Jeremy Corbyn on the campaign trail

WHY did Jeremy Corbyn lose to Boris Johnson in 2019? What would the UK have looked like if he had won?

And how has his defeat been the catalyst for the centre left to “reclaim” the Labour Party, and in many people’s eyes scrap idealism for pragmatism?

These are the questions radical documentary-makers Platform Films consider in Oh Jeremy Corbyn… The Big Lie.

Film-maker Norman Thomas has given a voice to those who feel the Parliamentary Labour Party stitched up Jeremy Corbyn and the leftward movement. The film considers the fall of Corbyn and the rise of Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.

There is a palpable sense of grief among those interviewed, a sense of shock when the Forde report, which looked at allegations of bullying and racism with in the party, is discussed. Other topics include disruptive tactics they say were used by Labour HQ during the 2019 election, allegedly with the aim of ensuring those on the left were thoroughly beaten. The film also poses the simplistic but vital question: Was Jeremy Corbyn too nice?

The appraisal of the Corbyn years is partly fuelled by the current leadership’s aim to put distance between them.

This week, a motion tabled at the Labour National Executive Committee by the leader said their “primary purpose” was to maximise the chances of a Labour government – and that Corbyn standing as a Labour candidate would have a “detrimental impact”.

The motion adds: “The Labour Party’s interests, and its political interests at the next general election, are not well served by Mr Corbyn running as a Labour Party candidate.”

Those in Corbyn’s camp say this is an attack on party democracy and that the members of Islington North should be allowed to choose their candidate. And the veteran MP has come out fighting, stating: “As the government plunges millions into poverty and demonises refugees, Keir Starmer has focused his opposition on those demanding a more progressive and humane alternative.

Corbyn fans make themselves known at Glastonbury

“Our message is clear: we are not going anywhere. Neither is our determination to stand up for a better world.”

Director Norman Thomas does not seek to build bridges with those he disagrees with, but rather the film is an airing of the injustice felt by those who supported Corbyn.

An educational film-maker, Norman comes from a place with a proud history of political struggle.

“I grew up in the South Wales valleys, where unemployment was a way of life,” he says. “Where I lived the proverbial donkey would have won at the general election as long as it wore a red rosette. Unfortunately, we got a man instead.”

With this background, a move to London in the 1980s cemented beliefs.

“That radical atmosphere was my chief political influence,” he recalls. “It was all about do-it-yourself socialism. We wanted to establish alternative media, to enable radical views to get fair coverage. It was becoming cheaper to make videos. You saw an issue and made a film about it and you spread it about on video cassette. It wasn’t BBC or ITV– it was DIY.”

Norman started working for Camden-based Platform Films as the Iraq War loomed. He was behind the anti-war film Not In My Name, a success across the UK.

The Big Lie began as a project in 2017, following Labour’s performance in the election of that year.

“Making a film about Labour getting the most left-wing leader in its history and coming close to winning an election was obvious,” he says.

But the narrative changed as the party was swept up in the anti-Semitism scandal and Brexit.

He has strong words for those who pursue the claim Corbyn was anti-Semitic. “I was of a generation that was brought up to think of concentration camps, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust as the most terrible warning of what racist beliefs can result in,” he says.

“But now we see people taking that horror of anti-Semitism and crudely weaponising it for political advantage. That’s an absolute abomination. Accuse Jeremy of being a Commie or being unpatriotic or whatever – but to accuse him or his supporters of hating Jewish people – that is something so totally and utterly wrong.”

Norman Thomas

The film highlights political philosophies that share a common enemy but have yet to work out a way of combining their forces. But Norman doesn’t believe it is helpful to consider the Labour Party in binary language of left and centre.

“We have a false picture if we see Labour as a simple right- and left- wing and it’s a question of reconciling them. It’s more complicated than that,” he says. He believes the traditional argument between socialist and left-liberal is still not squared. It is the same dilemma the Independent Labour Party faced 100 years ago, the same issue that saw Ramsay MacDonald leave the minority Labour administration and form a National Government in 1931.

“It’s about careerists and pragmatists versus socialists and idealists,” says Norman. “Starmer is promising the careerists and the pragmatists electoral success.

“But there is a vast movement who are still pro-Corbyn, many in the Labour Party, many not. Many are young. What all these people are going to do isn’t clear and whether their future lies inside or outside Labour isn’t known. But when they move, they’ll move – and that’s going to bring big change.”

The sour atmosphere between the two groups is marked, as this film shows.

“Some pragmatists are tremendously sincere people,” he says. “They are driven by the idea that you can’t change anything until you get into power. They can’t see that in the process they change themselves into people who will never change anything.”

As the left lick wounds and wonder what went wrong, Norman says critics who make suggestions as to how Corbyn could have behaved differently ignore what he stood for. Corbyn believed the party should be an umbrella for all voices, and disagreement was welcome.

“There are no shortage of back-seat leaders who will say Jeremy should have done this or that, but he found himself in such an extraordinary position – the leader where the majority of his MPs and bureaucrats were against him. It’s very hard to see what he could have done,” says Norman.

“People say he should have been more ruthless. But that wasn’t and isn’t Jeremy. That’s the opposite of Jeremy.

“People support Jeremy for who he is. He couldn’t be anyone else.”

• Screenings of the film Oh Jeremy Corbyn – The Big Lie are taking place across the country. To find out where, email Norman Thomas on norm6344@gmail.com