Empty promises

It is no surprise that Jeremy Corbyn won reelection as Labour leader, although increasing his majority was a genuine accomplishment. When he gave his speech of thanks he showed a little more polish than he did a year ago. But then came the predictable, never-changing broadsides against the wicked Tories and their Right-wing plans for Britain. It is as if the leadership challenge never happened, which leaves us wondering what the point of it was.

Mr Corbyn talked about fine schools, a wellfinanced NHS, reducing poverty, good jobs and generous support in old age. Everyone wants these things. The serious debate is about how we get them – and Labour has offered no detail on this. The broad theme of Mr Corbyn’s election campaign was that he would spend more than the Tories. A £500 billion investment in the economy; one million new homes in five years; public ownership of certain services. And he would finance all of this by raising the higher rate of income tax and cracking down on what he terms tax evasion.

No serious economist believes that such a revolutionary plan for Britain’s finances can be effected without a substantial increase in general taxation and enormous borrowing. These would drive up inflation and kill economic growth. That, in turn, would reduce tax intake and the money that goes towards public services. So while there is much speculation about what the parliamentary Labour Party will do to achieve unity, internal politicking is a distraction from the arguably more important job of producing a manifesto that actually adds up. At present, Labour does not provide a serious alternative to the Tories. Britain is lacking a credible opposition.