Jeremy Corbyn’s Gang of One reawakens the media of the 80s
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| Peter Preston. Guardian "Journalist" |
Peter Preston must have been in the
middle of a very long "senior moment" when he wrote the
piece of journalistic nonsense.
To draw a similarity between the events
of the 1980's and the departure of the "Gang of Four" and
what is happening now with the growing support within the Labour
party for Jeremy Corbyn demonstrates a complete lack of understanding
of the Labour party then, and perhaps more importantly, now. To
describe Corbyn as a "Gang of one" fails to grasp the
simple fact that his candidacy for the leadership has led to
literally thousands of people either joining, or like me rejoining,
the Labour party to be part of the movement to take back the
initiative and restore confidence in a bankrupt political system with
credible and deliverable alternatives to the status quo of the
current "Westminster bubble" politics.
The only similarity between the
situation today and that which existed in the 1980's, is that an
element within the Labour party could not accept the challenge to
their historic position of dominance within the party where their
views on policy and leadership were considered (by them at least) to
be written on tablets of stone to be blindly followed. The rejection
by the party of this doctrine, led to them departing in a fit of
pique and within a few short months, disappearing into the nebulous
mess of the Liberal Party.
Today the situation is different in
that membership of the Labour party is booming primarily because of
Jeremy Corbyn and his appeal to the traditional Labour supporters and
Labour values. The other three candidates and their supporters on
that side of the party are increasingly marginalised with the media
and television resorting to scare tactics in an effort to boost their
dwindling support. It is in my view, unlikely that there will be a
“Gang of Four” type split in Labour party ranks, albeit that the
lively differences of opinion will continue. However, should there be
such a split, it will come from those considered to be on the right
who refuse to accept the democracy which they espouse to support.
Their position invariably seems to be that democracy is good,
provided that the democratic decision is the one with which they
agree.
Peter Preston really should consider
the detail and not just the headline.
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