‘Smearing the membership is not the path to victory’

The BBC has once again found itself in the firing line this week after its editing of a Donald Trump speech fell well below acceptable editorial standards. The corporation now faces a legal challenge from the US president. It is absurd that a man facing allegations relating to his entanglement with Jeffrey Epstein can seize the moral high ground over this failure.

Even more ridiculous are the figures on the hard right of British politics who have used this incident to push the myth that the BBC is biased to the left. As surely as night follows day, the left claims the BBC leans right and the right insists it leans left. 

For what it’s worth, my own view is that if the BBC is guilty of anything, it is a herd mentality rooted in socially liberal, economically austere political centrism, an orbit shared by many of its journalists and much of our political class. Whatever biases the BBC may have, it is absolutely not biased towards the actual left.

READ MORE: ‘The BBC crisis and our half-right, half-wrong politics’

Anyone seeking proof need only watch Wednesday’s episode of Newsnight, where Maurice Glasman made accusations that went totally unchallenged by the hosts. The Blue Labour founder claimed he had been part of a project whose first aim was to “get rid of racist and lunatic politicians from the Labour Party” before developing policy. This is a disgraceful smear; one that reeks of entitlement while showing no awareness of his own role in dragging the party into its current depths.

Let’s not forget, the Labour Party, despite winning a landslide victory with fewer votes than Jeremy Corbyn received in 2019, is now polling within the margin of error of the Greens, sitting under 20% of intended votes. Meanwhile Reform UK, who would end the pension triple lock, slash the minimum wage for young people, and privatise the NHS, are on course to form the next government.

Is it any wonder voters have abandoned us when ‘thinkers’ like Maurice Glasman wield disproportionate influence over Labour policy?

Subscribe here to our daily newsletter roundup of Labour news, analysis and comment– and follow us on Bluesky, WhatsApp, X and Facebook.

Over the past five years, cheered on by unelected figures like Glasman, Labour has completely lost the plot. It began by turning on its own members, hounding hundreds of thousands of people, many young and full of hope, out of the organisation. Then in government we pursued policies championed by people like Glasman – flag-wrapped, divisive, and designed to appeal to fear rather than hope or unity.

Is it any wonder that people in communities where work is scarce, poorly paid, and precarious have turned away from the party? Is it any wonder that those living with high levels of industrial illness, poverty, and the grinding realities that drive high levels of PIP claims have walked away?

For three decades, Labour’s strategy has been built on the belief that votes can be ‘parkedthat those unhappy with policy have nowhere else to go. It was doomed from the start. The problem is twofold.

Firstly, people like Maurice Glasman have believed longer than Reform has existed, that Labour should mimic it’s policies. They want us to abandon our democratic socialist principles, throw away our legacy of progressive achievement, and pitch to what they see as the cultural conservatism of an insecure electorate. Aside from the fact that this should be anathema to anyone in the party, the reality is that the communities I know simply aren’t like that, and those who are swayable in that direction already vote Reform and despise what Labour has become.

Secondly, and perhaps worse, the hundreds of thousands chased out of the party, and the millions who once voted for it, were not “racists and lunatics”, as Glasman implied. They were people who wanted to make their communities and their country better. It is now treated as a mystery by strategists that these same people might not vote Labour anymore, or might even join and campaign for a party they believe offers hope of genuine change.

Share your thoughts. Contribute on this story or tell your own by writing to our Editor. The best letters every week will be published on the site. Find out how to get your letter published.

For all its flaws, Labour remains the best hope of transforming British society for the better. Lessons can and should be learned from politicians across the world. Look at Zohran Mamdani, for example, who won in New York City by delivering a message of hope and prioritising the needs of working-class voters.

Anyone in Labour serious about securing an unassailable mandate should look to victories like his, and use the power of winning to deliver for the people our party was founded to represent. They should find a way to fuse the enthusiasm Jeremy Corbyn generated in 2017 with the caution that characterised Keir Starmer’s 2024 campaign, one that managed to avoid a conservative backlash to a Labour programme.

That is the path to victory, not smearing millions of people for daring to want something better for their children.

• • SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour– contact us (strictly anonymously if you wish) at [email protected].
  • SUBSCRIBE: Sign up to LabourList’s morning email here for the best briefing on everything Labour, every weekday morning.
  • DONATE: If you value our work, please chip in a few pounds a week and become one of our supporters, helping sustain and expand our coverage.
  • PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or projects, email [email protected].
  • ADVERTISE: If your organisation would like to advertise or run sponsored pieces on LabourList‘s daily newsletter or website, contact our exclusive ad partners Total Politics at [email protected].