Daily Times

Turnaround in Labour Party’s electoral prospects in the upcoming British elections has been astonishing.

A year ago, the party was in turmoil: the Conservatives had a majority in the Parliament, the Brexit vote had not gone as planned and the unconventional leadership of Jeremy Corbyn had left the party divided. But just a week before the election, the party has reformed itself as a viable alternative to the dystopian vision of the Conservatives under Corbyn’s leadership and his commitment to progressive ideology.

Labour party took the political elite by surprise when it released its election manifesto — appropriately titled “For the many, not the few”.

In the midst of a global political climate increasingly shifting towards right-wing populism, the party has unveiled a plan that seems out of place, like a relic from the bygone post-war era. Among other things, it plans to make universities across the UK tuition free, invest more in the National Health Service (NHS) and public schooling, improve provision of workers’ rights, build a million new homes, introduce a rent cap, and control growing income inequality.

It is not the policies in and off themselves that are remarkable, but the context under which these have been proposed as well as the story of the man behind them.

Thatcherism — deregulation, privatisation and reeling back the state — has been the dominant ideology that has governed the UK since the 1970s. Resultantly, cost of social services has increased and income inequality has surged, leaving large segments of the population struggling to survive. At the same time, the UK also partook in foreign interventions that have wreaked havoc across the Middle East and Afghanistan.

If we are to reclaim the political sphere for the masses, there must be a revival of community-level activism, with social justice at the heart of this endeavour

Amid all this, Labour Party also moved towards the right of political spectrum. This tendency was called the ‘New Labour’, and was particularly visible under the leadership of Tony Blair. Yet, Corbyn and a handful of likeminded politicians stuck to their ideology and continuously rallied against wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as against reduction in social benefits and privatisation of public goods. Corbyn voted against his own party 428 times when it was in power for 13 years.

Bolstered by resistance he faced from the political elite on both sides of the aisle, when media witch hunt of Corbyn started a year ago — many were expecting Labour to suffer a defeat that would be reminiscent of the 1983 landslide loss. But Corbyn is no ordinary politician. After decades of standing up to neoliberal hegemony, with his moral integrity intact, close connections to working class people, and an ability to speak to the marginalised and those left behind — it was only a matter of time before his grassroots support base also upheld his vision.

He belongs to a rapidly fading breed of politicians, which includes the likes of Bernie Sanders. Politics is not merely a game of ascending to the throne and ruthlessly holding on to it for these politicians. For them, politics means working at the community level, protecting interests of the common person, and providing a dignified life for all. With his sombre and amiable character, Corbyn remained content with being a political outsider, waiting for his moment as the hubris of the elite became their own undoing.

Whether or not Corbyn gets keys to the 10 Downing Street, his struggle shall continue. If he wins, he will have to continue his fight against the political elite, the big banks and firms, the European Union, and, perhaps most importantly, dissenters in his own party. That will only be possible by continuing to engage with the masses and delivering on not only his state-level policies but also his plans to invest in grassroots’ level activities like football, music, and the arts. If he loses, his community-level work and staunch stand against the state of Israel, foreign military interventions, privatisation and top-down politics will continue.

For Pakistanis, and people in other developing countries around the world, Corbyn’s example is a testimony to the importance of grassroots’ level politics and standing up to state injustices. Notwithstanding the ban on student politics in Pakistan, there must be a revival of community-level politics and activism, with social justice at the heart of this endeavour, if we are to reclaim the political sphere for the masses. Though Pakistan is in a much more precarious situation than the 1970s Britain, a similarity between the two is the unleashing of rampant neo-liberalism by the ruling elite. Rapid urban development and investment into the financial sector is leaving behind large swathes of the population, with no social safety net to help them survive.

Corbyn in the UK and others like him in Pakistan and beyond have become a bitter pill to swallow for many because people have come to take politics as a ruthless and a cutthroat realm where morally upright individuals — that are less engaged with backdoor manoeuvring and more with social realities — simply have no place.

This self-serving redefinition of politics by the ruling elite can only be challenged from the bottom up. The organisations, including student groups, protesting against the oppression of different peoples must continue to withstand the pressure exerted on them by the ruling elite, and remain on the right side of history, hoping that political awareness will one day yield in a society that operates for the many, not the few.

The writer is a freelance columnist. He tweets at @mtaa324 and can be reached at maa324@georgetown.edu