“Listening” but never hearing – the Blairite mafia

It’s difficult to tell who is more deluded. The Brexiteers who are reduced to posting news articles about the looming economic catastrophe prefaced with comments like “the sky hasn’t fallen in yet, has it?”; or the Blairites in the PLP, who, rather like a sinister mafia figure, have decided that Jeremy Corbyn has to resign forthwith, or there will be ‘trouble’.

Just what part of “it’s not 1997 any more” do they not understand? They seem to believe they can energise new members by turning around and telling them their vote for leader was misguided, and they need to pick again until they get it right, because big money donors don’t want a potential PM who may impose slightly more onerous tax and anti-corruption regulations on them. Apparently ‘democracy’ is only important when the Neoliberals are running things.

“Jeremy only represents the politics of protest” I hear the drones say. Is that not the whole point of politics? The Blairites’ pitch for the party is that nothing need change? Then why bother challenging the government at all? Why would people vote for the status quo with a red tie? Again, it’s not 1997 any more.

“Labour needs to listen to its voters, not preach to them”. Like when the Blairites acknowledged that ‘Leave’ voters in the North had been ‘left behind by globalisation’, rather than just being xenophobes? Okay, so what are they offering these people, besides ‘listening to their concerns’? What policies are up their sleeve to appease these voters? Jeremy seems to have a few involving regional investment, devolution, and real living wages, yet all I’ve heard from the Blairites is the same empty paternalism we’ve come to expect from zombie MPs like Tristram Hunt. He’ll ‘listen’ to you, he’ll pat you on the head condescendingly, he might even choke a little as he tells you how much these downtrodden rely on a strong Labour Party to lead them out of this horrible Tory nightmare…and then he will implement the square root of nothing, as the big money donors and Rupert Murdoch dictate the agenda.

Maybe Chilcot can finally wash away the last vestiges of the Blairites’ credibility, and show that they stand up for all the wrong things and the wrong interests. I don’t think Jeremy Corbyn can rescue UK politics, only Proportional Representation can do that. But he is infinitely preferable to the arrogant “do as we say and it’ll be alright” school of authoritarian politics that the PLP Neoliberals have decided to brandish like a club to keep the ‘wrong’ voters “on message”.

The witch-hunt against JC, and its ramifications

Ask a Blairite what the weather will be like, and you’ll likely get the response:

“Well it’s certainly looking bleak right now with the Tories in power, I’d suggest an umbrella, in fact I’d suggest that rain needs to be driven away by a strong opposition who listen to the British public and what they want from their weather system. If rain is preferred, we need to heed those messages, and not just preach about the virtues of sunshine. The centre ground is where we can really influence the jet streams and make a future Britain’s weather work for all.”

What most people have long since learnt about Blairites, is that they are nothing but hollow suits. They appear to promise everything with no downsides. Blair’s doctrine preached verbal positivity with no caveats and no depth. Thus you get MPs like Dan Jarvis coming out with soundbites like “I’m tough on inequality and tough on the causes of inequality.” Archetypal Blairite. Optimistic? Check. Calling out bad things that people don’t approve of? Check. Nothing to offend the Daily Mail or Sun owners? Check. No actual detail beyond catchy one line soundbite? Check.

The Blairites and their Establishment hangers-on often seem to bang on about Jeremy Corbyn being ‘unelectable’ and ‘a return to the politics of 1983’, completely devoid of self-awareness that their own candidates have lost the last two elections, and their politics are still rooted firmly in 1997 (don’t mention the Iraq War!). They also suggest Corbyn only represents protest, which apparently doesn’t achieve anything, as only going through the proper channels gets things done. Which is presumably why Blairite MPs decided to protest by flouncing out of Corbyn’s cabinet in order to get things done outside democratic channels.

These ‘honourable’ MPs attempting this coup, despite having no obvious candidate to replace Corbyn, seem to have lost their usual composure and professional veneer, but the timing makes total sense when you realise the Chilcot report is due out next week, and they do not want an anti-Blairite as leader when the chickens come home to roost on their hallowed idol Tony Blair. Interesting times ahead for these anachronistic losers it would seem.

Aside from these PLP MPs who keep saying that no one man is bigger than the party (other than Blair obviously), studiously ignoring the fact that the membership resoundingly wanted Corbyn in charge, the mainstream media has gone from an obsessive farce to systematic bullying of a decent man. I’ve actually felt physically ill seeing every utterance from Corbyn spun into an ‘outrage’, and him being literally goaded by journalists into losing his cool with the same tired rubbish about resigning.

So a message to all people (particularly in the North) who say “politicians are all the same so what’s the point”, “they’re all liars”, “they all act in the interests of big business”, “they don’t represent ordinary people”, “whoever it is, it’ll be business as usual”: Jeremy Corbyn is not like this. If you say you don’t want a hollow suit with the empty rhetoric of a travelling salesman, who says they care about the poor while making no systemic changes to improve their lot at all, who pander to Middle England and the elites while filling their pockets, for God’s sake support Corbyn!

He’s not perfect, he’s certainly not a natural leader of men, but his politics are the change you need. Even if he stands down in a couple of years, his influence will hopefully see a new wave of genuine left-wing MPs who will challenge the Neoliberal agenda, without being terrified of the media reaction. Who knows, maybe even a coalition can then emerge to force through Proportional Representation.

If you believe all those disparaging quotes about modern politicans above, you must support him. If you are happy for Rupert Murdoch and Paul Dacre to choose the next Labour leader, by all means say he’s not fit to be leader. But, like Brexit, you will be another turkey voting happily for Christmas.