Opinion: The portrayals of Corbyn as a Communist are misleading

A huge thank you to James Stuart who submitted this Artcile to Unity News Network (UNN) on the 21st of November 2019, it was approved for publication by Carl D. Pearson, Editor-in-Chief of UNN on the same day.

Please NOTE: This is an opinion piece and not the opinion of the editorial team at Unity News Network (UNN). We are a forum for free speech and ideas and are always open to publishing different ways of thinking from others.

The portrayals of Corbyn as a Communist are misleading, but are they effective?

Jeremy Corbyn is a man who arouses deep feelings. On the left, he is seen as a messianic figure, betrothed to democratic socialism and equality. On the right, Corbyn is viewed as a would-be dictator, ready to inflict bloodthirsty communism on the masses. There is good reason to doubt Corbyn’s credential as a potential inhabitant of Number 10, but we must first cast asunder the smears and innuendo surrounding the man and accept what we know to be true.  

In his Telegraph column, the Prime Minister famously likened Corbyn’s plan for Britain to Stalin’s persecution of the Kulaks in the 1930s. This is a comparison so lazy and devoid of credibility that it strains credulity. Stalin was responsible for the deaths of millions, and the Kulaks were slaughtered to provide an enemy for the dictator to scapegoat as he imposed collectivisation across the Soviet Union, with devastating consequences for the peasantry. In the present context, mentioning Stalin and Corbyn in the same breath is enough to arouse intense fear and loathing, which, one supposes, was Johnson’s intention. However, it is equally dangerous to permeate fake and false comparisons. 

Corbyn will impose no such massacres. He is a democratically elected leader fighting a democratic election. Further, conjuring up old fears and prejudices from the cold war will do nothing but misinform and alienate voters and preserve the split nature of society. To accuse Corbyn of being a communist is inaccurate, and to take policies that would help millions of workers, such as free Wi-Fi and brand them as ‘communist’ will do little except reinforce incorrect stereotypes and alienate the working-class voters who stand behind Corbyn. In other words, Johnson’s stratagem is one which relies heavily on the readiness of his supporters to accept misinformation and create a stunted image where Corbyn is seen as a dangerous radical. 

There are genuine concerns about the prospects of both a Corbyn and Johnson government. Controversy about anti-Semitism in the Labour party has been in the public sphere for years, and some members of the Jewish community feel that Corbyn’s response has been insufficient. Johnson, a man with a coloured history of lying has this week been accused of multiple affairs and offering peerages to Brexit party members in order to secure his party a clear run on the right flank of British politics. It will be of interest to discover which of these leaders the public views with more disdain come December 13th. 

The only way to run a campaign responsibly and in the public interest is to banish slander and deal with facts. By this metric, Labour seemingly have the edge. The Conservative Party record in government is not good: deep cuts to local services, reductions in frontline emergency services and tax cuts for the rich. So, Johnson resorts to fake news, surreptitiously edited videos of opposition politicians and the power of his own charisma to deliver a fourth term in office for the Tories. In order to counter such attacks, Labour must refocus on their agenda. The question that faces us therefore is thus: do voters accept the Tory smears? The election will be decided by the answer to that question.