A recent retweet of mine managed to clock up 45,000 impressions and a fair bit of online commentary. I'd spotted and circulated a post from Laura Smith, the Member of Parliament for Crewe & Nantwich, who was telling us about a 'people-powered mass meeting' just held in her constituency.
Embedded in Smith's tweet was an image of the gathering.
The picture showed maybe 60 or 70 people standing with their arms aloft and fists clenched, as if gripped by a revolutionary fervour. The filter on the shot gives it a slightly retro feel and one might easily be looking at a contingent of Republicans determined to defend Barcelona from the fascist onslaught in January 1939.
But this wasn't Las Ramblas and the coming of Franco. It was somewhere about 25 miles south of Runcorn and frankly embarrassing.
I remarked on Twitter than I'd spent 30 years in the Labour Party, chaired a constituency party and stood as a parliamentary candidate on a couple of occasions. In the past, I attended more Labour Party meetings than Tom Watson used to have hot dinners. Some of that time served was in the dark days of the 1980s, where Trotskyist infiltration was at its peak and the so-called 'loony left' held sway over a number of local authorities.
I can honestly say that NEVER in all that time - and in all those endless general committees and local government committees and party conferences and student demos - was I ever expected to stand with my fist above my head in the style of Wolfie from the classic 70s sitcom Citizen Smith. (Note to younger readers: this was a show where Robert Lindsay played a wasteman from South London who spent his life trying to emulate Che Guevara.)
Corbyn has not only taken Labour out of the social democratic mainstream politically, but he has removed it culturally too. It has become a place where people are expected to act out revolutionary theatre in a style that would have embarrassed even the most hardened Trots I knew as a student.
The people in the Crewe & Nantwich salute may well be decent folk. I'm sure many of them genuinely want to create a better society. But that society will not come out of regimentation, groupthink and uncritical support for Corbyn. The tragedy is that may Labour members are so detached from mainstream opinion that they probably believe this snap will serve as an inspiration to others. The reality is that it's instant propaganda for their Tory opponents.
Embedded in Smith's tweet was an image of the gathering.
Last night's people-powered mass meeting proved that we all share a common vision for our local community and for a fairer society. Lots of campaign ideas to rebuild Crewe & Nantwich #ByTheMany @IanLaveryMP pic.twitter.com/yaJ4ipwdm7— Laura Smith MP (@LauraSmithMP) June 26, 2019
The picture showed maybe 60 or 70 people standing with their arms aloft and fists clenched, as if gripped by a revolutionary fervour. The filter on the shot gives it a slightly retro feel and one might easily be looking at a contingent of Republicans determined to defend Barcelona from the fascist onslaught in January 1939.
But this wasn't Las Ramblas and the coming of Franco. It was somewhere about 25 miles south of Runcorn and frankly embarrassing.
I remarked on Twitter than I'd spent 30 years in the Labour Party, chaired a constituency party and stood as a parliamentary candidate on a couple of occasions. In the past, I attended more Labour Party meetings than Tom Watson used to have hot dinners. Some of that time served was in the dark days of the 1980s, where Trotskyist infiltration was at its peak and the so-called 'loony left' held sway over a number of local authorities.
I can honestly say that NEVER in all that time - and in all those endless general committees and local government committees and party conferences and student demos - was I ever expected to stand with my fist above my head in the style of Wolfie from the classic 70s sitcom Citizen Smith. (Note to younger readers: this was a show where Robert Lindsay played a wasteman from South London who spent his life trying to emulate Che Guevara.)
Corbyn has not only taken Labour out of the social democratic mainstream politically, but he has removed it culturally too. It has become a place where people are expected to act out revolutionary theatre in a style that would have embarrassed even the most hardened Trots I knew as a student.
The people in the Crewe & Nantwich salute may well be decent folk. I'm sure many of them genuinely want to create a better society. But that society will not come out of regimentation, groupthink and uncritical support for Corbyn. The tragedy is that may Labour members are so detached from mainstream opinion that they probably believe this snap will serve as an inspiration to others. The reality is that it's instant propaganda for their Tory opponents.
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