Saturday, December 22, 2018
Out-of-step Corbyn threatens to wreck Labour support
If there is one thing that still astonishes me about this calamitous, incompetent and riven Tory Government, it is that despite all their ego-driven in-fighting, and incoherence, they are still ahead in the polls.
For that Theresa May has to thank Jeremy Corbyn, whose ham-fisted and ineffective attempts at being an opposition, has left his party flailing around on the margins of British politics. There is no better illustration of that trend than over Brexit.
It is fair to say that the country has moved its position on leaving the EU. That is true also for Labour Party members and voters. The latest polling indicates that there is an 11% lead for Remain over Leave. Among Labour voters, there is now 72% support for staying in the EU. The same cannot be said for Corbyn, who has stubbornly stuck to his anti-EU beliefs.
It is no surprise therefore to see this interview in the Guardian, in which the Labour leader has defiantly restated Labour’s policy of leading Britain out of the European Union with a refashioned Brexit deal, shrugging off intense pressure from Labour MPs and activists for the party to throw its weight behind a second referendum.
Of course, there are precious few people in this country who believe that there is a better deal available, or that Corbyn is capable of getting it. He is playing a cynical form of fantasy politics in which he is promising the earth, even though it is undeliverable. His 2017 General Election manifesto tried to do the same.
One would think that after the referendum debacle, people would be more sceptical of politicians who over-promise, but there appears to still be a hard-core who hold out some hope that there is something better than what we currently have.
The real surprise is that Labour is still within striking distance of the Tories in the polls - mutual incompetence has some benefits.
Surely, we are coming to a tipping point, when Remainers finally realise that they are not going to get what they need and want from Corbyn's Labour. I am at a loss to know why we are not there yet. Perhaps hope is a more powerful force than we realise, capable of dulling even the sharpest analytical mind. A more likely explanation is that everybody has switched off for Christmas.
Come the new year, and the reckoning that is the meaningful vote in the House of Commons, all that could change. Next year will be a fairly calamitous one. I just hope that the Liberal Democrats are up to the task of helping to steer us onto a more certain course.
For that Theresa May has to thank Jeremy Corbyn, whose ham-fisted and ineffective attempts at being an opposition, has left his party flailing around on the margins of British politics. There is no better illustration of that trend than over Brexit.
It is fair to say that the country has moved its position on leaving the EU. That is true also for Labour Party members and voters. The latest polling indicates that there is an 11% lead for Remain over Leave. Among Labour voters, there is now 72% support for staying in the EU. The same cannot be said for Corbyn, who has stubbornly stuck to his anti-EU beliefs.
It is no surprise therefore to see this interview in the Guardian, in which the Labour leader has defiantly restated Labour’s policy of leading Britain out of the European Union with a refashioned Brexit deal, shrugging off intense pressure from Labour MPs and activists for the party to throw its weight behind a second referendum.
Of course, there are precious few people in this country who believe that there is a better deal available, or that Corbyn is capable of getting it. He is playing a cynical form of fantasy politics in which he is promising the earth, even though it is undeliverable. His 2017 General Election manifesto tried to do the same.
One would think that after the referendum debacle, people would be more sceptical of politicians who over-promise, but there appears to still be a hard-core who hold out some hope that there is something better than what we currently have.
The real surprise is that Labour is still within striking distance of the Tories in the polls - mutual incompetence has some benefits.
Surely, we are coming to a tipping point, when Remainers finally realise that they are not going to get what they need and want from Corbyn's Labour. I am at a loss to know why we are not there yet. Perhaps hope is a more powerful force than we realise, capable of dulling even the sharpest analytical mind. A more likely explanation is that everybody has switched off for Christmas.
Come the new year, and the reckoning that is the meaningful vote in the House of Commons, all that could change. Next year will be a fairly calamitous one. I just hope that the Liberal Democrats are up to the task of helping to steer us onto a more certain course.
