Skip to main content

Labour's European election blues

AT the weekend the leader of Britain’s biggest trade union cautioned Labour not to “panic” over results in the European elections.

Heeding the flurry of calls, including from senior shadow cabinet members, for Labour to back a second referendum and then campaign for Remain would be a sign of such panic.

Claims that Labour has been punished for failing to support a second referendum seem odd when the Brexit Party, whose only policy is to leave the EU, came an easy first in the Britain-wide vote and won everywhere except in Scotland and London.

Remain supporters argue that the total vote for Remain parties exceeded the total vote for Leave parties. The Brexit Party’s combined vote with Ukip amounts to 34.9 per cent while the combined tally of the pro-Remain Liberal Democrats, Greens, Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and Change UK amounts to 40.4 per cent.

Some add the Tories’ dire 9.1 per cent showing to the Leave total and Labour’s poor 14.1 per cent to the Remain total but this seems hasty when both major parties are suffering from being seen as pro-Remain by Leavers and pro-Leave by Remainers.

Second referendum advocates should be careful what they wish for. The distance between Remain and Leave on this showing isn’t big, and when we take into account the fact that 62 per cent of eligible voters did not participate — with opponents of EU membership likelier to stay away — the course of a second referendum is impossible to predict.

British politics is volatile. The emergence of the Brexit Party from nowhere to hold mass rallies up and down the country and dominate the stage at these elections shows how quickly any formation that captures an anti-Establishment zeitgeist can take off (without suggesting for a moment that this alliance of ex-Tory and ex-Ukip chancers are actually anti-Establishment.)

It also demonstrates the anger that large sections of the public feel about Parliament’s inability to deliver Brexit. Claims that a second referendum would “break the deadlock” don’t hold water. These results suggest one would simply entrench the division of the country into two mutually hostile camps.

Some in Labour suggest that, if a second referendum were called, the options should be Theresa May’s deal or Remain. There is little chance that Leavers would see that as a legitimate exercise. The long-term resentment such a vote would engender would be exceptionally dangerous — whatever the result.

And whatever the result, Labour would be the loser. The party’s transformational programme will be impossible to deliver without the mobilisation of a mass movement representing the majority of the population. It entails taking on all manner of vested interests, powerful corporations, a hostile monopoly media, and the institutions of the British state. It is also likely to meet serious sabotage from many of its own MPs. 

Jeremy Corbyn’s pitch to try to bring Leavers and Remainers together might seem hopeless after a vote like this — but Labour cannot afford to give up on appealing to either camp.

All is not lost. A European parliamentary election is likely to be dominated by the EU issue to a greater extent than a general election, and turnout remained so low that few reliable indicators can be taken from it. 

The coronation of a new unelected Tory prime minister makes the case for a general election easy to make. Claims that we should support a second referendum because the Tories will not grant a general election make little sense, since there is no reason to suppose they would concede a second referendum either — especially during a leadership contest. 

It will be harder at a general election for one-dimensional appeals to Remain or Leave to sweep all before them, and Labour’s policy platform puts those of all other parties to shame.

The labour movement should look to mobilise activists and supporters to campaign for a general election without delay.

OWNED BY OUR READERS

We're a reader-owned co-operative, which means you can become part of the paper too by buying shares in the People’s Press Printing Society.

 

 

Become a supporter

Fighting fund

You've Raised:£ 13,288
We need:£ 4,712
3 Days remaining
Donate today