‘Corbynistas are weakening our democracy’

Up to this point, on the bitterly contested and acrimonious Labour leadership issue, I have tried to abide by the old adage that one should “never intrude into private grief”. However, the second coronation in a year of Jeremy Corbyn, has prompted me to reflect on the state of Her Majesty’s Opposition.

I think the first observation to make is that the person behind whom the majority of the Labour’s Parliamentary Party coalesced was a poor choice, in Owen Smith, who fought a forlorn campaign that was never going to convert or convince enough card-carrying voters.

Whilst I have some sympathy with this attempt to unseat a leader who many (myself included) believe to be unelectable as a future prime minister of this country, the timing of this contest was ill-conceived and widely regarded as carefully choreographed opportunism.

For the time being, under Labour’s existing leadership selection rules, it is difficult to see how Mr Corbyn can ever be dislodged short of a defeat in a general election.

Moreover, it is even harder to understand Owen Smith’s strategy of presenting himself as someone who was equally socialist in their core beliefs and principles as his arch rival but a bit more presentable.

The hard left were never going to buy into this so instead of having a fight for the soul of the Labour Party we had two leadership contenders essentially echoing each other.

Notwithstanding this foolhardy exercise, under the British constitution, the role of opposition remains incredibly important not just in holding the government of the day to account but also by offering a credible alternative.

The triumph of the Corbynistas, with their idealistic lurch to the far left, coupled with the palpable disarray and division in Labour ranks, is, I believe, fundamentally bad for democracy.

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Read more: Has the Labour Party really lost control of City Hall?

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Ironically although this lurch to the extreme end of socialism is seen by many as electorally advantageous to the Conservative Party, I find very little to give me cheer.

As I write, the latest opinion polls suggest that were Theresa May to call a snap election, she could quadruple her majority over Labour to 44 seats. This is a tempting possibility but I really do not detect any appetite for an early election either amongst ministers, colleagues or the general public. 

Aside from the obstacle presented by the fixed Parliament Act, which dictates the date of the next election (Thursday, May 7, 2020), we have a Parliamentary Boundary Review and the small matter of exiting the European Union. So, whilst not totally discounting the idea of going to the country early, I do not believe that this is a serious proposition.

The tragedy for Labour is that they seem committed to embark upon a radical left-wing odyssey of renationalisation; higher taxes; higher spending; higher borrowing (£500billion to set up a new national investment bank); and massive state interventions not seen since the 1970’s and 80’s.

This all has echoes with Michael Foot’s notorious manifesto which was roundly rejected by the British electorate in 1983, and earned the famous political epithet of representing “the longest suicide note in history”.

It is also hard to conceive of a sizeable proportion of the electorate ever getting behind Corbyn’s approach to national defence – one in which we would have nuclear submarines but without nuclear warheads. This would be like sending out riot police armed with daffodils.

Nor is his unapologetic approach to supporting untrammelled immigration likely to convince all those traditional Labour voters in the northern heartlands that their party has finally reconnected with its grassroots support.

Moreover, the promise made by John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, to ban fracking undermines any rational energy and industrial policy. As the GMB Union put it – this means Britain would be forced to rely on “henchmen, hangmen and head chopper” dictators for gas.

Frankly, much of this essentially neo-Marxist policy programme owes more to the concerns and priorities of the so-called Labour metropolitan elite than its working class base.

It has been said that at its best, “Labour owed more to Methodism than to Marxism”. In this country, Labour historically has been a national movement dedicated to change through evolution rather than the more revolutionary approach adopted by its European counterparts. Under Blair, Labour succeeded in winning three impressive election victories and managed to dominate political discourse for well over a decade.

For all the reasons listed above, it is hard to imagine that a Corbyn-led Labour Party can ever triumph in its current form. Electoral defeat or a formal split before then would therefore seem to be the most likely fate of this once proud and formidable adversary.

The latest leadership challenge resolved absolutely nothing – certainly not the schism between the PLP and the wider Labour membership. So, one is left to ponder, what exactly was the point of this rather futile exercise which has been so distracting (and entertaining) over the summer months?

I rarely agreed with the former Labour Party, but I respected them. As a strong opposition they ensured good government. With Labour weakened so too is our democracy.

Mark Weston is the leader of the Conservative Party group of councillors at City Hall.

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