Backlash as Corbyn hints at a return to mass nationalisation
JEREMY Corbyn yesterday suggested he wanted to bring back Labour’s historic commitment to the public ownership of industry.
The veteran Left-winger said in an interview that he was interested in reviving Clause IV of the party’s constitution – committing it to ‘common ownership of the means of production’. The clause was scrapped two decades ago during Tony Blair’s drive to rebrand the party as ‘New Labour’.
He later tried to row back after his ideas were met with a fierce backlash from rivals for the Labour leadership and threats from donors to withdraw funding.
But – even in later clarified comments and despite claims from his spokesman that he did not want a return to Clause IV – he still pledged a commitment to nationalising the railways.
Getting rid of Clause IV was a key moment in Mr Blair’s leadership, helping to convince voters that the party could be trusted again after the wilderness years of the 1980s.
But in an interview with the Independent on Sunday, Mr Corbyn suggested he could consider bringing it back as part of a commitment to return some ‘necessary things’ to public ownership.
‘I think we should talk about what the objectives of the party are, whether that’s restoring Clause IV as it was originally written or a different one,’ he said. ‘We shouldn’t shy away from public participation, public investment in industry and public control of the railways.’
Such a move – which could cost the taxpayer billions in compensation – would be every bit as symbolic as Mr Blair’s original decision, marking a final break with the New Labour era. Mr Corbyn later said that while he believed in public ownership of the railways, he had never favoured the ‘remote nationalised model’ that prevailed in the post-war era.
‘Public control should mean just that,’ he said. ‘We should have passengers, workers and government co-operatively running the railways to ensure they are run in our interests and not for private profit.’
Following the backlash, his spokesman also said: ‘Jeremy is not saying he wants to return to Clause IV. He says we need some discussion about public ownership objectives for the 21st century.’
However Liz Kendall – the leadership challenger seen as being the closest to Mr Blair’s policies – condemned the idea as a return to the failed theories of Left-wingers such as the late Tony Benn. ‘This shows there is nothing new about Mr Corbyn’s politics,’ she said. ‘It is just Bennism reheated, a throwback.’
Yvette Cooper, another of Mr Corbyn’s three rivals, said: ‘The economy needs innovation, not a return to the days of British Leyland. Labour needs ideas for the future, not to turn back the clock.’
A string of Labour donors also said that they would withdraw their funding if Mr Corbyn wins the leadership battle.
Richard Brindle, who gave £100,000 under Ed Miliband, ruled out donating should Mr Corbyn win, calling his policies ‘economically illiterate’. Another said it would be ‘disastrous’ and electoral ‘suicide’ for Labour.