Mon 6 Jan 2020, 14:02 PM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Mark Langabeer, Newton Abbot Labour Party member
On the BBC parliamentary channel a group academics gave their thoughts on the general election and Brexit. Professor Bale, Deputy Director of UK in a Changing Europe stated that the result was the biggest defeat for Labour since 1983. Labour have fewer seats than at any time since 1935. He said that the result in many respects is worse than 83, because of the poor growth of the British economy and he noted that there were regional differences, with Labour collapsing in the north and Midlands.
He also said that Brexit was a factor but he argued that Corbyn was perceived as weak, incompetent and unpatriotic, less trusted on the economy and the least popular leader in history. He said that the Tory campaign was well targeted, while Labour’s campaign was over-ideological and more like a Christmas wish-list. He did say that age was a factor. Over 40s tended to vote Tory and the under 40s tend to vote Labour. He concluded that this age gap should help Labour in the long run, however, (quoting Keynes) “in the long run, we’re all dead”.
Finally, he said that Labour would require an 11% swing, which reinforces the idea that the Tories will be in power for over eight years. Labour have only done this before in 1945 and 1997. There was one caveat and that was the possibility of Brexit ending in disaster.
The narrative of Bale plays well with Labour’s right-wing, but I think it is false from start to finish. I don’t intend to take up everything that Bale claimed because other articles have covered the causes of Labour’s defeat.
In my view, it is conditions that largely determine consciousness and it is young people that have borne the brunt of Tory austerity. There’s a reason why many older people become conservative (with a small ‘ c’) and it’s connected with past disappointments with the Blair and the Wilson/Callaghan years. Ultimately, these governments failed to shift power and wealth in favour of working people. A report recently stated that the CEOs of the major companies ‘earn’ more in three days than the average worker gets annually. Even this is based on a figure of £29,000 a year, which millions of workers would regard as a good wage.
The perception that Corbyn was weak is laughable, given the level of smears that were heaped on his shoulders. It would have broken most people. The man seems to be made of steel and that’s the reason for his huge authority among Labour movement activists. Ted Grant predicted the Labour landslide of 1997. The result was a rejection of everything that the Tories stood for. In his words, they voted for Blair, not because of him but in spite of him. As Corbyn said, my time will come.
