Owen makes the assumption that Corbyn will definitely win and that a snap election is very likely, this is how he defends the timing of his blog post. Indeed, it is looking extremely likely that Corbyn will win the leadership again but having voted for the losing team in the 2015 General Election and the EU Referendum, I have learned we should not become complacent. I think he made a mistake in targeting his questions at Corbyn supporters, I understand why he did as he believes a Corbyn win is near inevitable, but I think he underestimated the influence he has. I think a more apt blog title would've been 'questions all Labour members need to answer' or something akin to that, aiming the post at Corbyn supporters makes it look on the outset like he endorses Smith - I don't believe he does as he reiterates time and time again his investment in the left's future, but I think he made it way too easy for the right to exploit this, even if unintentionally. I don't believe you should blindly support anything ever, which is why I support Owen's right to critique the left's current strategy, and I think he is right in saying that any criticisms he has would've been exploited by the right regardless of the time. However, I think addressing those concerns now when there are people being taken in by Smith could prove to be disastrous. I also think Owen's assumption that a snap election is very likely is a little bit naive, I think the PLP will only support a snap election if Jeremy wins this leadership again because they know Labour is likely to lose and then they'll definitely be able to oust Jeremy and the left. I have no doubts that the PLP would prefer a Tory government over a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn (as eloquently said by Tony Blair..).
Anyway, criticisms of the post aside. I think now what the left need to do is answer the questions Owen has put forward, if we can't answer these questions, we will never be able to bring anyone back to the left. Instead of hurling abuse at Owen for being an establishment stooge, a Blairite, a traitor, or whatever word takes your fancy, let's just answer the questions. We can't afford to let the right trip us up on any of these issues.
Questions and answers:
1. How can the disastrous polling be turned around?
Before answering this, I think we need to look at why the polling has been so disastrous in the first place. I acknowledge that Labour were lagging behind a little bit pre-coup but post-coup Labour has really taken a beating in the polls, shifting the blame for Brexit onto Jeremy united anti-Corbyn Remain voters, and the resignations in the Shadow Cabinet on top of the 172 MPs supporting a vote of no confidence in Corbyn re-ignited the fear of Labour being unelectable because a divided party does not inspire people or win elections. In addition to all of this, we are in post-Brexit limbo. Once Article 50 is triggered and the British public realise what Brexit will actually mean for the UK, they will no longer back the Tories. Furthermore, Brexit brought about a whole array of divisions amongst Tories - rehashing this debate will divide them further, and as I aforementioned a divided party does not inspire people or win elections.
In regards to turning the disastrous polling around, the trick is to refine Labour's political motives, which Jeremy has already seemed to be doing as he announced his 10 pledges today. Then from here, to publicise them. Once CLP meetings are allowed again, more canvassing and phone banks can be organised to make sure the general public are aware of these pledges.
2. Where is the clear vision?
I believe the clear vision is to try and restore faith in the apathetic and disillusioned by not being a standard career politician basing a campaign on sophistry. This could be shown in various ways, for example Jeremy has said that all Labour MPs may undergo the re-selection process in the run-up to the next election, this is evidence of democratising the party in the process of ousting corrupt MPs and it shows the importance of the Labour Party members, the importance of people, in Corbyn's movement.
3. How are the policies significantly different from the last general election?
There are some overlapping policies, such as the banning of zero-hour contracts and a pledge to remove the bedroom tax. However, to suggest that Jeremy shares Ed Miliband's centre-left ideology is an outright lie. Ed Miliband wanted to clamp down on immigration (perhaps this was an attempt of political point scoring against UKIP), Miliband failed to offer a real alternative to austerity (he did the talk of claiming he was an anti-austerity candidate, he just failed to suggest many policies besides the Mansion tax that would help in achieving this), he abstained on Iain Duncan Smith's retroactive workfare legislation, he also appointed Ed Balls as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer who supported an austerity-lite agenda, austerity-lite is not a real alternative to austerity.
