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MY EXPERIENCE as a journalist since the early 1970s has made me rather cynical of politicians. All too often I saw political figures grovelling in order to receive promotion, and forgetting whatever moral principles they might have had.
This applies, of course, to our present ANC government. But they learnt from the best – the previous National Party government was no better. And one sees much the same thing all over the world.
It should thus come as a welcome breath of fresh air to find a politician fearlessly standing up for whatever he or she believes in, regardless of reward or punishment. I am, of course, referring to two examples which have attracted a great deal of attention during the past months – returning Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and newly-elected leader of the Labour Party in the UK, Jeremy Corbyn.
And yet, both Tsipras and Corbyn are textbook examples of a phenomenon which directly contradicts my yearning for principled politicians. Let us look at both.
Tsipras, who made no secret of his admiration for Karl Marx and Marxist ideology, won the Greek elections in January. He did so by leading a wave of anger against the (as it was seen) unacceptable meddling of the European Union in Greek internal affairs by demanding drastic cuts to state expenditure and the restructuring of the economy.
This had caused the Greek economy to contract by a quarter and brought about high unemployment and great hardship.
And so, Tsipras came to power with promises to lead, as it were, a revolution against the merciless Brussels bureaucrats and the harsh German demands, which were presented almost as a repeat of the cruel German occupation of 1941-1944.
Let it be said of him – he tried. Very hard. His minister of finance, Yanis Varoufakis (The Economist described him as “a vain economics professor with an unparallelled ability to inspire loathing in his negotiating partners”) succeeded in alienating just about everyone who could be alienated.
And Brussels, buttressed by Germany and the northern European states, held firm. And so Tsipras had to ditch Varoufakis and lower his sails. He accepted all the demands.
Make no mistake: Tsipras’ principles were wholly unrealistic. Yes, the EU’s demands are harsh, but call it tough love, if you like. There is no way the free-spending, easy-going Greeks can get out of their economic mess without stern measures. Greece may emerge from this difficult time much healthier than before.
An old-fashioned socialist
Then there is Jeremy Corbyn, who was recently elected Labour leader by the party faithful. Corbyn, by all accounts, is an old-fashioned socialist who, so to speak, wants to lead Britain forward into the 19th century.
For instance, he wants to nationalise the commanding heights of the economy, he wants to turn on the money-printing presses to hand out money to the poor, he wants to raise taxes for the rich, he is sympathetic to the idea of abolishing Britain’s armed forces and nuclear weapons, he has no enthusiasm for British membership of either the EU or NATO, and he is a Republican to boot.
His new shadow chancellor of the exchequer, John McDonnell, in 2003 said that those who conducted an armed struggle against Britain on behalf of the Irish Republican Army (the establishment sees them as terrorists) should be “honoured” for their role.
Corbyn has been known for years to be an outsider in Labour, often voting against his party’s wishes in the House of Commons.
But, it seems, so intense is the loathing glib mainstream politicians evoke among Labour’s rank and file that they voted en masse for a man who impresses one with his apparent simplicity and ability to say things as he sees them, instead of beating around the bush.
Nevertheless, practical politics has a nasty way of gobbling up overly ideologically-minded politicians, moulding them and spitting them out again. The very difficult first week or so after Corbyn’s resounding victory seems to confirm this truth.
Within a week, Corbyn was forced to:
• Accept that he would kneel before the Queen and accept membership of her Privy Council;
• Accept that he should actually turn up at functions where UK armed forces personnel are being honoured;
• Accept that he should sing “God save the Queen” when the Battle of Britain is commemorated;
• Accept that Labour will not campaign for leaving the EU during next year’s referendum on the matter; and
• Accept that Labour will not push for the abolition of British nuclear weapons or for leaving NATO.
In fact, little remained of his principles after a few days in his new position.
The irony is that Corbyn’s election has done nothing at all to improve Labour’s chances of being elected to government.
According to an opinion poll published in The Independent, most Britons by far disagree with Corbyn’s stance on the economy, membership of the EU, defence, and terrorism. In fact, the survey found that one in five of those who voted Labour in last May’s election would now be more likely to vote for the Tories. Some 37% say they are “less likely” to vote Labour while Corbyn is leader.
Principles, it seems, are fine, but not when they clash with reality.
* Leopold Scholtz is an independent political analyst who lives in Europe. Views expressed are his own.
