The Greens need to learn the right lessons from the destruction of Corbynism | Andy Beckett

Zack Polanski must be more nimble in fending off attacks than the former Labour leader or he risks suffering the same fate For more than a decade, Britain’s acrimonious politics has included a fundamental but often misunderstood battle. Sometimes it is fought out in the open and sometimes more in the shadows. Its protagonists extend far beyond Westminster, into the media, big business, the civil service, activist movements and important but neglected parts of the electorate. And despite how long the battle has been going on, it’s still hard to say which side will prevail. On one side are millions of left-leaning Britons – many of them young – whose economic prospects are worsening, whose anxieties about the climate crisis are rising, whose horror at Israel and the US’s wars is absolute, and whose alienation from the compromises of conventional Labour politics is deep.

This is the large minority of the electorate attracted by Jeremy Corbyn’s attempt to radicalise Labour between 2015 and 2019, and now increasingly drawn to Zack Polanski’s leftwing, populist reshaping of the Greens. Continue reading... Andy Beckett Zack Polanski must be more nimble in fending off attacks than the former Labour leader or he risks suffering the same fate F or more than a decade, Britain’s acrimonious politics has included a fundamental but often misunderstood battle. Its protagonists extend far beyond Westminster, into the media, big business, the civil service, activist movements and important but neglected parts of the electorate. On one side are millions of left-leaning Britons – many of them young – whose economic prospects are worsening, whose anxieties about the climate crisis are rising, whose horror at Israel and the US’s wars is absolute, and whose alienation from the compromises of conventional Labour politics is deep.

This is the large minority of the electorate attracted by Jeremy Corbyn’s attempt to radicalise Labour between 2015 and 2019, and now increasingly drawn to Zack Polanski’s leftwing, populist reshaping of the Greens . The Greens are less weighed down than the Labour left by negative perceptions. Yet it’s striking that only about eight months into his leadership, Polanski’s party is already accused of many of the same political crimes as Corbyn’s Labour. “The Green party is mad, bad and dangerous,” warned the Spectator recently . Despite having apologised for sharing a social media post criticising the police operation in Golders Green, and despite himself being a victim of antisemitism – serious enough, he said on Sunday , to have led to recent arrests – Polanski is accused by Labour of being “ not fit to lead any political party ”.

The Greens will also need to be better than Corbyn’s party at the politics of attack. Polanski and his strategists could also learn from the failure of Corbyn’s Labour to build enough alliances. Polanski has said cautiously positive things about relative Labour radicals such as Andy Burnham. But actually collaborating with a wounded, diminished Labour, which many Greens have recently abandoned, would be a great psychological and political challenge for both parties. Explore more on these topics Share Reuse this content Zack Polanski must be more nimble in fending off attacks than the former Labour leader or he risks suffering the same fate For more than a decade, Britain’s acrimonious politics has included a fundamental but often misunderstood battle.

Its protagonists extend far beyond Westminster, into the media, big business, the civil service, activist movements and important but neglected parts of the electorate. On one side are millions of left-leaning Britons – many of them young – whose economic prospects are worsening, whose anxieties about the climate crisis are rising, whose horror at Israel and the US’s wars is absolute, and whose alienation from the compromises of conventional Labour politics is deep. This is the large minority of the electorate attracted by Jeremy Corbyn’s attempt to radicalise Labour between 2015 and 2019, and now increasingly drawn to Zack Polanski’s leftwing, populist reshaping of the Greens. Continue reading... The Greens need to learn the right lessons from the destruction of Corbynism | Andy Beckett