Politics

‘Get rid of Corbyn!’ Labour stalwart rages at demise of great party and rise of ‘pygmies’


Wilson and Haines

Prime Minister Harold Wilson and press secretary Joe Haines (Image: PA)

SETTLING back with a deep sigh, Joe Haines has a ­startling admission to make, and one that clearly costs him dearly. At the age of 91 this Labour stalwart, who has devoted his life to persuading electors to vote for his beloved party, is planning to boycott it at the General Election. Come December 12, his vote for Labour, always a given, will not be cast. 

“For the first time in my life, I will send my ballot paper back saying, ‘None of the above’ on it,” ­says Haines. 

“There’s no one in this country offering anything which is remotely supportable. We are run by pygmies.” 

It’s a decision that should come as no surprise, given his recent confession that he will not renew his subscription to Labour while Jeremy Corbyn is in charge. 

But the revelation that Sir Harold Wilson’s former press secretary cannot bring himself even to vote for the party he once loved, speaks volumes about his disillusionment. 

Tory giant Enoch Powell

Tory giant Enoch Powell (Image: Rolls Press/Popperfoto via Getty )

“When I went to the press gallery at the House of Commons, I was the youngest journalist there and when I looked below I saw Winston Churchill in his last months as prime minister,” says Haines. 

“By him were Anthony Eden, a total disaster, Harold Macmillan, Ted Heath, Reggie Maudling, Enoch Powell – all big figures. 

“Opposite them were Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan, George Brown, Denis Healey, Aneurin Bevan and benches full of bright and ­talented young Labour MPs. Any one of the big names could have been prime minister, but who have you got today? 

“When I first went there, the Labour Party had lots of former ­miners, good solid men with ­convictions, but all they’ve got now is Dennis Skinner, who was never any good when he was young and hasn’t improved with age. 

“There are too few working-class people there, too many ex-polytechnic teachers, people who haven’t done a stroke of work in their lives.” 

Sir Edward Heath

Sir Edward Heath was a big beast in Parliament unlike today’s pygmies (Image: Getty)

These days, the man who once sat at the centre of Britain’s corridors of power finds his world mostly confined to his house near Tunbridge Wells in Kent, where he lives with his 86-year-old wife Irene and her carer. 

His failing kidneys mean Joe needs dialysis three times a week, but his mind is still as sharp as ever and he is alive to all the political machinations unfolding. 

As he sat quietly reading in his study a few days ago, he received a call asking why he had not renewed his subscription to the Labour Party. Joe says: “I told the caller, ‘You get rid of Corbyn and his ilk and I’ll renew my subscription enthusiastically.’ 

“Until you do that, you won’t get any help from me whatsoever. I’m not going to be responsible in the tiniest way for Corbyn becoming prime minister. 

Joe Haines and his boss Harold Wilson

Joe Haines and his boss Harold Wilson (Image: Getty)

“He is anti-America, anti-government and yes, anti-Labour. He’s voted 500 times against the Labour government in the past. Tony Blair was very tolerant of him because he thought he was someone who didn’t matter but 500 times against the Labour whip? 

“The politics he espouses are the same politics he espoused when he was a teenager. I’d call him a Trotskyist if I thought he knew what Trotsky stood for. 

“Can anyone tell me one thing that Corbyn stands for? He has not come up with one single idea. All right, he says he is going to nationalise the railways. All he wants to do is change the name on the carriages. I agree with renationalising them but I have a few ideas about how to do it. There are ways to reduce fares and improve services but you have to have a plan.” 

Haines, of course, does have a plan. 

He says it is “intolerable” that train drivers earn £65,000 for a four-day week. 

“I’m in favour of the principal of trade unions but if you’re going to nationalise the railways you have to do something about the unions,” he says. 

“I would go to the extreme. I would forbid all strikes for people who work in public services. Corybn would call me a fascist for proposing that but it’s true.”

He argues passionately that the right to strike should be used sparingly. 

Train drivers, doctors and nurses working for public services should abide by the same rule that ­prevents police and people in the Armed Forces from striking. 

“If they want the jobs, doctors and train drivers, and they want the good salaries, they should accept the obligations that go with it,’’ he says. 

“Every year rail fares go up, but why should those increases be automatic? 

Joe Haines

Joe Haines later became a columnist for our sister paper Daily Mirror (Image: PA)

“We treat the train ­companies with kid gloves and it’s time to rough them up a bit. 

“People have moved out of London and now struggle to pay for their commutes and they are putting in long days.” Hard work is something Haines knows all about, having grown up in Rotherhithe, south London, the youngest of three in a poor family eking out a meagre living on the docks. 

When he was two, his father, then 38, died, leaving his mother to raise her children on meagre state benefits of 18 shillings a week. 

Like many in those days, Haines left school at 11, and worked as a ­newspaper messenger, a job which provided the perfect entrance into the world of journalism. 

Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn is a ‘pygmy’ compared to some previous greats (Image: Getty)

His socialist views were formed early. 

He joined the Labour Party in his teens and was a political ­correspondent for various ­newspapers before leaving to become press secretary for Labour leader Wilson, who was prime ­minister from 1964 to 1970 and then from 1974 to 1976. 

Pride of place in his study goes to a signed photograph of Wilson’s 1974 Cabinet, full of political giants, statesmen and reformers. 

I spot Shirley Williams, Denis Healey, Jim Callaghan, Barbara Castle and Anthony Crosland, among others. 

Haines follows my gaze, then gives a slight shudder. 

It’s clear a vision of Corbyn and co gathered around that table is not far from his thoughts. 



READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.