Posted: 30 Sep 2015 04:54 PM
PDT
Thousands who backed his
leadership bid expecting him to pursue an anti-Trident and EU-sceptic line are
left frustrated.
by Stuart Littlewood
At the Labour Party
Conference there was no debate on Trident even though non-renewal of the
nuclear deterrent was central to Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership campaign.
Why the omission? The unions
didn’t want to talk about it. Topics for debate are decided ‘democratically’
and since the unions wield 50% of the votes their views tend to prevail. They
derailed any idea of having a sensible discussion.
Len McCluskey, the head of
Unite, which has thousands of members in the defence industry, is reported saying that his main focus would be the protection
of jobs, so Mr Corbyn had to back down. “I understand the moral case and the
huge cost of replacing Trident, especially in this era of austerity,” said
McCluskey, “but the most important thing for us is jobs and the defence of
communities. We will vote against any anti-Trident motion. I don’t think this
will be a problem for Jeremy Corbyn. He is a great democrat and we are already
seeing a refreshing change to the Labour conference, with open debates.”
But the rank and file
membership may not see it like that. Unite might as well protect the arms
dealers too who help make the world go round for the death-dealing arms
industry. Faced with McCluskey’s attitude I already regret signing a petition
opposing the Tories’ proposed Trade Union Bill. If union leaders are determined
to close down the anti-Trident campaign, why should I or anyone else leap to
their defence? And why should the British public cough up £100 billion to keep
people in work on weapons of mass destruction? The writing has been on the wall
for long enough and, besides, we’re signed up to nuclear non-proliferation.
In his rant against the
Trade Union Bill McCluskey told conference delegates that the requirement for
striking workers to wear armbands on the picket line was like the Nazis’
treatment of trade unionists in concentration camps. “I will be on the picket
line when Unite members are on strike and I will not be wearing an armband with
a red triangle like the trade union prisoners,” he said. “Conference, remember,
that’s what the Nazis did – trade unionists in the concentration camps of Dachau – made to wear
armbands with red triangles. We won’t be doing that.”
There are valid complaints
about the Bill but this isn’t one of them. What the Bill actually says is that
“the picket supervisor must wear a badge, armband or other item that readily
identifies the picket supervisor as such”. A fuss about nothing, which
nonetheless received a standing ovation from the leadership and the hall.
Austerity “not an economic
necessity”
On the economy Shadow
Chancellor John McDonnell told Conference he was “fearful” about the present
situation. He said the Tories’ economic recovery was based on rising house
prices, growing consumer credit, and inadequate reform of the financial sector,
and that the economy was overwhelmingly reliant on insecure jobs in the service
sector. “Our balance of payments deficit is at the highest levels it’s been
since modern records began. I worry that the same pre-crash warning signs are
reappearing….
“The Conservatives always
argue that no matter what the social cost of their austerity policies, they are
necessary to rescue our economy. Let’s be clear. Austerity is not an economic
necessity, it’s a political choice.”
He pledged that every policy
Labour proposes and every economic instrument they use will be “rigorously
tested to its extreme” before adopted in government, and the Office of Budget
Responsibility and the Bank of England would test and re-test Labour’s plans to
ensure they are workable and affordable.
McDonnell also slammed the
Tories over nationalization.
“I found the Conservatives’
rant against Jeremy’s proposal to bring rail back into public ownership ironic
when George Osborne was touring China
selling off to the Chinese State Bank any British asset he could lay his hands
on. It seems the state nationalising our assets is OK with the Tories as long
as it’s the Chinese state or in the case of our railways the Dutch or French.”
Jeremy Corbyn, in his new
leader’s speech, declared that Labour will challenge austerity and inequality
and protect workers better. Internationally Labour will support the
authority of international law and international institutions, not act against
them.
He immediately threw down
the gauntlet to David Cameron over the Saudis.
“Intervene now personally
with the Saudi Arabian regime to stop the beheading and crucifixion of Ali
Mohammed al-Nimr, who is threatened with the death penalty, for taking part in
a demonstration at the age of 17. And while you’re about it, terminate that bid
made by our Ministry of Justice to provide services for Saudi Arabia –
which would be required to carry out the sentence that would be put down on
Mohammed Ali al-Nimr.
“We have to be very clear
about what we stand for in human rights. A refusal to stand up is the kind of
thing that really damages Britain’s
standing in the world.”
He also lambasted the
Tories’ idea of economic recovery saying there’s an investment crisis. Britain’s level of investment was at the bottom
of the international league, just below Madagascar
and just above El Salvador.
The UK’s
balance of payment deficit was £100 billion last year, saddling the economy and
every one of us with unsustainable debt for the future. Shocks in world markets
this summer had shown up the fragile state of the world economy and how
ill-prepared the Tories had left us to face another crisis. The feeble economic
recovery wasn’t underpinned by growing exports and a stronger manufacturing
sector but house price inflation, asset inflation, more private debt. He called
it unbalanced, unsustainable and dangerous…. “an economy that works for the
few, not for the many. Manufacturing is still in decline.”
