Category: Elections

May must go

Jeremy Corbyn’s incredible election success represents a seismic change in British politics. Thirteen million people voted for a radical, progressive and internationalist government. To gain 41% of the vote is staggering – the biggest swing to Labour since the Atlee government of 1945. To do so in the context of an election that had two horrific terrorist attacks is quite extraordinary.

May announced the election believing that it would be a walk in the park and very few disagreed with her. The only disagreement was about how big a margin she would win by.

But something quite spectacular happened in this election. Something the vast majority of establishment pundits told us could never happen. Political pundit after pundit, and some left-wing ones too, wrote off Corbyn as being unelectable. Even those papers like the Guardian who came kicking and screaming behind calling for a vote for Labour still don’t really understand why millions turned out to vote for him.

They have, like many others, consistently failed to grasp what is taking place at the base of society. Too often they only looked at the top instead of digging beneath the surface to listen and understand the real concerns of working people. For them Brexit was seen as a mass anti –immigrant vote by swathes of working class people. They have failed to understand that at its core Brexit was an anti-austerity vote.

What this election has shown is that working class people can be won back to Labour from the likes of UKIP with radical policies.

A different kind of politician

But it was not simply a misunderstanding of the actuality of people’s views that led so many to dismiss Corbyn as a no-hoper and for the mainstream media to launch such an unprecedented campaign of hatred against him. More fundamentally the establishment were scared that if he won then everything they have stood for, and has become ‘common sense’, would be thrown into question.  Not just by a few die-hard lefties but by millions.

If those right wing Labour MPs had not attempted to undermine Corbyn at every turn and had campaigned for the excellent manifesto then the outcome of this election would have meant that Corbyn would be sitting in number ten rather than there being a hung Parliament.

What the brilliant Corbyn campaign showed was that by putting forward radical policies which give support to public over private, collective need over private greed, and peace and unity rather racism and war he could win.  It was clear Corbyn slightly lost his way before the announcement of the general election due to the constant attacks by the majority of Labour MPs, the relentless media character assassinations and by those around him wobbling in response. But as soon as the election campaign started Corbyn took control.

Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell are unique amongst MPs. There are a few MPs who hold similar beliefs but what marks them out as a different kind of politician is their campaigning backgrounds. They have not only turned up to speak at strikes, demonstrations and the like (which even some of the more left wing Labour MPs still don’t do) they were part of organising and taking campaign initiatives.

This is what made the difference. You could see Corbyn grow in stature and confidence as he started to speak at the rallies across the country. When he got out of the unreal and stultifying atmosphere of Parliament, the Corbyn that had been shaped by forty years of struggle and campaigning came to the fore and inspired millions.

Perhaps one of the most important speeches he made was two days after the Manchester bombing that located the continuous imperialist wars and bombings of Arab countries as the root cause of terrorism around the globe. This was a courageous speech and showed principled leadership.  And it worked because it chimed with the millions of working class people who had consistently opposed war for over a decade.

Left versus right is back: Blairism is dead.

It has become very fashionable over the past decade or so to pronounce that the old left versus right political set-up no longer applies to the modern system. We have transcended, we are told, from the old ‘tribal’ politics. It was never true but because mainstream politics were competitions between two main camps with virtually identical policies this notion became the accepted political truth.

No longer.  In this election, there was a real choice between the two main political parties.

Labour’s manifesto was a radical one. It promised to tax the rich, set up a national education service, end zero hours contacts, scrap tuition fees and restore EMA, build one million homes, rid the NHS of the privateers, protect the environment and renationalise the public utilities.

Another accepted wisdom blown apart by this election was the idea that young people would never vote for a radical Socialist programme because they were all ‘Thatcher’s children’.  This election saw millions of 18-24 year olds turn out and vote for the most radical Socialist programme for over a generation.

This is where the new ‘centre ground’ of politics is situated.

A world to win

Elections are important. But as Jeremy and John would tell us real change comes through struggle not by simply electing principled leaders to parliament.  May has exposed herself as not the new Iron Lady – the knives will be out for her. She must go.  We need to get onto the streets as soon as possible to prise open the splits that now exist after the Tories’ dreadful election campaign. We need to build a bigger and stronger trade union movement that is bold and audacious.

I attended Corbyn’s final election rally in Islington. The rally was great. But it was when the rally finished and you exited the venue and you were greeted by thousands of people who couldn’t get into the rally, mostly young, spilling onto the street that you really understood why this election was different. They were not simply there to get a glimpse of Corbyn but because they knew that this election was historic and that they wanted to be a part of something that could be transformative – they wanted to be a part of history – as actors not passive observers.

There is no turning back. We have a world to win. June 8th is an important step on the road towards a society based on the needs of the many not the few.

