Danny Dorling is one of the warmest and most intelligent left wing intellectuals of our day; an egalitarian, who proposes radical and practical solutions. He is a worthy target, in other words. Oxford University’s professor of Geography has also produced an essay entitled: ‘Why Corbyn’s moral clarity could propel him to Number 10.’ It is the most cowardly exposition of the left’s great illusion that I have read. More to the point, virtually every supporter of the new Labour leadership will believe it.
He makes two claims: Corbyn and the far left are moral; and they can win power. Allow me to take them in reverse order.
The assertion that Corbyn can win is not only far-fetched it is a balm to soothe niggling consciences. If they did not believe in their eventual victory, wealthy supporters of Labour’s ‘moral’ politics would run into a moral problem of their own.
Volumes have been written on the mystery of ‘working class conservatism,’ the alleged false consciousness that makes the downtrodden vote against their ‘real’ economic interests.
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