Defection is never easy... but we may need a NEW party to combat Corbyn
Veteran of a Centre-Left civil war lays down a challenge to Labour moderates
Many voters are unhappy with Labour’s Leftward lurch
AWEEK on from Jeremy Corbyn’s coronation, one thing is brutally clear. His choice as Labour leader was a disaster for Labour and for the country. Labour is now unelectable. The country lacks an effective opposition and badly needs one.
That stark conclusion has nothing to do with his personality or dress sense or his first week in charge.
He has come across as straight and decent, if somewhat bewildered. His approach to Prime Min- ister’s Questions was refreshing. Anyone could stumble over the rites of the British Establishment and Palace protocol. All those peo- ple being precious about the national anthem have obviously never sung it to the end (‘rebellious Scots to crush. God save the Queen.’) Nor should we belittle his achievement in mobilising a lot of disenchanted, idealistic and mainly young people.
He understood better than the mainstream Labour Party the current cynicism about political compromise. But this leads to valuing the rhetoric of opposition over the realities of office. It despises those who try to govern.
Politics is made up of plumbers – practical people who get into power to change things but inevitably get their hands dirty – and priests who pontificate, lay down doctrine and keep themselves pure. Plumbers are currently discredited.
The achievements of Brown and Blair (and for that matter Lib Dems in the Coalition) are trashed. Priests are in. The Labour Party has chosen one with absolutely no idea how to realise what his congregation wants.
I suspect that he and his entourage privately fear the prospect of being in power, terrified of becoming the British equivalent of Tsipras, the hapless former Greek prime minister.
Anyone who still thinks that Jeremy Corbyn is electable should spend time studying so-called Corbynomics.
This is an incoherent, fanciful set of economic ideas which repudiates not just the approach of the Coalition or the Conservatives but also the policies set out by Ed Balls. It assumes there is a vast pool of uncollected tax revenue to finance increased spending on everything under the sun.
Quite why previous governments looked this gift horse in the mouth is not explained. I support cracking down hard on tax evasion and avoidance, but in a world of mobile companies and individuals this is not straightforward. Thinking of a number and adding a nought isn’t serious.
Then there is ‘people’s quantitative easing’. There are good reasons for governments to borrow to invest in infrastructure and in housing and also, in an emergency, to use quantitative easing through an independent central bank. But the idea that a surge of investment can be launched just by using the printing presses is beyond parody. There are more realistic economic policy options and I set them out in my new book After The Storm.
The Conservatives cannot believe their luck. For now, they are treating the new leader with exaggerated respect. They would like him to continue until the next General Election.
They don’t want Labour to come to their senses too quickly. Like wellarmed big game hunters on the trail of a wounded lion, they don’t want to spoil the enjoyment of the kill by shooting too soon. And as one of those Lib Dem MPs swept out by the Tories’ ruthlessly effective scaremongering in May, I can vouch for their ability to kill.
The Tories will call themselves a Centre party pointing to the extremes on either side. But you don’t have to be a Corbynite to worry about the damage from George Osborne’s planned cuts to services such as polic- ing, social services and investment in social housing. These cuts go far deeper than the Coalition believed was necessary. You don’t have to like the hard-Left union bosses to worry that the new union legislation is unnecessary and vindictive.
A Conservative Government unworried about serious opposition has pushed through cuts in tax credits for low-income working families which far exceed the modest gains from the ‘living wage’. And the biggest worry is that the prospect of prolonged Tory Government makes it increasingly likely that Scotland will secede.
So what should sensible, moderate, Labour people do? Sit tight? Defect? Organise resistance? The first step is to stop pretending it will all come right on the night; that all those keen, engaged young people will somehow sweep the Tories from power.
The ‘sitting tight’ strategy may work for a while. Some of Corbyn’s battier ideas are already being jettisoned. There is less talk of quitting Nato and unilateral nuclear disarmament. The possibility of Labour campaigning against the EU seems to have been dropped.
But the moderates have a dilemma. The more successful they are in softening the more outlandish policies, the greater the likelihood the leadership will dig in and establish an unbreakable grip on the party. For Liberal Democrats gathering today for our annual conference, a Corbyn-led Labour party offers an opportunity and a way back.
There are many voters who will never back the Tories, and are now desperately unhappy with Labour’s Leftward lurch, who will be looking for a new home. I think we may get some people coming across. It may even become an avalanche, although I doubt it. Defection is never an easy option, as I know all too well. I am a veteran of the party’s civil war in the early 1980s, albeit as a foot soldier rather than a general. Those of us who like me jumped ship to the SDP had mixed success. The Tories remained in power for over a decade. But the influence of the SDP on ideas and policies was immense.
What I hope emerges from this is the creation of a common sense Centre-Left formation made of sensible Labour, the Lib Dems and indeed some Tories who don’t like the direction of their party.
It will be a very long process but ultimately, this movement might well have to become a fully fledged political party. The party conference season will focus attention on one central issue – how to bridge the vast gulf between Cameron and Corbyn.
There are millions of people who want a progressive alternative to the Tories but will not back Labour under the present leadership. We desperately need people who can rise above petty tribalism and help create a credible alternative to this Government.