Friday the 13th was a very dark day indeed. Not just because of the size and scale of Labour's defeat in the election but because of what Britain has become as a result. Britain is now a meaner and more xenophobic nation and after five years of a Johnson-led Tory government, it will be even worse. People in the North who switched to the Tories will be poorer and hopefully wiser. So what went wrong?
There were five factors which contributed to Labour's defeat:
1. Neglect - This began with New Labour. After nearly two decades of Thatcherite government, the North was devastated with the industries of mining, steel making and shipbuilding smashed or greatly reduced. New Labour did nothing for the North or the working class in general. People wanted jobs and houses - they didn't get them. As a result, some of them voted for the BNP and New Labour lost over four million votes from these communities in 2005. This is never mentioned because it doesn't fit the media narrative that Blair is a faultless hero. The warnings were ignored.
2. Messaging - this is crucial and a key reason why Labour lost. The left simply doesn't understand frames and how to use them. What's the thing you remember about the 2016 referendum? Chances are its 'Take Back Control" - simple and very effective. December 12th will be remembered as the "Get Brexit Done" election. These simple frames resonate with people, they stick in people's heads - and they work. Contrast this with Labour's message - what was it? Do you remember? The Tories framed the debate when they started using "Get Brexit Done" at their party conference in September two months before the election. In addition, Labour threw too much at people with their manifesto. Great and popular policies but people don't vote for manifestos their vote is an emotional response. Labour's campaign lacked focus and was poor. They thought they could win it with a ground war but it's much easier to win through the airwaves.
3. Brexit - people wanted to get Brexit over having become sick of three years of parliamentary squabbling and two extensions. With the benefit of hindsight, it would have been better for Labour to have voted through May's deal and got us out. What didn't help was the Lib Dems refusal to support a Corbyn-led interim government to get a better deal. Brexit won it for the Tories.
4. The media - the role of the media and in particular the BBC was crucial. The BBC have been attacking Corbyn and his supporters for the past four years and have never bothered to find any evidence of the veracity of smears made against him. Peter Oborne, a journalist and Tory, called out the lies on Channel 4 news naming Laura Kunnesberg and Robert Peston he also exposed the lies of Boris Johnson. (Ex) Labour voters said they didn't like Corbyn and they couldn't vote for him. They often when challenged couldn't say why. Why know why - four years of vilification.
5. Antisemitism - a concerted campaign of antisemitism smears against Corbyn was never dealt with. A decent man and life long anti-racist was traduced. The problem is that the witch-hunters will be emboldened by the success of their campaign and any Labour leader who shows support for the Palestinians will be subjected to the same.
I fear that these are going to be five very long years. One of the worst outcomes is that racists and the far-right have become emboldened by this result. Expect attacks on disabled, British Asians, PoC and the LGBT community to increase. What can we do? I'll be writing about that in my next post. In the meantime, the most important thing is that we stick together and show solidarity for each other.
