Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Know Your Enemy

"The mantra of Corbyn's opponents is that the party needs to provide effective opposition to the government, yet here again their incompetence is glaring. The Brexit vote, especially its calamitous economic effect, provided a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do lasting damage to the Conservative brand, and raise the chances of a future Labour victory under whichever leadership. The immediate crash in the value of the pound and longer-term damage to the British economy is arguably worse than 1992's Black Wednesday, and should have been hung around the necks of the Tories from the moment the markets tumbled after the result came in.

Voters should be reminded constantly that the pound in their pocket is now worth considerably less thanks to ministers who either campaigned for a leave vote, failed to plan for it, or both. Conservative responsibility for every ounce of economic pain to be felt  in the coming years must be seared into the public consciousness. This one-off opportunity has been squandered so far, simply because the geniuses of New Labour didn't have the strategic sense to sequence their moves, and wait for the next opportunity to depose Corbyn."

David Wearing might be stating the obvious, but it needs underlining nevertheless: the most immediate tragedy of Labour's internecine conflict is that it's allowed the Tories to emerge from the wreckage of the post-referendum car crash with barely a scratch.

(Thanks to Lyndsey for the link.)

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