Labour members’ contempt for their core voters will be their downfall
SIR – Sherelle Jacobs (Comment, September 25) highlights the once-ina-generation political opportunity presented by Labour’s abandonment of its working-class vote.
Despite last year’s poor election campaign, the Conservatives achieved their highest vote share since 1983 and made serious inroads in many hitherto Labour areas, winning Mansfield (Labour since 1923) and Stoke-ontrent South (held by Labour since its creation in 1950).
There are a further 58 seats that would fall to the Tories on a 3 per cent swing, 52 held with majorities under 5,000. Of these constituencies, 47 are outside London and voted Leave.
Labour’s extreme Left, metropolitan and overwhelmingly middle-class membership clearly consider their core voters too unintelligent to understand Brexit fully, but Kate Hoey is undoubtedly correct that her party is committing political suicide by backing a second referendum. Philip Duly
Haslemere, Surrey SIR – If Jeremy Corbyn wanted to reassure the Jewish community that he was passionately against antisemitism, he would not have allowed all the Palestinian flags into the conference hall.
If Jeremy Corbyn was really pro-eu, he would have allowed EU flags into the hall.
What you see is what you get. Dr Gerald Edwards
Glasgow
SIR – The curious paradox of Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Remainleaning Labour Party, being a lifelong Brexiteer (while the strongly proleave Conservatives are led by Theresa May, a Remainer) is made more curious by so many of Labour’s young supporters being pro-remain.
Do they not realise that Jeremy Corbyn and John Mcdonnell would be prevented from carrying out much of their hard-left agenda if we were still bound by EU rules? Michael Staples
Seaford, East Sussex SIR – Does the shadow Chancellor John Mcdonnell realise that you can only take 10 per cent of the shares (for the workers) from a limited company if it is listed in the United Kingdom?
This would, of course, mean that he could appropriate (buy or steal) 10 per cent of Tesco shares, but be quite unable to take anything from Aldi or Lidl.
Similarly, the highly skilled workers at Jaguar Land Rover, who do so much to make top-end vehicles for both the domestic and export markets, would not qualify for such appropriated shares, as JLR is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors. Roy Hughes
Bromsgrove, Worcestershire
SIR – The word comrade is not used any more in Russia, as it was a Marxist term. It was also a male term.
That didn’t seem to stop Labour delegates at this week’s conference using the term in every speech. Christopher Foster
Ascot, Berkshire