We knew that Britain was broken and needed wholesale, root & branch reform 26 years ago.
Most thought Labour would go some way to fixing it.
All they did was apply a few extra sticking plasters and up the morphine to the patient.
Unsurprisingly, I think it's a brilliant article. It explains far better than I've been able to that that Brexit was a symptom of a deep dissatisfaction with how this country is being run.
Unfortunately, in no small part due to the gaslighting of the right-wing media for decades, too many people had/have no real idea of why they have an undercurrent of disenchantment with life in Britain. That's why they were susceptible to falling for the bullshit and lies of the Leave campaigns.
"Brexit was always the wrong answer to the right question that millions across the country were asking"
The question being - which the writer misses - that of "Why do I feel the quality of my life is getting worse?"
The answer is that the neo-liberal/corporate-capitalism/whatever you want to label it is designed to funnel more and more money to the owners of capital.
Capitalism has his merits - shit, I don't want the state making my telly or my car or my cupcakes - but human nature is so flawed and prone to hoarding greed, that it needs to be heavily regulated to ensure that the proceeds from any commercial operation are shared equitably between the factors of production (land, labour, capital, enterprise), that they don't act against the interests of wider society (pollution, quality standards, monopolistic position, etc), and that everyone pays their fair share of tax per the headline rates.
Since the 80's at least, Britain is failing on all those.
We can but hope that the next Labour government addresses those. I wish I had as much faith as you that they have the will to do so. Because if they don't, history will repeat and the electorate - with memories like the archetypal goldfish when it comes to the Tories - will abandon them again a few years hence and vote the Tories back in.
My point is we read similar articles before the referendum but she's writing as though it's something Starmer and the Labour party today never realised, the opposite is true, we knew the problems back in 2016. we saw many Labour MPs in debates trying to get this across to voters at the time. up pops Anne Widecombe with Stop calling leave voters idiots to close the debate with loud applause.
The public are given opinions, many were told Labour ignored them, Labour did nothing for them, they believed it. they were wrong, the same people believed the EU did nothing for them for the same reasons, they were wrong.
The Public never weighed up the pros and cons of leaving the EU, some lapped up they have nothing to loose leaving the EU talk, logic being they were told they had nothing so they have nothing to loose, wonder how they feel about that now.
Still cant get my head around how many Tory voters look at politics and I can't help thinking many on the left think the same in some ways.
Labour can return the NHS to a reliable efficient service, they can bring in care and other services to improve the lives of millions, plough money into schools, more teachers and more police. take the many thousands sleeping on the streets into a place to live. yet people pounce on then if they make a wrong decision or take us into some debt.
The Torys can f.. up everything. mistakes and chaos every other week, chop everything, cause misery for 10s millions in many ways and triple the nat debt as the same time yet people still vote for them, can only be one reason for that, they are told Labours done nothing for them, they are no better than the Torys so yeah people do believe Labour did nothing for them, they were wrong.
Are people better off now than before 2010, have we lost a lot since the Torys came to power, it's a bit much to hear all the attacks on Labour one minute then another attack on the Torys for incompetence and corruption, how they are throwing millions into poverty, destroying our NHS, care decimated, services decimated. schools struggling to teach kids due to lack of teachers and funding, welfare hammered and then be told they are only tinkering.
It's not that I disagree with your arguments for change in our tax system and tax avoidance or anything. Labour have said they will be doing this but I don't believe Labour won the debate, it's more down to the public now seeing the Torys for what they are, call it the Overton window, the public are willing to accept this change now.
The biggest problem Labour has is they need to have the confidence to make great change without fearing a backlash from the public when the right/left wing attack them when things go a bit wrong. even the last Labour leader understood this as he toned down his demands when in the hot seat. Labour will never be able to move too far to the left for this reason.
