A GOOD DAY FOR BRITAIN

Jeremy Corbyn 62%

Owen Smith 38%

In the re-vote for the Labour Party Leadership Jeremy Corbyn won convincingly again.  It brings to my mind the efficacy of having a second Referendum regarding Britain's membership of the EU.  Those who are affectionately referred to as Brexiters who shout down the idea of a second referendum are exposed by this re-vote in the Labour Party.  There should never have been a need for a second vote, but then there is no harm in it either.  If the vote truly represents the considered opinions of the members then it will only be reaffirmed by a second vote.  For all the miscreant attempts by the media and other parties to alter the opinions of the majority of members in the Labour Party, the general impetus behind the attitude and ideas of Jeremy Corbyn remained strong.  I suspect if there were a second EU referendum that the results would be very different and there would be a resounding vote to remain in the EU.  Brexiters who strongly object to a second referendum are exposing their fear, and therefore expectation, that this would be the case.

There are many criticisms of Mr Corbyn from all quarters.  The most overriding one I encounter is his ineffectiveness.  I think this is at the core of the problem and is relevant in a far broader context across the globe.  In general, politics works on a competitive basis.  Like two boxers slugging it out in a ring and the audience cheering their preferred candidate.  There are folk committed to one and folk committed to the other and then there is the middle ground that has that horrible characteristic of swaying from one to the other depending upon which one appears to be winning at the moment.  The whole spectacle of the fight seems to distract people from any idea of what they happen to think is right or wrong.  It is an incredible mechanism for abdicating personal responsibility and seems to work in large part around the globe.  That might have been a useful attitude in Neanderthal times when one group encountered another group and they were likely to fight.  It doesn't matter whose side you're on so long as it's the winning side.

I have a hope that the inception of the internet has the potential to change that old limited consciousness.  The interconnectivity of the majority of individuals in the world allows more focus by individuals, without global influence, to talk about how they feel, what they imagine and hope for, what they want for their lives and for the world.  This has the possibility of raising the collective perspective to an overview rather than a polarised one.  It is as if the audience at the analogous boxing bout has grown so large that there are more and more people interested in organising the food, helping people find the loo, and generally having a satisfactory cooperative experience in the stadium.  This leaves the boxers fighting it out in a much less relevant and influential context.

The most significant issue for me when it comes to Jeremy Corbyn is that he precisely doesn't over focus on arguments about whether to turn left or right at this juncture or the minutia of how to achieve the objectives but rather maintains a perspective of where people wish to be going.  Sometimes it is not critical whether you do something this way or that way so long as the consequential decisions keep aiming at the right objective.  The criticism of Corbyn as ineffectual often seems to be about the minutia, the details, the immediate consequences.  But Corbyn maintains a vision.  A vision that is highly in tune with possibly the majority of people in Britain.  People want a civilised peaceful sustainable coexistence.  How to get it can be debated but what seems to happen so often, and particularly in right wing politics, is people focus on the method to the point of forgetting or ignoring the results.

I have no doubt that whether or not this JC survives the shark infested waters of politics in Britain and the world stage, the vote for his leadership has clarified and asserted the views of a majority of people that they wish for a more equitable and kinder society.

This is a good day for Britain regardless of what may come of it.  Today a loud voice was heard for a more rational, responsible, considerate, compassionate, and sustainable existence.