December 13, 2019

The British Left is dead. Long live the British Left.

topic:	Election
located:	United Kingdom
editor:	Gurmeet Singh

I’m not going to pretend: it’s heartbreaking. Britain had an opportunity to elect a principled, fair and socially-constructive party this week. It opted instead for a hardline right-wing party, packed with populists, racists and con-men.

The worst part of it all, is of course, that the people who needed the Labour party the most, voted for the Conservatives. As I write the results are still coming in, but the Conservatives have already secured the 321-seat majority required to form a government, and look set to win an overall majority of about 45: the largest Conservative majority since Margaret Thatcher’s premiership. They achieved this with a vote share only a percentage point or so higher than 2017, meaning there has not been a Conservative-surge, rather a Labour collapse.

There will be no shortage of articles and explainers over the coming weeks that point out why Labour failed. They will all be very well-meaning and right-thinking, and say things like: “Labour under Jeremy Corbyn failed to offer a reasonable set of centrist policies”, “Corbyn was from the get-go unelectable”, “the far-Left will never win the hearts and minds of the British electorate”, and so on. But then a pertinent question will be: if Corbyn’s perceived lack of centrism caused this failure, why is it that a hard-right party has succeeded?

From my perspective, the Conservatives have done incredibly well at this election due to three main factors:

• Brexit: a chaotic and unpredictable factor that has reshaped the British political landscape, but has been ‘owned’ well by the party, as well as Nigel Farage. Their simplistic ‘get Brexit done’ message is far more easy to digest than the alternatives.
• The ‘Remain’ vote: Corbyn and Labour tried to offer both the ‘Leave the EU’ voters and ‘Remain in the EU’ voters something to hope for. Alas, he was perceived as ‘sitting on the fence’, particularly by remainers – many of whom switched their allegiances to the Liberal Democrat party. The result was to split the vote into many constituencies, with the Liberal Democrats taking several hundred or thousand voters off Labour candidates, propelling a Conservative to victory. In some cases, this was helped along by so-called ‘tactical voting’ plans endorsed by media outlets such as ‘The Observer’. Shockingly, this happened in Kensington, where the Grenfell Tower fire happened, and the Conservative party failed to respond to the local community’s needs; they nevertheless succeeded here.
• The media: it has been an appalling election for the much-vaunted British media. Their targeting of Corbyn, and undoubted bias in favour of the Conservative party have enabled a staggering endorsement of the status quo. Mendacious accusations of anti-Semitism have bolstered this endorsement with a sense of righteousness.

But of course, the British left must also reflect on what it could have done better. Firstly, and most importantly, it needs to listen to the electorate. This has been the emphatic message of this election. The people want Brexit: this is why Jeremy Corbyn refused to abandon the ‘Leave’ voting constituencies in favour of a hard-remain. The rest of the left needs to now understand and respect this deep tendency and attitude in British life. It is not necessarily a racist or xenophobic one. Many commentators have been arguing that the EU is not an ideal project for years, and many arguments for leaving are rational and legitimate. By continuing to ignore this bloc, the left only helps give the right legitimacy over the debate.

Secondly, immigration. It’s the key issue, it always has been. Yes, indeed, every racist votes against immigration. And the left is completely correct and justified in its pursuit of a more liberal immigration agenda. However, this agenda is not what the majority of the country wants. They want controlled immigration and this is something the left is simply going to have to contend with if it ever wants to seriously regain a footing in British public life.

Thirdly, the Labour party needs to reflect on how it handled its anti-Semitism cases. It was shocking and unconscionably slow in reacting to these cases. I do not believe Corbyn is an anti-Semite, but his failure to act here cost the party dearly in terms of credibility, and also the moral high ground.

There are many more things the left needs to reflect on. But this isn’t merely an analysis of party political fallout: there are real consequences. The Conservative party will now be free to enable a hard-Brexit, push for more austerity measures and further demonise immigrants and the poor. British austerity has led the poorest people across the country to rely on food-banks, and not using utilities, while the richest few have become much more wealthy. Human rights and worker rights in the UK will now be gleefully dismantled. The Conservatives will not take the climate agenda seriously at its most crucial time. The courts will be interfered with. The Roma population are targets. Repeat: these are not mere talking points.

The fashionable anti-Corbyn agenda among centrists was real. He was seen variously as unelectable, a bigot, old-fashioned, out of step. Withholding their solidarity to him and the party, centrists have helped facilitate a hard-right Tory government into power, one whose leader is Trump-like in his regard for the truth and justice. Though of course, he does have a nice accent and he knows one or two things about ancient Rome.

If there is one shining light of hope in this election, it has been the youth. The fact remains that Corbyn has helped politicise a generation of voters who, though disappointed, will see things such as nationalised railways and a strong NHS as within the realms of possibility. The young voters in this election demonstrated resistance to Conservative racism and hate. They know a better world is possible, and they know love and solidarity are political. They are organised.

There is a lot to be hopeful about.

Image Zach Inglis/flickr/(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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