If Rebecca Long-Bailey really wants to heal the Labour divide, she needs to start here

Rebecca Long-Bailey wants to be the next leader of the Labour Party. And she’s the most prominent left-wing candidate in the race. But while she’s apparently seeking to heal the divide that’s engulfed the parliamentary party in recent years, she also needs to show that she’s willing to make a strong stand against the voices that fostered this divide.

Continuing with a “socialist agenda” is good, but it’s not enough

Announcing her leadership campaign in the left-wing Tribune magazine, Long-Bailey clearly set out a commitment to continue with the “socialist agenda” of the party’s manifesto:

We need a leader you can trust with our socialist agenda.

A leader who is totally committed to the policies and has the political backbone to defend them.
⁰That is why I am standing.https://t.co/P15RJx7ifI

— Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) January 7, 2020

She also promised that she would “fight the establishment tooth and nail”:

I’m not your typical politician. I’m not a millionaire or a landlord, and I didn’t go to a posh school. Instead, I’m a lifelong socialist.

You’re as likely to see me on a picket line as you are at the dispatch box, and you can trust me to fight the establishment tooth and nail. https://t.co/2Gq9NogfnN

— Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) January 7, 2020

In the article, meanwhile, she called for “a new democracy” and said:

We must go to war with the political establishment, pledging a constitutional revolution that sweeps away the House of Lords, takes big money out of politics and radically shifts power away from Westminster.

She’s right on all of the above. But as Tribune editor Ronan Burtenshaw has insisted:

Corbyn’s personal unpopularity was fostered by hostility from powerful forces: the billionaire press, the business elite, the traditional political class.

Any politics that aspires to win for workers will have to confront these. We must do it better, not shy away from the fight.

— Ronan Burtenshaw (@ronanburtenshaw) December 14, 2019

This fight against the hostile billionaire press and its establishment allies is indeed vital. Because this toxic coalition has played a key role since 2015 in ensuring that enough voters feared, disliked, or distrusted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. There was unfortunately no mention of Britain’s putrid media environment in Long-Bailey’s article, though. She did mention that “cosying up to Rupert Murdoch” in the past had been a mistake. Elsewhere, meanwhile, she said “Jeremy was absolutely savaged by the press… from day one” and that “we needed to have a rebuttal unit” to respond to the attacks against him. But she just didn’t give any signs of a real counterattack against the corporate media giants that dominate British politics.

‘Kinder, gentler politics’ doesn’t work when only one side participates

From the start of Corbyn’s leadership, he sought to promote polite and reasoned debate in politics. But his opponents simply didn’t play along. And Britain’s billionaire media and its allies had a field day, waging a years-long war of smears against him. As Labour’s Andy McDonald said in December:

[I have] never in my lifetime known any single individual so demonised and vilified, so grotesquely and so unfairly

Brexit and the issues surrounding it were a key factor in handing the 2019 election to one of the most racist, hard-right governments in living memory. But it would be disastrous to ignore the effect of years of despicable anti-Corbyn propaganda in the media – often fuelled and amplified by Corbyn’s opponents within the Labour Party.

Long-Bailey now seems to suggest, however, that Labour members and voters should just forget the constant attacks on Corbyn’s leadership from the Labour right:

one thing I want to come from my leadership campaign: 4 years of attack and hurt within our party from all sides can’t continue. We will not survive. Be clear on what we believe but everyone MUST be clear we’ve got to do it together and do not attack anyone in our party x

— Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) January 7, 2020

This is a position that her running mate Angela Rayner also seemed to hold. But judging by the reaction online, many people feel that there should be stronger action to ensure that what happened to Corbyn never happens again:

You’re tweet’s helpful & revealing though. A respectful debate has to be two way. Now the trots, rabble and dogs, who in reality are ordinary folk like those in our group who merely wanted a better life for all can just turn the other cheek while you defend those that vilify us?

— Corbyn Supporters 50+ (@corbyn50plus) January 7, 2020

https://twitter.com/DeselectNow/status/1214523447906390016?s=20

Respect is what those who support @jeremycorbyn expected since Sept 2015 but too many in the PLP have done everything possible to sabotage him & democracy. Any potential leader/deputy must stand up for his legacy & for members & call out to those who will continue to undermine.

— Sheila Gorman Flynn @Corbyn_Project #ToriesOut (@sheilaRNBD) January 7, 2020

https://twitter.com/h_manc/status/1214485957556219904?s=20

Please defend those who fought so hard to get the party elected.
We’ve put up with so much abuse and smears in the name of Democratic Socialism, which is what our party is about.
Deal with the naysayers in the PLP who fought against the LOTO every chance they got.

— Jules #FreePalestine🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@celtjules66) January 7, 2020

It starts with MPs getting away with abuse: Shouting ‘f***ing antisemite’ at the leader, calling all Corbyn supporters ‘trots, rabble, dogs.’ Unacceptable to have no consequences for this behaviour.

— MM (@2SpencerRoad) January 7, 2020

Show you mean it by defending the left. Nobody else has. We are sick of being called ‘trots, rabble, dogs, loonies, cranks, antisemites’ often by MPs. Show you mean what you say by calling them out.

— MM (@2SpencerRoad) January 7, 2020

https://twitter.com/VanityXv/status/1214544976161447939

Corbyn was widely criticised for being too accommodating and tolerant of those right-wingers who tried to sabotage his leadership and undermine the democratic choices of the membership. What would you do differently?

— Old Git 💙 (@toooldforit) January 7, 2020

In 2019, Long-Bailey condemned any comments “perceived to be” antisemitic. This came amid constant right-wing smears which weaponised and amplified allegations of antisemitism to attack Corbyn and his supporters despite Labour consistently taking strong action to stamp out the small amount of racism that exists in the party. For many, the fact that Long-Bailey would condemn even a ‘perception’ of wrongdoing is also a source of concern.

Two key questions that Long-Bailey needs to answer convincingly

Long-Bailey’s pledge to continue with the Labour Party’s current socialist vision is promising. But there are two major issues she needs to address in the coming weeks. One is how she plans to support independent, left-wing media in order to counter the right-wing propaganda from the establishment media which will almost certainly continue if she becomes leader. The second is how she plans to deal with Labour politicians who actively undermined Corbyn and helped to fuel the media onslaught against him.

Any future leader of the party needs to give a serious, comprehensive answer to both of those questions.

Featured image via YouTube – Labour Party