Labour hears the owl?

Some signs of hope for Labour today according to the Uardian

Other MPs who won in their constituencies have placed the blame firmly at the feet of the party’s Brexit policy. Last week the party chair, Ian Lavery, who narrowly held on to Wansbeck, told the BBC: “What we are seeing in the Labour heartlands is people very aggrieved at the fact the party basically has taken a stance on Brexit the way they have.” He added that ignoring the wishes of 17.4 million voters was “not a good recipe”.

The other main candidate for being burnt at the stake is still running (horrible mixed metaphor -- sorry) though:

Many former and aspiring MPs who failed to win on Thursday have told the Guardian that Labour’s outgoing leader and his views were the biggest single factor that contributed to their downfall.

This, by C Onwura,Labour  MP,  is quite promising too:

 The current [Labour leader]  is neither the evil villain nor the martyred saint of factional casting, just someone trying to do a very difficult job. But the next one does need to do better. Much better. They need to recognise the varied qualities the job requires, so that even if they can’t deliver on all of them, they can surround themselves with those who can....

So away with the cult of Magic Grandpa and any subsequent Labour Wonderwoman.

The election was about Brexit. Brexit is not about economics, but it is rooted in economic realities. The map of Labour’s defeat shows that the geography of loss matches the contours of economic despair....In the northern heartlands in particular, people want a return to a productive work that is part of something meaningful – ending the threat of the climate crisis, curing diseases, restoring broad-based prosperity to our country.

What links the disastrous Brexit 'policy' to charges of antisemitism is this:

People will not trust a party whose leader appears unable to make up their mind about critical political and moral issues.

Sensible here too

Patriotism and wealth creation do not have to mean racism and isolationism. They can mean solidarity and productive industry. These were at the heart of the Labour movement in the north-east.  

There are still fantasy politics for the new petite bourgeoisie though. G. Monbiot:

A new politics, funded by oligarchs, [this is new?] built on sophisticated cheating and provocative lies, using dark ads [ah yes] and conspiracy theories on social media, has perfected the art of persuading the poor to vote for the interests of the very rich....[By contrast] In Finland, on the day of our general election, Boris Johnson’s antithesis became prime minister: the 34-year-old Sanna Marin, who is strong, humble and collaborative...in 2014, the country started a programme to counter fake news

The answer:

To the greatest extent possible, parties and governments should trust communities [see below] to identify their own needs and make their own decisions.

Monbiot turns to Nature for examples, but not migrating swallows and fertile grasses:

When you try to control nature from the top down, you find yourself in a constant battle with it....rewilding – allowing dynamic, spontaneous organisation to reassert itself – can result in a sudden flourishing...The same applies to politics. 

There are some good examples,verging on Autonomism, which he has mentioned before:

The results have been extraordinary: a massive re-engagement in politics, particularly among marginalised groups, and dramatic improvements in local life.

The missing variable, I suspect, is the nature of the local 'community', whether or not there are organised groups with alternative visions -- like trades unions, radical parties, Labour clubs or workingmen's institutes used to have. If not, guess who will fill the vacuum and step forward to press their demands for the whole community to have cheap strawberries, and the right for all machines to be addressed with gender neutral pronouns.