The cybernats were a major feature of both the Scottish independence referendum and the general election. I am speaking here of SNP supporters who would take to all forms of social media, once there denouncing anyone who didn’t feel and think exactly the same way they did as a “traitor” or worse, a “Tory”. Not surprisingly I suppose, Corbyn supporters have gathered on the Internet to do much the same to those who dare to question the supremacy of St. Jeremy. By the way, I desperately wanted to come up with something catchy to call these people but sadly, inspiration has eluded me. We’ll just have to call them the Corbyn cyber trolls for the being, until someone at the Indy or the Telegraph hits on something better.
Anyhow, what to say about the CCTs? Their vitriol is fairly humorous when contrasted with their leader’s serene public persona. They are notably scatological, even by the standards of social media. But none of that interests me enough to want to write about them. No, what I’d like to talk about is how the CCTs – and here is where we begin to find sharp contrast with the cybernats, which I’ll come onto next – are in the main only helping to destroy the party whose values they claim to champion, and by extension, the leader they love so much.
Whatever else you can say about cybernats, their targeting and messaging made sense in context – paint Labourites as “red Tories” and the SNP as the only politically viable option for Scotland. Of course, they were also trying to get people to buy into independence, which didn’t work in the end, but let’s put aside victories and defeats for a moment. The point is, the political targetting made genuine sense.
Looking at Corbyn’s cyber trolls, they tend to attack the same people and messaging as cybernats – people on the centre and right of the Labour Party, or anyone critical of their goals from the centre-left. They spend no time, really, going after Tories – particularly as most Tories are broadly supportive of Jeremy becoming the leader of the Labour Party. So unlike the cybernats, who attacked the SNP’s political enemies, the CCTs are actually attacking their own base – their own party. Perhaps this is just a feature of the leadership contest, you may retort, but I don’t think so. The whole Corbynmania thing has let too much pent up anger out of the bottle. In fact, I think attacks on Labour people and centre-leftists in general who don’t fall into line once Corbyn is installed will probably get worse post-contest.
What’s particularly bad is the messaging itself. Everyone who does not support Corbyn is a Tory by their logic. So if you think nationalisation is bad? – Tory. Any pursuit of fiscal responsibility? – Tory. Think re-opening the coal mines would be foolhardy nostalgia, not to mention bad for the environment? – Tory. The people who will be most glad to hear all of this will be, of course, the Tories, who would love nothing more than to have the far-left yelling day and night about how anyone who isn’t a Corbynista is in actually fact a Tory.
You know things are bad when one is forced to using cybernats as a positive example. But here we are, folks.
Yet by your logic everyone who supports Corbyn is a cyber troll? You must see the hypocrisy in your own words surely?
Not what he was saying, he’s just saying that there are Corbyn cyber trolls, not that all Corbyn supporters are.
Interesting analysis, of course the question is always how much will social media action reach into the real world. The difference between what the internet says and what happens would be particularly clear if Corbyn lost, but even if he wins it may not play out like this.
Of course, It isn’t just the Corbynites who have engaged in in-fighting . The sheer vitriolic responses from Blair, Mandelson, Kendall, Brown, Danczuk, Mann etc has been far more damaging – aided and abetted of course by the huge platform lovingly given to them by the MSM especially it seems, the bloody Guardian.
With this in mind is it any wonder that some Corbynites take out their frustration on social media? I have seen nastiness on both sides of this and agree that it is sad that all of the Labour Party couldn’t attack the tories with the same gusto seemingly reserved for each other. To his credit however, Corbyn has appealed to his supporters to refrain from ad-hominem attacks.
That said, thre is incredible irony from someone, who just 3 days ago had no hesitation in painting Corbyn as little more than a Trotskyite as well as using other Communist-based comparisons such as:- “ Corbyn is a dreamer in the Leon Trotsky mould; someone who thinks if you simply will something, it will all come together magically”. “ice pick embedded in his forehead” and “dear Jeremy” (see https://nicktyrone.com/could-tom-watson-be-stalin-to-jeremy-corbyns-trotsky/ )
The point about Corbyn supporters seeing those who aren’t pro-Corbyn as being tory is highly disingenuous. They simply see the Labour Party as a political entity constantly being dragged to the right of the political spectrum to the point where it now has lost touch with the some of the very people it was meant to represent i.e. the poor, vulnerable and disenfranchised. Many of these people Nick refers to will have experienced first or second hand, the true effects of tory-led austerity and simply see no point in supporting elements of a party that refuses to adequately care for those less well-off and fortunate.
I know nothing about your day to day life Nick, but I suspect it has little to do with these people, as is the case for many in the current commentariat. Please remember that the Corbynites you are attacking for their use of social media and perhaps their manner of use, is really just ordinary people taking an interest in their own lives and how politics deeply affects their lives.
Would you rather these people just shut-up and leave political discussion to the likes of yourself and the MSM? Because they might be a bit ‘scatalogical’?
Really Nick, for a centrist, you are sounding increasingly unbalanced on this whole Corbyn thing.
So you’re writing about the ‘destruction’ of Labour by the Left – from the point of view of a LibDem supporter. Interesting that you seemed to have learned nothing from the events of 2010-2015.
The LibDem party was largely destroyed at the 2015 General Election, and rightly so, as it had propped up the most vicious rightwing government ever, and meekly voted for the destruction of our NHS – an action which will never be forgotten nor forgiven. ( I notice you have worked for BUPA, who will be doing very nicely out of the NHS chaos deliberately created by Tories and LibDems)
You are now warning that a move to the Left will destroy Labour, when clearly the opposite was true for LibDems – it was the move to the right which sealed its fate.
Labour supporters don’t need any advice from LibDems – they just need to learn from the LibDems’ massive mistakes – when you fully support far right Tory policies, you are on the way to oblivion.
Given the anti Corbyn rhetoric in the press and the rest of the mass media, your article is a bit of a bloody cheek isn’t it? And I’m not even a Corbyn supporter!