Will the Labour manifesto change the subject of this election from Brexit?

Jeremy Corbyn’s policies are managing to cut through with the public, writes John Rentoul

Jeremy Corbyn hopes to be on point with a weary electorate (Getty)

The Labour manifesto attracted huge coverage in the media, and almost none of it was about the party’s Brexit policy. Does this mean that what one broadcaster – Sky News – has even branded “the Brexit election” is now going to be fought over a wider range of subjects?

I suspect so, simply because it is almost physically impossible for journalists and media consumers to stick to one subject for so long – especially as people have become so sick of it after more than a year of intense media focus.

Brexit tops the opinion polls when people are asked about the most important issues facing the country, but it is notable that when people are asked what are the most important issues facing “you and your family”, the NHS comes top, with Brexit pushed into second place.

It was striking too that focus groups carried out this week by Michael Ashcroft, the Conservative opinion researcher, found that Labour’s promise of free broadband had “cut through” – most focus group members had heard of it and had an opinion about it, even if they were not universally in favour: “Broadband is a luxury, not a necessity; you have to work for it, you don’t get given it.”

Those focus groups were interesting because most of the discussion was in fact about things other than Brexit. Although every time the subject did come up it was to Labour’s disadvantage and the Tories’ benefit. Of Jeremy Corbyn, one participant said: “I don’t honestly know what their position is. He’s said he’ll make a statement after the election, but I want him to say now.”

Whereas many Labour Leave voters appeared to surprise themselves with the strength of their support for Boris Johnson: “He looks a bit of a goofball, but he has made an effort; he’s the only one so far who’s bothered.”

So, although the Labour manifesto provides a rich array of campaigning opportunities and a battery of popular policies, Corbyn is unlikely to be able to move off the subject of Brexit altogether.

What happened at the last election is unlikely to be repeated. Then, Theresa May used “getting Brexit done” as the pretext for holding the election, but it ceased to be an issue during the campaign. This time, the context is a blocked parliament, with an “oven-ready” Brexit deal and the promise of never having to hear about the subject again if we finally leave the EU in January. It may be a false promise, but it is a tempting one.

Even if Corbyn succeeds in changing the subject for a while, he will hit two problems. One is that voters, however much they might like his policies, doubt that he can deliver them. The other is that Johnson can always bring the subject back to Brexit, as he did during the TV debate on Tuesday. A wonderful, Brexit-free future is possible, he implied, but first you have to vote to “get it done”.