Saturday 24 March 2018

Pig in a Poke centre politics.

What to make of Plaid MP Plaid Cymru  Jonathan Edwards claim that the party is in danger of “political oblivion” if it responds to the challeng
e of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party by basing its strategy on “socialist theory”,
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP Jonathan Edwards  called for Plaid to take the opportunity to capture the political centre ground.

He said,
 
 “I’d like to close by pleading with the party not to respond to the electoral challenges we face from Corbyn’s Labour by basing our political strategy on the intricacies of socialist theory. I fear that road leads to political oblivion. In the face of an increasingly insular, hostile, right wing centralist Tory party and a hard left statist command and control Labour party – we have to aim for the gaping void in the middle.
“This does not mean abandoning our principles as a party but prioritising our pro-business, environmental, internationalist and law and justice credentials.”
The problem  is that Jonathan is falling into the common trap of allowing Labour to define what is meant by socialism and the left in mainstream politics


The Left- Right  deride is non linear and even if you accept where the centre is split of in all directions.

Decentralised Socialism is vastly different from the Corbynist and Momentum position.


But there is also a level of dishonesty in positioning  a party according to where you see a gap on the Left-Right spectrum which is being defined by others.

 We are told that there is a gap in the centre, but where is the centre.

If it exists on a linear Left-Right spectrum then why isn't being filled by the Liberal Democrats?

Corbyn rise came from the thousands of Labour voters  who were fed up with Tory Austerity and the then Labour leadership seeming to go along with it ,

This saw a General Election which particularly saw a return to two party politics.

Opinion polls have indicted that this is continuing, even when it becomes clear that Jeremy Corbyn is as much as a Hard Brexiter as Jacob Rees Mogg.

Olaid have a unique selling point in Independence but they must also sell what they means,

For those of us on the progressive-left it does not mean having a Westminster style administration in Cardiff.

Nor does it mean accepting the Old, New or Corbynist  Labour agenda but our own.

Thus seems to be Leanne Woods  call for a renewal of decentralise socialism.

It may well be hard to sell but it more honest than the pig in a poke of  centre (again where is it) politics.

1 comment:

Leigh Richards said...

Yes i was bit puzzled myself by jonathan's comments. When first elected as an MP in 2010 jonathan marked his victory by quoting the legendary revolutionary socialist che guevara - now hes saying hes concerned about plaid 'lurching to the left'. I know they say people get right wing as they get older but jonathan edwards isnt even that old yet.