Electable Left

Sailing Close to the Wind: Reminiscences 
by Dennis Skinner 

I read this book by chance after writing my previous blog, "Electable Corbyn" and my review for Goodreads focuses in on the suggestion that Corbyn and the Left would make Labour unelectable.  Skinner has endured that jibe for decades and rebuts it firmly.  I think his arguments merit being expanded on because they are so topical and hopefully that will happen.  Here is my review. 

Oscar Wilde famously remarked that if everyone said what they thought, civilised life would be impossible. Dennis Skinner demonstrates the opposite and makes me wish he was not so damned unique. 

There is nothing literary or pretentious in this memoir. It is basically a transcript of his thoughts in a form no different to a rambling monologue, something that Dennis Skinner can carry off to perfection. It is not without repetition and redundancy, but neither was Homer and his stuff has survived. Skinner's poetry, by the way, is abominable. Skinner's whole life has been a performance and he plays his part with complete sincerity and total commitment. He truly has nothing to hide, a claim few politicians can make, though Jeremy Corbyn (who is not discussed in the book) may well prove to be his match in that respect. 

Not everybody will enjoy or appreciate this book. Most Tories won't for a start and Blairites in Labour will also be uncomfortable. But it would be a serious mistake to ignore his messages. For example, he rejects the myth that Labour's 1983 election manifesto was a left wing suicide note: the manifesto was not in fact produced by the left wing of the party, but by the right who had control of the NEC at the time. What cost Labour the 1983 election in Skinner's reasonable opinion was a combination of the way the SDP and its Gang of Four split the progressive anti Thatcher vote, and also the jingoistic boost of the Falklands War which enabled Thatcher to survive an election she expected to lose despite her dreadful, shameful performance in her first period in government. In short, it was the right (in particular that segment that left Labour to form the SDP) that made Labour unelectable.

In 1978 Jim Callaghan foolishly declined to call an election, choosing instead to push on with his Winter of Discontent and to lose public support accordingly, despite a terrific record in government prior to that. In the summer of 2007 Gordon Brown backed away from a serious opportunity to fight and win an election, only to be engulfed by the banking crisis and economic crash of 2008. Again, in both cases, it was not the Left of the party that carries the responsibility for these disasters. 

Indeed, maybe the real myth is that Labour ever was unelectable, led from the left or the right. Dennis Skinner cites quite a few examples of the power of local activists to secure the election of Labour MPs despite hostile circumstances and he advocates that the party leadership get more in touch with its members and supporters. Again, though not mentioned, Corbyn has much the same perspective. 

These arguments could not be more topical than today (September 2015) as the left is given its first real opportunity in 40 years to direct the party in parliament. If history is any guide, the real and serious threat to Labour will come from within, and not necessarily from its left who are fully committed to the party, but from those on the right for whom other parties may offer a career path. 

The book is filled with hilarious anecdotes and gives a light hearted and easy to read description of some of the most harrowing and important political developments of his long career, witnessed and often influenced from his strategic seat in the Palace of Varieties that is our infuriating and deeply unsatisfactory Parliament.