party was not that there had not been the change in direction of British politics that was hoped for, but a demand that Corbyn should go and for the Labour Party to return to the New Labour position.

We need to step back and consider the question of New Labour, or Blairism, or however you wish to refer to that phenomenon. We must go back to the Thatcher years, the attack on the working class as exemplified in her actions against the miners who simply sought to preserve their jobs and their communities. Thatcher stated that there was no such thing as society. An untruth that she sought to make a reality. Her aim was to stress individualism in the knowledge that this would strengthen the elite and enable them to profit at the expense of the majority of people. It was class war. Thatcher fell as a result of the people protests against the attempt to impose the poll tax.

When later we had the election with John Major as Prime Minister, the people had had enough of the policies of the Conservatives. There was a demand for major change and so the Labour Party won a majority. Tny Blair was the leader but the victory was for a change in terms of policies directed to benefit working people. Sadly, this did not happen. Blair continued in the main the lines of policy set out under Thatcher. In succeeding elections he gradually lost votes. His policy on war in Iraq, opposed by large numbers, mainly from the left of the political spectrum, undermined much of what the Labour Party stood for. In other areas he sought to change the nature of the Labour Party by removing the commitment to common ownership and weakening the links with the Trade Unions. As a consequence of these actions many members left the Labour Party.

Now move forward to the leadership election in which, against all the odds, Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader. Corbyn has been consistent in his views. He opposed the war in Iraq and similar ventures. When he was elected leader, a new spirit erupted on the left. Many of those who had left the Labour Party under Blair, rejoined. Many yoiung people, inspired by the Corbyn and what he stood for, joined the Labour Party. The Labour Party became the largest left wing party in Europe.

So, What went wrong? From the moment he was elected, members of the Parliamentary Labour Party, who had cone to prominance under Blair, refused to accept the decision of the mass membership. These member of the Parliamentary Labour Party were an elite within the Party, believing that they had greater wisdom than any who disagreed with them. They set out to remove Corbyn from the leadership, ignoring the wishes of the members. They knew best! They tried everything they could to achieve their end. The weaponising of anti-semitism against a man who had spent his life opposing racism, in all its forms, was a dangerous ploy, but sadly it succeeded. They created an image about the Labour Party that was untrue whilst allowing racism in other forms to proliferate, particularly on the extreme right.

The continued attacks on Corbyn from the right of the Party presented the Labour Party as a divided Party, and people do not like a divided Party. However, the strength of the Labour Party, under Corbyn, achieved an election result in 2017 that far exceeded expectations and put the Conservative Party undedr Theresa May in a difficult position which eventually led to her resignation.

So, What changed in 2019? The key issue of the 2019 election became Brexit. The Labour Party under Corbyn fought a hard battle to raise other issues. These were far more important than Brexit. In a Britain in which four million children live in poverty; where the number of food banks and homeless people sleeping in roadways are both increasing; where more young and old people are suffering from mental illness; where the NHS is struggling to meet the needs; and where a climate emergency exists with little or no action being taken to remedy the situation. The plight of people on Universal Credit, poor pay, zero hour contracts, lack of opportunities, all cry out for a reversal of austerity, an end to neoliberalism and for the implementation of the socialist measures offered by the Labour Party.

And yet working class areas turned to the Conservatives! The sad truth is that these working class areas have been neglected, even by the Labour Party. They are the areas badly affected by de-industrialisation: the slaughter of the mining industry, of the iron and steel industry, of shipbuilding, of the hosiery factories. Once thriving industrial centres have lost their industries. Many of these areas have been controlled by Labour Authorities. But the civic leaders of these areas, the Labour Councillors and Members of Parliament have taken their support for granted and failed to act in their defence or to provide for their needs. When the vote to remain or to leave the European Union took place, these neglected workers saw an opportunity to make a statement. I do not believe that they were racist, or ill informed, they were quite aware of their own situation, and of the prevailing view of the elites that the Europen Union provided the best means of strengthening their own economic interests despite the fact that the European Union had made funds available within these areas. It was an act of rebellion more than anything else.

In 2017, when the Labour Party got their best vote since 1945, their policy was to respect the referendum result. They presented policies that would benefit the working class and that supported those working class areas that had voted leave in the EU Referendum. By the time of the 2019 election, the right wing of the Labour Party, largely remainers, had forced a change in policy. Conference prevented an outright remain policy, but Corbyn’s attempt to unite remainers and leavers did not cut within those working class areas. They felt that once again they were being ignored by the Labour Party. In order to make their voice heard, they acted in their own interests and voted for the Party that gave them Brexit.

Where do we go from here? I personally left the Labour Party some years ago when I realised that I would no longer be able to play an active role within the Party. (This was due to my moving to live in a ward in which the right of the Party was totally dominant). I have recently rejoined the Socialist Worker Party because I believe that much of what happens locally stems from that Party. However, I do believe that things have to change. The Labour Party has the numbers, but my impression is that they are afraid to involve them too closely because they fear that they will pull the Party too far to the left. That is because the right of the Party still retains bureaucratic control over the organisation.

It is too easy to say that we have to listen to what peiple have to say. I believe this to be true. The biggest complaint that young people make is that no one is listening to them. The recent school strikes for climate action, and the activities of Extinction Rebellion, largely youth led, show that things are changing. It is important that we relate to and support them in their activities. But we must also seek ways of sharing our experiences and knowledge, particularly of the need for organisation and structures. Not all that we did in the past was wrong. We can learn but we can also teach.

There are also other areas where we need to be involved. The CWU, RMT and UCU are all likely to be involved in action. One of our aims must be to strengthen the Trade Union Movement and to probve its relevance to all areas of work. Of particular importance, to my mind, are the McDonald strikes with the aim for a decent wage and union recognition. We must do what we can to extend this to other workplaces.

When I say that it is “easy to say listen” I am conscious of the fact that often those most in need of support are least able to express that need or to act in a way to demandwhat they need, in their circumstances. The clearest example is school children, whose needs are far from being met. This does also extend to the homeless, people on benefit, people seeking work, those employed on isolated jobs like individual carers. We need to be more aware of these needs and make them more public. When I was secretary of my local pensioners forum I approached every problem and situationfrom the point of view of those most adversely affected. Thus we should support those who are mentally ill, disabled, those unfortunate enough to be in prison. We must also create opportunities for people to express their views and take account of what they say. Extinction Rebellion demand for People Assemblies point to a way forward. One way in which society is deteriorating is the closure of places where people can meet, clubs and pubs. The pressures of capitalism is driving us into an individualised style of living. This is something we have to oppose.

Above all we must remember the maxim “Unity is Strength”. The lesson of the “United Front” is that, whilst we retain our own particular viewpoint, we can achieve more if we work with others. We may not entirely agree with them, but we can work with them, retaining our ideas, but also testing them in the process so that they may change, become stronger and more refined as circumstances dictate.

In the short term the election results were a disaster, but the future is still in our hands. Corbyn spoke for the many and not the few. It is only a belief in the people, in Socialism, and in a society in which all can live in freedom, equality and comradeship that can save humanity. We have a world to save.

Scribart 17.12.19