Hello! Been a while, hasn't it? I've really had my hands full the last few months with professional commitments, despair over the ever-more-volatile state of the world and personal decisions for my future.
One of the things I've been doing recently is considering carefully the state of the UK opposition. I feel like I've been doing that pretty much every day for around ten years now (I kind of miss the days before I knew what the opposition was). One of the things primarily on my mind when I set up this blog as a lowly 17-year-old angry about tuition fees was that 'I hate the Government. EVERY Government.' What I meant by that was that I believed even then the old aphorism that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, and that anyone who comes to power is likely to experience the same effect. Do I still believe that? 'Yes, but...' is the answer. I think that in most cases that will be true, however I also believe that there are enough people in the world who wouldn't be corrupted by being in a leadership position. Jeremy Corbyn is one of them - I believe that had he become Prime Minister in 2017 or 2019, his general code of ethics would not have changed very much by being in that position. That is just my personal opinion; I could of course be wrong.
However, for better or worse he did not become Prime Minister. I still feel quite sad about that sometimes, but I also think it's better to move on and look to the future (something that us Corbyn-supporters are often accused - unfairly in my view - of being unable to do). However, I do need to say that if Jeremy Corbyn had been elected, irrespective of my personal views on him, things would still not have been brilliant. Far from it. Why? For the simple fact that Labour is a TERRIBLE party.
I've seen enough of the world of politics by now that I'm quite desensitised these days. Not that much shocks me. However, I admit to being very shocked by Al-Jazeera's three-part documentary on the UK Labour Party, The Labour Files. You can watch Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 on these links, and I strongly recommend doing so. It largely deals with the party's reaction to Corbyn's election as leader - but it's about so much more than that. It details how the opinions of people were deliberately misrepresented for cynical purposes; how personal details of campaigners, including things as sensitive as where their children went to school, were leaked to people with no right to that information; how incidents of racism amongst the staff were deliberately covered up; and so much more besides. Have a watch if you haven't already, but I warn you, it makes for grim viewing. It's immensely disturbing the levels of harassment that the Labour Party put sometimes quite vulnerable individuals through (and sometimes entire constituencies in a 'guilt by association' kind of way).
The message that I took from this is that the Labour Party is incredibly racist. The rules regarding leadership candidacy have changed recently (presumably to prevent any socialist ever getting in again); the current rules would have precluded every person of colour who has ever stood for Labour leadership from standing, as well as four of the six women who have ever stood (including Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy, the two women who stood last time). To put this into perspective, the current Conservative Prime Minister is a person of colour, as were quite a few of the people who stood in July's Tory leadership race. Far be it from me to point at the Conservative Party as a beacon of progressive politics, but it's arguable that we have actually reached a point where it's easier to be a woman or a person of colour in the Conservative Party than it is in Labour!
Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party was absolutely dogged by accusations of anti-Semitism. Another thing that us Corbyn supporters are often accused of is turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism, so I want to make something else extremely clear. Anti-Semitism in the Labour Party exists. It existed prior to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, it existed during it and it continues to exist now that he's gone. I was a bit too naive during the 2015 election period to recognise the anti-Semitic characterisation of Ed Miliband; but on reflection, I do not believe there would have been anything to say about the way a non-Jewish leader had eaten a bacon sandwich. Under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, the complaints procedure was deliberately sabotaged by Labour's senior staff, making it harder for Jewish people within the party. Under the current administration, huge numbers of Jews have been suspended/expelled from the party allegedly for anti-Semitic behaviour. Although I do believe it to be possible to discriminate against one's own oppressed group (women can be misogynistic, black people can be racist, gay people can be homophobic) I have never before heard of people persecuted ON THIS SCALE supposedly for oppressing people who share their own protected characteristic. This seems to me that the definition of 'anti-Semitism' has been redefined by the Labour Party for a political purpose (largely by people who aren't even Jewish) and that there is a 'right' and a 'wrong' sort of Jew depending on a political belief. If that's the case, it is one of the most disgracefully racist things I have ever heard of.
This is not even taking into account the other various forms of racism present in the Labour Party. Diane Abbott (who received almost half of all abusive tweets to female MPs during the 2017 election campaign) highlighted in this article that she received no apology nor any reassurance of any action being taken after the Forde Report revealed much racism and misogyny aimed at her by party staff. Apsana Begum, the first hijab-wearing MP, has experienced such extreme levels of systematic misogyny and racism from Labour Party staff that she had to be signed off sick for her mental health - and even then, Labour initiated a trigger ballot process during her time off to potentially cause her to lose her seat. There has been no apology from Labour for this behaviour, nor any recognition that it has even done anything wrong.
