In a recent article on the Guardian's 'Comment is Free' section, comedian Frankie Boyle suggested that following the decision to abstain in the recent welfare bill vote the Labour party was now so passive it could be "led by an out-of-office email".
It was indeed, a pathetic move by Labour. Even if you agree with the tactics that Labour should attempt to fight the 'middle ground' with the Tories, this was still spectacularly unnecessary. That bill will hurt the worst off in society, exactly the kind of people that you expect the Labour Party to want to protect as part of it's DNA.
This is the background to which the Labour Party leadership election is being fought. And, I get to vote.
I'm not a member of the Labour Party for many reasons - I'm a revolutionary Socialist rather than a reformist. However my Trade Union, the GMB, is a major backer of the party. Personally my belief is that the political fund should be democratised, and MPs should be given backing on an individual basis, irrespective of party.
However, that is not an argument that has been won within the union, so whilst it continues to give part of my subs to the Labour party, I believe that I have a right to exercise my democratic rights in voting in this election.
Don't get me wrong, I understand why people do become members of the Labour Party, despite everything that it has done wrong. People are pragmatic. They don't expect perfection, but they know they have to fight for what they can.
When I lived in Bolton I knew a group of trade union activists who worked within the council who collectively joined the Labour Party because they were tired of being 100% ignored by the elected councillors. Now they are only ignored 90%.
Why do people bother with Labour, when it is so 'top down' in it's 'democracy'?
I was talking to two Labour Party members on the TUC anti-austerity demo in October 2012. Both were ordinary trade unionists who had joined Labour to continue the struggle from beyond their workplaces out in to the wider world. Both had voted for Ed Milliband because he had been the only mainstream candidate who spoke about the need to correct Labour's mistakes (and he wasn't vague about those mistakes - he attacked the New Labour ethos and said that the invasion of Iraq was clearly wrong), and both now wished they had voted for David Milliband instead.
That wasn't because in hindsight they decided that the political agenda he put forward was now the correct one. No, it was for one reason - they were frightened that the Tories would get re-elected.
Everything was driven by that fear. That's why ordinary party members may look towards Yvette Cooper or Andy Burnham (or the sadistic towards Liz Kendall).
But now we have a candidate worth voting for in Jeremy Corbyn. He is pretty much spotless. Not only has he always stood up for the right causes throughout his political career, he has also managed to do so without being a crazed ego maniac (oh George Galloway, I remember the hope we had only for you to smash that to smithereens).
The Daily Mirror has reported that Jeremy Corbyn is way ahead in the leadership contest so far with a 42% poll rating (Yvette Cooper currently second with 22.6%). Hardly surprising, this is what the ordinary activists, both inside and outside of the Labour Party, actually want in a leader.
Who is voting against Corbyn? Well, some activists who still have that 'pragmatic' fear of losing to the Tories, but also the 'professional' political figures within the party.
MP's make a good living from their position. As such, it is a position they want to protect. I'm not saying that none of them care about politics, but it makes a big difference when your income depends on winning elections. In that position, you are desperate to keep your seat. This is not a gravy train they wish to disembark from.
It certainly explains the tendency to lean to the right in such arguments. The same goes for full time, unelected trade union officials. They don't want to rock the boat with employers any more than they have to, because they have their own income to protect. Again, it's not to say that none of them care about the workers they represent, it's just that it does explain the tendency to want to avoid fighting for what is right.
All union officials should be workplace based and elected by the members. That way, if the members do not agree with their actions they can be removed from the post and go back to their job. If that job is there, and their income doesn't change when elected, they will be a lot less likely to take the side of the bosses.
But still, is there any point in striving to elect a leader like Jeremy Corbyn if no-one will vote for Labour in a general election? Well, it turns out that the general public actually agree with most of his policies, with a significant majority willing to support moves to renationalise the railways, bring in rent controls, etc.
There have been a number within the Labour Party who have complained about 'Communists' and members of other left wing groups 'infiltrating' the party. Well, I'm a member of the SWP and I've not joined, nor has there been any call to do so. Has it occurred to them that Corbyn might simply be attracting activists to join?
And that's the thing that could make a real difference. When Tony Blair was elected with a massive majority one of the reasons he was able to do so was because he had over 60,000 activists campaigning on the streets. He offered a vision that was clearly different to what the Tories had to offer.
Yes, he was a fucking abomination, but beyond that, this was why he was able to win so convincingly. In the years that followed, the more he moved the party to the right, the more it appeared to be similar to the Tories, the more his majority fell.
Jeremy Corbyn stands up for policies that are right, and are what the mass majority of Labour members and supporters actually believe in, but have been too afraid to express in fear of losing the 'middle ground' to the Tories.
He is also someone who can carry forward arguments with the general public in a convincing fashion, and can attract a mass activist base to the Labour Party. Yes, they are up against the right wing press, and that is the biggest problem by far. Who gets to control the arguments for our political future, that which becomes seen as 'common sense'?
It will be a huge battle, and one that may well be lost in a coming election, but by God I'd rather it was lead by someone actually trying to fight than a party simply resigning itself to perpetual defeat.
I won't be joining the Labour Party, but I am part of the wider labour movement. As such, I will be voting for Jeremy Corbyn, I'll be voting for hope. But I won't be leaving it to him to do, I'll keep working with everyone in the movements from below to try and bring about real change.
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