For years, centrists have pushed the narrative that socialists can't win a general election, despite the fact centrism lost us Scotland to the SNP and then took us to an all-time low under Ed Miliband, despite the fact Labour's resurgence under Jeremy Corbyn saw the biggest increase in vote share since the leadership of Clement Attlee in 1945 and earned more votes in England than Tony Blair ever did, resulting in a hung parliament which sent shockwaves through the establishment.
After the 2017 GE, the centrists were reeling at the very real possibility of a socialist Prime Minister, knowing a vote of no confidence in the current Prime Minister could see Jeremy Corbyn walk into number 10. So the smears went into overdrive, as did the absurd suggestion that a Labour leader who came within 2000 votes of victory was completely unelectable. The centrists wanted to create a self-fulfilling prophecy and sadly they did.
While Sir Keir Starmer himself remained quiet, the MPs who are his political allies, those who wanted Starmer to become leader more than anything, were making regular TV appearances and telling the world how terrible our current leader was, how unrealistic our much-needed policies were, and how unelectable our party had become. They were gleefully cheered on by the mainstream media who were concocting a new smear campaign every week, telling us Corbyn was everything from a terrorist sympathiser to a communist spy and eventually sticking with antisemite.
In a functioning democracy, the mainstream media are supposed to challenge the government, and opposition politicians are supposed to fight to regain power. But in Britain, the mainstream media attacked the opposition, as did many so-called opposition MPs to ensure the Tories remained in power, maintaining the status quo. This is not democracy.
Every step of the way, Jeremy Corbyn was calm and polite, attempting to appease his detractors and build bridges, but the problem with appeasement is it
never works. Political opponents don't want to be appeased by you, they want to destroy you.
So the centrists lined up outside Jeremy Corbyn's office and spent the day taking turns screaming at him to resign, to break the man. They launched an ill-fated leadership contest, even trying to keep Corbyn off the ballot. They pretended their own leader was an antisemite and an enabler of antisemitism within the Labour Party. There were no lengths to which they would not stoop.
It seems absurd that people now offer the "both sides" false equivalence and suggest this was all petty infighting. It never was. It was about a neoliberal fifth column, massively at odds with the party membership on almost every key issue, ruthlessly taking control of the party, purging undesirables and expecting everyone else to fall in line. If you refused to fall in line, you were a troublemaker and would likely be purged yourself. You could then expect to perversely be called a Tory enabler for daring to speak out.
The centrists did not want compromise. They did not want to build bridges. They wanted the complete destruction of socialism. And finally, thanks to their constant smears and their PV policy, they saw their self-fulfilling prophecy through to completion. They made Corbyn's Labour unelectable. They made sure their own party was wiped out. Those same politicians who were visibly distraught by Labour's 2017 GE performance, could not keep their smiles off their faces after the 2019 GE.
Their mission was accomplished: Destroy Corbyn at all costs and bring an end to socialism.
They got their man Sir Keir Starmer into a leadership position, not through a brilliant and inspiring leadership campaign, but through two key things: firstly Starmer made false promises to unite the party and stick to manifesto pledges, and secondly the left failed to provide an inspiring candidate in Rebecca Long-Bailey. Half the membership did not bother to vote, and that included most who joined because of Jeremy Corbyn, who are now leaving Labour in droves.
The centrists now have their man in charge and to the surprise of no one who is paying attention, Starmer is currently polling 8 points behind the Tories, despite promises of a 20 point lead. Since Starmer became leader we have seen constant praise for the Tories. We have see centrist MPs suggesting the Labour manifesto is an unaffordable wishlist. We have even heard talk of the most critical part of the manifesto, the Green Industrial Revolution (which could save the economy and planet) being watered down. We have seen media publications extremely hostile to socialism cheering Sir Keir Starmer on. We have seen the one socialist member of the shadow cabinet - Rebecca Long-Bailey being purged. We have seen last minute rule changes to the NEC elections to favour centrist candidates. We have seen a reversal of the pledge to increase taxes on the wealthy. We have seen Sir Keir Starmer take conservative positions on almost every major issue, abandoning unions to support reopening the economy during a pandemic and telling us he broadly agrees with the Tories. We have seen Lisa Nandy tell us Starmer would not have revealed Tory plans to sell the NHS to Trump in a post-Brexit trade deal. We have seen Starmer say he has "no truck whatsoever" with Black Lives Matter. Most disgracefully of all, we have seen a leaked report which allegedly implicates Starmer's political allies, people he had reportedly earmarked for promotion.
If Sir Keir Starmer is allowed to become Prime Minister by the Murdoch empire, (which depends on whether Boris Johnson is in Murdoch's favour come the next GE), then we will hear for the next 25 years that "Corbynism" (meaning socialism) is unelectable, and the media will only allow us the choices of Tory and Tory Lite at every general election. This is why we must break the cycle now.
Sir Keir Starmer's job is not to fight for us, but to protect the establishment. The man is a member of the Trilateral Commission for God's sake, and by enabling him, we are simply ensuring the existing power structures which protect the super wealthy at the expense of everyone else remain unchanged. In all likelihood, many of us will not see socialism within our lifetimes unless we act now. Starmer must be defeated.
So how do we do this? Well, firstly this may prove a lost cause, due to the centrists' attacks on party democracy, but the only way back for socialists within Labour would be a left wing NEC slate followed by Open Selection. The party will forever be mired by infighting, purges and self-sabotage, unless the membership are given the option of choosing which candidates will represent them at every general election. It is a disgrace that MPs who wanted Labour to lose in 2019 are still Labour MPs and many may have been promoted while those who fought to win face obscurity.
If the above cannot be achieved, then I'm afraid Labour is a write-off, a lost cause, and the only option would be to vocally deny Labour your support, walk away and look at building a new socialist party. This would be no easy feat of course. Realistically it could only succeed if some of the unions disaffiliated from Labour and got key figures like Jeremy Corbyn on board. I have been told Jeremy Corbyn is extremely reluctant to follow that path because he has given his life to Labour, but the way things are going, we could be looking at a very different situation a year or two down the line. I would not be surprised at all if Corbyn himself was purged from the party. I strongly suspect the days of socialist Labour MPs are numbered and the only ones who will be allowed to remain, will be the ones who fall in line.
Personally I am not willing to vote for conservatives simply because they wear red and kick us less hard than the conservatives who wear blue. I was rock bottom under the last Labour government. I was homeless and unemployed, and I am not prepared to pretend this kind of economics is okay, knowing how people will continue to be marginalised. This was never about the Labour Party to me. It was always about achieving meaningful change.
Socialism. And the first step to achieving socialism is stopping knight of the realm Sir Keir Starmer at all costs.
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