A former MP has warned that Britain is sleepwalking into a 'one party state', following the Labour party collapse, combined with precarious Conservative policies on different issues including Unions and BBC. Writing in the Independent, Norman Baker, the former Transport and Home office minister said that 'a feuding Labour Party’s hopes of winning the next election are a pipe dream'.
The upcoming Labour party elections have raised several questions about the party's once stable and much loved status. After Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's exit, it was in the hands of the Miliband brothers. Of course the more popular one won the party leadership, but Ed Miliband failed to lead the party to a success in the 2015 General Election. And the rest is history. However, the crisis the party faces now is more internal than external.
It has four contestants- Andy Burnham, Yvette Copper, Liz Kendall and Jeremy Corbyn. According to a YouGov poll for The Times, as we went to print on Tuesday, Jeremy Corbyn has almost doubled his lead over Andy Burnham in three weeks and looks set to become the new Labour party leader.
With ballot papers going out this Friday, and the result due on September 12, the YouGov survey shows Corbyn getting 53 per cent of first-preference votes, up by ten points since the last YouGov poll on July 21. Burnham is on 21 per cent (down by five points), Yvette Cooper is on 18 (down by two) and Liz Kendall lags on eight per cent (down by three).
The question arises, can these polls be trusted? In May it could not predict that Conservative party would win the election by single majority, but then it was about the battle of two men representing two different ideologies and much more- fighting almost neck to neck. But this is about a man who has moved so far ahead from the rest of the competitors.
However, anticipations are on the rise everywhere. The party's former spin doctor Alastair Campbell has reportedly said “The party must see sense and vote for "Anyone But Corbyn" - or Labour could be finished.” The party's donors have allegedly claimed to withdraw backing if Corbyn wins the election.
Everyone contesting in the election, comes with their agenda, but then Corbyn's plan of reviving Clause IV has shocked many. A pro-growth community, like Asians, are aware how removal of this clause has led to better delivery- something they have thoroughly banked on to build businesses and contribute largely to Britain's economy.
However, a spokesman of Corbyn has reportedly said that he was not advocating a return to Clause IV, rather that he would seek to open up a discussion about "public ownership objectives for the 21st century" – including the railways – if he won the leadership election.
The spokesman reportedly added,"Jeremy is not saying he wants to return to Clause IV, nor does he want a big 'moment' such as that.
"He says we need some forms of discussion about public ownership objectives for the 21st century."
What is Clause IV?
Clause IV of Labour's 1918 constitution stated that the party was committed to "common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange".
In April 1995, less than a year after being elected Labour leader, Tony Blair persuaded a special conference to scrap the clause and replace it with a new one committing the party to a "dynamic economy, serving the public interest" with "a thriving private sector and high quality public services".
As for public ownership, the party means to advocate a system "where those undertakings essential to the common good are either owned by the public or accountable to them".
Blair himself called it a "defining moment in the history of my party". As Daily Mail puts it, this helped "convince voters that the party could be trusted again in government after the wilderness years of the 1980s.”
Labour's leadership election has now spiraled down to a simple choice- Jeremy Corbyn or someone else. The problem is, none of the other candidates are rising to their challenge. Moreover the distance maintained from the Asian community by the party remains a constant threat. Except a few hustings, the party leadership contestants haven't offered much to the community. May a better interaction could have made this leadership election a cakework? After all Asians proudly put Mr Cameron in Downing Street!
