Winning in 2020

The heading of the Star`s editorial summed it up nicely; compassion and caring are "not in the Tories DNA" (Morning Star,22/01/16). The trouble is that this does not stop them winning elections, so Corbyn`s Labour party has to get its act together soon, and start winning over the electorate. There is no need to pay a fortune to an election guru, as getting the right message across is not rocket ecience. As the last election showed, it`s not always enough to have the right policies, as the Tories are good at creating false impressions, like the one where they help the "aspirational", or care about workers. Of course, such nonsense is easily repudiated, but relying on Corbyn at PMQs, or McDonnell`s lecture tour is not enough; the whole party has not only to be on the same page of the same book, but has to be saying the exact same phrases repeatedly! Many Tory backbenchers hate Cameron and his pro-Europe policies, but they all repeat the mantra about "long-term economic plan" and such like. Labour need to develop some repeatable sayings, along the lines of:

                 "Austerity measures have failed to reduce the deficit", or

                  "Tories borrow more than Labour", followed with the very latest figures to prove it.

                  "The Trade Union Bill shows that the Tories are the enemy of working people", or

                  "By attacking the doctors, the Tories show they are the anti-NHS party".

    These could be coupled with a denunciation of Cameron`s "sink-estates" proposals, as their destruction will almost everywhere lead to private housing developments and the creation of more non-affordable homes.

       Labour`s proposals have to be repeated too, with the clear message that they are what the majority of people support, and that together, they create a vision for a fairer and more just society. 

 Those who still claim that Corbyn is unelectable, and that his party is out of synch with the people, are simply not thinking of what damage the Tories will have done to the country by 2020. Are we expected to believe that the vast majority of the country won`t want our over-expensive railways to be re-nationalised, cruel austerity measures, aimed at those least able to defend themselves, to be halted, and the rich to pay more in taxes? 

      Will voters really be "intensely relaxed" about bosses taking home 183 times the amount of their average worker, and content with a "national living wage" which, even by 2020, will be way below what a London living wage is today! Presumably, Corbyn is wrong to suggest that this government has done next to nothing about the billions lost through tax avoidance and evasion, or that its attacks on workers in the public sector are both morally and economically misguided? Unlike John McDonnell, voters will think it perfectly acceptable for firms like Google to make tax donations to the Treasury, after yet more "sweetheart deals", unlike the thousands of smaller firms and millions of employees who pay their full whack.  

        By 2020, unless there are major U-turns, there will be even greater shortages in the teaching and nursing professions, and hundreds of doctors will have left the country for more appreciative climes. Osborne will still not have reduced the deficit significantly, and the Tories` shrunken state will be suffering from reduced security at home, and increased industrial action, regardless of the Trade Union Bill being passed, in all areas of employment. Infrastructure will be starved of essential funds, yet over a hundred billion will be available for nuclear weapons and wars in the Middle East. More businesses, in true Sports Direct form, will have been discovered to be breaking employment rules, scam-riddled banks and City accounting firms will still be avoiding the scant regulations government has imposed, inefficient security firms like G4S will still be given government contracts, energy firms will not have stopped over-charging consumers, all businesses will still will be paying one of the world`s lowest rate of corporation tax, and the CBI will still be moaning about their employees` lack of skills. Housing availability for first time buyers will be at a minimum, whilst private rents to greedy landlords will still not be capped, and thousands of Tory voters` offspring will be paying through the roof for uninhabitable accommodation, as well as having to repay their student loans. Social mobility will still be restricted, with the places in the so-called "top" universities, and the best jobs, going to the privately educated.

      Of course, victory in 2020 is possible, but unity is essential; MPs need to rally round their leader, support him in his attacks on the Tories, and endorse the policies he proposes.