Labour can win again—just not with Jeremy Corbyn

During the Labour leadership election who said this: “Labour will win again. Labour can win the next election.” Here's a clue— it wasn't the oldest leadership candidate. It was someone younger—Tony Blair. He highlighted what is missing from the leadership debate—hope, will and confidence. And that is what is also absent from the campaigns of Andy Burnham, Liz Kendall and Yvette Cooper. This has caused a problem, because in the absence of hope people don't despair, they start to look for false hope and Jeremy Corbyn is offering plenty of that. There are three things that urgently need to happen in the Labour Party to stave off a possible Corbyn victory.

First, the hustings need to change. The format of questions and four responses allows Corbyn to go unscrutinised. His policies aren't costed. He can't account for why he thinks £10bn should be spent on a middle class benefit rather than affordable child care or social care. Or take foreign affairs. His commitment to leave NATO and give up our nuclear weapons is geo-politically dangerous and electorally toxic. These and other policies which would be disastrous for the country go unchallenged as the other three candidates fight each other for position and votes. They took the initially not unreasonable view that Corbyn would come third so the real fight was for second preferences. Well, as we say in Scotland, “they ken noo.”

Second, the other candidates need to abandon the narcissism of small differences. They all broadly agree on what Labour needs to do to become electable. They will make broadly the same changes to the party. Liz will be less apologetic about Tony Blair's legacy. Yvette will be less embarrassed by Gordon Brown's record. They will all have to work together in the Shadow Cabinet. So they may as well start to co-ordinate now. As a first step they all need to stop fighting each other and start ganging up on Corbyn. That will help on two fronts. On the one hand, it will take of the sheen off him. On the other, the public and the party will see that there is a progressive consensus in the party—it's just that Jeremy isn't part of it.

Third, and most important, if Liz, Andy and Yvette can get their acts together they could offer genuine hope to the Labour Party, the labour movement and the country. Cameron and Osborne are acting as if they won a 100-seat majority on over 40 per cent of the vote. In reality they scraped back in and only look strong because Labour are so weak. The Labour members who want to vote for Corbyn imagine that they are sending a message to the leadership. In fact they are sending a message to the electorate that their views are unwanted. Some are tempted to waste their vote on Corbyn because they think that there is no chance that Labour can win in 2020. That's just wrong. The Tories can be beaten. There are great causes still, wrongs to be righted, dragons to be slain. Labour's values are still needed—applied to the modern world. Leadership is not just knowing this—it's showing it. If Liz, Andy or Yvette are up to this job now is the time to show it. Get out there and win the party by showing you know how to win the country.