Something truly symbolic happened last night, and you may have missed it. Question Time featured The S*n ‘Journalist’ Rod Little, the SNP/Scottish Independence supporting Val McDermid, former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, Labour’s Emily Thornberry and the Conservative’s Nadhim Zahawi. That, of course, in itself is not significant. What was, is that the EXACT (maybe McDermid aside) same people who have mocked, derided, laughed at, criticised constantly Corbyn & McDonnell’s economic plans all now agree that this IS the way forward and that McDonnell IS correct. This is symbolic, as I say, because they are demonstrating that, once again (as with Iraq X 2, Libya, Syria X 3, not arming Saddam Hussein in the 1980’s when we did, Afghanistan, peace in NI, Arpartheid and actually seeing the financial crash of 07/08 coming in advance down to the specifics of the American Sub-Prime Mortgage issues, and being ignored) Corbyn & McDonnell are on the correct side of history!
Oh, and Emily Thornberry (and others) were too slow reacting to the smarmy chap who thought he was being smart by asking-paraprhasing-“Name me one country where Corbyn & McDonnell’s plans have worked?!”. Taking the general point, the answer is 1. THE UK!!! Attlee’s government in 1945-coincidentally, the last time the vote share for Labour increased as much as it did in June for Corbyn-introduced the NHS and Welfare State. Though some differences of course, the general policy ideology remains the same.
Atllee & Bevan were equally derided for this “unsustainable utopia” that has sustained until now; no thanks to the Conservative Party who are doing their utmost to sell off this Crown Jewel and envy of the world. Portugal is another with their current anti-austerity government. Ecuador for 10 years under Correra. Venezuela under Chavez. Bolivia now independent from the World Bank under Morales. Uruguay under Tabaré Vázquez. Then, of course, several of the Scandinavian countries. More on this here from the excellent Another Angry Voice: https://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/id-like-to-hear-example-of-country.html
On Newsnight not so long ago, Emily Maitlis (no Corbyn fan, that’s for sure!) was leading a piece about the economic situation. She was told by those interviewed that, without naming them but using their policies almost verbatim, Corbyn & McDonnell’s investment plan was the way forward. Paraphrasing here, to which she replied “Hang on; Corbyn has been mocked for 2 years for saying these things, are you actually now saying he was and is correct?”….Yes!
From the Bank Of England to the IMF, from the smallest business owners to the biggest leaders of corporations-they are all now saying the same things: The investment plan on offer from Corbyn & McDonnell is the only way forward.
For any critics or those firmly entrenched in the “Spending the money of others/Bandwagon/How you going to pay for it/False promises/Utopia” camp, I say this (apologies to those reading for repeating this, but it is worth it):
Re the Conservative Party: I personally, would not support the party that has overseen record wage stagnation and recession of wages, missed every single one of their OWN fiscal targets, made the UK literally the most unequal in Europe economically, record homelessness, record poverty, record child poverty….they have borrowed more in 7 years than every Labour government in history. Combined (Oh, and before any one says “Labour got us in to this mess”…while I am no particular fan of Blair & brown…no, they didn’t. The banks did. Even if you do believe that re Labour, the Tories backed every penny of it!!!). Borrowing is not the issue, but borrowing AND implementing austerity is beyond incompetent.
The Tories are also using quantitative easing-the very thing they are trying to frame Corbyn for doing if he got in. Only they do it for big business, not the people. They are over-seeing the slowest growing economy in the Western world and have been an absolute disaster economically. They have done untold damage and yet, despite everyone from the BOE to even the IMF saying Neo Liberalism is failing, they STILL say “More of the same is the only answer!”?!
The ‘Magic Money tree’ is where a lot of the aforementioned have their money-in offshore accounts. In preparation for any “He’ll bankrupt us!” claims…his economic plan is based on the highly successful National & Regional Investment Bank model, used to great success by Germany and others. His plans are also backed by 130+ of the world’s top economists, including 2 Nobel Prize winning economists and former BOE advisers. So, if people wish to mock his economic plan, then they are, literally, saying Germany and the world’s best economic minds are economically illiterate!!!
The Tories have the luxury of almost the entire mainstream media on their side here, and a similar kind of media internationally. This means we get lots of idiots who think what they are told re Corbyn’s economics is in any way accurate. It’s not. It’s basic Keynesian economics and we know it has worked so well elsewhere. VERY misinformed and lazy people say “What about Venezuela?!”-as Nadhim Zahawi did on QT, which is stupid as Venezuela now, under Maduro, is not comparable for any number of reasons, and Corbyn is not proposing the same things. Oh, and Venezuela has been failed by mismanagement and the opposition and America spending every year since 1999 trying to destroy it.
Thankfully, the economic times; they are a-changin’! Solidarity with all those putting up with the rubbish from those believing in the failed way of doing things, who STILL think they know best?! Let us hope that now, finally, Corbyn & McDonnell are allowed to set history as opposed to realising too late that they were correct. Again.
#JC4PM #MCDONNELL4CHANCELLOR #TORIESOUT
Adam Samuels
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09fkw34/question-time-16112017