It's also worth noting the reticence from the Labour Party to support strike action. UK workers are facing increasing demands on their time for very little pay, and have been for some time. Rail workers are striking, as are nurses. Quite rightly so. Does the Labour Party (a party largely founded on union action) support these strikes in the slightest? No, it doesn't. It even went as far as to deselect MP Sam Tarry (the then Shadow Minister for Buses and Local Transport, as well as the partner of Deputy Leader Angela Rayner) after appearing on picket lines. If the Labour Party cannot even back workers standing up for their rights and fairer pay, something so crucial to its identity that it's referred to in its name, it's very hard to see what it actually stands for.
The fact that the UK Labour Party is in such an awful state is particularly bitter right now, for two reasons: 1) Because in such awful times we desperately need it to be better; and 2) Because actually, the Government is falling apart at the seams. We currently have the third Prime Minister we've had THIS YEAR. We've gone in less than sixty days from massive tax breaks to incredibly high tax hikes. The Government has run out of ideas. It has no objective other than keeping itself in power until the next election. It should be a foregone conclusion that it will suffer a thumping defeat at the next election whenever it comes...
Except it isn't. Because with Labour in such a dire state, the only way it can win an election is if people think, 'Well, they can't be worse than the Tories!' And, to be fair, it's entirely possible that Labour will win like that, with the Tories being as dire as they are. But what happens after that? Do we trust a party with such an economical relationship with the truth, with a history of such racism and misogyny and a profound unwillingness to stand up for working to really do anything to deal with the huge challenges the UK and the world faces today? Particularly with climate catastrophe on the horizon?
If Labour wins the next election, all that will happen is mild amelioration for a couple of years. During which time the Tories will rebrand, eventually get back in and the whole process will start over again... except even worse than that, because I believe (although this is just personal opinion) that Labour is now even worse than it was during the Tony Blair years. Anyone relying on the Labour Party to sort out their problems is in for a very bitter disappointment. I'm sorry to be so cynical, but this is the truth.
So, what can we do? Here are some ideas if you're feeling depressed (it's a depressing subject):
1) Think very hard about who you're voting for. Remember it's not just about the party or the leader, it's about your local candidate and whether you have faith in them to represent you in Parliament. I will not vote Labour next time because I do not have faith in my local candidate - however, there are still some Labour candidates for whom it's worth voting. The website They Work For You is a brilliant tool to determine whether a certain candidate is or isn't worth supporting - loads of information about their votes, speeches and general Parliamentary behaviour to determine if they represent what you want. If you don't have a decent Labour candidate, research your other candidates... we have an awful electoral system where most votes don't count, but if you have to vote for someone who won't win it's still worth it in some respects. If it's a closer call than expected, your local candidate may feel that they have to take on some of the characteristics of their opponent in order to win again next time.
2) Find a way of protesting. Protesting doesn't mean you have to sit in the middle of the M25 (although I admire people who do that, and they'll most likely be the subject of a future blog). Even if it's just trying to keep a day centre open in your community, that's still activism. Help with someone's rent, sign petitions, find something you can do to make someone's life a bit easier... we have to look after each other because we simply cannot rely on the state (ANY of the state) to do it for us. Even if you know an activist who's experiencing a bit of burn-out, a cup of tea and a chat can work wonders for someone's ability to carry on when the going is tough. (And just a note - a year ago, nine activists were jailed for telling the Government to insulate Britain. Now, the Government has pledged £6 billion to help do just that. Direct action does work.)
3) Don't despair. It's really hard not to sometimes, and I'm as guilty of that as anyone. But it isn't productive. So many times in the past people have felt similar to this, and so many times we've come through it. Someone once told me that the reason human beings have survived so long is that we're really quick to adapt to new circumstances - but we cannot ever imagine ourselves out of our present ones. If things are going badly, we cannot ever imagine them going well again. If things are going well, it feels like all the bad stuff is in the past and we've won. The truth is, we never win and we never lose, because things fluctuate, always have and always will. Just because things are bad at the moment, doesn't mean it's impossible to come through it and change things. It being impossible is what they want us to think. Don't fall for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment