Let me start by saying my politics are firmly on the left. I believe in nationalised water, rail, electricity and broadband infrastructure. I believe in mass social housing being built, strong unionised workplaces, high minimum wage, generous benefits to the point of UBI and taxing the crap out of the overly rich. I don’t believe in competition in public services and I’d rather we made peace than war generally speaking. I want health and education and social care free at the point of need for all ages and backgrounds.
But the fact is there just isn’t the talent on the left in the PLP and putting people there because of their faction the last five years has lead left wing ideas to become a laughing stock. We are probably further from implementing socialist ideals than we ever were under Blair because Corbyn has made them toxic to the country same as Foot did.
We need to correct now and that means professionalism and competence but it also means meeting the voters half way.
I’m a socialist because I want the average working man to get a better deal. The fact is the average working man despises benefit cheats as he works hard, despises crime and wants criminals cracked down on, and loves his country.
Corbyn didn’t come across as understanding any of this and we will need to overcorrect. That combined with the fact that the left haven’t been cultivating talent will mean the SC probably trends further to the right of the party. Right now I’m fine with that as winning is most important. In the mean time the left need to reflect on what they learned from being in charge and I’d argue number one is find professional competent left wing politicians and grooms them for cabinet, don’t just hang out at rallies with your mates whining about centrists.
If he sticks to this I’ll take it.
