It is unfortunate that policies otherwise deemed middle of the road and social democratic tend to be seen in Britain as offspring of a lunatic mother long held in indefinite detention at Her Majesty’s Pleasure. But such is the nature of the current electioneering round, which has seen a source, most likely a disgruntled Labour hack, leak the manifesto of Jeremy Corbyn’s party ahead of its debate by the National Executive Committee.
Even Labour co-chair, Andrew Gywnne, claimed that the policies outlined in the document amounted to something akin to Clement Atlee’s radical programme commenced in 1945. “We think we’ve got a package of policies that are genuinely transformational.”
The Tory attack dogs were already snarling in anticipation. A conservative spokesman was boringly apocalyptic. “This is a total shambles. Jeremy Corbyn’s plans to unleash chaos on Britain have been revealed.” The element of risk was a permanent feature, suggesting that a pure nutter was behind the Labour wheel. “The commitments in this dossier will rack up tens of billions of extra borrowing for our families and will put Brexit negotiations at risk.”
While Tory sharp shooters are already readying their weapons, the revelations, in of themselves, reveal a range of policies that many voters will find appealing. What it does is overturn any vestiges of New Labour market optimism, outlining a program that goes back to a pre-Thatcher era where governments…