A lot has already been said about Labour’s failure to
reach out to alienated and angry working-class voters in the EU referendum. It’s
clearly an important part of the explanation for Brexit. There is a real
danger, however, that Labour politicians (even the more perceptive ones, who
realise Corbyn has to go) might draw the wrong conclusions about the message
that has been sent.
Immigration is a toxic and volatile issue at the heart of
this right-wing counter-revolution. There is a very dangerous disconnect between
Labour’s middle-class, intellectual activist base and the working-class
communities that have traditionally voted for the party.
We’ve seen some truly ugly sentiments expressed in the
campaign. By the normal standards of British politics, you’d think that things
couldn’t get much worse than UKIP’s revolting anti-migrant poster. But we
actually saw the murder of a British MP just over a week ago, by someone who
allegedly shouted ‘Britain First’ as he attacked her and had connections with
shady far-right groups in the USA.
It is striking to me how quickly Jo Cox’s legacy has
effectively been forgotten. This speaks absolute volumes about the state of
Britain right now.
Remember how people speculated that a decent MP’s tragic
death might prompt people to think twice before voting for Brexit? No chance,
it seems. I suspect the only people who made the connection between the
appalling act of violence and the vitriol of the campaign were those already
inclined to the Remain cause.
The Labour leadership is trapped between what it knows to be morally and economically right, on the one hand, and a new realpolitik on the
other. If it refuses to acknowledge the real concerns of its voters, it’s hard
to imagine it has much of a future as a major political party outside Remain
enclaves such as Lambeth and Haringey.
People are worried about the total numbers of migrants
coming into the UK, but Labour is scared to admit this. It runs counter to
everything it wants to believe about its supporters. So it sticks its head in
the sand.
The Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell response is to tell people
that they are not actually concerned about migration, but are really victims of
austerity. Or that they are suffering at the hands of exploitative employers
who are trying to drive down wages. And that they wouldn’t have to worry if
schools and doctors’ surgeries were properly funded (although the party has no
clear message about how this would be achieved).
And the response from Labour voters is unequivocal.: “No.
Whether you like it or not, we are actually concerned about migration. Exactly
as we’ve told you time and time again. Exactly as we’ve told opinion pollsters
for years. But you have ignored us.”
As someone who has very liberal views myself on
immigration and sees the huge value and contribution that people from overseas
make to British culture and society, the response depresses me and troubles me
greatly. But I live in a comfortable suburb of Remain-voting London and I am
fortunate enough not to feel the dislocation and uncertainty that many people
feel elsewhere.
Labour will now be confronted with a Brexiter-led
government which has a popular mandate to control immigration.
Yes, of course, many of their claims have been bluster. A
large number of our current migrants come from outside the EU anyway. And we
still desperately need foreign workers to sustain our economy and public
services.
But what will Labour be saying to its voters who opted
for Brexit? This is a huge and desperate problem for the party as it moves
forward.
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