In 2015 Jeremy Corbyn won the Labour leadership election by a huge mandate of 59% thatput even Tony Blair's 1994 mandate to shame. For many, it was the dawning of a new era;an erathat couldput rightwhat many saw to be Labour's inability to distinguish itself from being anything other than a Tory-lite. This relatively unknown left-wing back bencher brought the promise of a softer, more honest, and less elitist politics that peoplehad long been crying out for, yet for a vast majority, he was not a leader.
Post-Brexit doubts
Now, with the prospect of an early election looming, his leadership has come under question more so than ever, and his MPs seek to remove him out of fear that soon their party will fade into non-existence.
Yet in trying to save Labour, they have inevitably fractured it. The left, and the party members on the whole, have rallied behind Corbyn in force. They've made it knownthey're unwilling to let go of what they have been asking for for so long. They've made it known, in their own minds at least, that this isn't just a fight about leadership, this is about standing up for the last real voice of the left.
Yetpolitics is bigger than one man. While Corbyn is, in almost every way, the politician a post-Brexit UK is crying out for, it's clear that the vast majority of the country still isn't ready for him – and the left must listen. As sad as it is for the themto turn their back on their one true champion, it isa necessary sacrifice to unblock the impasse that the party has now reached.
For at the end of the day, the longer Corbyn has support, the longer he holds out,and the longer he holds out, the more volatile Labour becomes.
This Labour civil war has to end
It's a fight that will only, and inevitably, end up hurting the very thing both sides are trying to protect. It's a fight that has been built on the premise that the MPs are not the members (which is true),but it's also a fact that without the MPs there is no party.
Something's got to give. Something's got to be sacrificed.
It's time that Corbyn becomes that sacrifice, if nothing else but for the good of the Labour party – and it's time that his supporters let him.With the fate of the UK currentlyin free fall, it's more important than ever that Labour provide astrong, united opposition tosteer the country in the right direction. It's a shame that it can't be with Jeremy Corbyn, but he will be a martyr to the cause, and history will remember him kindly for it.
