Corbyn & Carillion
Earlier this week, Carillion collapsed in a sea of fire and envy, and I should know, because, absurdly, you can find my name at the end of a by-line about it for the Guardian. What’s important for us today, however, isn’t the Carillion liquidation per se, but how Jeremy Corbyn can capitalise on it, something that’s already been reported on by PSA Journalist of the Year, Stephen Bush. Stephen quite rightly points out that the collapse of a major government contractor is a good time for the opposition to hold the government to account and then pummel it into the ground; however, there’s some doubt over whether Corbyn is the best instigator of this scrutiny given the party’s previous inaction on the May Ministry’s problems, most notably the Junior Doctors scandal. However, the background to the Carillion mess is largely unlike that of Hunt’s NHS, and it actually has far more in common with another scandal we all remember: Grenfell Tower.
The most notable similarity between these two instances is that they’re both arguably cases where the government’s status quo failed, and far from graceful failures, these were crash-and-burns. Much like how there was corporate negligence in the management of Grenfell Tower, Carillion issued profit warnings and continued to be provided with government contracts. Moreover, in both of these cases, the choice is between the current laissez-faire approach and the Corbynite alternative of more state intervention (in the case of Carillion, less a Brownite bailout and more a straightforward shift away from PFIs and PPPs).
The most important thing that needs explaining is why we might be inclined to think that Corbyn’s performance on Grenfell was particularly exceptional, and why he could follow through again on Carillion. With Grenfell, Corbyn could ‘suit up’; that is to say, he took to the streets, met victims and protesters alike, and got pretty angry about the state of affairs that enabled an entire West London tower block to burn down. This resulted in heightened support for Labour in post.
So, what’s the odds that Corbyn could ‘suit up’ in response to Carillion, do a proper SuperJez? Well, there’s some opportunity given the threat to pension plans and council services previously provided by Carillion. For example, Corbyn could meet with the Oxfordshire fire service now required to deliver school meals in Carillion’s absence. Then, he could get really angry about how private contractors are opaque and can’t be trusted to run in the public interest, citing, among other things, how Her Majesty’s government effectively gave a green light to paying a bonus to Carillion’s former CEO after he quit. After the profit warnings came through. They are still paying him a £660,000 salary. Seething stuff.
At this point in time, the Opposition is going some way to throw mud at Carillion, and, by extension, the Conservative government. But the importance of these scandals in actualising a SuperJez goes some way to not only explaining Labour’s errant polling but also Corbyn’s success in leadership elections. Give the man an enemy, be it corporatism, negligence, or even Andy Burnham, and he’ll fight tooth and nail to see them vilified in the eyes of social justice. The man, or at least his public persona, acts as though he has very strong principles. It’s these principles, and the force they bring, that might well have earned Labour a swing in the most recent polls. But for that Corbynmania to continue, this particular “hero of the people” will need a very tangible villain.
The most important thing that needs explaining is why we might be inclined to think that Corbyn’s performance on Grenfell was particularly exceptional, and why he could follow through again on Carillion. With Grenfell, Corbyn could ‘suit up’; that is to say, he took to the streets, met victims and protesters alike, and got pretty angry about the state of affairs that enabled an entire West London tower block to burn down. This resulted in heightened support for Labour in post.
So, what’s the odds that Corbyn could ‘suit up’ in response to Carillion, do a proper SuperJez? Well, there’s some opportunity given the threat to pension plans and council services previously provided by Carillion. For example, Corbyn could meet with the Oxfordshire fire service now required to deliver school meals in Carillion’s absence. Then, he could get really angry about how private contractors are opaque and can’t be trusted to run in the public interest, citing, among other things, how Her Majesty’s government effectively gave a green light to paying a bonus to Carillion’s former CEO after he quit. After the profit warnings came through. They are still paying him a £660,000 salary. Seething stuff.
At this point in time, the Opposition is going some way to throw mud at Carillion, and, by extension, the Conservative government. But the importance of these scandals in actualising a SuperJez goes some way to not only explaining Labour’s errant polling but also Corbyn’s success in leadership elections. Give the man an enemy, be it corporatism, negligence, or even Andy Burnham, and he’ll fight tooth and nail to see them vilified in the eyes of social justice. The man, or at least his public persona, acts as though he has very strong principles. It’s these principles, and the force they bring, that might well have earned Labour a swing in the most recent polls. But for that Corbynmania to continue, this particular “hero of the people” will need a very tangible villain.
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