"We don't pass by" - Jeremy Corbyn lays foundations for compassionate narrative based on renewing belief in public service

Jeremy Corbyn addresses a thousand people in Manchester Cathedral at a meeting organised by the CWU for their People's Post campaign, while several thousand more assemble outside.

Last night, Jeremy Corbyn had a strong message of support for the CWU's People's Post campaign. Yet just his presence alone was a great success for the Communication Worker's Union, as he drew an audience of around eight thousand people to the Manchester Cathedral meeting - the majority of whom were gathered outside for a parallel overspill event.

As part of the week of protests parallel to the Conservative Party Conference, it capped off a successful weekend for the People's Assembly that saw sixty to eighty thousand people assemble to march against austerity.

Jeremy Corbyn opened his speech with another of his recent references to the media coverage of himself, dismissing personal attacks by saying he really doesn't care about them:

"Once you get out of the swamp of personal recriminations people have to listen to the political arguments"

He also praised the politically active young people turning out for events like those this weekend, who he said had been 'written off by the political establishment'.

The focus of Corbyn's speech was on his belief in public service. Along with Dave Ward, the General Secretary of the CWU, there was praise for the post office as a strong force for good that connected people. The was also praise for the grandness of the principle behind the Universal Service Obligation.

Corbyn set his comments within the context of the importance of the public sector's role, echoing fellow speaker Natalie Bennett's sentiment that the private sector is 'no answer' for public sector provision of essential public services.

Corbyn also told the audience, echoing others at the People's Assembly rally on Sunday, that the campaign for the 2020 election starts now, not two or three weeks before 7 may 2020, and that campaigners need to start now to win ordinary people's hearts and minds over to hope. He expressed confidence that he, Labour and the anti-austerity movement would succeed.

The event also featured Kevin Maguire of The Mirror acting as chair; Owen Jones - who looked particularly fired up; and Natalie Bennett - who, looking more comfortable and confident than six months ago, received a warm welcome from a crowd that clearly had a lot of empathy with the Green Party's leader and her message.

Ultimately though, this was Corbyn's moment. This was another chance for him to lay out his new politics, with a different approach that is more reasonable and more democratically engaged with civil society. It was also a chance to lay the foundations for a new and more compassionate narrative, with which to oppose austerity based on renewing people's belief in public service. He summed up that message with the words: "We won't pass by".

The task now ahead for Corbyn and his team now is to maintain the momentum of the social movements that have come together against austerity. It was clear, however, that the majority of the crowd appeared to have turned up to see the new Labour leader and he was met, and departed from the hall, to standing ovations. If Corbyn can pull in near ten thousand people to hear him speak everywhere he goes, estimations regarding his chances of victory in 2020 are going to start changing dramatically.

Anti-austerity 'Take Back Manchester' event tries to prove that the Left is back in fashion

Billy Bragg plays to the crowd of protesters gathered at the start of the the march, which saw 60,000 people walk the streets of Manchester around the Conservative Party Conference.

The tone was set for several days of People's Assembly 'Take Back Manchester' protests at a day long gig on Saturday, organised by Sam Duckworth at the People's History Museum in Manchester. The event was headlined and closed out by Billy Bragg, who saved a rendition of The Red Flag for his encore - an anthem that Jeremy Corbyn's election seems to have brought back into style (Dearden, 2015).

The 'Take Back Manchester' protests, aimed at bringing the anti-austerity campaign right onto the Conservative doorstep at their autumn conference in Manchester (Pidd, 2015), follow an upsurge in activity after the shock Conservative election win. That surge has been given new energy by the election of Jeremy Corbyn as the leader of the Labour Party (Young, 2015; Kuenssberg, 2015).

Billy Bragg told his audience on Saturday night that he'd been a member of the movement so long, it had become fashionable again. And that's a message that the People's Assembly is keen to impress upon the Conservatives - that the days of austerity are numbered in the face of a resurgent popular democratic Left.

