Looking for a lead

Even by its standards, Labour is in a mess. Consider the way in which the Official Opposition approached the Government’s welfare reform Bill in the Commons. After an internal row in which Harriet Harman of all people was accused of Tory sympathies for daring to suggest that some welfare cuts were justified, the interim party leadership devised a byzantine plan to back a motion rejecting welfare cuts but not actually vote against the Bill that enacts them. Some MPs then ignored this plan and voted against the Bill anyway.

The key to understanding this mess is found in a letter to colleagues from Andy Burnham, the favourite to be the next leader. Explaining why he opposed the Bill but would not actually vote against it, he wrote: “The Tories want to use this period to brand us in the way they did in 2010. We must not allow that to happen.” In other words, Conservative plans to reform welfare are popular, and opposing them is not.

Why, then, do Mr Burnham and his colleagues not embrace welfare reform, as Labour did in the election-winning days of Tony Blair? The answer is that while the wider public wants to spend less on welfare, Labour activists do not. Hence the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, the old-fashioned socialist who is doing rather well in the leadership election thus far. This newspaper does not endorse Mr Corbyn’s candidacy, but he is at least clear about his (mistaken) political beliefs and is happy to be judged accordingly. Instead of trying to pander to activists without offending the electorate, his fellow leadership contenders should follow his example and follow their convictions. That is leadership, something Labour is utterly lacking.