For anyone hearing about the latest Times Poll that says Labour are 7 points behind the Conservatives…
1. As we said when polls were in our favour, if there is one thing the last 3 years has taught us, it is that polling, in general, is not currently that accurate given the end results in reality of what people were polled on.
2. Brexit is the backdrop. Those ‘ working classes’ who want a ‘Hard’ Brexit, as well as all other demographics who do, are backing the Tories as they see that as there preferred option. Labour has the Remainers, those wanting a ‘Soft’ Brexit, BUT, those who don’t want to leave the EU, or who want a ‘People’s vote’ are voicing their concerns now as a protest to Labour. Yes, it’s complicated! Labour voters voted two thirds to Remain, Labour constituencies were two thirds Leave; hence the complication. Come a General Election though, having spoken to to many of those people, they ain’t going to be voting Tory, Lib Dem, Green, Plaid etc (Tory & Lib Dem aside, that is not meant as a criticism of those parties at all, just as a statement).
3. a) If you cast your mind back to April last year when the GE was called. Labour were, according to the polling mentioned above, 25 points behind. Then, in the 6 week run-up to the election, broadcasters were legally obliged to give equal airtime to both parties. When people ACTUALLY saw and heard Corbyn, unspun, unedited, in his own words, they liked what he had to say! Hence Labour achieving the biggest vote share increase of any party since Labour’s Attlee in 1945 (who was also ridiculed & written off-then went on to form the NHS, a National Education system & the Welfare State). Corbyn also achieved something no one ever has-coming from that far behind to where we ended up.
3. b) How the above is very relevant now, is that in the year since-actually in the last few months-when polling has changed again, Corbyn has been ruthlessly lied about and the public told he is a Czech Spy, a Russian Stooge, even more apparently anti-British, a betrayer of the UK, an anti-Semite, still apparently a terrorist sympathiser etc etc. Just from anecdotal evidence alone, I can tell you the exact same people who changed their minds about him last year, have changed back BECAUSE of the aforementioned lies. We already know from independent studies that Corbyn continues to be the most lied about and abused politician in modern times.
4. The establishment are, genuinely, terrified of Jeremy Corbyn. Because he wants to introduce basic Social Democracy. But because our Establishment and media have become so scarily right-wing and detached from those they are meant to ‘serve’, even this basic Keynesian economic model is seen as “far/hard left” or “Marxist/Communist”. Not because we condemn Marx or the theory of Communism, but it is absurd to suggest Labour’s Manifesto is even close to Communism. As we say, it is basic Social Democracy-as seen in Scandinavia for years, parts that Germany currently do (not left wing!) and around the world. Labour are a threat to the new religion-Turbo-Charged Neo Liberal Capitalism & the Corporations who now run our governments, as well as the tax avoiders who own our media. It is not a coincidence they all hate Jeremy Corbyn.
5. We are told The Left is failing everywhere around the world, apart from in the UK under Corbyn and the USA under the Movement of Sanders. This is because what was, and still is, classed as ‘Left’ is/was not Left! It was, at best, Centrist. I would argue right of centre even. Remember, most people don’t care or even know about ‘Left & Right’, but they do care re policies. So when the apparent ‘Left’ offer Neo Liberalism, of course it is rejected!!!! Corbyn and Sanders offer ACTUAL centre-left policies-hence their popularity. Until The Establishment and mainstream media grasp the very basic concept of them being on the wrong side of history and political definition, they will continue to have the “we know best, woe is us, everyone else is wrong” mentality. It is now safe to say a large proportion of those people are completely incapable of humility or even recognising they are wrong. As said before, the dinosaurs are always the last to see the meteors coming.
6. Do not forget how much things have already massively changed in just 3 years-Labour being anti-austerity. The far more public conversations re foreign policy, wars, tax avoidance, supporting brutal, illegal regimes, exposing the direct affects of all these things-Grenfell, Carillion and all these firms collapsing, the very conscious manufactured NHS crisis, the housing crisis, the many U-turns the government has had to make in that time, re-Nationalisation (in line with public opinion), faith and trust in a politician again, an ACTUAL choice at the ballot box; no one these days can say “They are all the same”. If you do, it is because you are either very lazy, uninformed, consciously uninformed or you have been manipulated. Even Corbyn’s biggest critics would say we have very different, clear choices now.
7. We must not forget that literally everything & anything The Establishment/Media are doing is to try and discredit Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour. They are trying to turn us against him. It is their only chance of preventing fair play. They have no red line. We must always keep in mind that if we do not support this totally unique opportunity, whether we agree on all the details or not, we 100% know what the consequences will be: literally more unnecessary deaths, more wars, more division, far worse living standards, the free NHS disappearing completely, a continued return to Victorian times etc etc. The choice is VERY clear. Get on board or be responsible for ushering in unquestionably worse living standards & a contribution to environmental issues for the majority; in years to come, do you want future children-YOUR children-saying things like “Wow, you used to have free healthcare?! Free education?! A decent job and access to housing?! Why didn’t you back the leader who wanted to protect and add to these things?!” with the response being “Oh,it was because the media said so, I didn’t check the facts V the hyperbole/lies, he dresses scruffy, on occasion he didn’t sing the National Anthem, he refused to murder hundreds of millions via a nuclear bomb..” etc. Imagine the looks and abuse we would get???!!!
8. Be thankful someone is willing to sacrifice their life to defend ours. WHO ELSE would be able or willing to put up with the unprecedented levels of hate, abuse, character assassinations, death threats etc? No one I know. This ‘project’, this Movement cannot succeed if we abandon it. We all know the consequences of that. We will all FEEL the consequences of that. Of course Jeremy Corbyn, like any leader, should be scrutinised and held to account, but we must add to our numbers to make this work, not lose numbers. This can ONLY work if we support it; this is a PARTICIPATORY democracy we are working towards-not just ‘liking’ or sharing a tweet or Facebook post. It is a ‘WE’ NOT A ‘HE’ & ‘THEM’. For the sake of us all, please do not let those trying to separate us, win. They are starting to win when we see people usually aligned taking pot-shots at Labour, the liberals we usually share culture with-everyone is taking out their anger on Corbyn instead of the real problem people/government. To those people I say remember what you are ushering in…
The people united will never be defeated!✊✊✊
#JOINLABOUR #VOTELABOUR #DEFENDTHESOCIETYWEWANT #JC4PM
In Solidarity, Adam Samuels, Clwyd South Labour Party Media & Community Engagement Representative
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