14 Apr 2016

Corbyn: a convincing conversion to Pro-EU?

Where better for Jeremy Corbyn to try to bail out Tory-led Project Fear on the EU than in the Ministry of Fear.

The Senate Building at the University of London was the Ministry of Information in the war, inspiration for Graham Greene’s Ministry of Fear and also for Orwell’s Ministry of Truth.

The Remain camp believes the drift down in Remain votes in recent times owes a lot to Labour identifiers feeling understandably disenchanted by the idea of following a campaign dominated by a Tory Prime Minister barking at others in his divided party. These voters need to hear Labour voices, the thinking runs, and Labour reasons to vote Remain.

Jeremy Corbyn acknowledged he was in Orwell’s Ministry of Truth. “Let’s see if it is,” he said, as he started his speech.

IMG_4215 Project Fear comes to the Ministry of Fear

How convincing was the conversion? Jeremy Corbyn is a man who has always argued passionately against EU policies. In fact his critics amongst his own MPs say he’s always been someone happier attacking things rather than defending constructions of his own.

Reading off autocue he quoted the newly-elected socialist PM of Portugal who’s one of the people who have been impressing on Mr Corbyn the need to campaign for Remain.

He drew parallels with his own decision to stay in the Labour Party even though he hadn’t agreed with Blairism and the need for the UK to stay in the EU even though people might have strong differences with policies.

To Welsh Labour identifiers angry about steel job losses he urged them not to see the EU as the villain – it was a Tory problem not an EU problem.

He said climate change challenges needed EU cooperation. He said many labour protections were rooted in EU action.

There were often digressions which would not have been in the Britain Stronger in Europe template for political speeches. He talked about state rail control, fast food worker global action day, the need for human rights elements in trade treaties (that last one a particular passion of his over many years).

He painted the Out cause as a pro-offshore, smaller state, friend of the plutocrats project. He talked about how a post-Brexit Boris Johnson-led government would negotiate a lousy deal with the EU with minimal protections for workers and with Nigel Farage cheering from the sides.

There was a message to young voters delivered in the hall to an audience of mainly younger Labour supporters.

IMG_4214Graffiti in a nearby Bloomsbury loo – thoughtfully in easy-wipe ink

To a question asking whether people would be convinced by his record of half-hearted support for the EU he insisted he never did half-hearted campaigning.

Well, on the pro-EU case, until now, that’s a flattering description of what he’s done. We’ll see whether it’s how history will record his contribution over the next few weeks. There could be a political prize if he looks like he’s contributed to the vote in a big way and become part of the national political furniture in a more established way.

Here today, there were no leaflets for those who’d attended, no great sense of occasion, no sense of an organisation. The rhetoric and delivery never remotely soared. But Alan Johnson, leaving the event, pronounced himself satisfied and insisted that the power of the convert would have special impact.

There’s an argument amongst Labour critics of Mr Corbyn about whether to challenge him before the EU referendum or after it, pressure from some quarters to hold back so as not to distract from the referendum. One MP critic said he and colleagues would be watching closely today today to see if Jeremy Corbyn was an asset or a liability in the referendum campaign.

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