Labour heartlands no longer exist – Thatcher destroyed them long ago
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Version 0 of 1. Letters in recent days have referred to “natural” Labour voters and Labour “heartlands”. It should be regretted by all Labour supporters that writers and PLP members still refer to abstract concepts that no longer exist. The Labour heartlands were destroyed, along with this country’s industrial base, by Thatcher in the 1980s. The large industry-based communities with strong trade unions who were natural Labour voters no longer exist. Since then Labour has only once mobilised the electorate, through Blair and his continuing of Thatcherite policies that attracted disillusioned Tory voters. Now the old Labour communities have no common bond and their needs aren’t all based on employment and workers’ rights. Rather those communities have disintegrated into pockets of individuals – many with grievances against those they see as deserting them in their time of greatest need. The recent referendum result, already classed as a protest vote against the political elite, highlights the disappearing phenomenon of the Labour voter. Far from not doing enough to vitalise the Labour heartlands, Jeremy Corbyn’s honest approach to the campaign probably convinced many that he at least was a politician they could trust. If Labour make the big mistake of ditching Corbyn at the very moment they need a “new narrative” the most, they will again occupy the political wilderness for a decade or more. Come on Labour, wake up, the country is crying out for a new politics, let’s give the electorate what they want for a change.Nick MakinWorcester • Class politics was reintroduced into England on 23 June, with victory for the working class in the war that parliament has visited on them since 1979. The major split in the country is not between young and old, London and Scotland, but between those who have hopes of making progress and those who have seen their hopes ground into dust by Tories and New Labour, their trade unions hobbled, their industries destroyed, their children’s futures cancelled. People like me, in our £1m London house, were happy to vote remain (I did) and we dread the political and economic chaos to come. But rejoice a little: it was a victory, even if we were on the wrong side. If the members can take back the Labour party from parliament too, who knows what might happen. And if the working class is annihilated, as is most likely given the economic trajectory of England since the second world war, then perhaps at least they will have pulled down some of the pillars of the house. Professor Richard BornatLondon • I am over 70, a retired London GP and I voted for Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership election. My vote for him was never as a leader. It was clear that although an admirable man in many ways, he was not suited for leadership. I didn’t feel I could endorse any of the three earlier candidates and wanted to vote for a radical rethink on the left of British politics. What was already necessary is now urgent. The referendum catastrophe highlights the need for a revitalised and broad-based coalition of the left led by someone capable of communicating with all sections of the electorate. Andrew ElderLondon • Your correspondents welcoming an autumn election made not one mention of Ukip. Do they really think those who voted to leave the EU in June will vote Labour in October? Farage and his crew are already lobbying for a seat at the Brexit negotiation table. A general election this autumn could sweep Ukip into a coalition government with the Tories. It is now painfully clear that Corbyn’s limited support could not enable him to reverse this process. We must hope and pray that a new leader might.David HughesCheltenham, Gloucestershire • The trouble with committed pacifists like Corbyn is that they don’t carry their own swords so have nothing to fall on.Adrian BradburyLondon • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com |