Imagine the reaction of Her Majesty’s Opposition if the government announced that it was to introduce a new ‘voter charge’ – a levy which citizens had to pay before they were allowed into the polling station. Just as they did with the ‘Community Charge’ over a quarter of a century ago Labour would undoubtedly – and quite reasonably – call it a ‘poll tax’. How could a democracy possibly try to exclude the poor from the vote, they would ask, before backing a legal challenge on the grounds of human rights?
Why, then, is Labour so determined to introduce its own internal poll tax? Yesterday, the party lost a High Court challenge brought against the plan to exclude new members a vote in the leadership contest unless they pay an extra £25 to be a ‘supporter’. Non-members can also register to vote by paying £25 to be a Labour party supporter. The party now says it will appeal.
Isabel Hardman and Lara Prendergast discuss what’s next for Labour:
It is quite understandable that Labour should want to avoid a repeat of last year’s fiasco when it allowed anyone to vote in its leadership election if they paid £3 – leading mischievous Conservatives to sign up in the hope they could swing the result in favour of Jeremy Corbyn. (In the event they each wasted their £3 because it proved entirely unnecessary, Labour’s own members being equally enthusiastic to elect a man who looks to be highly unlikely to prevail in a general election). But surely the way to prevent mass entryism would simply be to restrict the vote to people who have proved their commitment to the party by being members for a minimum period. There is no need to offer a vote to mere ‘supporters’ at all.
By shifting the charge to register as a supporter from £3 to £25 all Labour has achieved is to restrict entryism to the better-off. Mischievous Tories of means will not be put off: they can still afford to buy their vote to help Corbyn retain the leadership. Meanwhile, genuine members on low incomes who have scrimped and saved to join the party will not be allowed a say.
Labour’s internal poll tax will no doubt help boost its coffers, but only at the cost of making the self-appointed party of the poor look hypocritical. It is a reminder of where the soul of the Labour Party now lies: among well-paid public sector workers from Islington and the like who like to try to speak on behalf of the poor and oppressed but who in reality are miles from their genuine concerns.
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