Politics is not about politicians
The current frenzy of anti-Corbyn noises from Tories as high as David Cameron and as low as the Parliamentary Labour Party – or should that be vice versa? – shows how much politics needs to be taken out of the hands of many politicians.
Jeremy Corbyn's opponents among Labour MPs seem to think that they have the right to dictate to party members what they should think, despite the fact that these MPs have failed to win the last two general elections, whereas Labour's fortunes have risen since Corbyn was resoundingly voted in as leader. Nine months of sniping have culminated in the claim that he cannot lead, when it is his opponents who do not know how to be led – whether by him or by their own constituency members.
I have sent the letter below to my Constituency Labour Party, but I thought that I would share it more widely. "I am appalled at the current behaviour of the Parliamentary Labour Party. I am nearly 59 years old, and I have voted Labour in every election that I can remember, often with gritted teeth because of Labour’s failure to offer any real alternative to the Conservatives. If this attempted coup is successful, I will not be voting Labour again. Ever. Because it will prove conclusively that the Parliamentary Labour Party has nothing but contempt for democracy and working people. "Jeremy Corbyn is the first leader of the Labour Party (in my experience) elected directly by a wide range of working people, who know what is needed in their representatives and their party. I know people (and I am sure that there are many more) who did not vote Labour in the last General Election, but voted for Jeremy precisely because he was opposed to everything the Labour Party represented at that time. Those MPs who think that they know better than the membership of the party do so at the risk of destroying the party. "Jeremy represented the first opportunity for me (and others) to vote wholeheartedly for Labour in the knowledge that he would stand up for all the things that really matter to working people in this country. I am very aware of his consistent and principled position on such issues as the defence of asylum seekers and refugees, opposition to the Iraq War and Trident, and opposition to Austerity. His honesty about the EU during the referendum was refreshing, but it did not get the coverage it should because it did not fit the superficial and alarmist rhetoric used by most of those appearing on the News. If more politicians had behaved like him, we would not have the flare up of racism we are seeing now. "Ever since his election as leader, those who want to continue the bankrupt policies which lost Labour the last two elections have seized every opportunity to undermine him. Nonetheless, the Labour vote in council elections and bye elections has strengthened since he became leader, despite the sniping by his colleagues. Now they are turning a crisis within the Tory Party into a crisis for Labour just at the time when they could and should be building support for a Labour government. In doing so, they are revealing that they are more interested in themselves than they are in the political issues which matter to working people. In fact, their position is perfectly summed up David Cameron's public support for them today. [29 June 2016] "I am not unfamiliar with the political forum of Westminster, as I worked at BBC Westminster for several years, and in BBC News as a whole for 25 years. "I was an active trade unionist at the BBC, and I have been active in trades councils and other groups locally fostering better relations between people of different ethnic, faith and national backgrounds. I am not the only person shocked by the behaviour of the PLP."
