Why Jeremy Corbyn's hard-left party has more in common with Nigel Farage's Reform than they would ever admit
Governments have no magic wand to wave our troubles away and scapegoating ‘the rich’ won’t help
There is no doubting that Jeremy Corbyn is a charismatic politician. He also comes across as someone who acts according to a distinct set of beliefs and takes what he sees as a principled stance on many issues. Much the same could be said of Nigel Farage.
However, they share another characteristic: they both ignore hard evidence that conflicts with their views. So, for Corbyn, mainstream economics has little to teach us and capitalism is designed to oppress ‘the people’. For Farage, immigration is a scourge on society, despite the UK’s aging population and businesses struggling to fill job vacancies.
The Conservatives and Labour have performed poorly in government. The chaos of the Boris Johnson years and Liz Truss weeks was a national embarrassment, and Rishi Sunak could only steady the ship. Labour has failed to turn things around and there are increasingly worrying signs about the economy and public finances.
READ MORE: How Labour rebels will put Nigel Farage in Downing Street if they keep undermining Keir Starmer
‘The system is rigged’
It is, therefore, understandable if voters are looking for alternatives and Corbyn’s as-yet-unnamed political party, now formally launched with former Labour MP Zarah Sultana, will doubtless attract more interest than it would in better times.
They offer easy answers to hard questions. Society’s problems are “caused by an economic system that protects the interests of corporations and billionaires”, and “the system is rigged” but a “mass redistribution of wealth and power” will fix it.
Corbynistas demonise the wealthy in the same way as Faragists demonise migrants. The truth is that neither group is responsible for the current state of the country and blaming everything on scapegoats won’t help. Furthermore, the economic system that Corbyn thinks is so terrible – capitalism – has a long track record of creating prosperity, while hard-left ‘alternatives’ have an equally long track record of failure.
Governments have no magic wand to wave our troubles away. The truth is that is pragmatic, managerial and slightly boring politicians like Keir Starmer or a Conservative in the mould of John Major who stand the best chance of finding a path to a more prosperous future.
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