Attack on Tory voters is poison
ONE of the secrets of Jeremy Corbyn’s success as Labour leader has been the grassroots group Momentum.
The hard-left organisation played a vital role in mobilising young people ahead of the election.
Through a sophisticated social media strategy and voter ID techniques, they did what many thought was impossible – made the Facebook generation turn out to vote.
Their latest advert, released yesterday, is another professionally produced effort.
But it’s unusual in one particularly striking way – it doesn’t just attack the Tories, it attacks those who VOTED for the Tories.
It features five middleclass white people discussing Corbyn’s appeal to youth and mocking them for having unrealistic ambitions.
The ad is effectively an attack on the perceived hypocrisy of an older generation who paid nothing for university and benefited from buying a home at an affordable price but now oppose a party who want the same for the next generation.
It has already sparked debate about the wisdom of this as a tactic for Labour but there’s been much less analysis of its impact on our political debate.
The echo chambers of social media sites have already polarised politics like never before.
Stoking anger and resentment between the generations can only poison the atmosphere further.