To
espouse inclusion and fairness is one thing. To achieve it is quite another. By
putting the full menu of options before the membership, it appears that they
now have their answer in terms of which direction the membership would like to
go. Careful what you wish for. Sometimes, when seeking answers to questions, we
receive the answers which bring the greatest discomfort. The choice of the people
to plump for the overt left-wing approach of Corbyn does three things. It sends
a strong message of disapproval to the Labour Party of their approach from the
election of Blair to the present day. But it goes much further than that. The
membership has simply reminded the Labour Party of what they believe it should
stand for. That is the slice of the cake which the present shadow cabinet is
finding most difficult to digest. If it was pie, it would definitely be of the
humble variety. The final achievement of Corbyn emerging as the new Labour
leader is perhaps the most important though. It will present the British
electorate with a straight left versus right choice in 2020 for the first time
since 1983; and at a time of enforced austerity with interest rates on the
brink of rising, the need for such a choice has seldom been greater.
General
elections are generally won or lost by the incumbent party. It is evident that
for whatever reason, the more draconian right wing policies of the Tories won
the day in May if only by a whisker. While the Tories did indeed win the
election, the main party of opposition had failed miserably to outline with any
clarity what exactly it did stand for. Miliband was widely portrayed as “Red
Ed”, the man of the left who would return the party to its core roots. Had he
done so, he may well have won because the seats haemorrhaged to the other
parties might have been retained and built upon. Miliband’s principle problem
was that he failed to convince anyone of his intentions, integrity or
conviction. But worse still, his credentials fell short of what was needed to
convince a weary electorate. Another polished Oxbridge career politician was
not, in the end, what the electorate wanted. Having endured Blair, Cameron and
Clegg in recent years, people were beginning to look for something rather more
human and believable.
Clearly,
the right wing domination of the British media had a big part to play in the
recent election. But with more
conviction, Labour could and should have done so much more to offer a more appealing
solution. This is the part where Corbyn shines like a beacon. Irrespective of
his age, facial hair or resistance to wearing a tie, Corbyn is a man of
conviction. To underline how important that will be in the years ahead, try if
you will to think of the last significant conviction politician in British
politics. I would argue that in recent years, Alex Salmond has been a very
smart politician and has achieved a great deal but I have never seen him as a
man of true conviction. If Scottish Independence was on the table, Salmond
would dance to pretty much any tune you cared to play. No, I think the last
true conviction politician of note in Britain was Margaret Thatcher. Conviction
and popularity are not natural bedfellows. Michael Foot was indeed a conviction
politician as was Tony Benn but both failed to achieve the success of Thatcher.
A true
politician of conviction will inevitably polarise public opinion just as
Thatcher did in the 1980s. Thatcher seldom made a decision based on popularity
and that is why she was both revered and despised in equal measure. I doubt
very much whether she had ever read “How to make friends and influence people”
by Dale Carnegie. By the same token, I doubt very much whether Corbyn has read
it either. This is precisely why Corbyn probably represents Labour’s best
chance of regaining power five years hence. His policies and arguments are
resonating with the millions and, of particular significance, he has achieved
something very rare. He has succeeded in engaging the youth. It is the latter
which offers Labour hope. In recent elections, the youth vote has been largely
non-existent. Few will change the voting habits of the man who has voted Labour
or Tory for the last fifty years because such tribal beasts seldom wander
beyond their own herd. Young people are a different proposition. They have no
such pre-conceptions and still retain the capacity to keep an open mind. Like
Sturgeon in Scotland and Wood in Wales, Corbyn is clearly anti-austerity. For
the millions currently feeling the pain of Tory ideology, this will resonate as
evidenced by the astonishing performance of the SNP in May. With Corbyn, there
are no woolly attempts to hide behind ifs, buts and maybes. Like him or loathe
him, he leaves us in no doubt about where he stands. That is the mark of true
conviction.
The
quest of the Labour Party to be seen to be fair in their leadership election is
a great starting point. They now need to take the same approach to their policy
making when Corbyn is elected leader. The attempts by various individuals to
try and scupper the contest should remind Labour of the challenges ahead. We
are told that the brainchild of the Blair years, Peter Mandelson, has tried
unsuccessfully to bring a halt to the contest. Even the interim leader Harriet
Harman has explored the possibility of putting a stop to it – only to be rebuffed
by her lawyers. In short, to regain credibility, Labour needs to cut its ties
to the era of Mandelson and Blair. Thirteen years of power it might have been,
but the legacy of that is doing the current Labour Party no favours. If the Labour
membership elects any of Corbyn’s leadership rivals, they will rue the day
because they will have failed to move on from Blair yet again. They now have to
stand up for the people and do the simple things well. They need to listen and
give the people what they want whilst responding to those areas which continue
to invoke the greatest anger.
Few
people’s memories are so short that they can forget the behaviour of the big
banks when measured against the near national bankruptcy of 2008. It is
sometimes easy to forget that we were just a few hours away from our cash
machines being closed down; and yet we have been all too quick to scorn the
plight of the Greeks in recent days and weeks. There but for the grace of God
went us all; and it cost us our gold reserve to escape the same fate. People
will also recall with ease the way in which the postal service was surrendered,
again in the name of corporate greed. A word of warning is also warranted
though. Corbyn also needs to look very carefully at the legacy of Blair’s long
time chancellor, Gordon Brown. By building the Public Sector up so quickly on
such weak financial foundations, Brown failed miserably. To seek a large Public
Sector (as France have had for so many years), is all well and good – provided
the masses can really feel the benefit. There is too much evidence of that
money being squandered during the Brown years. Corbyn’s intention to
re-nationalise is really interesting. This is the first Labour politician in
over a generation to openly espouse such a clear ideological position. In
effect, he is espousing the same social democracy which has worked so well for
the many throughout the Scandinavina countries. Like them, he also prefers to
avoid the prospect of international conflict. After the disaster of Iraq and
Afghanistan, this will strike a very strong chord with the British electorate.