Natalie Bennett addresses the crowds assembled at Castlefields arena at the end of the march.

That message was at the heart of what the speakers had to say to the crowds gathered in the sun at the Castlefields outdoor arena. Natalie Bennett told the crowd that the sun was shining on their movement - in this case figuratively as well as literally, on a beautiful Sunday evening.

Stood on the stage in the sunshine, Charlotte Church told the crowd:

"They can hurl abuse at us and we will fight back. They can scare people into thinking one way, but we can educate people into thinking another. They can claim that protest doesn't work, but we can prove protest has worked, does work and will work for us now."

Owen Jones followed by saying that a broad movement was needed to achieve these things, organised from the bottom up. Mark Serwotka went much further, arguing that the trade unions needed to stand together, as the real opposition to the government, and close to outright called for general strikes.

The emphasis everywhere was on the power of the popular movement and not without good reason. Without the support of a broad social movement, the new campaign for an alternative cannot succeed. The new leader of the Labour Party cannot succeed.

On Saturday, Billy Bragg told the audience that he believed that the last election proved that the times are still in flux. That there is a world to win. But Bragg followed up with a word of caution. He said that the real enemy was cynicism - which needed to be replaced with hope and the belief that victory was possible.

If the People's Assembly and the trade unions are to build a bottom up movement and have a sustained impact, then Jeremy Corbyn - who addresses the Communications Workers' Union this evening in Manchester - will have an important role to play. Whatever lack of loyalty the parliamentary party has offered him as the new leader of the Labour, the wider social and trade union movements have adopted him as their figurehead.

But Corbyn needs to be wary. Alexis Tsipras has shown perils and difficulties of serving the people's idealism within the depressingly pragmatic political mainstream (Cohen, 2015). If Corbyn can be a lightening rod, the focal point and agent of the wider movements, he could be both the coordinator and the public spokesperson for the movements aims.

Yet, ultimately, it will require the sustained attention, energy and engagement of those taking part to overcome the austerity narrative, because a political party alone in the political sphere is not enough (Rogers, 2015). Only a sustained campaign - debating, educating and informing - can change public perceptions and give people a reason to believe in an alternative.

Election 2015: The BBC's opposition leaders debate sees Farage cornered by the Left and lash out at the audience

David Cameron's refusal to engage with debates has led to some very awkward arrangements, one of which was tonight's debate. The leaders of the opposition present - Ed Miliband for Labour, Nicola Sturgeon for the SNP, Leanne Wood for Plaid Cymru and Natalie Bennett for the Green Party - but not Nick Clegg for the Liberal Democrats, who by virtue of a deal between broadcasters and the Prime Minister ends up left out (BBC, 2015).

With no place in the previous Prime Minister's debate, and no place at the opposition debate, its hard not to think that the Lib Dem have been unfairly excluded. Yet the debate itself was lopsided enough without another party of the Left or Centre taking to the stage.

With the leaders of four broadly progressive parties lining up against the leader of one Far-Right party, it was always going to feel like they were ganging up on UKIP's Nigel Farage. Farage was clearly feeling cornered - going so far as insult the entire audience and the BBC for being too Left-Wing.

The fact is though that the parties on the stage, not only the independently selected audience, were fairly representative of national polling - 13% for the Far-Right UKIP, 39%+ for the Centre-Left parties, a difference of at the least 3-1, before you even add on the numbers for the SNP and Plaid Cymru.

That was reflected throughout the debate. Nicola Sturgeon, Leanne Wood and Natalie Bennett regularly ganged up on both Nigel Farage and Ed Miliband - challenging the Far-Right anti-immigration narrative of Farage on one side and calling for Miliband to join their anti-austerity progressive movement on the other.

That three-way alliance seemed to be a clear precursor of what Sturgeon hinted about at one stage: a Progressive Alliance bloc in the next parliament formed by MPs from the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party (Mason, 2015). On the present polling that would mean a 57 seat bloc pressuring for Left-Wing anti-austerity policies.

