Jeremy Corbyn has made a good start to the 2019 general election campaign – and his pitch to defend the NHS from US vultures will surely hit home with most voters.
The tone, language, policies and targets are the right ones. He is talking about creating a country where people contributing to the wealth of companies and industry will be protected by law and benefit from their labour.
He is talking about a country where the rich pay their fair share, where tax avoidance is not allowed, where employees and the environment are respected. He is talking about the kind of country most of us would like to live in.
There is a question mark over whether Corbyn is the right man to be delivering the right message, although garnering enemies like Donald Trump and showing the kind of focused enthusiasm on display yesterday will do his reputation no harm.
One of the keys to building a new Britain will be the relationship with Scotland – and Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon do not appear to be singing from the same song sheet. Both want to present themselves to the voters as best of enemies before the election.
But if the Tories are to be kicked out, they might need to be best of friends after the poll.
Services strained
The general election in Scotland looks likely to be dominated by Brexit and independence.
However, yesterday’s session in Holyrood confirmed that the poll should also be focusing on the alarming state of public services and the impact on staff.
At First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard revealed figures showing NHS staff had lost more than 3.5million working hours through stress and mental health problems.
Phil Fairlie, the chair of the Prison Officers Association in Scotland, separately claimed that staff are quitting as a result of violence, drug use and overcrowding in the country’s jails.
These stories should worry anyone who cares about the fabric of our society.
Parties must use the election to have an honest debate on public services, rather than retreat into the comfort zone of constitutional politics.