Had Blair based his decision to invade Iraq on facts rather than fantasy, we
would not now be faced with the current mess in Syria and Iraq in which Western
mistakes have fuelled religious extremism. Some things are best left left to
the diplomats and dialogue. There remains a lack of evidence pointing to
military success in Afghanistan or Iraq so it beggars belief why we felt that
would change – or that it was our place to change it.
When
old Labour dinosaurs like David Blunket try to brand Corbyn as a great man of
opposition , they do him a great disservice and forfeit much of their own
credibility. Just as the SNP enjoyed its own renaissance in recent years with
Salmond and Sturgeon, Labour now stands on the brink of its own rebirth.
Although instead of this being a rebirth, Labour is merely going back to its
roots which is their only route back to Downing Street. With Corbyn, they have
a man of real conviction finally capable of cutting Labour free of the toxic
shackles of Blair, Mandelson et al.
This
year, I have been lucky enough to visit and study at close hand two European
countries whose contrasting political systems have given me plenty of food for
thought. In May, I spent five days in Scandinavia; Denmark to be precise. I was
blown away by how advanced they were in so many ways compared to us in Britain.
The high priority afforded to the very young and the very old were a joy to
behold. They put a limit on working hours having long since recognised the
value of family time in the context of wider society. They pay a large amount
of tax compared to us but what they get in return is positively Utopian in
comparison. They preach and practice the value of exercise with the majority
getting from A to B on a bicycle or on foot. Their public transport system is
clean, efficient and reliable. For those who want to eat unhealthy foods, drink
alcohol or smoke, they can do so but they pay a hefty premium for the
privilege. Beyond dogmatic taxation though, it is their education system which
continues to reap such wide dividends.
From
nursery onwards, they appreciate the value of play and social interaction ahead
of times tables and league tables by the age of five. They don’t worry about
the latter until their children are ready at about age seven or eight. Those
extra formative years learning the really important stuff reaps enormous
dividends later on. There is also a real feeling that everyone is responsible
for any given child and they all play their part either directly or indirectly.
If a British man saw a child looking distressed, he would think twice about
intervening publicly for fear of future litigation. His Scandinavian
counterpart appears to have no such fears. The whole of Scandinavian adult
society play its part in terms of social responsibility. If they keep their
surroundings clean and free of litter, it follows that their children will do
likewise; and they do. Yesterday, my wife and I walked a friend of our son
home. Seeing the footpath strewn with litter, broken glass and condoms, he
asked why people allowed it to be like this and questioned why nobody came to
clean it up. That is the example we allow our children to grow up with. That
responsibility lies with all of us and one of the biggest challenges facing
Jeremy Corbyn will be to engender that civic pride in all of us. I can only
wonder at what effect it would have if the TV cameras showed a major political
leader wearing a high visibility vest and carrying a large black bin bag while
he cleared letter. Now that really would be radical. The Scandinavians boast
wide open spaces with plenty of water and greenery and they recognise and
appreciate the absolute value of that for the mental health of their citizens.
We have much to learn. But Denmark like the rest of Scandinavia decided it’s
chosen path a long time ago and successive governments have stuck like glue to
the basic template. British politics seem to know no such moderation.
If Denmark was a fine example of a progressive social
democratic country, France is undeniably a traditional socialist stronghold.
But that is not always a bad thing. On our recent holiday to the Ile d’Oleron
just off their west coast, we witnessed at first-hand how tourism is best
handled. To begin with, the French welcomed the tourist. Beyond that, the
island was totally geared up to provide their visitors with what they wanted;
the sea and the sand. There was no car parking charges. There were plenty of
vantage points to sit down and enjoy the view. There was public toilets freely
available wherever we went, always clean and valued by those who used them. Every
village boasted a thriving produce market augmented with the crafts of local
artisans. Put simply, regardless of their socialist image, the French value
local communities and craftsmen and women. The entire island had been festooned
with tourist friendly cycle routes and unsurprisingly, the tourists en masse
all hired bikes from the many local companies on arrival. Many of those
tourists returned year after year safe in the knowledge they were going to
receive what they wanted. Tourism really is that simple as indeed is localism.
If people are supported to operate in community-led ways, they will be better
supported by their public and the ensuing society will be happier and fairer. What
the French have done when it is truly analysed is to create public services
which work and public facilities which the public both want and value – and they
have achieved this in a very efficient manner. Their trains put ours to shame
and travel much faster. Their postal service remains nationalised and the
yellow post vans we saw were all electric. We saw far less obesity, fewer people getting
drunk, fewer people smoking and children were simply integrated in to everyday
life. So while the right wing press is busy mocking the expected coronation of
Corbyn as the new Labour leader, he has the potential to leave them all with
copious amounts of egg on their faces five years hence. It will not be an easy
task but it will be achievable with conviction and he appears to have that in
spades. Interesting times.