Brown: Corbyn would only lead Labour into the wilderness
SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT JEREMY CORBYN would take Labour back to the 1980s, when the party was doomed to the irrelevance of opposition, Gordon Brown will warn today.
In his first intervention in the Labour leadership contest, the former prime minister is expected to urge the 600,000 members and supporters who have a vote in the elections not to choose a candidate who will keep the party out of office.
In a rare public appearance, Mr Brown will use a speech at the South Bank Centre in London to warn that Labour must not turn its back on power.
A hard-Left programme of 1980s policies – such as the agenda offered by Mr Corbyn – would see Labour lose the next election in 2020, just as it was repeatedly defeated by Margaret Thatcher, he is expected to say.
Despite speculation that Mr Brown would endorse Yvette Cooper – who is married to his former aide, Ed Balls – the ex-premier is not expected to back any individual candidate in his speech.
His warning follows similar concerns from Tony Blair, Jack Straw and other former leading lights of New Labour.
Yesterday, Alan Johnson, a former home secretary, said Labour would be “a weak, divided party in opposition for a generation” under Mr Corbyn, as he backed Yvette Cooper for the leadership.
It emerged yesterday that Mr Corbyn, the surprise front-runner in the contest, is poised to name his fellow radical MP, John McDonnell, as shadow chancellor. A source close to Mr Corbyn said Mr McDonnell was almost certain to be given the top job in the Treasury team.
He is Mr Corbyn’s campaign manager and has been a friend for years, sharing an opposition to the Iraq War.
There has been speculation that Mr Corbyn could give other shadow cabinet posts to supporters including Dennis Skinner, the veteran Left-winger known as the “Beast of Bolsover”.
In what is seen as a sign he would be given the role of shadow chancellor, Mr McDonnell insisted that a Corbynled Labour Party would be “absolutely committed to eliminating the deficit and creating an economy in which we live within our means”.
However, writing in he warned that the rich and large corporations should be taxed more, not less, while austerity that hurts the poor must end. “We can tackle the deficit by halting the tax cuts to the very rich and to corporations, by making sure they pay their taxes, and by investing in the housing and infrastructure a modern country needs to get people back to work in good jobs,” he said.
Mr McDonnell has previously called foranyoneearningmorethan£100,000 to pay a new 60p rate of income tax, and for a “wealth tax” on the richest 10 per cent of people.
A slew of opinion polls have suggested Mr Corbyn is unstoppable, and will achieve more than 50 per cent of the vote in the leadership elections.
If no candidate wins more than 50 per cent in the first ballot, which is being held using the alternative vote system, voters’ second and third preferences come into play.
There have been calls from moderate MPs for the other candidates – Andy Burnham, Liz Kendall and Ms Cooper – to link up to stop Mr Corbyn winning.
However, any prospect of candidates dropping out has receded, as all three camps believe it is too late for such a move. Ballot papers have begun to be sent out with all four names on.
Ms Kendall and Ms Cooper have urged supporters to use their second and third preference votes to back anyone but Mr Corbyn. Mr Burnham has not joined them.
North of the border, Kezia Dugdale was yesterday announced as the new leader of the Scottish Labour Party, succeeding Jim Murphy.
She took 72 per cent of the vote. The 33-year-old became a member of the Scottish Parliament four years ago.