Sir, – Your editorial "British Labour – Refighting wars of the past" (August 11th) was a curate's egg, good in parts. The British Labour Party is not "refighting the ideological battles of its past" but a very current battle over the neo-liberal austerity policies that are supported by the party's Blairite establishment and the present Tory government.
Perhaps some protagonists “would have it” as “Bennism rebooted v Blairism rebooted”, but Jeremy Corbyn and most of his supporters are well aware that Bennism was 30 years ago and they are responding to the very different conditions of today, as for instance “People before Profit” do in Ireland.
"Telegraph readers" who signed up as Labour supporters were quite explicit about voting for Corbyn because they think – or thought – he was the weakest candidate and they do want to see Labour defeated. But to lump "Trotskyists" in with them in the same sentence is frankly ludicrous. Whatever else you can say about "Trotskyists" – and some people apparently feel free to say anything that comes into their heads quite independent of evidence – they are very well aware that they and the left in general can only gain from a Corbyn victory.
Was this an exercise in spurious “balance”, an attempt to establish right-wing credentials, before going on to say quite sensible things about the left and Corbyn’s programme?
His supporters are indeed “appalled” by “untrammelled Tory rule”. His supposedly “far left” policies, such as renationalising the railways and a £10 (14 Euro) an hour minimum wage, do indeed enjoy majority public support.
And that reality indeed “jars with the predominant media narrative that says Labour lost because it was too left wing”. – Yours, etc,
JAMES ANDERSON,
Professor Emeritus
of Political Geography,
Queen’s University,
Belfast.
Sir, – Jeremy Corbyn is the only one of the candidates for the leadership of the British Labour Party who has said that he would like to see Tony Blair face trial over Iraq.
And that in itself is enough to almost make we want to join Labour to vote for him. – Yours, etc,
DAI WOOSNAM,
Scartho,
Grimsby.
Sir, – Tony Blair does not have the credibility or the moral authority to sit in judgment on Jeremy Corbyn. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN O’BRIEN
Winchmore Hill,
London.
Sir, – If the British Labour Party wants to indulge in a flight from reality, good luck to it. The Tories must be pinching themselves to check it’s not all some wonderful dream. – Yours, etc,
ANNE O’BRIEN,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.