Once more, there was less discovered by the debate than many would have hoped. However, it did provide a platform for a challenge to Farage and UKIP's anti-immigration, anti-EU, narrative that has been contested far too little over the last five years. And, once again, it showed the UK's voters that there are alternatives, and that multi-party politics is a very real possibility. Those, at least, are some positive in favour of the debate format.

Election 2015: Green Party and the Left

For 2015, the job of representing the radical left alternative has fallen upon the Green Party. They made a breakthrough in 2010 by claiming their first parliamentary seat at Brighton Pavilion, and took minority control of Brighton and Hove Council in the local elections of 2011.

The role they've taken on - largely seen to have been held by the Liberal Democrats in 2010 - comes with some benefits. Since their 2010 breakthrough the party has polled as high as 8%, seen its membership rising and secured a podium at the leaders debate. The party is growing and its support is typically younger (Williams, 2015).

The recent surge in support, particularly amongst young people, has come with a focus on social and economic policy, rather than environmental. The Greens' social liberalism and progressive anti-austerity economics, supporting a £10 living wage, the abolition of tuition fees and reintroduction of EMA, support for the NHS, and for a Citizen's Income, have been singled out as positive by young members (Gil, 2015).

There is, however, a price for those benefits. They come with greater pressures and scrutiny. There was heavy criticism for party leader Natalie Bennett's performance in a series of interviews (BBC, 2015{1}; LBC, 2015) and scorn has also been poured on the potential cost of some their more radically progressive policies - particularly the Citizen's Income.

Those criticisms have led to some in the party - particularly their only MP and former leader Caroline Lucas - to play down their support for a Citizen's Income in the short term (Riley-Smith, 2015). Yet there are those who think that the policy can be costed practically (Finlay, 2015), and the party has announced that the policy will be in their manifesto (BBC, 2015{2}).

While some of their more radical policies have courted controversy, other ideas have made it into the mainstream. Matching Green support for renationalisation of the railways has been talked about in Labour circles (Ferguson, 2013).

Yet, until we see those principles tested in practice, it is difficult to know how the party will respond when pressure is put upon its priorities. The only example we can really draw upon is the experience of Brighton and Hove City Council, which has been under Green Party minority control since 2011 (Bawden, 2014).

The record of the Green council is marked with some successes. The Greens have managed to promote the living wage in Brighton (Harris, 2013). But there have also been controversies. The party initiated the review of pay that led to potential cuts in the pay for rubbish-collectors and street-cleaners. Then, Green MP Caroline Lucas supported the workers when they went on strike against the council. The matter was eventually resolved, but not without marring the Greens reputation with imposing austerity and association with the Conservatives (Hadfield, 2014).

The disputes in Brighton have been suggested to have exposed fault-line splits within the party - between those instinctively leaning more towards Labour, cautious Centrist compromisers leaning towards the Lib Dems in attitudes, or those leaning towards Eco-Anarchism - although the seriousness of internal rifts have been played down (Chakelian, 2015).

But what the disputes definitely show is a difference within the party between those willing to work within the established system, to negotiate and to compromise - most notably with austerity - and those who stand in a more stark opposition. It is the latter position that will undoubtedly be looked for by the new influx of supporters.

There is a wary parallel to be drawn here with the Liberal Democrats. Like the Lib Dems, they were not really taken seriously until 2010. They too are often dismissed as being too obsessed with a particular policy niche - for the Greens the environment, for the Lib Dems political reform. The big difference comes with the fact that the Lib Dems have always been committed to political compromise and Centrism. Even if they lose some voters who supported them in protest over specific issues or against the establishment parties, they will still have supporters well familiar with  consistent long term approach. It is unlikely that the Greens will allowed any such margins.

