Corbyn leads his troops into a vicious class war
Running an election campaign on the basis of a question is a risky business.
Ted Heath found this out after the 1974 election during which he’d asked the voters: “Who runs Britain?” The response was clear: “Not you.”
Yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn launched his own pitch for Number 10 with a rather more divisive, even sinister, inquiry: “Whose side are you on?”
The Labour leader wants to know whether you’re on the side of yacht-based tax dodgers or children with special educational needs.
Once you’ve got to grips with that philosophical humdinger, consider his next question: Big polluters or children with reduced lung capacity? Greedy bankers who make millions betting on other people’s misery or underpaid nurses? Sex offenders or food bank volunteers?
OK, I made that last one up — but the rest are genuine propositions offered by Corbyn in a speech that went far beyond highlighting social ills and actually identified individuals that a future Labour government would, presumably, send to the gulags.
The young Duke of Westminster (property tycoon), Mike Ashley (bad boss), Crispin Odey (fat cat), Rupert Murdoch (billionaire media baron) and Sir Jim Ratcliffe (makes his money by polluting the environment) were all targeted.
Corbyn has been waging a class war for years and the next logical step is to target real people. Perhaps he thinks Ratcliffe is a class traitor? After all he grew up in a council house, the son of a joiner, before going on to make a few billion. “It makes me sick,” the Labour leader might have said, “to see a council house boy build his own company, employing 20,000 people in advanced engineering and manufacturing.”
There was a time when the Labour party put tackling injustice and inequality at the heart of its mission without relying on crass, divisive and ignorant rhetoric. Those days are long gone.
And so as Corbyn tours the country demanding to know “whose side are you on?” he should consider the possibility that the answer is “not yours.”
Battle of Ideas
Since we didn’t leave the EU yesterday we can afford to spend a bit more time talking about it, which is what I’ll be doing on Sunday afternoon at the always excellent Battle of Ideas festival at the Barbican.
Along with Lord Glasman, Joan Hoey of the Economist and professor Anand Menon I’ll be debating whether the vote to leave the EU has changed British politics irreversibly, and where the focus should be for a domestic renewal.
Come along and join us.
Calling all PAs and EAs
I’m looking forward to the inaugural City A.M. PA Awards.
We’ve teamed up with Harrods Corporate Service to launch the hunt for the City’s best PA or EA. These vital roles are often part diplomat, part organisational supremo, calling for creativity, energy, discretion and judgement.
The winners will be announced at the decadent Bob Bob Cité in the Square Mile on 11 December and nominations close on 20 November.
Search for City A.M. PA Awards to join in.
Rush hour crush
On Wednesday evening I was in the crush of a rush-hour tube carriage and a short way out of Chancery Lane I heard a woman standing close to me say that she felt faint and needed to sit down.
By the time I turned around she had collapsed into the arms of another passenger and a group of commuters were attempting to make space on the seats for her.
I was nearby, though not close enough to help her onto the seats. All I could do as we pulled into Holborn was activate the emergency alarm to ensure that the train didn’t depart the station.
“She’s turning blue” was the last thing I heard before darting out of the carriage and calling for help. I ran the length of the platform asking in each carriage for a doctor (to no avail) and when I reached the end I turned to see TfL staff running down the platform towards the carriage I had left and so, not feeling able to help any more and not wishing to be a spectator, I left.
I do not know what happened to her, or if she’s now OK.I hope she is. I wish I knew.
Main image: Getty