The long drift to the centre?...so much for the anti austerity alliance...........
I fundamentally am depressed by this response from Leanne Wood. Instead of welcoming the victory of a socialist in another political party we get this response. Plaids response is what I have long feared. Plaid moves to the centre/ It is not centre policies that will combat the rise of racism and chauvinism. It is these centre policies that have fed trump, Farage and Le Pen It is the elite "moderates" who have fed globalisation and let the flames of proletarian nationalism. What are Plaid to become the 2new Liberal Democrats...it is something I have feared and predicted for many years...where goes the Eco Socialists within Plaid now? I wonder.......National Left gives us much to ponder on here.http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/leanne-wood-warns-decade-tory-11932449
http://nationalleft.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/leanne-should-have-welcomed-corbyns.html
I left this comment on the nationalleft blog, I hope you don't mind me repeating myself:
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't wish to speak for Leanne, or any of my other colleagues within Plaid Cymru, but I think you mistake the thrust of her criticism. When Corbyn was first elected last year, Plaid Cymru were in the strange position of knowing him better than most of his Labour colleagues, having worked closely with him in Westminster on opposing many of the Blair and Brown governments' policies. I expressed my own (qualified) support for him back then, which you can see here:
http://www.everything-amplified.com/2015/09/15/what-corbyn-needs-to-do-to-get-elected/
The problem with Corbyn is not that he is too left-wing to be elected. It is rather that he seems incapable of putting into practice any of his policies. The fundamental issue that makes Corbyn a liability for the left is not ideology, but competence. He is unable to run his own party, so why would anyone trust him to run a country?
Of course the media have demonised him, and of course he has been treated atrociously by his own parliamentary party. But he cannot blame all of his failings on others. Having been elected to the leadership, he has made one poor decision after another; surrounding himself with yes-men who insulate him from criticism, distancing himself from fellow party-members who are not factionally aligned with him. Again, the fundamental question is: if he cannot persuade the right-wing of the Labour party of the value of his ideas, how can he expect to persuade the electorate at large?
It should be remembered, as well, that while Plaid Cymru, the SNP and the Greens have all made the right noises about a 'progressive alliance', Corbyn himself has proved hostile to the idea. And not only has he refused to discuss co-operation with other left-wing parties, but he has also seemingly rowed back on the constitutional question. Here is a man who seems quite happy to pal around with Sinn Fein, but once the issue of Scottish and Welsh self-determination comes up, he is silent.
I wish Jeremy Corbyn had done better as leader. I hope that he still has the opportunity to improve. But I am not convinced that he offers a realistic prospect of change that will improve the lives of ordinary Welsh men and women. Plaid Cymru is the only party that can do so.