Jeremy Corbyn may sincerely want to do politics differently. But he’s given shadow chancellor of the exchequer, the biggest job in his gift, to John McDonnell, an old friend and ally – a crony, even – nonetheless. As for his vow to have an equal ratio of men and women in his cabinet, well, all of the other most senior jobs have been given to men too. I fear that Corbyn is likely to discover, pretty quickly, that the rhetoric of change is easier to conjure than change itself.
Yet already one can see that, in fairness, Corbyn doesn’t have a large pool of talent to draw from, with experienced Labour MPs already finding reasons why they cannot serve in his shadow cabinet. But those who remain aghast at Corbyn’s rise are already behaving foolishly. The people who support Corbyn are going to be mightily annoyed if they feel that he is not being given the right to succeed or fail on his own terms.
In these early days after Corbyn’s election as Labour leader, a paradox is already emerging. If all of these legions of critics believe that Corbyn’s administration is as doomed to self-destruction as they say it is, then why don’t they just grab a box of popcorn, sit back and watch?
Instead, the Sun insists that Corbyn will appoint a minister for Jews, the Telegraph announces “the day the Labour party died”, and the Times warns that Corbyn has started a civil war.Politicians and commentators all seem so certain that Corbynism will collapse. But their disdainful hostility only fuels the strong sense held by Corbyn’s supporters, that their hopes of creating a better polity are always thwarted by the dark forces of the establishment.
I think I know why. I don’t believe that Corbyn is going to become prime minister. But I do think that this country deserves the opportunity to take part in a full and frank debate about the shortcomings of the approaches of both main parties. It’s true that the solutions of the future are not going to be found in the past – which is why I don’t personally believe that Corbyn is the answer.
But I do believe that serious re-evaluation of the post-war course of politics is urgently needed. All Corbyn has to do, in order to take his place in the history books, is to secure the space for that debate. His enemies know this too, which is why they are choosing to bay and scream, or simply absent themselves using principled-sounding excuses.
If politicians and commentators truly care about the future, they need to opt instead for the harder and more rewarding task of trying to work out what Corbyn’s appeal really means, instead of sneering. They must examine and refine Corbyn’s ideas, giving sound reasons if they end up rejecting them all the same. Instead, they are already destroying any hope of progress through these interesting times.
