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
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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+ #VoteLabour (@corbyn50plus) January 7, 2020
Apparently 4 years of backstabbing, labelling us racists and trying to throw elections isn't enough for you Angela.
Unfortunately anyone who doesn't get this shouldn't be in a position of power within the party.
— Deselection Express (@DeselectNow) January 7, 2020
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 #NotMyGovernment (@sheilaRNBD) January 7, 2020
It's not helpful but it is the culmination of years of frustration, of set backs, of seeing a real hope for progress dashed into the ground & knowing that factions in the party actively worked against the leadership. Until that is acknowledged & put right, how do we move on?
— RedManc (@h_manc) January 7, 2020
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.— Julie Harrington #CorbynWasRight #KeepLabourLeft🌹 (@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.
— Mel (@melaniekmelvin) 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.
— Mel (@melaniekmelvin) January 7, 2020
That's just it though, there's no respectful debate with neoliberals who'd rather a Boris Johnson government than a leftwing one. They've smeared the left for the last four years & are directly responsible for Labours electoral suicide/2nd ref. You shouldn't need to be told this.
— Vanity Ⓥ 🍭 #EndSpeciesism 🐾✊🏾 (@VanityXv) January 7, 2020
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
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And Canary your mention of RLB’s “perception of A/S” was accompainied in a tweet in June with her association of the Canary as being A/S and associating herself with JLM. She has many attributes but she seems a bit confused on some issues. Maybe a conflict with old friends and their hurt recieving A/S on social media and at the same time needing to keep a clear head as to the reality of the situation just within the party.
I notice that Nick Watt (BBC Newsnight commentator) has already started laying into Long-Bailey. The attack machine that was directed against Corbyn has now turned its fire on her.
Any new Labour leader, in no uncertain terms, needs to tell religious, trades union and other inner-Labour nobbling lobbying factions that none of them seeming to wield some kind of historic right exclusively ‘owns’ the Labour Party – or that the Labour Party is ‘the natural home’ of a defined demographic which insists Labour must be defined by their rules, diktats and cloth cap, kippah or any other head-topped wearing traditions. Wear a cloth cap or titfer if you want to. Don’t then demand I can’t wear my redoubtable sou’wester.
For me Labour died two years ago. I voted for them in December but like many I guessed correctly it was a wasted vote. Wondering if Keir Starmer will lead this waste of a party is like wondering if Keir Starmer pisses up a wall or pisses down. Who cares?
We need another party of the left, one untainted by Blair. I had hoped George Galloway would lead the way but I think he chose the wrong name for his new party. I’m working class but calling it the Workers Party of Britain leaves it open to attack purely from its name. Had it been something more inclusive like the Democratic Alliance or Grassroots Alliance I’d have been keen, but I doubt he’ll get far with the WPB.
April 4th is far off, and the debate has just begun.
But will there be any resolve to the hard fellings .
I’d like to know why Chris Williamson was dismissed from the party even though he represented his riding so well. He was smart, and began to find out where this smear campaign was coming from.
Where did it originate from beside the Intergriy Initiaitve?
This is a issue to resolve on the way to finding any harmony. It needs intelligent answers.
You can’t ignore this ,and to think you’ll be united will just be a fantasy. What has happened needs an answer to achieve any harmony at all. You need courage not to discuss this issue in a personal sense. Things went wankers for far too long.