I want Labour to run on maximally left-wing policies, every time — because I think those policies are *right* and must be fought for, whether or not they’re electorally expedient. But “we lost because the policies weren’t left-wing enough” takes obscure more than they clarify.
“I would’ve voted Labour if they were fighting for renationalised utilities, a £15/hour minimum wage, more rights for migrants and asylum seekers, and the abolition of all anti-union laws, but they’re not... so I’m voting Tory.” That’s not really what’s going on here, is it?
It’s actually patronising to people to assume that they’re just voting Tory out of some unthinking reflex or displacement activity, rather than because they’re genuinely convinced by the nationalist political narrative the Tories are offering.
The choice for Labour is: continue to try and offer its own, watered down version of that same narrative in the hope that people will vote for that rather than the fully-leaded version (they won’t, and why should they?), or fight for a thoroughgoing counter-narrative.
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