I suggested to a friend that I was sitting on the fence on a particular issue when in discussion at the Tax Justice Network conference yesterday. His response was to suggest that he doubted that I knew what a fence was, let alone how to sit on one. I admit I was amused.
I just wish the Labour Party suffered from the same problem. I know that the latest YouGov poll is just an opinion poll, and that opinion polls can be wrong, and that some love to say that YouGov is a Tory organisation, but Labour coming fourth behind the Tories, Brexit Party and LibDems (in that order) is worrying, and solely, I suspect, the result of Jeremy Corbyn's prevarication on the issue of Brexit.
Leavers no longer trust Labour - and the evidence is that very few of them would now vote for it anyway, when the Tories and Brexit Party provide them with the home they want.
And the evidence is that Remainers have no more enthusiasm for Labour than most Leavers do, for reasons that are all too obvious to those like me of that persuasion.
Politics is not, and has never been about the art of sitting on the fence. It is about having opinions and justifying them. That Labour has forgotten this crucial fact is crippling for its standing in England and Wales. No wonder so many are looking to vote elsewhere.
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I think that Labour have done a very poor job regarding their positioning around Brexit, but kind of understand the reasoning behind their fence-sitting. They are facing a perfect storm of problems and a combination of other factors which have led to the party looking unelectable at present as it stands.
Chief of these is the fact that so many must-win seats for Labour voted for Leave (those areas blaming the EU for problems mostly caused by the Tories/Coalition, allied to the never ending stream of lies about the EU from the right-wing media) and this means that the leadership have just tried to kick the can down the road hoping that the Tories implode and call a General Election. This, of course, misunderstands the nature of the Tories who care about themselves over everything else. They have duly imploded but will do anything to cling onto the reins of power in the short term, hence the chaos of a Johnson premiership we face.
The lack of courage from Labour in backing one or other of the bad options available to them means that they have ended up looking weak, even in the face of the most incompetent government and generally most useless Prime Minister that I can ever recall.
This doesn’t even consider the efforts of many New Labour MPs (allied with friendly media) who have worked so hard to get rid of Corbyn which has destabilised the party and deliberately split their support. One way a substantial group of them has done this is to fan the flames of the antisemitism claims. I have to admit that I am one of those who thinks that much of this is greatly confected. It certainly exists to some degree as in all levels of society but I do think it is agitation by the New Labourites and the Israel lobby who have blown up a scandal out of all proportion.
At present, it seems that Cameron’s foolish referendum won’t just end up destroying the Conservatives, but perhaps also Labour and that would be sad because the hopes of a move away from the horrible neoliberal era looked possible when Corbyn surprisingly became leader.
I would say that I hope that something sensible rises from the ashes (no, I’m not holding my breath) but this seems incredibly unlikely in the current dismal state of affairs with rising populism around the world and the almost parodic news that Osborne is one of the favourites to become the new head of the IMF!
…”parodic news that Osborne is one of the favourites to become the new head of the IMF!”
Well he knows the script and he would be hard pressed to do worse than Mme Disregard.
And now Draghi is being mentioned as suitable for the job. Almost makes Osborne look like a good choice. Osborne, after all, only screwed up the UK’s economy whereas Draghi headed the ECB as they screwed up half of southern Europe. Ye Gods.
You might like to take a look at this before trying to airbrush Labour’s anti-semitism issues away.
https://www.thejc.com/comment/analysis/what-exactly-has-labour-mp-chris-williamson-done-to-offend-jews-here-s-a-long-list-1.485890
Labour should be miles ahead of a totally inept tory government. The fact that they aren’t is down to Jeremy Corbyn. This was the man who wanted to trigger Article 50 the day after the referendum without even the vaguest of plans. My eldest son has taken Dutch citizenship and my youngest son has quit the Labour Party in disgust along with many of his friends. I am still a Labour Party member but Corbyn’s vacillation is wearing my patience thin.
True. Brexiters have a range of options:
Kamikaze Brexit from the Brexit party, an ever changing variety of Kamikaze -Maybot Brexits from the Tories and whats perceived as Lame Brexit from Labour. It’s obvious no Brexit “true believer” is going to chose Labour.
The Establishment in cahoots with the Corporate media have tried to destroy Corbyn and failed spectacularly, but here he is, with the PLP, the Labour Party membership and Labour party voters miraculously all united by a large majority to Remain and half of the electorate: more than enough to achieve a majority government against a split Brexit vote, up for grabs. In short, the ideal opportunity to take power but…oh no: Corbyn insists on shooting off his own foot on the grounds of the Bennite idea that the EU is a “Bosses club” as though somehow the UK outside the EU will not be despite it being one of the most avid promoters of Neoliberalism in the EU under both Tory and Labour administrations.
