Jeremy Corbyn is useless even as a radical leader of Labour. He simply has not got the courage of his convictions to attack Theresa May directly in a vigorous way over Brexit using language that communicates why her vision of it relies on a con-trick that Britain will have an immediate national resurrection.
Corbyn could yet resurrect his leadership by running on a promise of introducing proportional representation as this would hold something out for both the Labour voters who voted Leave out of frustration and those who voted Remain and want the Labour Party to be able to hold May's Brexit negotiations to account.
Freedland fails to mention that Blairite MPs and those groomed by Blair's regime norms are positioning themselves to try and block Brexit by subversive means. This is an inevitable consequence of the FPTP system which can no longer contain and give expression to the plurality of political forces in Britain in 2017.
The upshot of this dysfunctional Westminster model of politics and two and a bit parties is going to be a huge mandate for Theresa May's Tories and the potential for a strange death of Labour Britain through a post-election civil war or progressive alliance coup. Politicians opposed to Brexit are no doubt waiting in the wings.
With May pressing ahead, there will be the danger of leaks of negotiating secrets and attempts by Blairites and dispossessed political elites to undermine Brexit through plots. Spies shall be vying to keep tabs on those who are working to undermine it. With economic volatility and street protests, violence could flare.
Corbyn simply is not interested in electoral reform. When pressed on this in the leadership context with Owen Smith, he opined 'I believe in the wisdom of ordinary people' and went on the outline promoting democracy in the economy, in business, in the community and at each and every level of society and the political system.
If Corbyn dropped the toytown British equivalent of 'All Power to the Soviets' and took on board Cat Smith's recommendations for PR reported today, he could reunite the quarrelling factions and bequeath a more positive legacy both for British democracy and The Labour Party. But no response has been given to it.
At present the movement for electoral reform remains an active concern of a minority. After May's victory a new Reform Movement agitating for PR and reform of Britain's political system needs to be developed. Brexit was a consequence in many ways of the FPTP system and the tendency to deliver huge electoral swings.
The disproportion between the voters and the size of the mandate given to One Party is set to make May's government unassailable other than by counter-elite plots. These could be outed by the emerging authoritarian-national security state and widespread surveillance and use of spies and informants monitoring 'enemies within'.
In addition, Corbyn's systematic destruction as national security threat could provide the template whereby public figures considered saboteurs trying to undermine Brexit are pilloried as 'enemies of the people'. Murdoch is poised to seize control over SKY News and the rest of the media would be compliant in the demonization game.
No comments:
Post a Comment