I still believe

So, the whole Corbyn thing. The last thing anyone needs is another blowhard with another opinion, but this was originally written for  the spiritual home of pointless blowhards. So, sorry, but…

It’s hard to defend Jeremy Corbyn as a leader. He’s no Churchill/Henry V/Mon Mothma figure, but what’ve we had before? The slick salesmen before of Blair, Cameron and now  Johnson – all style, no substance . What people voted for when they chose Corbyn (in droves) was substance. A man with a long, proud record of anti-war, anti-apartheid, anti-nuclear action. So yes,  his lack of style is excruciating, but we knew what we were voting for – a good grandad not another flash uncle.

These last few days, I’ve been accused of backing ‘one man over a whole party’, but actually, I’m backing an ideology. That ideology is lightly socialist. The idea that our economy should be run to benefit the vast majority, not the 1%. That the age of ‘greed is good’ has bought us to the brink of environmental and social catastrophe, and that urgent action is required to save us all.  The only main-party politician who has truly vocalised this in my lifetime is Jeremy Corbyn. The savaging he takes from the plutocrat-owned-press only confirms that he genuinely challenges their perceived right to rule.

If we don’t change how we organise our society, the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer – for which, read shittier schools, fewer hospitals, doctors, fire engines, worse public transport… etc.

So, when a prospective leader of a major political party stands up and says, “Let’s create a better way”, I’m with them.

The trouble is that, once elected, he became the leader of a PARTY. JC cannot spell out the necessity of change alone. What’s required is that EVERYONE in Labour, but ESPECIALLY the PLP is front footed in their evangelism. This has never happened. Corbyn may have ‘failed’, but if he did, it was only because the rest of the team were sitting on the bench watching him fail, instead of tightening their boot laces and getting stuck in.

So, no, i’m not party loyal. I’m ideologically loyal. I accept that you can’t be a member of a political party and get everything you want as policy. Compromise is the key. But replacing Corbyn with some diet-Tory, to promote the broken ideas that are failing us isn’t compromise, it’s surrender.

Was Jeremy lukewarm over the Referendum? Hell yes.  Is it surprising that this well known Eurosceptic had his reservations? That a man elected for his principles struggled to fully volte face, slip one arm around David Cameron’s shoulder, bratwurst baguette in hand, shouting “Woop-de-doo, I love EU!” ? Yet 67% of Labour voters voted remain. Did he convince those outside of Labour to follow him? Not so much. But could other Labour MPs have lead that charge? Certainly, yet where were the other Les Titans de Labour?

Waiting, it seems, knife in hand for our good grandad to give them a clear run at his back.

Shame on them.

Look, Corbyn is far from perfect, I agree but I just don’t see this whole ‘electability’ issue as anything other than the establishment winning. Yes, Labour needs to take power, no it cannot simply be the party of handwringing, morally-superior-yet-Tory-aiding-London-Media-types but to do that means we must spell out to our countrymen why austerity is a lie, why the Tories can’t be trusted and how a better world is possible. That is the only solution to the problems this recently-kneecapped nation faces.

Yes. I agree. Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable.

But not because he’s wrong – because we’ve yet to convince people how vital the change he presents is.

The coup to oust him, to prevent social change, has been orchestrated by Tories in red ties. If you want something better than that, stop swallowing their shit, evangelise social justice and stand by your man.