THERE is no point in Labour trying to get an early General Election which it would probably lose, unless it gets its Brexit policy across clearly (‘Corbyn: Johnson has begging bowl out to speculators’, The Herald, August 27).
The policy has changed so often, been expressed so vaguely, and contradicted by senior Labour and trade union figures so often, that many voters either don’t know what it is, or think Corbyn is trying to fool them into thinking he backs a second referendum, but secretly doesn’t, by using the words “public vote”.
Corbyn is quoting the motion passed by the 2018 Labour conference. He has now said it means a referendum with a Remain option on any Brexit deal or No Deal.
The Brexit party does well because it has a clear policy which it communicates clearly – leaving the EU with or without a deal. Boris Johnson is winning Conservative voters back from the Brexit party with the same clear message. But Labour is failing to win voters back from the Lib Dems due to vague and mixed messaging.
To win back those voters Corbyn and all Labour spokespeople need to repeatedly say “Labour backs a second referendum, with a Remain option, no matter what”, and publicly slap down any Labour or trade union figure giving different impressions.
This will lose Labour some Leave voters and seats, just as May’s 100% pro-Brexit message in 2017 lost the Conservatives some Remain seats. But it’ll win them more than it loses them.
Neither most Leave nor most Remain voters will vote for a party if they’re not sure what its Brexit policy is.
Corbyn and his supporters want a real Labour government as soon as possible to end the suffering caused to the disabled, ill, mentally ill and poorest by welfare “reforms”. Achieving it will require showing voters that Labour puts the good of the whole country ahead of party political advantage though, by prioritising avoiding No Deal over an early General Election; and enough time to get its support for a second referendum across clearly to voters.
Duncan McFarlane,
Braidwood,
Carluke
BEFORE the start of the opposition parties’ anti-No Deal meeting he chaired, Jeremy Corbyn issued his ‘’Trump Brexit’’ threats.
From this it was apparent that he thinks the US President is even less popular than he is. I would not bet on that.
In any case there was a silent elephant in the room for Mr Corbyn. Clearly he thinks we have all forgotten the three times he led his troops to vote down Theresa May’s deals. As did the SNP. They must have thought there was more to be gained by posturing.
It would appear that if a deal emerges it will be pretty much along Theresa May’s lines, suitably dressed up of course.
When the far left and nationalist posturing stops, real progress can begin.
Alexander McKay,
Meanwhile...
SIC a parcel o’ prorogues in a nation?
Ken MacIver,
Milngavie
Purposeful
THANKS to Iain Macwhirter, for introducing a new word to my vocabulary- ‘otiose’, meaning ‘serving no practical purpose’ - in his article on Gordon Brown (‘Gordon Brown’s caring UK is dead. Brexit has killed it’, The Herald, August 28). I shall endeavour to introduce the word into a conversation.
Meanwhile, here’s to Scotland becoming an independent republic! May I see it in my lifetime.
Carol Hughes, Glasgow
MR Macwhirter makes a valid point when he says that Holyrood is unable to deliver full employment in the absence of full economic powers. Sadly, this won’t be remedied any time soon.
D Craig, Ayrshire
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here