Politics is ugly. It needs to change, and the Labour Party must now set an example.
The battle for the soul of the Labour Party is an unfortunate example of the rigid and often nasty divisions that we have allowed in politics and wider society. It’s time to listen to one another and work together.
On Thursday night, the Labour Party did not simply lose the election. It was crushed beyond expectations. With Jeremy Corbyn’s announcement that he would not lead the party into its next election campaign — but that he would stay as leader temporarily to ensure that the necessary processes of reflection and reconstruction took place — we can expect a leadership election in the early months of next year. Thus begins the tug-of-war over the future of the Labour Party.
A battle between the groups of various political alignment that make up the wide complexion of the party and its supporters — the “Hard” Left, the “Soft” Left, the moderates — all with different and conflicting visions of where the party must go next. It is not clear how the party can win another General Election, but this is not yet important. What is important is working together to rebuild the party into coherent opposition. It is ensuring that the fight for Labour’s future does not become a civil war, that it ends in neither a schism nor an implosion. The threat exists because many in each faction believe that ideological dominance is more important than compromise, that proving oneself correct is more important than understanding why someone else disagrees. Too often, in place of any constructive conversation, the debate is reduced to nothing more than name-calling, stereotyping, a sneering and broad dismissal of the positions that one does not themselves identify with. He’s a Blairite. She’s a Corbynista. They’re a Red Tory. None of this is helpful, and none of this will contribute to rebuilding the Labour Party into something that the country can identify with.
The Left-wing faction of the Labour Party believes in ideological integrity, that opposition must be genuine socialism. It possesses a staunch determination to uphold the values on which the party was founded but has been criticised heavily for its inflexibility and hostility to any who suggest compromise. The moderates have been crying out for a return to more centrist, sensible politics in their belief that it will make the party more electable. They believe that electability can be achieved by abandoning some of the radical politics that attracted so many new members — but that it is altogether a sacrifice worth making.
The Labour Party is in crisis because it lacks the ability to reconcile its own internal conflicts. But disagreement does not need to mean division nor destruction. I believe the country needs a Labour government, and it will need one even more in 5 years time. If the members of the Labour Party genuinely care about that fact, they will need to work with each other in the best interests of the country. This is only possible by abandoning the tribalism that has infected the membership, by not shouting one another out of the debate, by compromise.
Hostility will do nothing for progressive politics. Such a fact is epitomised clearly by Labour supporters on twitter telling sceptics of Corbyn to “f*** off and join the Tories”, and the people of this country coming out in droves to do exactly that. Passion is commendable, anger can be important, but rudeness will only alienate people further. It is difficult for many to be open-minded towards those who they believe, rightly or wrongly, are voting for a party that fundamentally does not care about poor people. Dominic Cummings, the now infamous chief advisor to № 10, said so of the Tory Party himself. But in reality, your average Conservative supporter does not vote with hatred for poor people, nor contempt towards immigrants or the disabled. Portraying them as such often conveys a self-prescribed moral superiority that is patronising enough to dissuade neutrals from voting with you. The Tories have presided over increasing rough sleeping, stagnating wages, failing health and education services, tax cuts for the wealthy. Yes, it needs to change, desperately. But too often the passion of the Left-wing youth for social justice morphs into the total ostracization of those who do not fully share the same ideological platform.
We live in increasingly polarizing times. Much of the country has spent the best part of 4 years in two irreconcilable camps of Brexiteers and Remainers, Racists and Traitors, Stupid and Snowflakes. If you’re not with us, you’re against us. The problem is pervasive, and sometimes presenting the facts is still not enough to convert someone into believing the truth, or to convince them to cross the lines that divide us. Rigid tribalism is not only present in the Labour Party, it runs through society. But if someone is ridiculed or demonized by the side that needs to win them over, will they willingly abandon or double down on their beliefs? Thursday’s result gave us an answer.
If the Left wants to win the voters of this country back, it is time to start listening. It needs to prove that it cares about the people that it is supposed to represent. All voters have an idea of what they want for this country. Telling someone that they’re stupid is not productive. The Labour Party now has an opportunity to rebuild, and I sincerely hope that we learn how to listen to each other while we’re doing it.
