Leadership matters

This week has really shown up the petty squabbling in the Labour leadership contest for what it is – inward looking and small. Because when it matters, the Labour Party has united around the issue of giving much needed asylum to refugees.

Our differences may seem big – and sometimes they are . They do matter. But the gulf of difference between the way the whole of the Labour Party has reacted to what is needed and the nasty, small minded, small island, cold and calculated  cynicism of the Tory government that believes Britain should not take more refugees are worlds apart. We must remember that as we compete with each other.

We may all have different ideas about how, when and where we should address the Syrian crisis. Some are angry that Labour didn’t support air strikes to topple Assad back in 2013, while others believe this would have fuelled not ameliorated the crisis. But all of us – hawk or dove – know it is our role to get involved now. We do not stand back and wash our hands as the bodies of human beings wash up daily on the shores of our continent. We do not. We must not. We cannot.

But what can we do? As it stands we can put pressure on government from opposition. We can hold parliamentary debates. We can sign petitions, we can donate, we can march. But we cannot decide how many refugees Great Britain will take in. We cannot make rulings about our behaviour at borders. We cannot change our country’s  rules. We do not have the power to do so.

So when in nine days time, when we have decided who the leader of the Labour Party is going to be, let us all come together and look outwards. Not just to the Tories who are wrecking our institutions. Not even only to the refugees whose plight we so desperately want to champion. But to those we need to convince that is is our compassion that is the right choice.

Whoever leads Labour must also show how they will lead the country. That involves hard decisions and choices on public spending priorities, on immigration and on areas far, far outside our comfort zone. It will involve making and winning arguments and accepting where we will have to compromise. Because when it comes to those areas where our humanity simply will not let us turn away, we need the public to stand with us. To believe in us. To believe in our leadership.

Leadership matters. We know because we are all disgusted by the lack of leadership the Tories have shown during this vital humanitarian crisis. We need to lead for all the people of Britain, and for a world beyond our borders who understand the importance of having a government that accepts our internationalist responsibilities.

No more talking to ourselves about ourselves. Now we must talk to the country and the world. We must be the party able to fill the space the Tories are so disastrously negating.

We must lay aside internal squabbling and show that we are a party of principle and pragmatism that is ready to lead.