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Jeremy Corbyn promises socialism, the poisonous dogma that has killed millions of innocents

Jeremy Corbyn: Proud to be a socialist
A dangerous idea

“Socialism for the 21st Century,” declared Jeremy Corbyn at the Labour Party conference that was, for all its flat, rambling delivery and striking lack of coherent thinking about how to govern modern Britain, rapturously received by his Left-wing followers. Since Mr Corbyn is so proud to declare himself a socialist and commit his party to that doctrine, let us consider what socialism means when it is put into practice in the real world, not merely debated in the North London salons and lecture halls that are Mr Corbyn’s natural habitat.

Socialism kills. It is not necessary to reach back into history to prove that assertion, though the millions killed by Stalin’s Soviet purges and economic failures should never be forgotten when any politician extols the virtues of socialism. Contemporary evidence abounds in Venezuela. Mr Corbyn has lavishly praised the socialist rulers who have murderously ruined its once-healthy economy, a disaster whose cost is borne by the weak and vulnerable the Left claims to champion.

But we do not need to look overseas for evidence of socialism’s failure. Our own recent political history demonstrates the folly of following the sort of programme that Mr Corbyn would foist upon the country, of nationalisation, centralised state control and a wealth-sapping race to the bottom in the name of equality. His prescription for “change” is in reality a cry from Labour’s discredited past. It is a road to nowhere that would leave us without proper defences and suffering a broken economy.

This is why Mr Corbyn lacks appeal among the wider electorate – and, thanks to his almost comically misjudged support for uncontrolled immigration, especially among Labour’s traditional working class supporters. Yet there is no denying his ability to organise and motivate hard-Left activists. He has taken Labour’s membership to more than 600,00 and talks of a million-strong membership.

In so doing, he has made Labour a haven for people of odious dogma and bigotry. The Liverpool conference saw activists from his Momentum group openly selling pamphlets mocking disabled British soldiers and questioning the need to commemorate Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Mr Corbyn has given extremists previously excluded from mainstream politics a platform, running the risk that their hateful ideology becomes a normal part of political debate.

And that platform is the Labour Party, also known as Her Majesty’s Official Opposition. To the despair of many Labour MPs, Mr Corbyn is secure in his position after a second leadership election. He has every prospect of maintaining his grip on Labour until the next general election and possibly beyond. The poison he has brought to British politics will continue to fester.

 

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