Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

The left’s great illusion in praising Labour’s ‘moral clarity’ under Corbyn

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. Hardly anyone has the ‘moral clarity’ to write about why middle and upper-middle class people mysteriously vote for left-wing parties, which would attack their ‘real’ economic interests.

The simple answer, which I largely agree with, is that materialism cannot explain all human motives. Working class conservatives are moved by patriotism, a desire to protect their communities and the love of the familiar. Although wealthy public sector managers can pose as idealistic supporters of the left, while voting to keep the money rolling in, and the SNP dresses up student-loan tax breaks for New Town and Kelvinside as acts of altruism, most members of the liberal middle class are liberal because their ideals matter as much as their bank balances. Nevertheless,

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