by Owen Jones on (#6WC6Z)
Leftwing policies have mass appeal - what's needed is a figurehead who can bring back alienated voters and dodge culture warsTony Blair's devotees always had a stock response for their leftwing critics, and it went like this: your desire for political purity will render Labour unelectable, and the poorest will pay the price. A Labour party led by sensible moderates" may not be your first choice, but it is the only hope for the most vulnerable.As Labour imposes poverty on at least 250,000 people through cuts to disability benefits, according to estimates by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, this argument is submerged under a tidal wave of misery. The government has already robbed many pensioners of their winter fuel payments, and not only voted to keep a Tory two-child benefit cap that imposes squalor on hundreds of thousands of children, but suspended those Labour MPs who opposed it. A Labour party that knowingly imposes hardship on disabled people, pensioners and children has filed for moral and political bankruptcy.Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...