However, without a major upsurge in voters switching from the many minor left-wing parties, and others switching from Labour and Lib Dems in large numbers, they will likely only do to Labour what UKIP will do to the Tories - split the vote. In doing so, the Greens can still be consistent in their aim to pull Labour leftwards and put themselves in a position to benefit from those disaffected with Labour's drift to the right - a sentiment likely to increase if Labour get into government in May and prop up austerity.

That particular likelihood is considered credible enough that Labour has being warned against the risk of becoming like their Greek equivalent PASOK (Chakrabortty, 2015) - rendered obsolete by complicity with austerity, and surpassed on their Left.

In the present the Greens will focus on picking up seats where they can, finding support for their more moderate policies (Sparrow, 2015) - like an introducing a £10 living wage, support for rolling back NHS marketisation, and pursuing the creation of a progressive alliance, uniting the Green Party, the SNP and Plaid Cymru in a new progressive parliamentary group (Mason, 2015)

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Prospects: 5% for 1 seat (no change).*

Potential Coalition Parties: Labour (271 seats), Liberal Democrats (29), SNP (53), Plaid Cymru (3).

Verdict: High turnout and low seats numbers will put the party on the map and in a strong position for 2020 - especially if Labour are seen to be toeing the austerity line.

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And the rest on the Left

Beyond the Green Party, the biggest group of note is the Respect Party. Their most prominent figure is George Galloway, former Labour MP and previously Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, who now holds the seat at Bradford West, won in a 2012 bye-election (BBC, 2012).

Respect was formed as a small alliance of minor parties - representing Democratic Socialists, Trade Unionists, Environmentalists, Anti-War activists, and general Leftists - which has achieved some small successes, in twice taking a seat in parliament.

The party has however had a history of splits and controversies, including an inamicable split with the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in 2008 - which itself has faced allegations of, and criticism over the handling of, sexual assault, sexual abuse and rape (Platt, 2014).

As for Respect, despite some continuing internal dissensions (Pidd, 2013), they are still around and likely to focus their attention on only a few seats. Polling suggests they will hold Bradford West, with Birmingham Hall Green being a possible additional target.

Other Left groups include the TUSC and Ken Loach's Left Unity.

Election 2015: Seven-way debate sees the Left outnumber the Right to talk about ideals, fairness and being open to the world

Before tonight's ITV leader's debate began, the focus had been steadily upon David Cameron and Ed Miliband (Battersby, 2015; Hawkins, 2015). There are obvious reasons why. Polling continues to suggest either the Conservatives or Labour will be the biggest party come May - and that it will be close however the ballot papers eventually stack.

But the debate itself reflected the other thing that the polls have been saying: British politics has fragmented. There are now five parties that compete across the whole of Britain and are polling over 5%, and two regional parties with a large and growing presence within two of Britain's countries. For those smaller parties it was always going to be a major boost just to be invited to the show (Robinson, 2015).

Yet they did so much more. Natalie Bennett of the Green Party and Leanne Wood of Plaid Cymru talked about ideals like freedom of movement. Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP spoke of ending austerity. Nick Clegg joined in, on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, to challenge Farage over the need to be open hearted and fair.

Despite Farage's best obsessive anti-European efforts, he was repeatedly overshadowed by the three female leaders of the SNP, Plaid and the Greens. Their anti-austerity message and language of hope frequently stole his thunder and ensured that the Left outnumbered the Right in every round of the debate. Whenever he tried to push the anti-immigration and anti-EU agenda, there was a voice - as there has been far too infrequently in recent years - to speak of being Pro-European as being open to the world, positive and fair in how we treat other people.

The reality is that TV debates have been shown not to play a particularly useful role in analysing the ideas of the different parties (Cooper, 2015). But what this debate has done is to provide people with reassurance that there are other alternatives out there. There are different narratives to the mainstream idea of fiscal austerity. There is a will to be open and co-operate, rather just compete and alienate. As Natalie Bennett put it:

"If you want change, you have to vote for it. You don't have to vote for the lesser of two evils.