Corbyn election shows Britons no longer want war: Activist

Press TV has conducted an interview with Mark Thomas, from UK’s Socialist Workers Party, to discuss Jeremy Corbyn’s election as the new leader of Britain’s Labour Party.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: A quick reaction to Jeremy’s unexpected victory.

Thomas: And what a victory I mean the word landslide does not really even capture it with nearly sixty percent, when the second placed Andrew Burnham only won 19 percent.  And I think it reflects a desire by huge numbers of people for an alternative to the politics of war, austerity, racism, the new laboring captured. British politics, let’s be clear, has been forced into a very narrow mold for over a quarter of a century, with a very narrow consensus about the free market system. That has shattered and many people have wanted an alternative best for being felt isolated. That's gonna change today.

Press TV: I mean even in speech, Jeremy was saying that and Tom Watson, the deputy, was saying that there is actually anti-Tory majority in this country but they just have not  been able to unite to force a Tory party out of power which generally gets about 25 percent of the vote. That means that 75 percent did not vote for them. Is that true there is an anti-Tory, anti-Conservative, anti-austerity, anti-war majority in this country?

Thomas: I think the great myth that we were told by Christine Hunton, Peter Mandelson and someone like when Labour lost the election is that the majority were Tories and the Labour lost because it was too left-wing. This was nonsense. There was an untapped anti-austerity mood and Jeremy Corbyn has showed that that is true. We hear today on a refugee solidarity march. The mood in Britain has suddenly shifted with a majority of people expressing solidarity with the refugees who have been so demonized by the press. The myth that these right-wing ideas are somehow fixed and frozen in people’s heads and you just had go along with the flow; Tony Blair’s argument has been shattered. It is being proved by the Jeremy Corbyn, it is being proved by the mood around the refugees and the Britain today and the solidarity [inaudible].

Press TV: Obviously we know the Labor Party’s supporters are pro-Jeremy Corbyn. But the parliamentary Labour party itself is anti-Jeremy Corbyn by and large. What is going to happen? Will try to undermine him in every step? Will his victory also mean the destruction of the Labour Party?

Thoms: This is only a big question, what we see is rebellion against the Parliamentary Labour Party and the dominance of Blairism. The real question now is: What road does Jeremy take? What has galvanized people is audacity, is boldness, is a real alternative. I am not Labour Party member, I am a revolutionary socialist. My message to Jeremy is: “Jeremy stick with your program. Don’t retreat, stay bold, we want an alternative, do not compromise”. People are excited about the programs he said. We do not want Trident, we do not want NATO, we do not want cuts, we want the refugees to be welcome.

If he sticks to that, he will galvanize and mobilize the Democratic mandate he received.

Press TV: Jeremy Corbyn is going to go head to head with David Cameron across the dispatch box and has the parliament prime minister’s questions every week and perhaps in the 2020 general election. How is he going to do versus the very experienced now Prime Minister David Cameron?

Thomas: David Cameron won less than 1 in 4 of the votes in Britain. They did not have a strong grip over people’s minds. Labour could win the election, this is no question. This is a country that has a potential anti-austerity majority. If you stick to your program and if we can see more people taking to the streets today when people stay home, the Tory press cannot dominate people’s ideas. They take to the streets and if we have a Labour leadership, they put forward an alternative. That is a battle Jeremy Corbyn can win. 

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