2 Letters to NS about Corbyn insult

John Gray`s article is strangely weakest when dealing with liberals in the UK (Age of the strongman, 25th May 2018). When referring to British "liberals", presumably he not only includes the centre-left politicians of New labour ilk, but also the so-called "liberal Conservatives" who allegedly exist in the Tory party. Both groups certainly not only presided over what some call the "recent age of progress", which saw amongst other things, "unending war in Afghanistan" and years of "falling living standards for swathes of the population", but also deny any responsibility for it. 

   Of course, disillusionment with a deregulating Labour government, "intensely relaxed" about people getting "filthy rich", and with Tory-dominated governments intent on austerity policies for purely ideological reasons, has led to massively increased  support for Corbyn`s Labour. But it is Gray`s bias against Corbyn which weakens the article`s arguments. Millions of us will be voting for Labour in the next election, not because "the British conscience is now so lax and coarse", but because only Corbyn has the policies which offer hope that inequality can be reduced, that tenants and workers can be protected from exploitation, and that the health and education services can be defended against further privatisation, and properly funded by a fair system of taxation. How Gray can ignore these policies and opine that Corbyn embodies "morbid politics", and has an "affinity with the politics of conspiracy and hate", beggars belief!

I cannot believe I was the only NS reader to write complaining about John Gray`s unnecessary and deeply offensive remarks about Jeremy Corbyn, yet not one complaint was published in the following edition (Correspondence, 1st June, 2018). What is particularly worrying is that a supposedly left-leaning magazine does not edit out such descriptions of the leader of the Labour party as a "shifty figure whose most genuine quality is a deep-seated affinity with the politics of conspiracy and hate", especially when it added absolutely nothing to the article`s arguments about the complacency of liberals. 

   Last week`s Leader stressed the importance of "shared prosperity", but where was the praise for the policies aiming to end austerity, reduce inequality, and impose fairer taxation and proper regulation on the banks and  financial institutions?  Does the NS actually agree with the ending of the exploitation of private tenants, and with caps on overdraft lending rates, or does it want a return to the ideas of New Labour, when cosying up with the City and being "intensely relaxed" about people getting "filthy rich" resulted in two election defeats, Tory-dominated governments, austerity and Brexit? 

     It is difficult to know where the NS is now situated on the political spectrum. By all means, analyse the policies and criticise some crass decisions, but leave the snidery to the right-wing press.