Socialists don’t normally go in for miracles. Yet the way some people have reacted to the incredible success of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership campaign, you’d think we’d witnessed some sort of supernatural event. How on earth did Jeremy go from rank outsider in June to a landslide winner just three months later in September? Of course, with time, people will analyse the ‘perfect storm’ which has propelled Jeremy Corbyn to the leadership of the party, and conclude (quite rightly) that the factors were complex and varied. But one element which has had little coverage so far, but will in my view stand out when people have the time to reflect, is the unprecedented social media campaign – the biggest such operation for a single politician this country has ever seen. I’m not about to declare that it was ‘Twitter wot won it’, but it was certainly a central factor. Continue reading
Posted by Ben Sellers
That joke isn’t funny anymore – from #Tories4Corbyn to A Very British Coup
One day, someone like the Glasgow Media Group, will do an analysis of this leadership election and how the attitude of the right-wing press has changed towards Jeremy Corbyn. It will be fascinating.
Stage 1: Laughter
It seems like an age ago when it was all jolly larks and #Tories4Corbyn. Smugly and patronisingly, they laughed into their sleeves, safe in the knowledge that Corbyn even being on the ballot would show that the loony left (guffaw) was very much alive and kicking and the Labour Party at large hadn’t changed. By not having changed, of course, they mean not accepting all the tenets of the disgustingly unequal and brutal society that their chums in the city had created. That self-satisfied superiority complex, which seemingly couldn’t be shifted, had been aided and abetted by the Labour Party in Parliament, filled with New Labourites who did just that – who had “changed” and had accepted the rules of the club. Continue reading
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Letter to good comrades: please nominate Jeremy and give us the debate we need
An open letter addressed to Ian Lavery MP (Wansbeck), Dave Anderson MP (Blaydon) and Ian Mearns MP (Gateshead)
Dear Ian, Dave and Ian,
Yesterday, I spent a couple of precious hours writing a politely worded, standard letter requesting that Labour MPs open up the Labour leadership race for the debate we really need by nominating Jeremy Corbyn and allowing him onto the ballot. Waking up this morning, however, and mulling over where we stand, I thought a more personal appeal was in order.
When Ian L was considering standing, I messaged him to say that I would give him my full backing. I believe Jeremy, John McDonnell and the rest of the left of the party would have done the same. Solidarity is something which is alien to those on the right of the party, but it is our lifeblood. Throughout my membership of the party, I, like many of the others in the North East have supported, defended and felt proud of the contribution that you three have made, both inside and outside Parliament. So I’m asking for a small bit of that solidarity now. Continue reading
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The Labour left: why we must stay
When I read Michael Chessum’s piece in the New Statesman, I felt the immediate need to respond. Not because I was outraged, but because I think he has hit on a crucial debate about where the Labour left have been and where we go next. I’m sure that virtually every socialist in the party has wondered whether it’s worth sticking with the party in recent years. Who cannot have thought about what might lie on the other side as Labour MPs failed to oppose something as basic as the Workfare Bill?
Looking further back, even more made the leap after Iraq, and while some have made the return journey since, party membership is ‘on notice’ for many of these returnees. As socialists, our loyalty to the Labour Party isn’t down to a kind of misplaced tribalism, as many of our critics would have it, but is contingent – based on our experience and a carefully considered strategic judgement of where we are of most use. Continue reading
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Who are you calling a Red Tory?
There’s a glorious and comforting myth doing the rounds on the left. It’s like warm milk and honey to those who like their politics black and white, with little or no space for any grey. It goes a bit like this: the Labour left offered no opposition to Blairism north and south of the Border. In fact, those laughable people who dare call themselves socialists in the Labour Party have simply been apologists for the anti-working class politics of New Labour and its continuation as “austerity lite” under Ed Miliband. It’s only by the widespread spreading of this muck that is been possible to lump Labour members and supporters under the headline grabber ‘Red Tories’, with no distinction between socialists in the party and New Labour. It’s a comforting thought for many of those making the break with Labour, because it draws a clear party line between those on the right side of the fence and those on the wrong side. Evil must be punished and good will prevail. But it’s simplistic bullshit, actually. Continue reading
