by James Goldstone

Labour’s latest party political broadcast is a double tragedy; it highlights the hardship felt by many families today while also demonstrating a complete lack of understanding of why we lost the last election.

Released on the same day that figures showed UK unemployment has hit a ten year low, the five minute video makes the case that Britain’s economy isn’t working and people are being failed by the Tories. Sound familiar?

With a slew of elections coming up in in less than 80 days, it appears that team Corbyn would like to make these races into a referendum on Cameron and Osborne’s handling of the economy. The problem is that the Tories currently hold a two to one advantage over Labour on who is more trusted to run the economy – the same ratio they enjoyed at the last general election.

It is difficult to understand Labour’s thinking on this strategy. My guess is they believe that the economic suffering of many in society has not been pressed hard enough to the electorate and, much like Corbyn’s own PMQ style, have sought to make the case using real life case studies.

The case studies in the video are highly sympathetic and they represent hundreds of thousands of others across the country who do everything right but still struggle to make ends meet. But this shouldn’t be a revelation to voters as dozens of case studies like this were featured in Labour campaigns during the general election and they failed to bring about a Labour government.

There is the issue of blame. Many voters from all backgrounds believe, rightly or wrongly, that profligate Labour spending is the root cause of much of these difficulties. If you subscribe to this view then the video becomes an advert of why you should avoid voting for Labour.

If this type of video could convince everyone that the hardship described was completely the Tories’ fault and that more should be done by the government to help them, we would have won the last election. I am sure this is the reaction of everyone involved in the production of the broadcast but evidence tells us that it is a minority view.

There are other problems with the video such as the slightly creepy, overly long slow-motion shots of the families staring at the camera which feel like they failed to capture enough footage and had to make up the running time. The lighting of the MPs is really poor and this, along with the shaky camera footage, gives it an amteur feel. Despite talking about some pretty heart-breaking situations, the MPs in the video seem wooden and scripted. Overall, the feel of the video was one of despair and desperation. On this point the broadcast has even drawn mild criticism from usually supportive quarters.

Labour’s political broadcasts need to be big on hope, optimism, with a vision of how good society can be. Just my thoughts coming at you. — Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) February 17, 2016

And finally the policies that Corbyn lays out don’t seem to address the needs of the case studies at the centre of the video. It is hard to see how increased house building will help single mother Marion to afford the required solicitor fees. Zero-hours contract worker Kris does deserve a real living wage but it is currently the Tories’ plan to raise the minimum wage to £9 before the next election. “Jobs for the future” is a slogan rather than a policy and tackling tax dodgers is fair and right but it is unclear how it will directly improve the lives of the case studies featured or the viewers at home.

It is safe to say that the first party political broadcast of the year from Labour has failed on several fronts. It takes on the Tories over an issue the public trust them on more than Labour. It highlights the economic suffering of families at a time when the economy is doing the best it has for a decade. It attempts to convince people using sympathetic case studies that have failed to move opinion in the past. It doesn’t suggest Labour has learnt any lessons from the great recession. It is poorly produced and the policy proposals it espouses are either vague or have been copied by the Tories.

Perhaps my expectations are too high. The intention of the video may simply have been to make the case that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party cares deeply about the needs of those least well off in society. If that is the intention, then the party is setting itself an extremely low bar. If Labour doesn’t have this going for them already, what have they got?

James Goldstone is an activist and former Labour Organiser.

Tags: case studies, hard left, James Goldstone, Jeremy Corbyn, owen jones, party political broadcast