-It’s sad to see him commit political suicide after surviving so many attempts at assassination by the establishment.
The latest polls by Comres, Survation, BMG and Opionium all show a Labour lead. Only Yougov polls seem to get media attention though.
But none show the sort of lead that should exist against an utterly incompetent government
Nothing lets Labour off
I voted Remain because I thought leaving was a pointlessly stupid idea and highly disruptive,
since the referendum nothing has changed,
few talking heads have really understood or accepted why a lot of people voted leave,
the govt. which mostly doesn’t seem to want to leave hasn’t done anything pro active to make the leavers feel like remaining,
there are several campaigns running that demand a 2nd referendum but I can’t see any change that would tilt things towards remain,
the EU hasn’t changed it’s stance on anything either,
it’s like a Mexican stand off, a Groundhog Day scenario,
this was why I signed the petition to revoke Article 50,
I still think Brexit is a stupid idea but I equally think the UK govt. and the EU doing nothing in the ample amount of time that has passed is just as stupid if not more so,
I don’t know what I find more unappetising now, Brexit or Remaining with not one iota of change,
what I do know is one hell of a lot of things do need to change and rapidly too,
you know I can now sit up at night with the windows wide open and the lights on and hardly any insects come in?
you know it nearly hit 46*C in the south of France?
you know Amazonian deforestation is accelerating under Bolsonaro?
you know part of Japan has just had a metre of rain in under a week?
these are the only things I see changing,
I’m not sitting on the fence, I’m looking on in bewilderment.
Matt
Try and beat global warming with 28 separate nations trying to agree anything
The EU is not perfect
But it’s a hell o0f a let better than the alternative
And it does change e.g. on tax
Strange that Corbyn stumped up and down the country in 2016 encouraging people to vote remain then – don’t think Tony Benn would have done that – but Corbyn is a democrat and respects the result (unlike those trying to reverse it) – he’s just trying to get the least disruptive outcome
He didn’t
He had no enthusiasm for it at all
Why make up what is not true?
I have seen him enthusiastic close up – and knew what was happening at the time
I was one of those who was not going to vote in the 2016 referendum – its smacked too much of supporting the Cameron/ Osbourne agenda – I decided to vote and vote remain after going to a meeting with John McDonnell and seeing Jeremy Corbyn on a late night TV programme – I think channel 4 – where he said he was 70% remain (and reform) – I was more persuaded by moderate support than howls of enthusiasm from many in the Labour Party. I wasn’t close to the action Richard, I relied on other reports that Corbyn had taken part in over 100 meetings. My response was to Ken Waldron’s “Bennite – Bosses club – comment. By the way I’d rather Labour came out in favour of an economy based on “The Joy of Tax” which I enjoyed reading.
Thanks
“Corbyn is a democrat and respects the result (unlike those trying to reverse it)…”
And the democratic vote (by a small majority) was only that the UK leave the EU: something
EFTA would have covered. There was no democratic vote for “Kamakazi Brexit”, “Foreigners Out Brexit” or whatever “Pig in a poke Brexit” claimed retrospectively to have been what people “actually” voted for: that thing called Democracy is actually why you need another vote.
No stumping from him, oh no!
Just some mild tip-toeing as if to say “come on now, go and vote for…whatever, I’m really not sure about this EU thing…(actually, I am, it’s a capitalist plot)…but come on, vote anyway, it’s your duty, whatever, I’ll take a look at the next bus timetable- shocking lack of buses in your area, let’s march to improve that- and I will get back to you as soon as.”
It would have been difficult to find anyone with a narrower vision, with less enthusiasm and energy.
And that’s his individual right, also his political right as a party activist.
The trouble is he was supposed to lead a party aiming to lead a country.
He was supposed to ensure the most vulnerable would be protected against further austerity measures.
He was supposed to send a clear message to Brussels that the UK would lead and push on a reform agenda towards more tax justice, better climate crisis management, more social justice, all those ideas carried by the traditional left.
As it is, his total lack of real leadership, and to some extent, of political maturity, has resulted in a Labour electorate being lead away and astray by populist lies and empty promises rather than informed and encouraged to think consequences through.
Poor. Very very poor. Tragic.
Labour’s slow march into political oblivion is bad news.
It is high risk strategy for every-day folk whose hardship and ruined lives Labour think are worth enduring to get them into power.
Conclusion: Wrong! Are you listening Seamus?
I think the problem has been one of judgement about when they should have pivoted from helping the Tories tear themselves apart to backing a second referendum with a remain option. Democratically, it has been difficult (until now) to advocate for immediate revocation. The nuanced judgement required to make that sort of call is difficult to develop after 40+ years of being a conviction politician. Now we are looking at a probably no deal exit, which was explicitly not what was promised by the leavers, a revoke Article 50 position is much more defensible from a democratic perspective.