Referring to John
McDonnell’s speech the previous day, he said: “The economy of the future
depends on the investment we make today in infrastructure, skills, and
schools.” To help achieve this he wants a National Investment Bank and a Green
New Deal investing in renewable energy and energy conservation to tackle the
threat of climate change.
On Trident he said: “I don’t believe £100
billion on a new generation of nuclear weapons taking up a quarter of our
defence budget is the right way forward. I believe Britain should honour our
obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and lead in making progress on
international nuclear disarmament. But we must make sure all the jobs and
skills of everyone in every aspect of the defence industry are fully protected
and fully utilised so that we gain from this, we don’t lose from this.”
In an interview after the
conference he said he wouldn’t press the nuclear button anyway, a remark which
has caused some consternation. But who would, other than the worst of the worst
psychopaths?
On foreign policy he
insisted we learn the lessons of the recent past. “It didn’t help our national
security that, at the same time I was protesting outside the Iraqi Embassy
about Saddam Hussein’s brutality, Tory ministers were secretly conniving with
illegal arms sales to his regime. It didn’t help our national security when we
went to war with Iraq
in defiance of the United Nations and on a false prospectus. It didn’t help our
national security to endure the loss of hundreds of brave British soldiers in
that war while making no proper preparation for what to do after the fall of
the regime.
“Nor does it help our
national security to give such fawning and uncritical support to regimes like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain – who abuse their own
citizens and repress democratic rights.”
Corbyn was silent on Europe and the upcoming EU in/out referendum, no doubt
fearing a row. Earlier, he had written in The Independent: “The EU is too beholden to
corporate interests, and the behind-closed-doors negotiations over the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) confirm this. This poses
a huge threat to our environmental standards, consumer protections and workers’
rights.
“What’s more, there is
clearly a democratic deficit when even elected members of Parliament don’t have
access to papers being discussed, and when the proposals include a
supra-national and unaccountable judicial system to arbitrate on trade policy.
And I’m also concerned by the direction and advance of EU foreign policy
development with all new member states required to join NATO, which suggests
both a militaristic turn in Europe and the
block that puts on an independent foreign policy….
“There is a lot wrong with
the European Union, a lot of change needed, but I want to hear from the British
people about what sort of Europe they want.”
He also avoided the thorny
issue of immigration.
‘Grown-up politics’? Or
cop-out?
Corbyn’s new-style Labour
risks becoming a gift to satirists, what with his appointment of such oddballs
as the convicted arsonist Lord Watson to his frontbench team along with Lord
Falconer, Tony Blair’s old flatmate and ‘fixer’, and supporter of the war on Iraq. That
Corbyn cannot gather enough genuine socialists into his team shows what a
comprehensive brainwashing job Blair and his gruesome crew managed to do.
Corbyn says repeatedly he wants to build a “kinder politics”. Not too kind
though, one hopes. Lack of coherence and too much slack could be his undoing.
He has certainly inherited a difficult legacy but embracing the ‘enemy within’
and especially allowing the unions to dictate what’s debated is beyond
ridiculous. Yes, I know the old adage about keeping your friends close but your
enemies closer…. But c’mon.
Eager new party members and
supporters may quickly run out of patience. Thousands backed his leadership bid
expecting he’d pursue an anti-Trident and EU-sceptic line. A head-on crash is
inevitable if cherished principles are to be upheld. But if Corbyn continues to
fudge, duck and weave that support may evaporate and those who paid £3 to become
Labour supporters may never upgrade to full membership. They, I suspect, want
to see blood on the carpet and the pro-Trident, pro-EU Blairite rump given a
good kicking, and the unions put in their place. Otherwise, what was the
point of the Corbyn revolution? The question is left hanging….
“One firm commitment I make
to people who join our Labour Party is that you have a real say, the final say
in deciding on the policies of our party,” says Corbyn. “No-one – not me as
Leader, not the Shadow Cabinet, not the Parliamentary Labour Party – is going
to impose policy or have a veto. The media commentariat don’t get it.
“This is grown up politics,”
he continued, “where people put forward different views. We debate issues. We
take a decision and we go forward together.”
It’ll be a miracle if it
works like that. For all Jeremy Corbyn’s wisdom in the prevailing
circumstances, it’s going to sound to people outside the Labour bubble like a
leadership cop-out.
Finally
a bright note to end on. Labour MPs were told yesterday that they’d probably
get a free vote if Cameron sought parliamentary approval to bomb Syria. But
today Conference voted to warn that they should agree to bomb only if such
action is authorised by the UN, if there’s a comprehensive humanitarian plan for
displaced refugees, and if assurances are received that only Isis
is targeted. Diplomacy remained the principle means for bringing the civil war
to an end.
Stuart Littlewood - 30 September 2015
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