Nearly half of Labour members ashamed of Britain’s history

... and 53% want to see the Monarchy abolished

JEREMY CORBYN is bequeathing his successor a Labour Party so out of touch with mainstream British values that almost half of its members are ‘ashamed’ of their own country’s history, according to a new poll.

After four years with Mr Corbyn at the helm, barely one in three of the Labour faithful are proud of the nation’s past, compared to more than 50 per cent of voters.

The YouGov survey also shows the party’s 500,000-plus members are wildly at odds with the public on wanting to ditch the Monarchy, and with many in denial about Labour’s problems with anti-Semitism.

Last night, former Labour MP Ian Austin – who quit in protest at Mr Corbyn’s leadership – said the outgoing leader was handing his successor a ‘toxic legacy’ of a party ‘ gripped by extremism and poisoned by anti-Semitism’.

Mr Austin, chairman of cross-party anti-extremism group Mainstream, also predicted it would ‘take years to purge Labour and restore its reputation as a mainstream party that shares the values and views of hard-working Britons’.

The survey comes as the contest to succeed Mr Corbyn enters its final stages, with Sir Keir Starmer still favourite to be named new party leader on April 4 – ahead of rivals Rebecca Long Bailey and Lisa Nandy.

Mr Corbyn has spoken of his pride in building up Labour’s membership. But the new poll, commissioned by Mainstream and carried out last week, contrasted their views with those of the public at large and found huge differences.

More than half of Brits – 53 per cent – were proud of the last 300 years of the nation’s history. But only 29 per cent of Labour members agreed, while 48 per cent of them said Britain’s past in that period was something to be ashamed of.

Similarly, the poll found widespread support for the Monarchy among ordinary Britons, with 63 per cent wanting the institution to continue. In contrast, 53 per cent of the Labour faithful wanted to see the Royal Family replaced with an elected head of state.

A huge divide also opened up over who was to blame for Labour’s historic General Election defeat last year, with nearly half of general voters blaming Mr Corbyn’s leadership but only 36 per cent of Labour’s members agreeing.

And Labour’s grassroots was at odds with the public over antiSemitism, with 78 per cent of party members believing the problem was either exaggerated ( 53 per cent) or that there was no problem at all (25 per cent).

But only 29 per cent of ordinary voters thought it had been overstated and just 10 per cent thought Labour did not have a problem with anti-Semitism.

Last night, Mr Austin said: ‘Almost half of Labour members are ashamed of Britain’s history and more than half want to do away with our Monarchy. Contrast that with the values and views of the general public – a nation proud of its rich heritage and history and supportive of the Monarchy – and you will see what a toxic legacy the new Labour leader will inherit from Jeremy Corbyn next month.’

Labour sought to dismiss the Mainstream poll findings last night by launching a fierce personal attack on Mr Austin, adding: ‘No one who associates with him is a mainstream or credible voice.’

ARE we, as a country, in danger of making a drama out of a crisis? The essence of Government, when shocks and dangers threaten, is calm competence, directing resources intelligently to reduce their impact and help their victims.

And much of what Boris Johnson’s Government has done about the coronavirus fits that mould. Medical experts are clearly being listened to, and science is at the heart of decision-making.

As far as reasonably possible, precautions are being t aken against realistic dangers. Contingency plans are being prepared for worse possibilities.

But in other quarters there is a taste for panic.

Dr Richard Hatchett, from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, recently went on television to say: ‘I don’t think it is a crazy analogy to compare this to World War Two.’

Let us hope he is wrong. About 75 million men, women and children died in that war, which lasted six long years. Many British people had to live through nights when the sky was full of bombers dropping high explosives or incendiaries on their homes.

Whole cities were destroyed and formerly prosperous nations became rubble-strewn deserts, only rescued from misery by enormous American subsidies. Would those who went through this think it ‘ crazy’ to equate their experiences with the coronavirus? Quite possibly. So those with public platforms should hesitate before saying such things.

This kind of language, and this kind of attitude, may be seen by some as necessary to shock the public out of alleged complacency. But hysteria spreads all too easily across social media, a haunted cauldron of rumour and frenzy which can give the appearance of substance to all kinds of twaddle.

Exaggerated fear of disease also provides an easy, often false excuse for every delay and failure, and the pretext for a whole new raft of restrictions, closures and delays.

But are the public complacent? Mostly not. The simple advice to us all, to wash our hands more frequently, is easy to follow and highly effective. Millions are heeding it. Before the new virus became a problem, hospitals were coping quietly with hundreds of victims of ordinary flu. Most people stay sensibly calm, keeping matters in proportion. They see that there is no sense in adding serious economic damage to the existing dangers of infection. The Queen and Prince Charles, dutiful as ever, understand this well and are continuing to fulfil their engagements.

That is as it should be. Civilisation is based, in the end, on selfrestraint in all things. Sounding the alarm loudly may make those who do so feel important. But does it really serve the public good? Since others have mentioned World War Two, it is worth remembering that it was at least partly won by calm and stoicism.

A party out of tune with the nation. . .

THE whole point of the Labour Party is to be a democratic but radical force for change. Especially in the 1940s, it has spoken for the nation, and achieved reforms which turned out to be both popular and necessary.

Yet as a new poll shows, its machine and membership are now largely in the hands of people who are ashamed of their own country’s history and even want to get rid of the most successful constitutional Monarchy in the world. Most of the party’s natural supporters have no interest in this dreary, rather spiteful form of Leftism, and why should they?

Unless and until Labour can get back into step with the British people, it is rightly doomed to be a failed fringe party.