The Tories, you may have noticed, are being rather quiet when it comes to Jeremy Corbyn. Not only are they preoccupied by Brexit (it means Brexit, okay?) the party’s leadership and MPs are operating according to an old and trusted notion. Do not interrupt your opponent when he is making a mistake. Even so they will find it difficult to stifle a cheer and a chortle on hearing the newly re-elected Corbyn interviewed on the Marr programme this morning.
It was a spectacular performance, and not in a good way. Corbyn has grown in confidence, which means he is more prepared now to talk about policy specifics. And oh boy, when he does that it is a Tory dream. He unveiled what amounted to a Conservative fantasy version of what they want the Labour manifesto to look like at the next general election. CCHQ already has bulging files of material for attacks ads, based on the crackpot antics of Corbyn and John McDonnell, shadow chancellor. To that they can add some big ticket items that emerged from the interview:
1) Corbyn promised £500bn of extra borrowing for “investment” (which means government spending). That is around 70% of what the government spends in a year already, as Marr pointed out. Corbyn was hazy about how many years the money would be spent over. So that’s okay then. Meanwhile, back on planet earth, would you trust Corbyn to spend 500 quid efficiently, never mind £500bn?
2) He is keen on British troops being prosecuted over their actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
3) The defence budget should be spent on aid, he suggested.
4) He seems to be saying the following. Let’s spend less on monitoring and intercepting terrorists who want to murder Britons.
Now, there is a way to sell the borrowing part of Corbyn’s pitch. I don’t buy it myself, but one high finance wizard explained to me last night that the only way out of the current economic situation is for governments to borrow much, much more and spend like mad on public projects. What other way is there? he asked. Not doing it, ending the central bank fixation on cheap money and money-printing, reforming capitalism and trusting human ingenuity and innovation to invent new stuff, as happened in the last forty years in tech to extraordinary effect, might be one way, I humbly suggest.
But if you were looking to sell a policy of massive public investment (increased spending) it would need to be handled by leaders with credibility and charisma, not Corbyn and McDonnell, in order to persuade a sceptical electorate. The voters of England are a sensible lot, wary of zealots and with finely tuned radar that can detect a useless twit at 500 paces. That alone will mean Labour is crushed if it continues with this mad experiment in Corbynism. Now the Tories have an even clearer target. Corbyn stands for an epic borrowing spree and weakening the country’s defences.
