John McDonnell - Labour Shadow Chancellor
DESPITE having a British Conservative government that is led by a pathological liar - who even misled the Queen - a chancer, and someone who is clearly out of his depth and unfit to be the Prime Minister of the UK, some opinion polls have given the Tories a 15-point lead over Labour. One opinion poll went so far as saying that Jeremy Corbyn was the "most unpopular opposition leader of the past 45 years."
The survey by Ipsos MORI, for the Evening Standard, gave the Labour leader a net satisfaction rating of -60, with just 16% of voters pleased with him and 76% unhappy. According to the Evening Standard, Corbyn is now more unpopular than the former Labour leader Michael Foot.
This weeks shambolic Labour conference, is unlikely to boost Corbyn's ratings with the electorate. At various times the Labour Party conference has descended into chaos, as Unison hack, Wendy Nichols, the Labour NEC chair, struggled to maintain order. Delegates were furious when a motion supporting 'Remain' was rejected on a show of hands and Nichols refused to hold a full paper ballot. She initially thought the motion to 'Remain' had been carried until she was corrected by Labour's general secretary Jennie Formby, who insisted it hadn't been carried. Earlier in the Week, Nichols had provoked a row when she remitted a motion back, in spite of delegates saying they hadn't a clue what the motion was about because it wasn't on the order papers.
I almost pissed myself laughing when Labour's Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, referred to Labour's Shadow Economic Secretary, 'Blairite', Jonathan Reynolds - a protégé of both Lord Mandelson and 'work-for-your- dole', James Purnell - as "taking socialism into the heart of the city." Yet, McDonnell outlined a range of Labour policies that one would have thought would have been hugely popular with the working people:-
A £10 minimum wage from 16-up; a ban on zero hour contracts; a 32-hour, 4-day working week within the next decade, without loss of pay; 20% of company shares to be held by workers; restoration of trade union rights; workers right to take effect from day one; stop the roll-out of Universal Credit - not abolish it; personal care free at the point of use in England; build a million affordable homes and give free prescriptions.
Why Labour is flagging in the opinion polls is indeed curious given that a paper like the Financial Times, recently warned that Labour wanted to pick the pockets of the rich and to put it into the pocket of the workers. Likewise, the Tories are in complete disarray over Europe, and up shit creek without a paddle. Many of Labour's policies like re-nationalizing the railways and utilities are extremely popular with the electorate and not many of us are going to lose much sleep over public schools losing their charitable status, as they aren't charities or even public schools, as most of the public couldn't afford to get in. However, one suspects that Labour may have promised far too much and if we leave the EU, many of their policies might not be affordable because of the negative impact leaving would have on the British economy.
Not all the blame is solely down to Jeremy Corbyn - an ardent Brexiteer - who has never enjoyed the support of many of the Labour 'Blairite' right in Parliament, who have sought to bring him down from day one and would much rather have a Conservative government than a Labour one led by Corbyn.
None of this in-fighting and intrigue plays well with the voters, even if some of Labour's policies are popular. I suspect that if there was an election tomorrow, the Tories under Boris Johnson, could get re-elected but possibly without a working majority. Johnson, a cad and scoundrel, will position himself as the saviour of Britain who wants to implement the will of the majority of British people who want to leave the EU. The next General Election will fought on the basis of the people versus an intransigent parliament.
Although most people haven't a clue what Brexit means, Boris Johnson does have a clue. It is about cutting taxes for the rich and turning British workers into doormats for billionaires. It is about a race to the bottom and having a bonfire of regulations that cover such things as employment rights, food standards, health and safety, the environment and even the NHS.
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1 comment:
Hi Derek,
Interesting piece. It is intriguing that the electorate continue not to be convinced by a set of policy announcements that should in my view be sending Labour's poll ratings into the stratosphere. I had misguidedly, thought that the mainstream media had been losing its grip, given the rise of the influence of social media, however, this clearly is not the case. The grip of nearly ten years of austerity is impacting more severely on greater numbers as time progresses.
The digital revolution is set to destroy many traditional middle class jobs and as you are aware once this group starts to be affected, political minds become more focused. The descent into aggressive nationalism as a response to this developing crisis is what Rod feared some years ago. It strikes me that the loss of traditional work place trade union organisation and its association with political awareness is a major factor with the direction of views.
I am strongly of the view that Labour' s position on Brexit is the self-evidently the most inclusive. It provides a recognition of the views of two polarised groups, without disregarding the outcome of the referendum. It opens up the opportunity for a more informed debate than occurred before the last referendum, with the opportunity to test the consensus with a further vote.
Time will tell whether I am correct or romantically misguided.
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