In his first conference speech as Tory leader, Boris Johnson tried to present himself as a “moderate”, while throwing around tired old smears and lies about Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour. Unfortunately for the PM, though, he and his party revealed their hard-right colours this week. And at the same time, Corbyn was showing exactly why he’s the perfect person to take them on.
Thatcherite elitism is back
Johnson has formed a hard-right government in Margaret Thatcher’s image, with critics calling him an “ardent Thatcherite” and even “worse than Thatcher”. And in his cabinet are proud Thatcherites who want even further cuts to public services and the welfare state.
With this in mind, it was little wonder that the PM’s speech was heavy on rhetoric but light on policy. He continued to suck up to army elites, backing “our superb armed forces around the world”. He also insisted, for anyone in doubt, that the Tories are “the party of capitalism”. And he even claimed his party had “tackled the debt”, despite the national debt sitting at almost £1.8tn in August 2019 in comparison to just over £1tn in May 2010.
As Johnson offered “more tax cuts to the rich and corporations”, shadow chancellor John McDonnell aptly pointed out that “this was a speech to a small right wing cult”.
When the PM spoke to supporters on 1 October, meanwhile, there were calls to put ‘traitor’ Jeremy Corbyn in a “noose“. The Tory Islamophobia crisis was also spiralling out of control, leaving former chair Sayeeda Warsi “truly ashamed” of her party. And in general, Tory MPs and backers haven’t exactly been presenting the “moderate” image Johnson hopes to paint:
George Soros as a sinister international Jewish puppetmaster is the classic antisemitic trope of our time. If Jacob Rees Mogg didn't know that, he is a disturbingly ignorant man. If he does know, then where do you even begin. pic.twitter.com/iRSDe59ayg
— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) October 3, 2019
Jacob ‘illuminati ‘ Rees-Mogg
Suella Braverman ‘cultural marxists’
Toby Young projecting his belief: ‘banker’ = Jew.
Front page of Mail on Sunday talking of ‘foreign collusion’ naming only two people, both Jews. @Peston @Freedland @BoardofDeputies
@JohnMannMP @JewishChron— Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 (@MichaelRosenYes) October 3, 2019
The reports that a @Conservative MP shouted “Britain First” at Jeremy Corbyn in Parliament is honestly disturbing.
For many of us, this phrase has often been used as a racist attack. It is also words reportedly used by Jo Cox’s attacker. Now it’s in the HoC.
Shame on you.
— Ali Milani (@AliMilaniUK) October 3, 2019
Calling out the hell that is Tory Britain
Corbyn, meanwhile, was busy holding Johnson’s party to account for the elitist policies that have been wrecking Britain for almost a decade. He was:
- Calling out the Conservatives’ chronic underfunding of the NHS:
This government has underfunded our NHS for nearly a decade.
And now they're slicing and dicing it as part of their General Election strategy.
They don't care about your family's healthcare or care about our country's greatest institution, the NHS.
https://t.co/eyRbySFr8y— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 1, 2019
- Highlighting the systemic roots of the homelessness crisis:
Homelessness only becomes inevitable when a government sells off council homes, refuses to build the houses we need and encourages the development of luxury flats which stand empty as they're acquired purely as investment opportunities by the very richest.https://t.co/gFkGRUKuz3
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 4, 2019
- Standing alongside Thomas Cook workers as taxpayers picked up the pieces yet again following a private-sector failure.
- Calling out the Tory government for letting women down:
"Whether it's women in parliament, women claiming benefits for their children, women’s reproductive rights in Northern Ireland, and the failure to support women workers at Thomas Cook, isn’t this government letting women down?"@HackneyAbbott #PMQs
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 2, 2019
- Slamming the Tory push for an elitist and unpopular hard-right Brexit:
The only people who won’t suffer from Boris Johnson's Brexit plans are his super-rich donors currently betting against the pound. pic.twitter.com/57hMmL5lDG
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 3, 2019
Standing up to the hard right – in parliament and on the streets
At a time when the far right is on the march, and its media cheerleaders are calling public figures ‘traitors’ or ‘enemies of the people’, Boris Johnson and his elitist backers are uttering increasingly warlike terminology. Brexit has to happen, the PM says, if MPs are to be truly safe.
In this environment, Corbyn is reminding us all just why the above groups hate him so much. They like to smear him as a ‘national security threat’ or a ‘terrorist sympathiser’; but he’s a veteran anti-fascist who ‘doesn’t do abuse‘, and he has famously won numerous peace prizes. And he showed us why this week by:
- Celebrating the first black politician to conduct prime minister’s questions:
This #BlackHistoryMonth we're inspired by the struggles of black campaigners, including the first black MPs elected in 1987.
Tomorrow one of those pioneering MPs, a child of the Windrush Generation, Diane Abbott, will be the first black person to represent their party at #PMQs. pic.twitter.com/WlCo3WnkSY
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 1, 2019
- Remembering the ordinary people who resisted fascism at Cable Street 83 years ago:
Today we remember The Battle of Cable Street and all those who stopped fascists marching through the streets of London.pic.twitter.com/5Uk9CXTT97
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 4, 2019
(Here he is speaking about the battle on its 80th anniversary)
Today we remembered and celebrated the Battle of Cable Street #CableStreet80 pic.twitter.com/9XHRl2afg5
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 9, 2016
- Celebrating Gandhi’s 150th birthday:
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
As I laid a wreath to celebrate Gandhi, born 150 years ago today, we recognise his incredible contribution to the ideas of peace and freedom through non-violence. Or as he called it, Satyagraha. pic.twitter.com/kXWpeuegL0
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 2, 2019
But this isn’t new – Corbyn has fought against fascism for decades. And with the far right on the rise again today, we need to resurrect the fight of anti-fascists of the 1930s and 1980s. We need boycotts, strike action, innovative protests, and if necessary physical action to resist the violence of the far right and their elitist cheerleaders.
In this battle, Corbyn is one of the strongest allies we have. And that’s why he’s the perfect person to take on an increasingly hard-right government.
Featured image via Press Association (PA) and Sophie Brown, with additional content from PA
