THE Labour Party exceeded all expectations in the 2017 general election and the credit for that must go to Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell.

Far from being the defeat that many so-called political experts had predicted and the death of the Labour Party under Corbyn’s leadership, the party re-engaged with many voters who for the first time in years saw Labour as a credible alternative to the Tories and, more importantly, inspired many to register and vote.

The manifesto on which the Labour Party campaigned was far from radical. It was a well-measured socialist alternative to the hard-line austerity ideology imposed by the Tory Party, and it made sense to many younger voters, including nationalisation of strategic industries so that they are run for the benefit of the country as a whole, with any profits going back to the Treasury and not private investors.

This is not just an ideological view with no basis. In fact we know from the experience of the East Coast Main Line that a nationalised railway can provide a reliable, affordable service which actually made money.

The Tories’ choice to refranchise it back into the private sector after using public money to improve the service was just one more example of the rich looking after the rich at the expense of the British taxpayer.

Nationalised industries in the past were deliberately run badly in preparation for privatisation.

It has been said in the past that government is not able to run nationalised industries and that only the private sector has the skills required to do a better job.

If that were the case, which it is not, then how can the same government claim to be capable of running the country, especially when it is attempting to run the country as a business — UK Plc.

The Tory mantra that as a country we have to live within our means; that we cannot just borrow and spend, leaving future generations to pick up the bill, is true in part but it is not the borrowing that would be the problem, but how the money is spent.

There can be no doubt that continuing as the Tories have done, borrowing money to give away as tax cuts for the rich, cannot continue.

But under a Labour government money borrowed would be invested, creating jobs and generating revenue for the Treasury to pay off the debt.

It’s difficult to imagine the outcry from the business community and especially the banks if it was no longer possible to borrow money to invest and grow their businesses.

All the people I know who have strived to improve their lives and get on the property ladder have had to borrow to do so. Not one has been able to do it from their savings.

A sad fact of today is that while the Tories continue to encourage the home ownership policy started by Thatcher in the 1980s, for many of our young people on low wages and insecure employment this will only ever be an aspiration.

Theresa May called the general election to benefit herself and her party based on the opinion polls’ prediction that she would achieve an increased majority.

Her failure has resulted in a coalition of chaos, just as she predicted, but the right-wing press play it down.

This would not be the case if it was a Labour government having to secure support from other parties.

The hypocrisy of the Tory Party seems to have no limits. Can you imagine the outcry and headlines if the leader of a trade union, after calling an early election, used members’ funds to buy votes and keep himself in position?

This is what May has done. If we are all in it together then we should all have to abide by the same rules, not one rule for them and another for the rest of us.

Labour under Corbyn’s leadership has taken a giant step towards being in a position to form the government after the next election, which might not be that far away, so we need to continue working together.

Party members, officials and MPs have to keep focused on winning the next election. We know that the Tory Party, regardless of who is leader when the next general election comes, will use its spin-doctors to rebrand itself, softening some of its policies to make it more popular.

The Conservative Party will remould itself to win votes, that is for sure. It is up to us to ensure that it does not succeed.

There is much to do to make sure the Labour Party will be celebrating victory after the next general election. To do so the Labour Party must stick to basic socialist principles, offering an alternative to the Tories, and looking after the many not the few. A Labour government is within our grasp.

Chris Kitchen is general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers.