Jeremy Corbyn (Credit: Leon Neal / Getty Images)


April 26, 2018   3 mins

Forget St George, I am so desperate to slay the dragon that is Corbynism, I’d do it myself if I could. I want my Labour Party back; I want a return of that socialism that builds its policy on material reality, and not mythology.

But why would you want to slay a political movement that has brought so many young people out on the streets, the Corbynites ask. Because Corbyn has facilitated a mass of Militant Tendency lookalikes, I reply. Their beloved St Jezza has given them permission to behave like thugs, especially, it would appear, towards female party members.

For though Corbyn presents himself as a very ‘woke’ bloke, and recently claimed that his political hero is Mary Wollstonecraft, he is far from a feminist. His solution to sexual harassment on public transport, for example, was risibly Victorian: women-only train carriages. And he is currently happily fanning the flames of a new age of  witch-hunts against women.

He deems any protests against the proposed Gender Recognition Act, which would enable men to self identify as women, to be “transphobic”. And if we don’t accept that prostitution is merely ‘work’, as Corbyn clearly sees it, we are “whorephobic”. Whenever I am confronted by male leftists about my views on both subjects I just know they will be Corbyn supporters.

So, tell me, how can I support a movement that dismisses the opinions and needs of half the planet? Corbyn and his cabal and are taking us all back to the ‘beer and sandwiches’ sexism of the 1970s and a cult in which hard-left men flex their privilege. It turns the most gentle of people into macho idiots. One dear (former) friend of mine recently began to lecture me on how we need a ‘real socialism’ (one just for men, I think), at which point, he became an ex-friend.

Several female MPs have complained about that culture of macho bullying since Corbyn became leader, and have urged him to disband Momentum. Angela Eagle, an out and proud lesbian, had a brick thrown through her constituency window by Corbynites, as punishment for her bid to unseat St Jezza as Labour leader. But he carries on regardless; just look at that photograph of him surrounded by women– achingly transparent and far more patronising than the embarrassing ‘Blair’s Babes‘ photo opportunity.

Beyond his utter misunderstanding of over 50 per cent of the population – no mean feat – his knee-jerk anti-imperialism is particularly disturbing. It reminds me of how I was when I was 18. Luckily, I grew out of it – and never had the power to cause much damage.

These posh Stalinists do not represent working class folk, and despise feminism almost as much as they do centrists
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But Corbynites don’t see the danger. Thanks to their blinkered arrogance, they seem to genuinely believe their leader is not capable of being racist or anti-Semitism – mainly because he was once arrested at an anti-apartheid march.

I have actually heard people on the Left say that Corbyn intends to negotiate peace between Hezbollah and Israel. Nice idea. But how would he even begin? Corbyn has no leverage with Hezbollah. Even if he did acknowledge Israel, his accommodation of Hezbollah means he is utterly compromised. Meanwhile, over in Iran, where he has the respect of the government for being an anti-imperialist, he has done nothing to help free Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, who has just marked her second year in jail there. Would Corbyn really support the Iranian regime against Israel? The evidence strongly suggests he would. That possibility should horrify everyone.

And don’t get me started on Brexit. Had a sensible person been Labour leader during the referendum, we would have voted to remain. It’s because of  Corbyn that Brexit will effectively support the wealthy and cause profound hardship for the many.

But Corbyn never apologises, and blames everyone but himself for anything that goes wrong under his so-called leadership. Along with his disciples, he seems utterly detached from the physical reality of people’s lives. He is wedded to ideological purity regardless of the cost.

By denying us an effective, competent opposition, Corbyn is complicit in keeping the Conservatives in power. These posh Stalinists do not represent working class folk, and despise feminism almost as much as they do centrists.

By slaying the dragon of Corbynism, a few dinosaurs will also perish. Hand me that sword…


Julie Bindel is an investigative journalist, author, and feminist campaigner. Her latest book is Feminism for Women: The Real Route to Liberation. She also writes on Substack.

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