I agree with much of what you aspire to with regard to Labour. However, at present Labour is pretty fractured, despite the gains at the GE and has no coherent policy with regard to Brexit and is adopting a wait-and-see-how-the-wind-is-blowing approach in the hope that the Tories explode and Labour comes to Government by default. And, it is then that the fissures within Labour will burst open because Government actually means taking decisions.

I think that constitutional reform has to be a centrepiece of any reforming government, which wants to bring about irreversible paradigm shift which entails a genuine redistribution of power and wealth. (Personally, I think dissolution of the Union, with independence for Scotland, reunification of Ireland and for England and Wales to make up their own minds).

I agree with you, Cloud Cuckoo, in that there are strong grounds for optimism in the awakening of political consciousness and involvement by the young. Labour has always been conservative and patriotic – jingoistic English nationalist, and fervently royalist, often – and its electorate and supporters have always been susceptible to union-jack waving. It has, also, had many who saw through all of this and had genuinely socialist-redistributive-republican paradigm and, that was the Labour Party for which I voted often and invested hopes. However, in the 1990s I realised that ‘new’ Labour was largely Thatcherism rebranded and had as an aim, the destruction of ‘hope’, that socialism/republicanism entailed. Many of the young who are coming into politics do not have that historical colonialist baggage. They are better-educated, they have access to a wider range of information sources and have the in-built bullshit detection, they are creative, they see the depredations that Thatcherism is inflicting, they see Gordon Brown for the risible and ridiculous dinosaur that he is. However, the positions of power within many CLPs are held by such cliques of dinosaurs who have set up standing orders in such a way as to make change difficult.
Where I disagree, Robert is in your hope of Labour bringing about change in Europe. Its history of opposition and lukewarmness towards Europe and the obvious coolness of Mr Corbyn towards it, gives it low status amongst Europeans. The fiasco of the ineptitude and xenophobia of the current Government and media towards Europe certainly ensures that for generations, Europeans will be very wary of ‘THE BRITS’. Undoubtedly, Europe needs change as we saw in its treatment of Greece, but, the change will come from the countries on the mainland and a reunited Ireland.

Labour declared it would respect the peoples decision.

Only political leaders lacking integrity wish to nullify democracy.

It won’t wash.

Apart from the fact that Labour’s leader won’t be fooled into a disastrous anti-Brexit stance, were Labour to volte-face, it would be royally crucified by the wrath of the many on an unheard of scale, and justifiably so, as an unprincipled, neoliberal kowtowing party for the few.

Labour marches forward with a real alternative to austerity and privatisation, making the best of Brexit, and must not be distracted by the toxicity of the LibDems, Tony Blair and others who fail to understand why forgotten communities voted as they did, and how these same communities will be let down if we don’t get on with winning the General Election, whenever it comes.

PS I voted remain.

The real danger to Labour voters living standards will come if we lose frictionless access to the single market and suffer a Brexit recession with lost jobs, companies relocating and shortfalls in government revenue threatening Labours program.