Labour team needs new style of play to win again

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/22/labour-team-needs-new-style-of-play-to-win-again

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Letters: readers react to Andy Beckett’s prediction that party policies might sow the seeds for success ahead

Andy Beckett (A defeat, yes, but this was not nearly as bad as 1983, Journal, 20 December) suggests that we should not be overly worried about Labour’s defeat because the left did well among young people and Londoners. He ignores the bigger historical lessons. Labour’s roots lie in the friendly societies and trade unions of the 19th century, and the Christian nonconformist communities from which they sprang.

This historical background remains an authentic expression of the values held by the kinds of communities that had traditionally voted Labour until this election. It means that any leadership or programme inspired too much by policies based on doctrinaire socialism is bound to fail with the electorate. Equally, a pragmatic commitment to social justice is not the exclusive property of the left.

Another great British political tradition rests on one-nation Conservatism, the values and beliefs held by the so-called “wets” derided by Margaret Thatcher. It may lack the ideological underpinnings of socialist thought, and may be dismissed as the rich throwing a bone to the poor, but it can improve social justice if the Tory leadership wants it to. If Boris Johnson fails to achieve noticeable improvements in social justice over the next five years, Labour will have an open goal – but not if it continues to scare off its traditional supporters with talk of a class war and financially unbelievable commitments.Peter MuchlinskiEmeritus professor of law, Soas University of London

• I agree with Andy Beckett that the 1983 election result was much worse for Labour than this month’s defeat. In 1983, not only did the Conservatives win a much bigger majority (144), but under Thatcher they had both a clear ideology and a sense of purpose – and their leader was able to articulate these. The Conservatives under Boris Johnson have neither a coherent vision nor an obvious direction to go, beyond a desire to “get Brexit done”, while their leader is a chancer who is widely distrusted.

Perhaps I am being unduly optimistic, but I sense the shine will very soon come off this Conservative election victory as people realise that austerity is far from over, the government’s response to the climate emergency is woefully inadequate and Brexit will bring some painful consequences.John BoalerCalne, Wiltshire

• Andy Beckett’s article is reminiscent of football fans arguing that this season’s 4-0 defeat by arch-rivals is not nearly as bad as last year’s 5-0 trouncing. His logic is equally flawed in quoting the percentage voting pattern of under-35s on the supposition that this will eventually translate into a massive victory for Labour. All the available evidence suggests that the older you get, the farther to the right you drift.

I’ve spent decades in Labour and never joined a pressure group. I’ve found myself left on some issues and right on others. Anecdotal evidence I have accrued suggests most party members are like me, not the posturing of the self-labelled and often transient “left”.

We have taken a massive battering and, like some football teams, perhaps we not only need a new manager but a new style of play. Beckett appears to subscribe to the Corbyn continuity strategy. Heaven spare us.Charles GainsOrmskirk, West Lancashire

• Andy Beckett points out that “Corbyn won the support of a cohort of voters that will only become more important” – the under-35s. This reminds me of an elderly person who asked, in 1971, why the introduction of decimal currency could not wait until all of the old people had died.Bill BradburyBolton

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