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The left are internationalists not north vs south warriors
The media obsession with saying the left is being beaten on its 'tribal' home turf in the north masks the fact that actually, our native socialist movement had multiple points of origins including London, Scotland and Wales — and only won the Red Wall by delivering politically, writes KEITH FLETT
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria leave after casting their votes at Greenwood Centre polling station, north London, on May 2021

THE Tory culture war, which sees incessant media talk about a Red Wall of north of England parliamentary seats that have been Labour since the 1950s or ’60s, has a complex and interesting history.

The original motor was George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse which did little or nothing to address issues of deprivation and poor public services. More recently a focus was on Brexit, where it was argued, with a degree of justification, that some Labour voters would not vote for a party that backed Remain.

Jeremy Corbyn did a good deal to address this point successfully in 2017 but then came arch-remainer and former director of public prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer.

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