Politics

This is what Jeremy Corbyn's anti-austerity message might sound like

The Labour leader looks like he's ready to start unleashing conventional political heavy weaponry

September 15, 2015
Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses the TUC Congress at the Brighton Centre. Rick Findler/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses the TUC Congress at the Brighton Centre. Rick Findler/PA Wire/Press Association Images

"Sisters and brothers... I must admit, it seems to me a very fast journey we are on at the present time"

Jeremy Corbyn looked tired today. Wearing a suit but no tie and a little hunched, as he took the stage at the TUC's annual Congress in Brighton the crowd stood and gave him a standing ovation—their second, after an initial, identical one when his arrival was falsely announced five minutes earlier.

The speech was Corbyn's first conventional political address outside parliament since becoming leader—his first public appearance was at a pro-refugee rally in London on Saturday.  Reception from the hall wasn't euphoric, but it was largely positive. Delegates I spoke to were keen to stress their gratitude at being "listened to" by a Labour leader—the TUC Congress has historically been a difficult gig for the party's recent moderate leaders, who have been seen as uninterested in the trade union movement. By contrast many here were happy with Corbyn's unflashy but earnest praise for trade unions, which he said "make a difference in looking after people in their ordinary lives as well as a huge contribution in the wider community." Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, conceded that Corbyn was "not banging the table, it's not the whole range of rhetoric," but said he had delivered "some common speech about the issues facing our society and how we can make it fairer... and that's important."

But outside of the hall, Corbyn is facing a colossal challenge. After frantically assembling a shadow cabinet—facing criticism for a lack of women in top jobs—he has taken flak today for not singing the national anthem at a Battle of Britain commemoration. The government have meanwhile launched a full scale attack, using videos, tweets, statements and interviews to tarnish the Labour leader as "a threat to our national security." A new leader can perhaps be allowed a few days of chaos, particularly when they are as unconventional and unprepared as Corbyn, but he needs to start forming an engaging message soon. So what should it be?

[gallery ids="38107,38108,38116,38104,38105,38106,38102,38110,38109,38103"] Today, we got the first hints of what that anti-austerity messaging might sound like. Probably his best line was a rebuttal of government attacks on his economic plans: "they call us deficit deniers," he said, "but then they spend billions cutting taxes for the richest families... what they are is poverty deniers.” It was the sort of soundbite we're not accustomed to hearing from Corbyn; one which might actually work as a clip on the evening news bulletins. It went nicely, too, with a key news line from the speech—that in opposing the government's Welfare Bill, Labour would seek to amend it to abolish the household benefits cap.

It was also in line with some advice spelled out for the Labour leader by Greece's anti-austerity former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis at an event in London on Monday night. Varoufakis slammed George Osborne for his austerity rhetoric, which Varoufakis sees as bogus. "Mr Osborne, he advocated austerity," he said, "he started doing a little bit... 1/18th of what we did in Greece. And then what happened was the recovery that was beginning after 2009 stopped immediately and he backed off and stopped doing austerity." He urged Corbyn to expose this: "in Britain the ruling class knows [austerity doesn't work] and doesn't apply it but utilises the narrative of shrinking the state and austerity to effect a massive transfer of income from the have nots to the haves." The former Finance Minister—who whatever his subsequent problems knows something about winning elections on a leftist platform—has said he is to meet with Corbyn's team, though in what capacity is unclear.

Exactly how this line of argument would play with the country at large remains to be seen. But it would at least be a soundbite to counter the Tories' endless rumblings about "security." And it would give Corbyn's still-ecstatic supporters something to rally around. Outside the venue today, waiting for Corbyn to arrive, I got talking to Cary Creed, a cheery representative of something called "the Peoples' Republic of Brighton and Hove." I asked him what he thinks of the government's "security" line and he said he was worried people would take it to heart. "Osborne's... clever. He's got it spot on," he said, before crossing the road, determined to get in shot of the TV cameras to wave pro-Corbyn banners and counteract the dastardly Tory offensive. There's nothing contradictory about leading a grassroots campaign with some conventional political heavy weaponry, and it looks like Jez might be ready to show us what he's made of on that front.