Strong and Stable

Theresa May is talking about strong and stable leadership. A lot. Like some kind of dystopian Tory stuck record she is repeating the phrase regardless of whether it makes any sense in a given context. It runs through the Tory campaign like a motorway through a site of natural beauty. In an admirably ecumenical fashion it is the mantra of the vicar's daughter. It sounds like either the world's worst dating site bio or an advertising slogan for toilet paper. Yet again and again, the Prime Minister says it. If Theresa May were asked whether she would prefer tea or coffee, she would respond that she stands for strong and stable leadership, and that to chose either drink would be to risk handing power to the Coalition of Chaos.

Why is she doing this? The image she wants to present is a classically conservative one - of order and unity, bringing the nation together above the noise of political contest. It is a disturbing outlook for sure: taken to extremes, it feeds into the kind of grotesque fascism represented across the Channel by Marine Le Pen. It cannot be denied, or at least it should not be denied, however that these tropes appeal to no small number of people: leadership, unity, stability, strength.

Not everyone for whom this talk is comforting or uplifting has a pair of jackboots on their shoe-rack. May's values appeal to the anxious, to those whose lives lack shape, community, or apparent meaning. They offer a prospect of having a clear place in the world and of belonging to something along with others. In other words, they promise to undo the unsettling effects of capitalism. Right-wing politics in capitalist society finds itself caught in a constant bind: on the one-hand wishing to unleash the market on society in the cause of profit, on the other needing to restore the order also required by profit in response to the disorganising effects of capital's social rampage.

The Left has to understand the roots and the appeal of language like May's in order to respond to it adequately. It would be a mistake of catastrophic proportions, and a betrayal of the victims of the racism 'national unity' invariably brings in its wake, to adopt May's own themes in the fashion of Blue Labour. Even offering 'leadership' seems to me to suggest a presidential politics to which we'd be better placed to propose an alternative: we are not so much about leading as allowing people to take control of their own lives. This said, in order to counter the 'strong and stable' line, something has to be said that speaks to the uncertainty, vulnerability and isolation that breeds it. Corbyn's programme is good in this respect; in the longer run an explicit class politics is the answer. For now, the task is to get out there and offer an alternative remedy to the disease for which May offers toxic snake oil.

Oppose Vona, don't ban him

London is facing a visit from Gabor Vona, the leader of Hungarian fascist party Jobbik. See more from Owen Jones here.

He should arrive to find opposition, protests and information campaigns about the nature of his party. But it is a mistake to follow the lead of some London Labour MPs and AMs and appeal to the Home Secretary to prevent Vona entering the UK.

Never mind the irony of using border controls against a man who is all too much in favour of border controls, State bans of any sort cannot defeat fascism. They allow the far right to pose as victims, a favourite tactic, and set a dangerous precedent. Once it becomes established practice to exclude political speakers from a country because their words might foster extremism or stir up discontent, we move into very dangerous territory. Do you trust Theresa May to exercise this power responsibly? Even talk of 'inciting hatred' doesn't capture all and only fascists. Everyone from anti-austerity campaigners to fracking activists has been accused of it in the recent past.

No Platform is a reasonable policy. There is no reason the labour movement should provide fascists with meeting spaces or opponents in debates. State bans are something very different, and not the way forward.