Max Young is the Deputy Editor of Free Market Conservatives.
London will elect a new mayor and London Assembly members on May 7th this year. The eight candidates for Labour’s London-wide list have now released their short manifesto documents, which make it clear that Labour’s period of reflection has resulted in absolutely no change. All eight candidates are hard-left Corbynistas with no care for the real concerns of Londoners.
Let’s take a look at what some of the candidates have to offer the hard-working people of London:
Marina Ahmad stresses:
“I will continue to help build a unified anti-fascist and anti-racist movement in London.”
Another proud badge of Ahmad’s is her standing in Beckenham for three consecutive elections and failing each time.
Elly Baker is more overtly Corbynista. She proclaims:
“I am backed by GMB, Unite, Aslef, CWU, TSSA, FBU and the Bakers Union and have more union endorsements than any other candidate. I will be a strong, socialist voice in City Hall – I am supported by Momentum. I do not compromise on my principles, even under great pressure. I am committed to the redistribution of wealth and power.”
Compromise and reasonableness, as with almost all radical socialists, are crushed under the heel of egalitarian “principles”.
Tom Copley starts off with his record of consistent support for “socialist solutions” to inequality in London, including private rent controls and mass council-house building. What he seems most proud of, however, is his leading role in investigating the Garden Bridge project and its failure – an achievement that is at the forefront of Londoners’ minds. Copley ends his manifesto with a slew of union endorsements – because more union control is clearly what Labour needs to win.
Morning Star author Murad Qureshi says that “as Jeremy Corbyn’s successor as Chair of the Stop the War Coalition, I have been at the forefront of the anti-Trump marches.” Murad has been endorsed by groups such as London Labour Left and the Socialist Health Association, as well as John McDonnell and Diane Abbott.
Sakina Sheikh says:
“I am ready to get back in the ring and fight this Tory government tooth and nail: at the ballot box, on the streets and on the picket lines. I would stand up to developers and the unaccountable finance industry turning London into a playground for the rich.”
Just the sort of moderate line that Labour now needs…
Liam Young states that his “main message in this election process is that we have to bring an end to the reckless levels of inequality that we see across London.”
He has the support of London Young Labour, Momentum, Len McCluskey, Corbynista economist Grace Blakely, and John McDonnell.
Only two candidates out of eight even mention knife crime in their manifesto statements, and those that do mention it in passing.
All eight candidates are hard-left Corbynistas whose greatest achievements seem to be gaining the support of Momentum and trade unions. These London elections were a chance for Labour to emerge into the light of day again with a new, moderate, electable face. Instead, it’s clear that the ideological stranglehold on all levels of the party exercised by Corbyn’s disciples is much too strong to allow change to occur. Londoners beware.