Guardian columnist John Harris has a new piece where he laments the UK’s “drift to the right” and the rhetoric on refugees. But imagine if Jeremy Corbyn, who has long stood with refugees, was prime minister. Refugees certainly wouldn’t be facing the Conservative government’s Rwanda bill, which threatens to deport them to Rwanda as a ‘deterrent’.
Both Harris and the Guardian tirelessly pushed anti-Corbyn narratives while he was Labour leader.
Guardian: intentionally smearing Corbyn
In a 2016 article, Harris declared “this is the end” for Labour, characterising the democratic surge of political involvement under Corbyn as a “collapse into spite and bullying”.
In another piece, Harris said Labour was in a “deep irrelevance”, arguing the party should instead be a pro-EU protest movement.
Again in a separate 2018 column, Harris argued Labour should focus on Brexit, accusing Corbyn of being “lost in a rose-tinted vision of Labour’s past”.
By the 2019 election, Labour had adopted a policy of a re-run of the Brexit referendum. This meant the party bled votes to the Tories in key pro-Brexit seats, losing Corbyn the election.
By contrast in 2017, when Labour respected the referendum result, Corbyn made greater gains than any Labour leader since 1945.
If the supposedly progressive Guardian had been behind him, perhaps he would’ve won in 2017.
What a mess we’re in
Recently, the former Labour leader wrote:
They know that their Rwanda plan will never work. That’s not the point. Their intention is to whip up hatred, division and fear.
Refugees do not make arduous and deadly journeys to the UK for fun. They make huge risks to reach our shores. I’ve been to Calais on several occasions, and each time I learn more about the diabolical conditions facing those who are trying to seek a place of safety. Plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda will not “deter” them from crossing the Channel. It will simply make life even harder for some of the most vulnerable human beings in the world.
He continued:
Instead of demonising refugees, the government should address the roots of their plight: war, human rights abuses and persecution.
The Guardian remains a useful resource, but the outlet and its columnists are clearly not serious about real progressive political change.
Otherwise, they would have got behind Corbyn. Now we’ve been stuck with more years of Tory rule, which Harris ironically laments.
Featured image via Esther Vargas – Flickr and Official Jeremy Corbyn Channel – YouTube