This is where Jeremy offers change. Jeremy has not prioritised immigration as an issue, why? Because it's not anywhere near as big an issue as the Tories would have you believe. The Tories have managed to convince people to direct their anger over unemployment and housing at the immigrants rather than where it should be directed, the top. Jeremy has time and time again reiterated that he is anti-austerity, for example, he has stated that he doesn't want to cut public expenditure. You can trust that Jeremy wouldn't whip MPs into abstaining on Tory legislations, for example Jeremy Corbyn voted against the 2016 Welfare Reform and Work Bill (whereas Owen Smith did not, funny that..), you can also trust that Jeremy Corbyn wouldn't appoint a Blairite type as his Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer - John McDonnell shares Corbyn's anti-austerity agenda, you can check his voting record.
4. What’s the media strategy?
I agree with Owen's point here that the media is never going to support a left-wing anti-establishment candidate. However, I like Another Angry Voice's suggestion that we should mobilise Labour members in a letter-writing campaign to the BBC - they are publicly owned, they should represent the public. I also agree with Owen's point that social media is very useful, and people with bigger platforms should make use of them by outwardly supporting Corbyn.
5. What’s the strategy to win over the over-44s?
Owen mentioned that Corbyn had said he would fight for respect for older people, he would deal with pensioner poverty, and social care, but this was the first he had heard of it. What we need to do with these ideas is publicise them, we have so many members, if we all went canvassing and took part in phone banks we could get these ideas out there. It may even be worth getting Labour members to do talks at Retirement homes to publicise these ideas.
6. What’s the strategy to win over Scotland?
It is my view that we lost Scotland because Labour weren't offering a genuine alternative to austerity, whereas the SNP were. If we offer a genuine alternative to austerity and distance ourselves from the Tories as much as possible, we may be able to win them back. That being said, I acknowledge this will not be an easy feat as Scotland were taken for granted for years with Blairism.
7. What’s the strategy to win over Conservative voters?
I want to say right off the bat that this should not be our priority. We do not need a move to 'radical centrism', if we make winning over the centre ground and the Tories one of our priorities, we will fall into the same patterns as Blair and Brown (it also didn't work too well for Clegg if my memory serves me well). However, 52% of Tories in this YouGov poll support renationalisation of energy and the rails which suggests that there is a unifying goal here that we can capitalise on and publicise without sacrificing the integrity and values of the Labour Party under Jeremy.
8. How would we deal with people’s concerns about immigration?
This is a question that I've thought about many times before and found it hard to reach a solid conclusion, mostly because any talk about immigration in the mainstream media seems to be based on fearmongering and lies and I think in order to address concerns about immigration, it is vital to bring this to people's attention and point out that the Tories have deliberately placed the blame on immigrants to direct the blame from the top - it's no more than a convenient scapegoat. Tory cuts have meant that poorer areas with a population increase due to migrant inflow have been under a lot of stress, and as Owen said Corbyn has spoken about reinstating the Migrant Impacts Fund. This may be a reasonable way to tackle the 'problem of immigration'.
It is also necessary to point out that if immigration is 'the problem', immigration increased massively under the Tories (the largest spike in net migration in British history) so the Tories have failed to address these concerns anyway, it definitely wasn't helped with David Cameron removing the Migrant Impacts Fund.
9. How can Labour’s mass membership be mobilised?
Canvassing, leafleting and phone banks are very popular ways of gaining support. However, we haven't massively had anything to come together for and focus on. The mayoral election brought together a lot of members and we had a Labour victory! If an election is called, we will have something to prove to both the PLP and the voters and the mass membership would be mobilised. Furthermore, it's very difficult to mobilise yourselves when CLP meetings have been banned so as of recently it has been very difficult to organise any sort of action.
Conclusion
Owen did raise some very important questions, and they are the type of questions Corbyn supporters will be asked when canvassing, when doing phone banks, or when going door-to-door. Instead of hurling abuse at Owen for writing the blog post, I think we should do our best to answer the questions and address his concerns. All it does is make the left look weak if we can't address these concerns. I think it's clear if you read the blog post that Owen is not anti-Corbyn, I do wish he would be more forward in saying that he supports Corbyn though as, afterall, this vote is a binary choice and by not outwardly endorsing Corbyn, it looks as if he is supporting Smith and I do not believe this is the case.
Owen, who are you supporting in this election? This is very important, I think the future of the left is heavily dependent on this election, and I think you should make it clear who you are backing given how influential you are.
