Labour has only itself to blame
THE aftermath of an election can tell us just as much about the state of a political party as their campaign leading up to the vote did.
Glimmers of Labour’s disarray
– no better summed up than by their topsy-turvy Brexit position – have been on display for quite some time.
But the fallout from the party’s crushing defeat has amplified how deep-rooted their problems are.
MPS like Caroline Flint showed a great insight and humility when losing their seat, acknowledging the party’s drift away from working-class communities – taking their support, and their vote, for granted one too many times.
But many more in Labour blame everyone but themselves – the media, the moderates, even the voters, who didn’t buy into the idea that you can offer every giveaway under the sun at no cost to almost all taxpayers. And perhaps the most disconnected spin has been that “Corbynism” was rejected, not socialism, a perspective which suggests many on the Left are still in the denial stage in the five stages of grief.
Certainly a top issue for voters was the status of Brexit, and by an extension the issue of trust, which has been waning over the past three years as MPS failed to deliver the result of the referendum.
And between Jeremy Corbyn’s historical sympathies for terror groups such as Hamas and the IRA, and his lack of sympathy for the Jewish community – who have borne the frightening repercussions of systemic anti-semitism in his Labour Party – there’s no doubt his track record weighed on voters.
But we must not understate the extent to which Labour’s policy and spending promises were so badly rejected.voters tossed Corbyn’s socialist agenda of nationalisation and high taxes out the window with such gusto, it flew all the way past the 70s and landed in the 1930s – the last time Labour experienced such a woeful election result.
Of course the road ahead won’t be an easy one for the Conservatives.
But now that Brexit is moving ahead, with the intention of securing free trade deals with the European Union and countries around the world, the long-term trajectory of the UK’S economy and output looks very bright indeed.
With the perils of socialism back in their box, for a little while at least, a new chapter can begin.