Jon Cruddas’s attempt to defend Jeremy Corbyn’s triangulation over Brexit ducks two key points (Labour can’t afford to lose its working-class heartlands by backing remain, 26 June). The New Labour project was rooted in the belief that Labour could ditch clause IV, and commit to an anti-working class neoliberal agenda, secure in the fact that, in Peter Mandelson’s words, the working class had “nowhere to go”. But Labour under Corbyn fails as a political party on any other terms. The pervasive myth that, under Corbyn, Labour has been transformed into a reforged social movement runs parallel to the delusion that Corbyn has been vigorously arguing for some putative radical agenda to unite the working class across the Brexit divide. As the deputy leader of the Labour party to his great credit continues to insist, Labour’s core “values are as the party of remain”.

Source: The Guardian June 27, 2019 16:41 UTC