GE2019 - Notes From The Late Great Harry Leslie Smith (Part 5)

Sadly Harry Leslie Smith died late last year in his mid-90s.

But his wise words live on.  He would love Labour's manifesto 2019.  His words were very prophetic, he mentions the folly of following or believing Johnson.

From his last book 'Don't Let My Past Be Your Future.'

"I know my moment on this earth it’s almost done. I will soon join my mother, my father, sisters, brothers, wife, son and friends who have passed on before me. I have tried to relate to you what I have learned and seen through many years of life because we are in the most dangerous time. It will be up to you to decide whether you fight for sunlight or submit to darkness. I am too old now to do much more but tell the truth about the history of my generation. To survive, live well and enjoy love, you must choose the path of your ancestors. In you the blood of all those who fought for fair wages, housing, healthcare and defended our island against the tyranny of Hitler. ....

I can’t make that decision for you. I have shown you what that world looked like when the 1% enslaved an entire generation to feed their greed. It is now up to you because the sunset has come to my life but you must not let it come to our country. It shouldn’t be this way. It should be better for you. You deserve more...

I was born in the darkest of times and it seems because of Brexit and Donald Trump that I will exit this world in a similar era of uncertainty, inequality and cruelty.

Right now, we are at a juncture in history that is as dangerous to this generation as the 1930s were to mine. There are serious threats of war emerging all across the globe, some calls by the folly of neoliberalism and others just erupting because we forgot that tyranny, if fed, will metastasise in even the healthiest of societies.

It is your choice now to decide whether you let the jungles of greed, neoliberalism and corporations grow over and obscure the welfare state... My past won’t become your future if you hold firm to the belief that all people are born equal and deserve the right to life free of want, ignorance and sickness. Believe in yourself, and social justice, and live by the creed that we are all our brothers keeper.

When I glance at this Tory government front bench I can plainly see that these politicians came off the rack of a party political machine that is good at only one thing: promoting opportunists....

It’s why I felt sick and when Theresa May, after a series of terrorism attacks in London and Manchester in Spring 2017, claimed our security had not been compromised by the fact that 20,000 police personnel have been let go during these long years of austerity.... it doesn’t take a security expert to deduce that after four major terrorist attacks in three months, which have left scores dead in Manchester and London, that the simple tools of security have been compromised by Tory austerity policies that have got it or police services. 

Political talk at the beginning of April 2017 was of how the Tories could govern Britain for a generation and that Labour, unless it became a party that favoured more right-wing economic policies under the guise of middle of the road politics, was doomed to obscurity. However we live in the most unsettled of political times and, because Jeremy Corbyn harnessed the hopes and dreams of the youth vote, Labour was able to get its largest folk share since 2001.

It surprised everyone, including me. Six months ago, when I was first writing the concluding chapters to this book, I was doubtful that Corbyn could survive until autumn 2017. I could not imagine then how are political landscape could change so dramatically. 

Labour on social media changed the Tories narrative that this election was about Brexit, and made it instead about austerity...

In the north, south and all compass points in Britain, Corbyn delivered speeches of passion and popular eloquence because he talked about wanting a government that was for the many not the few. I saw him transformed during this election from a fringe politician into a national leader.

Yet it wasn’t until Labour produced its election manifesto that I felt Jeremy Corbyn had a real chance of breaking Theresa May’s commanding lead in the polls. It was a manifesto that I understood would be a game changer. It was held for 21st century voters the same optimism, the same life changing policies that caused me to vote labour in 1945 at the age of 22.

Corbyn’s manifesto wasn’t revolutionary: it just contained good and practical policies that would benefit most citizens. It called for things this nation needs, such as the renationalisation of the rail services, as well as an NHS for and by the people. It spoke to the young who have borne the heavy price of austerity by offering free university tuition, a proper housing strategy and a child day care strategy. Moreover, all of these initiatives by Labour were properly costed...

But what when Theresa May is replaced by another Tory, whether it is Boris Johnson… Or another that stalks in the shadows, don’t ever believe the Tories if they try to tell you they have changed their stripes. You see, even if the Tories were to end austerity, it can never really be over until they restore all they took away from us in the last seven years and take back all they gave to the wealthy through tax cuts or privatisation of state assets.

So, what remains now in the wake of Theresa May's botched attempt to win glory for herself and greater Parliamentary power for the Tories? Without a doubt, we will see another general election very soon and we should accept, owing to the volatility of politics today, that all bets are off. What is essential between now and the next election, if we wish to end austerity and prevent my past becoming your future, is that Labour increases its outreach to the young, the disaffected and the hard-pressed middle-class. Labour has a real chance of forming the next government and returning economic and social equality back to this country. To do so will not be easy. It took almost 30 years to destroy the welfare state and its rebuilding will be a long and arduous task. But, as I saw the foundations dug for a progressive society in 1945, I know we can do it again..."

The greatest tribute to Harry would be to vote Labour in his memory, for his son and to all of us who want a better world.