"The Labour Party is now a threat to national security, our economic security and your family's security," is how British Prime Minister David Cameron reacted to the outcome of the Labour Party election in Britain on Saturday.
Jeremy Corbyn, a seven-time MP from the Islington North constituency in London, was elected the new Labour leader. He got roughly 251,000 of the 422,000 votes cast by members of the Labour Party. Self-assured and perhaps a tad smug, Corbyn argued that he had secured a "huge mandate" of 59.5 per cent of the vote. Described on British television as a "renegade", "an insurgent," and even a "Communist", Corbyn was once put down as nothing more than a protest leader. In 1984, he argued that the Labour Party ought to become a "force outside of parliament-mobilising political activity." Loose comparisons can well be made between Corbyn's politics and those shared by the Aam Admi Party in at least their pre-victory days. Corbyn is an activist at heart. An unabashed socialist, he makes no excuses for wanting to nationalise the railways or energy companies in Britain. It is for these reasons that he is seen as a "threat" by the likes of David Cameron, who epitomises everything elite and posh about Britain.
In many ways, what Corbyn represents as the leader of the Labour Party is the clearest spectacle of a winning argument that underlies the many contradictions within the Party. Corbyn could well be a leading actor in the works and essays of the Indian-born socialist and literary master George Orwell. "Everyone who uses his brain knows that Socialism is a way out," was Orwell's comment on finding a way out of the Depression. It is not far from Corbyn's call to find a way out of the austerity measures authored and implemented by the Conservative government in the UK. Take for instance Corbyn's first published words following his victory. He wrote:
"We understand aspiration, and we understand that it is only collectively that our aspirations can be realised. Everybody aspires to an affordable home, a secure job, better living standards, reliable healthcare and decent pension. My generation took those things for granted and so should future generations."
Jeremy Corbyn is the new leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party (AFP PHOTO / BEN STANSALL)
Whilst reaching out to the aspirational middle class in a country of around 65 million people, Corbyn has made clear that he intends to return Britain to a Welfare State. This was the promise to the British electorate that led the Labour Party to its third ever-electoral victory in 1945. That election was about delivering what economist William Beveridge called "a system for social insurance". The Labour Party's manifesto was both plain and direct. "The Labour Party", it underlined, "is a Socialist Party, and proud of it." To the utter horror of Tory leaders, including of course Winston Churchill - who lost the elections to a humbler Clement Attlee - red flags unfurled all over London. Beveridge was assisted by no less than John Maynard Keynes, who called for complete employment. In 1948, the Atlee government created the National Health Service (NHS), the single-most successful Labour policy since the birth of the party in 1900.
Corbyn's desire to essentially adopt an Attlee-like approach to welfare policies got him recently elected. Mostly, it has warmed the cockles of Union bosses betrayed by Ed Miliband, Corbyn's predecessor. Importantly, under Corbyn the Unions hope to defeat a bill in the British House of Commons that undermines the right to strike. A one-time unionist himself, Corbyn has come out strongly against this bill. Associating himself closely with the Unions, he has made clear that he is a proud participant in a "continuum of brave resistance and defiance." Such associations have clearly unnerved Tory Ministers wary of the new Labour Leaders' desire to convert the voice of dissent within parliament into something a lot more Orwellian - or anarchist - on the streets of London and elsewhere. The strait-jacketed and mostly upper-lip Conservative frontbenchers can deal with wit and controversy, but only as long as it is in the well of the House. Cameron and his crowd are unused and unsuited to the politics of the street; Corbyn on the other hand is less comfortable in the House and a lot better on the street.
His attire alone says it all. Rarely seen in a full-length suit, Corbyn's more casual open-shirt look goes back to the time when he debated Housing policies with no less than Margaret Thatcher. He is often found wearing a hat in the style of a
budenovka, worn by members of the Red Army.
An ardent internationalist, Corbyn's take on global affairs challenges mainstream thinking in Britain and perhaps even within Europe. He is no fan of nuclear weapons, and has campaigned for nuclear disarmament. This is significant. The British parliament will vote for the replacement of what is called the Trident Nuclear system in 2016. These are four nuclear submarines armed with ballistic missiles, expected to cost close to £100 billion. Corbyn's potential opposition to the replacement will make him the first mainstream political leader since Michael Foot, the leader of the Labour Party between 1980 and 1983, to call for disarmament.
Further, Corbyn essentially believes in the politics of negotiations. He has no qualms talking to leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah. In the past, he has backed talks with the Irish Republican Army. He is less enthusiastic about the United States. He even compared some actions of the so-called Islamic State with those of the United States in the Middle East.
In sum, Corbyn's emergence as the Labour Party leader promises to invite much-needed excitement in British political life. The close-to-identical politics of New Labour under Tony Blair and the Conservative Party in the 1990s and much of the 2000s paralysed debate in the UK. The marginal shift in thinking under Gordon Brown bored the electorate, and led to Brown's political exit. The Conservative-Liberal Democrat experiment between 2010 and 2015 resulted in political compromises that enraged the Lib-Dem voter, whilst propelling the Conservatives into a majority in the 2015 elections.
To be sure, Corbyn's politics are less likely to attract a voting population that is far different to the one Attlee encountered in 1945. That election was held on the back of a war that left Britain economically devastated. Offering socialist dogma in turn for austerity is less likely to excite the aspirational class that Corbyn is reaching out to. Yet, his politics have every potential to stir debate in a country where stiff upper-lip members of parliament will find it increasingly hard to have the last word.
(Dr. Rudra Chaudhuri is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of War Studies and the India Institute at King's College London.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.