I voted for Jeremy Corbyn twice
in the two most recent Labour leadership elections.
The first time because he was the only candidate that seemed to directly
address substantive policy issues and the second time because I felt he
deserved a chance to succeed despite his lamentable performance during the EU
referendum of 2016. Had any other
candidate won I would have rallied round and supported them as usual: the only
time in recent years that I have withheld my support for Labour is for Blair in the 2005 general election, in
the wake of the disastrous Iraq War.
It’s clear that Corbyn takes a 1970s view of the European
Union that is both conspiratorial and wrong headed. His few remarks on state aid for industry
indicate a misunderstanding about the role of the EU in the fields of
technological change, competition policy, and regional development. Other socialist politicians in Europe have
urged Corbyn to adopt an internationalist perspective but he will not let go of
a parochial and backward looking stance.
The repeated mantra of the current Labour leadership for a “jobs first
Brexit” ignores the impact of a shrunken economy on any progressive political
programme.
If Labour’s support for Brexit is driven more by political
expediency than anything else then this stems from a misunderstanding of
British politics. Although many
constituencies with Labour MPs voted for Brexit in 2016 a majority of Labour
voters opted for Remain. Recent surveys
show that the shift towards Remain among existing and potential Labour voters
has further strengthened so that a pro-Brexit position risks alienating
millions of supporters. It would be far
better to combine a commitment to Remain via another referendum with a clear
programme to end austerity and tackle critical challenges such as the need for more
social housing, the impact of inequality, and declining public services.
Clinging to the “Lexit” position seems even more disastrous
when we move the focus from economic policy to cultural identity. Brexit is a project of and for the political
Right: the referendum was narrowly won by the Leave campaign on the basis
of cheating, lies, and the deliberate use of racist rhetoric to unleash a kind
of angry nostalgia. This is the vision
of Enoch Powell not Clement Attlee and Labour’s dalliance with a destructive
form of English nationalism risks shattering their commitment to anti-racism
and social justice. As the Swedish
sociologist Göran Therborn has recently argued, the defining failure of centre
left parties across Europe in recent years has been to allow worsening socio-economic
inequalities to be blamed on migration rather than neo-liberalism. This failure of political leadership predates
Corbyn but he has neglected to challenge dangerous misconceptions about the causes
of poverty, inequality, and industrial decline.
So here we are, just a matter of weeks away from Brexit,
unless article 50 is rescinded or delayed.
And time is rapidly running out for the Labour leadership to take a principled position
on the most critical political dilemma of our generation.
