Tories were today warned to stop branding Jeremy Corbyn a “Marxist”, claiming the label means very little to most people.
Former minister and MP for Harlow Robert Halfon urged the Conservative Party’s biggest names to drop the “hard-Left moniker” used in recent speeches because it will not win votes.
In a piece for Conservative Home, Mr Halfon, who is chairman of the Commons education select committee, said: “These terms do not resonate with the public — and certainly not the younger generation. Voters will not be convinced by the ills of Corbyn by hearing ‘Don’t vote for Labour because he is a Marxist’. Such terminology means very little to most ordinary folk.”
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt hit out at Mr Corbyn for running a “Marxist regime” this month, and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss said “red flag-waving Marxists” would not be able to help the younger generation.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who is expected to run in the contest to choose the next Tory party leader, has also branded Mr Corbyn a Marxist in recent weeks. Mr Halfon said the Tories should instead attack the Labour leader on his proposals for the economy, how poor finances could harm public services and his record on security.
He said potential Tory voters are worried about school funding, police and university tuition fees, and the party should develop its own “compassionate, Conservative brand”.
A Labour spokesman said: “The Tory party are stuck in the past with their tired attacks.”
In 2015 Mr Corbyn said the philosophy of Karl Marx, who published The Communist Manifesto in 1848, was “absolutely fascinating”.
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