Corbyn, Trump and the Prince from Across the Sea

Your Choice

Currently the country is in political, financial and social turmoil. With the lack of a clear leadership voice for the country, its difficult to see a way forward. The upper class leaders of the Leave Europe campaign have fled and the two largest parties are embroiled in internal power struggles.

For us, the massive surge of support for Jeremy Corbyn has been a concern, so far left unanswered by the Greens. 

Can it be argued that joining Labour in support of Corbyn is potentially a dangerous thing?

Here is a scenario that starts with suggesting that Jeremy Corbyn and Donald Trump find themselves in exactly the same position.

Putting the difference in politics aside, both are outsiders elected to leadership by their memberships over the wishes of their party representatives, with both sets of representatives having tried to remove their new leaders.

In England, the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is currently trying VERY hard to remove its leader. But it is being checked by its grassroots activists (and in particular the Momentum movement) buoyed by a massive surge in membership.

Momentum

Momentum in particular seems powerful. As most of the new joiners are specifically joining in support of Jeremy Corbyn, and engaging with Momentum to do so, it is clearly the strongest organising force in the party. 

But if Corbyn stays, with their support, the PLP though in retreat, is not going anywhere. 

So what now?  With weak alternative PLP candidates and a strong Momentum, is it stalemate until the next attempted coup? Maybe. 

Part of the strength of Momentum's position is that there is no viable, strong enough candidate within the PLP that can challenge them, challenge Corbyn. And that is true.

The Prince from across the Sea

On the assumption that there is no snap election called, one possibility could be that the 'Prince from across the Sea' would break the deadlock. 

This Prince could regain a seat in a by-election and position himself as, not just coming back to lead the Labour Party but to save the country. He would have the support of the PLP, be of wide enough appeal to the country that the grassroots activists would grudgingly accept him. And so he would defeat Corbyn in a leadership election, at the same time breaking Momentum across his knee.

A defeated Corbyn would be a massive blow to the progressive movement in the country.

Only the progressive alliance talked of with the SNP, Greens and Plaid Cymru could possibly defeat both the government and keep the Prince at bay.

Building that alliance cannot be focussed on joining Labour, its too unstable a situation. While the party is likely to keep hitting itself in the face for the foreseeable future, in England, a larger Green Party has to be a better bet.

In the meantime, the Prince, David Miliband continues to comment in the US media.

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Comment: Europe - A Mistimed Referendum

This post is my personal view.

Galloway and Farage

“…unless I have blood as the Law says all Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water.” So demanded the White Queen at a pivotal point in her conflict with Aslan in the children’s book ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’.

It does not seem so different from how both the Bremain and Brexit campaigns have presented their doom-ladened cases. In the last days of the campaign, things have become calmer. Its taken blood to make it so.

Both sides of this campaign have been, lets say, ‘misleading’.  

Brexit quite simply have often lied and have been quite open about not being sure what leaving the EU will mean for the country (given that they will be antagonising their main trading partner) but are hopeful British ‘pluck’ will pull them through. It won’t. For all the talk of ‘freedom’ the campaign has talked about, its been poorly outlined and arguments, often irrational.

Bremain point to the social and environmental safeguards that Europe has and does provide that maybe lost if we leave the EU, the travel freedoms and shared work opportunities all gone forever. No. Some of these things are under threat anyway but Europe has and does so far, provide a safety net from some of the wilder schemes of this somewhat extremist government.

On both sides political enemies line up alongside AND against each other arguing together that the other side is wrong. The most striking image of this (for me) was George Galloway sharing a platform with Nigel Farage for the ‘Leave’ campaign. Anti-racist and racist campaigners arguing for ‘freedom’..? No wonder people are confused and campaigners on the ground much less certain than their publicity materials.

And why is this happening anyway? Has anything substantial changed in the EU recently? 

No.

But the EU IS changing. Its becoming much more right wing and ‘neo-liberal’. Its promotion of austerity, its treatment of poor EU nations particularly Greece has been sickening, and the treatment of refugees coming to and within its borders has been shameful.

But as important is the current and coming TTIP issue, the trade agreement  currently being negotiated between the US and Europe. Most of the current focus in the UK has been on keeping the NHS out of its reach but TTIP will be so much more than that.

The Bremain argument on TTIP is weak at best and Brexit does not have one.

This referendum and more importantly, its timing, is from a ill-thought through campaign promise from David Cameron. As it is, its pointless.

The time to have the vote on whether or not to stay in Europe will be at the presentation of the TTIP trade agreement. At that point the country will have a much clearer idea of Europe’s direction of travel and be able to decide if that’s the direction it wants to go in.

For me the question is when TTIP comes, will the UK have a referendum?

Until then it’s a weak Yes to Remain.

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Comment: You only think you are a Labour Party supporter (but you’re not)

Its easy to have a go at a rival party just before an election but  an interesting thing happened at a ‘Europe and Immigration’ hustings event yesterday.

On Twitter, the prospective Labour MEP candidate was criticised by a Labour Party supporter in the audience. I was a little embarrassed for him given the twitter feed was on the big screen.

After speaking very receptive members of the audience, there were several  things I should have said, like

• The government’s latest Immigration Bill (which asks landlords to check the status of immigrants, cuts back on the right to migrate to join family and drastically cuts down the ways you can appeal) only got through Parliament with Labour assistance. The Greens opposed it.
• Tuition fees lead to an average student debt of approx £35,000 on a 3 year course.  Labour is planning a commitment to reduce fees from £9000 to £6000. Established Green Party policy is to scrap tuition fees completely. Every young person, every student should be voting Green.
• Labour Party is currently thinking over  renationalising the railways. Green Party MP Caroline Lucas presented a  bill to  Parliament do just that in 2013.
• Labour invented the bedroom tax, the government just extended it
• Labour introduced significant privatisation to the NHS, the government just extended it

Green Party positions on a whole range of issues are more in line with those of Labour party supporters than the Labour Party itself.

What I did do is point the audience to the Vote for Policies website and to make their own mind up.

Everyone should do it and vote accordingly.

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Comment: A Long Way from Shore

It was disappointing to discover that former Green party colleague Joe O’Neill has joined the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and will stand for them at the forthcoming local elections.

In an interview with the Manchester Evening News it is clear that his decision was based on politics not principle, wanting ‘to have a final crack at Labour’ and that ‘by joining UKIP I might be electable’.

On policy, Joe is going try and be an anti-fracking councillor for a pro-fracking UKIP. Joe is going to try talk about immigration ‘openly’ for UKIP but starts by saying ‘I’m not a racist…’.

The Green Party strongly believe Europe is a good thing for Britain and we have an excellent chance of electing our first NorthWest MEP in Peter Cranie.

Personally, I think Joe is a good man, I wish him all the best for the future.

Politically, he is a long way from shore.

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