Opinion
Condemning Labour antisemitism isn't enough for the Tories to win
Political editor Lee Harpin doubts the Tories have the policies to take the populist Jeremy Corbyn on
October 5, 2018 11:47
2 min read
Political editor Lee Harpin doubts the Tories have the policies to take the populist Jeremy Corbyn on
October 5, 2018 11:47This week, having attended the Tory Party’s annual conference in Birmingham and listened to the speeches of Theresa May and her fellow cabinet ministers, I can only conclude that we are witnessing the Conservatives sleepwalking themselves — and thus our community — into disaster.
I pictured two scenarios.
Imagine being a Jewish Labour member contemplating for the first time in your life voting Tory at the next election in a bid to stop Mr Corbyn’s ascent to power.
Wandering around the Birmingham conference, how confident would you feel about the heart-breaking decision to betray your ideological beliefs and vote for the blue team in order to keep out the far-left zealots now running your political party?
Certainly, on opposing antisemitism the Tory message is 100 per cent correct. From speeches by the PM and ministers like Sajid Javid and Michael Gove downwards, messages of solidarity with the Jewish community were heartfelt and genuine.
But opposition to hate alone will not win the Tories the next election.
The ideologically driven anti-Zionist zeal of Mr Corbyn, Mr McDonnell and his cohorts may repulse most in our community but amongst the wider electorate it remains far less of a concern.
It will take much bigger ideas than merely driving antisemitism back into the sewer to convince voters to turn out at the next election to defeat the Corbyn project.
And on the evidence of Birmingham, they are just not there. On Brexit, immigration, health, social care, technology, housing — I could go on -— there is no clarity on Tory policies.
The Prime Minister’s speech banged the drum for the NHS, insisted a decade of austerity was over — and actually aped Labour policies on placing workers inside boardrooms.
It must weigh heavy on every Jewish Labour voter’s mind that when, for the first time ever they are considering voting Tory, there is every chance their vote for the anti-Corbyn party will be a wasted one.
Which brings me to my second scenario. Imagine being a Jewish Tory supporter infiltrating last week’s Labour conference in Liverpool.
You would have shuddered at the police security needed to protect Jewish MPs, the visible police guard outside a fringe meeting held by the Holocaust Educational Trust, and the Palestinian flags greeting you.
You would have been left mystified at how anyone could contemplate voting for a party divided on the number one issue of our time, Brexit, in exactly the same way as the Conservatives.
But you would also have seen a genuine energy amongst the Corbyn fan club for policies which may have last been aired in the 1970s, but which in 2018 once again will seem to many like a refreshing alternative to what is on offer from this government.
And the main worry must be that Mr Corbyn’s populist policies will convince enough of the British electorate to secure his place in Downing Street. The Tories must learn from them.
