Alex Massie Alex Massie

Britain is in desperate need of a truly national party

I am not sure I can think of any great public assembly in Britain I’d enjoy less than Glastonbury. Within reason, I’m not sure you could even pay me to go there. Glastonbury is a place for dear Hugo Rifkind not for me, and that’s the way I imagine we both prefer it. 

Still, there was something worth seeing at Glastonbury this year. Jeremy Corbyn, obviously. His appearance was remarkable, even if it has also prompted a fresh outbreak of one of Britain’s under-appreciated traditional sports: members of the middle-class sneering at other members of the middle-class. 

Even so, two things can be said about this. First, the Labour party cannot win unless it is a broad church. Even if it hadn’t always enjoyed some middle-class support, it can no longer in any case afford to be the party of the workers. For there are no longer enough unionised or manual or semi-skilled workers in Britain to deliver an election victory.

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