Jeremy Corbyn
Gaining Increased Support From Most Sectors Of
British Society
Recent surveys of UK public
opinion have consistently confirmed that Jeremy
Corbyn is increasingly gaining support from most
sectors of British society.
Several major political
thinktanks have urgently addressed themselves to
understanding the reasons behind this surprise
phenomenon.
A spokesperson from the
influential Centre for UK Political Research
summarised the issue that has been perplexing so
many: ‘There have always been a hard core of
Labour supporters,’ she began. ‘They
habitually vote Labour without regard to any
factor other than the party’s name –
often their fathers voted Labour, their
grandfathers voted Labour, their great
grandfathers voted Labour, and their great
grandfathers’ horses wore the red flag with
pride. The word “Labour” is also
simpler than the longer and more complicated
names of other political parties. It is therefore
much easier for many of them to locate the
relevant box on a ballot paper.
‘There are, in
addition, other groups that base their political
choices on factors other than a reasoned
appraisal of current party policies,’ she
continued. ‘Young people, and particularly
students, are a case in point. They tend to vote
against the status quo in order to demonstrate
their newly acquired independence. Their opinions
often align with those of their friends –
most of whom wish to portray identical rebellious,
individualistic and free-thinking attitudes.
Jeremy Corbyn is currently their perfect anti-establishment
symbol.
‘Although young people
will be most affected by the future consequences
of their own political choices, they lack the
life experience to profoundly internalise what
these choices might mean in real terms. Those who
engage with politics tend to view it as a
fashionable game, without consequences –
like knocking on somebody’s door and running
away. As a result, in common with habitual Labour
supporters, they give little consideration to the
future effects of the political policies for
which they vote.
‘For these reasons,
habitual Labour voters, students and similar
groups would be expected to support Jeremy Corbyn.
The very interesting factor about the current
surge in personal support for the Labour leader,
however, is that it comes from sectors of society
who understand perfectly well that Jeremy Corbyn’s
brand of simplistic, Marxist ideology cannot be
applied to the complex political, social and
economic circumstances of the early twenty-first
century. They realise that his "back to the
future socialist fantasy", as Philip Hammond
described it at the 2017 Tory conference, would
lead to economic, political and social meltdown
in the UK.
‘The puzzling question
has emerged, therefore, about why these people
are supporting Jeremy Corbyn. It’s as if the
brighter and best informed passengers on the
Titanic were cheering-on Captain Edward J. Smith
when the iceberg was in plain sight.’
In an attempt to answer
this question, the Centre for UK Political
Research commissioned Ipsos Mori to
interview a representative sample from the
sectors of society who traditionally give the
most considered and intelligent thought to the
future consequences of their choices. Two of the
most significant among these are the retired and
the younger, professional middle class.
‘If Jeremy Corbyn
becomes Prime Minister,’ conceded a typical
retired respondent who was interviewed by Ipsos
Mori, ‘the country will proceed, via
the 1970s, back to the stone age. The point,
however,’ he emphasised, ‘is that
Armageddon won’t happen immediately. Corbyn
will have time to hurl sacks stuffed with dosh in
all directions.
‘Clearly his
relationship with the unions will mean that he
won’t be able to object to huge pay rises
for all workers – increases that have no
connection with productivity. If he tries to stop
that, there are loads of wannabe Arthur Scargills
in the union movement who’ll relish their
opportunities to hold the country to ransom again
– we’re starting to see that now with
the railways. From what Corbyn says, however, it
looks like everyone else will get handouts too
– from student loan write-offs to free care
for the elderly.
‘I’m not totally
clear about the fine details of Corbyn’s
policies,’ this respondent continued, ‘but
I get the impression that a Labour Party activist
will be stationed on every street corner with a
wheelbarrow full of fivers, handing them out to
anyone who comes past. I’m bound to get some
benefit from all that, and it’ll also cheer
people up. I’m so fed up with everyone
around me being really miserable and depressed
due to austerity.
‘Obviously Corbyn’s
policies will eventually lead to the country
going bankrupt,’ this respondent concluded.
‘I’m seventy-two years old, however.
The latest date for the next election will be in
2022. By that time I’ll be seventy-seven. If
Corbyn gets in, I can reckon on four great years
– and I’ll probably be dead before the
shit hits the fan, big time.’
Slightly different, though
similar, reasoning was expressed by a respondent
from the professional middle class – a forty-five
year old accountant who is married with two
children. She also referred to the “Corbyn
Window”, as it has been called – the
predicted period of joyous fun and prosperity
between the Labour leader’s general election
victory and the total economic collapse of the UK.
‘I know this is
irrational,’ this respondent explained to Ipsos
Mori, ‘but I just want to feel good for
a while. A friend of mine has an alcohol problem,’
she continued by way of analogy. ‘He was dry
for months, but then he had a personal crisis and
went back on the booze. He told me that he knew
it was a stupid thing to do, but he just felt so
down that he wanted to do anything to feel better
in the here and now, regardless of its future
consequences. For me, deciding to support Jeremy
Corbyn was like my friend opening that first
bottle of scotch. I hate myself for it, and I
know I’ll regret it, but it feels so good
that I don’t care.
‘Austerity is very
sensible plan,’ she continued, ‘but I’m
sick of it. There’s a food bank in my
village – the need for food banks is a total
bloody disgrace in Britain in the twenty-first
century. I saw the film, I Daniel Blake,
earlier in the year. That’s not fiction;
that’s what the state is really doing to
those unlucky people who’ve fallen on hard
times – and it could be any of us at any
time. Theresa May says she’s listening,
although she doesn’t say what she’s
listening to. I’m guessing it’s loud
rock music through headphones as she, sure as
hell, isn’t hearing ordinary people.
‘The other thing about
austerity,’ this respondent added, ‘is
that it often fails for reasons outside your
control. I’ve scrimped and saved at various
times in my life, but then, when I’d saved
enough money to look forward to buying what I’d
planned, the car needed expensive repairs or I
got some other unexpected bill that blew the lot.
I might as well not have bothered to make the
effort in the first place.
‘I bet it’ll be
like that with national austerity,’ she
concluded. ‘We’ll balance the books and
then, the next day, we’ll go to war with
North Korea or an asteroid will hit the Earth or
something – all that hardship would’ve
been for nothing. When I look at it that way, it
doesn’t seem so crazy to let Corbyn go
bananas and hope against hope that it’ll,
somehow, turn out alright in the end.’
Of the social groups
sampled by Ipsos Mori, the only one that
was predominantly not planning to vote Labour at
the next opportunity was the mega-rich. ‘I
think the government’s doing a great job,’
said one such respondent from the bridge of his
luxury yacht. ‘I’m certainly getting
wealthier. Although I do think they’re too
soft on the whingeing poor. You never got this
level of unrest in my great great grandfather’s
day when we used to hang the blighters for
stealing a loaf of bread.’
‘Due to the Ipsos
Mori survey, we now have a much clearer
picture,’ concluded the spokesperson from the
Centre for UK Political Research. ‘Most
people, whether they understand government policy
or not, and whether they agree with government
policy or not, don't like it.
‘This negativity has
currently reached such an extent that anything
else seems preferable. As an alternative, most of
the UK public would willingly vote for Mickey
Mouse, Donald Duck, any of the Telletubbies
… or even Jeremy Corbyn.’
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