In another article packed full of assertion, like
Corbyn`s apparent failure to "respect or understand the fact that Labour is a
broad church", and exaggeration, such as Corbyn`s ambition "to see Britain
becoming a one-party state", arch-Blairite Mandelson offers Labour his new
year`s message (A Corbyn-led Labour will divide and fall into the
abyss,01/01/16). Omissions abound, too, as in the important role played by
Momentum in the recent by-election victory at Oldham, and, whilst very critical
of Momentum`s alleged association with "hard-left networks outside the party",
conveniently the article fails to mention Progress`s funding by Lord Sainsbury,
who also bankrolled the SDP in the 1980s, and its meetings in Labour conferences
sponsored by the Advertising Association, Hitachi and Santander, to name but a
few.
Mandelson would be better advised to
apologise, not only for missing the many opportunities the New Labour government
had to regulate industry and the financial institutions, but for that government
being "intensely relaxed" about people getting filthy rich, and all the
subsequent problems still haunting us today. The Chartered Institute of
Personnel and Development recently provided results of its research, showing
that high pay for chief executives demotivates the rest of the workforce, which
then is reflected in productivity levels (Workers demotivated by executives`
high pay - survey,18/12/15). This is hardly surprising when the High Pay
Centre`s research shows that CEOs are being paid 183 times more than their
average employee, compared with 47 times in 1998. Median pay for CEOs in FTSE100
companies has risen from £1.4m in 2003 to £3.3m in 2014. Yet Mandelson still
claims that Corbyn and his followers are the ones out of "tune with Labour`s
traditional value of equality"!
Election results have repeatedly shown that
Mandelson`s version of the Labour party has already fallen "into the abyss", and
that a party intent on actually taking steps to decrease inequality, and to
close the so-called "tax gap", can win votes. It`s time for Mandelson to move
on.
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