Everything has changed – now it’s our turn….

Sean Vernell NEC

The announcement last week that there will be a general election on the 8th June caught everyone off guard. The media, rather predictably and depending what side they were on, greeted the announcement with either great praise for May’s initiative or anger on the basis that there is no need to call an election. What they all agreed upon, however, was that the outcome of the election is a given – a huge victory for the Tories. Column after column attack Corbyn for his ‘inept’ leadership and forecast that Labour will get a trouncing.

The media attacks on Corbyn have been unprecedented. From his clothing to his facial hair, to the way he speaks – all have been ridiculed. But despite these relentless attacks, again and again he has triumphed. These same people seem to forget that Corbyn has confounded his critics time and again. Very few gave him a look-in to win the leadership of the Labour Party but he did – not once but twice.

Corbyn’s opening election speech which set him up as the anti-establishment figure was an excellent start to Labour’s campaign. Every Labour MP must take his lead if they are going to be successful in engaging their constituents to come out and vote for them.

This election takes place in a world that is falling apart. Images beam into our living rooms and onto our phone screens of babies being pulled out of bombed buildings, covered in dust and blood or from the sea with their lungs full of water as they and their parents attempt to escape the war and poverty of the land that they were born in. Where the threat of a nuclear war is real and where twenty million people, mostly children, face starvation in Africa whilst at the same time just one or two individuals have enough personal wealth to prevent them from dying. And where climate change puts at risk the very survival of the planet we live on.

This is why we need to break from the centre ground consensus politics that has created this world and why Corbyn, if he is to win, must make clear that a vote for him will not mean business as usual. In Scotland, where Labour are identified with defending the union, which meant that Labour in Scotland were eclipsed following the independence referendum, many will vote SNP to push forward a second referendum while others are set to vote for other pro independence Left candidates.

This election could be one of the defining moments in British politics that finally puts to rest the accepted orthodoxy that you can only win elections from the centre ground. Those of us that work in education, alongside those who work in the public sector have a lot to lose if the Tories are re-elected.  It is an election where we need to do all we can to ensure a Labour victory to stop the Tories getting another five years running society in the interests of the rich and powerful.

Why Corbyn can win

We keep hearing how far behind Labour are in the opinion polls. Indeed, the divisions sown by the disgruntled Blairite MPs have done damage. The continued attempts by them to undermine Corbyn’s leadership and challenge his every move undoubtedly has given comfort to the Tories. However as long as the Labour Party, from top to bottom follows

Corbyn’s lead there is every chance of Corbyn, once again, making the establishment and their lackeys eat every one of their caustic, bitter and twisted words.

The opinion polls haven’t got it wrong so many times in recent years simply because of some technical glitch. They have got it wrong because they didn’t understand what was taking place at the base of society. They didn’t understand the rage working people felt towards the injustices that were taking place. The visceral anger towards the employers rewarding themselves with unlimited wealth whilst workers faced wage cuts and redundancy. This anger can be misdirected towards blaming immigrants for these injustices and can lead to the likes of Trump and the Fascist Le Pen succeeding to express working people’s rage.

But there is no reason why the Left cannot give voice to this anger and fears replacing hate with hope. Bernie Saunders in the US elections stood as a Socialist candidate and received millions of votes. In the French elections Melenchon did incredibly well considering he started relatively late and the French Socialist Party were the party of government.

There are some in the establishment who have cottoned on to this. They have begun to understand their right to rule is not ordained by god and that complacency, on their behalf, could be their undoing.  This is what lies behind the attacks on Corbyn’s leadership style. It is not his clothing, beard or his syntax that concerns them it is the content of what he stands for. They understand if he wins then everything they stand for is under threat. They ridicule him not because they think that he has no chance of winning but because they fear that he might.

Build the movement

But getting the vote out and voting Labour is not all we must do. We need to continue to build the movement on the streets and in the workplaces. Every strike needs solidarity. Every racist attack needs to be mobilised against. Some in the leadership on our side might think it is a good idea to put a halt to any strike or demonstration whilst the election campaign takes place, out of fear of ‘rocking the boat’ for Labour but the employers won’t cease their attacks. They will continue to attempt to drive through cuts.

Building the movement is not just about ensuring that we continue to defend ourselves in the here and now it is also about the future of a Corbyn led Labour government. If he is successful the attempt to destabilise his government will come thick and fast. The only power that will be able to deal with the full onslaught from the press and by all the powers of the state that will be unleashed against his government is a mass movement that is capable of mobilising millions to defend it.

That’s why building the movement is not a luxury it is a necessity: Vote Labour and build the movement.

 Sean Vernell, UCU NEC