Has Labour got it wrong on Europe? Record your vote below!
Labour is currently, I am now convinced, squandering its recent popularity, based on the authenticity and genuineness of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, simply because it is confusing everyone with its stance, if that is what it can be called, on Brexit.
Nobody really understands the Party's position, I have yet to hear anyone argue it with any passion and Labour has made it far too easy for the media to argue that it is just as divided as the Tories. What a waste! It's like throwing away a 4 goal lead by half-time.
Members like me welcome all the internal changes that give the Party back to its members but has anyone actually polled members unequivocally about their preferences? Would an internal poll of Labour Party members and supporters vote to stay in the EU? I bet you any money they would.
And they should. The Brexit campaign has been exposed for the lies that they told, bolstered, we now know, by the most unsavoury opinion-rigging machinations via social media but it was, unarguably, one of those periodic outpourings of anger that the British do seem to go in for, to show how fed up with austerity they were.
And they weren't wrong in that respect. Yanis Vourakis's book 'Adults in the Room (well recommended) shows how the inner workings of the EU's capitalist financiers undermined democracy in Greece when an elected socialist government wanted to restructure its debt and give its people a chance to rebuild their economy. The Eurogroup, that clandestine shady and completely unaccountable group of bureaucrats, with its profoundly anti-democratic behaviours and policies, is destabilising both democracy and economic stability in Europe with policies that have never been agreed by electorates. So why wouldn't the British island people get a sniff of this and react rebelliously?
They were wrong to vote 'leave' and I suspect they know this in a collective, unconscious sense. But would they vote the same way again, knowing what we all know now. I doubt it. Anger is one thing but it is a moment and things have changed since.
So is it so impossible for Jeremy to say to the British people something like:
"Look, we know why you voted leave but I cannot, hand on heart, accept that we should leave the EU because it will be absolutely devastating for our economy and way of life. As a socialist and democrat, I believe we must stay in the EU and work with other democrats across Europe to reform it so that it is more democratic and pursue economic, social and politics goals that reflect its founding vision of humanitarianism and cooperation between nations. As a result, we will, if elected, give you another opportunity in a referendum to vote again on EU membership. In the meantime, we will fight in Parliament to ensure that the Tories do not impose a deal on you that will result in the collapse of our economy and the hardship that will cause to the population."
People will understand that, Labour MPs will rally around it. It's brave but I think it's the right thing to do.
So let's test this: share my poll with everyone you know who is a Labour Party members or supporter and particularly, with any Labour supporter who might have voted Brexit and we will see:
Nobody really understands the Party's position, I have yet to hear anyone argue it with any passion and Labour has made it far too easy for the media to argue that it is just as divided as the Tories. What a waste! It's like throwing away a 4 goal lead by half-time.
Members like me welcome all the internal changes that give the Party back to its members but has anyone actually polled members unequivocally about their preferences? Would an internal poll of Labour Party members and supporters vote to stay in the EU? I bet you any money they would.
And they should. The Brexit campaign has been exposed for the lies that they told, bolstered, we now know, by the most unsavoury opinion-rigging machinations via social media but it was, unarguably, one of those periodic outpourings of anger that the British do seem to go in for, to show how fed up with austerity they were.
And they weren't wrong in that respect. Yanis Vourakis's book 'Adults in the Room (well recommended) shows how the inner workings of the EU's capitalist financiers undermined democracy in Greece when an elected socialist government wanted to restructure its debt and give its people a chance to rebuild their economy. The Eurogroup, that clandestine shady and completely unaccountable group of bureaucrats, with its profoundly anti-democratic behaviours and policies, is destabilising both democracy and economic stability in Europe with policies that have never been agreed by electorates. So why wouldn't the British island people get a sniff of this and react rebelliously?
They were wrong to vote 'leave' and I suspect they know this in a collective, unconscious sense. But would they vote the same way again, knowing what we all know now. I doubt it. Anger is one thing but it is a moment and things have changed since.
So is it so impossible for Jeremy to say to the British people something like:
"Look, we know why you voted leave but I cannot, hand on heart, accept that we should leave the EU because it will be absolutely devastating for our economy and way of life. As a socialist and democrat, I believe we must stay in the EU and work with other democrats across Europe to reform it so that it is more democratic and pursue economic, social and politics goals that reflect its founding vision of humanitarianism and cooperation between nations. As a result, we will, if elected, give you another opportunity in a referendum to vote again on EU membership. In the meantime, we will fight in Parliament to ensure that the Tories do not impose a deal on you that will result in the collapse of our economy and the hardship that will cause to the population."
People will understand that, Labour MPs will rally around it. It's brave but I think it's the right thing to do.
So let's test this: share my poll with everyone you know who is a Labour Party members or supporter and particularly, with any Labour supporter who might have voted Brexit and we will see:
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