JEREMY Corbyn celebrated his Labour leadership victory by attending a rally for refugees before having dinner with family and friends in a Mediterranean restaurant. But now the real challenges of leadership begin, with an inbox full of thorny issues of policy and party loyalty. These are some of the tasks Corbyn will face in his first few months as leader.

Positioning on Europe and engagement with the yes campaign

At the beginning of the leadership campaign, Corbyn was equivocal on the issue of the EU, suggesting that, like the trade unions, he would not rule out campaigning for the UK to leave if Cameron tried to water down social protection for workers.However, he seems to be steering towards committing to the yes campaign, writing to pro-Europe MPs that he wants Labour to set out a reform agenda and, rather than walk away, “fight together for a better Europe”. The vast majority of Labour MPs are in favour of staying in. As the campaigns begin to take shape, with the no camp dominated by Tories and UK Indepedence Party (Ukip), and Labour’s yes camp led by the popular veteran Alan Johnson, Corbyn will come under pressure to make explicit his EU strategy soon.

Handling any government move to launch Syria strikes

After party conference season, this is the most likely moment for Cameron to make an attempt to get the House of Commons support for Britain to extend air strikes against the self-styled Islamic State into Syria as well as Iraq. Ed Miliband’s opposition blocked this in the last parliament. But now Cameron has a slim majority, it is possible that MPs against the strikes in his own party could be outweighed by rebellious Labour MPs in favour of strikes and willing to cause trouble for their leader. Corbyn will undoubtedly be opposed to military action. His challenge will be to persuade his party to get behind him and show some loyalty, even though he cannot be said to have offered this to previous leaders of the Labour party.

Response to the immigration bill

The government has promised to bring forward an immigration bill to create a criminal offence of illegal working, with consequences for people’s earnings, and extend the principle of “deport first, appeal later”. It will also require all foreign offenders released on bail to be tagged and make it illegal for employment agencies to recruit solely from abroad. Controlling immigration has soared to the top of public concerns following the refugee crisis in mainland Europe, with many Labour MPs nervous about the possible loss of support to Ukip if the party does not accept the public mood about helping refugees but otherwise controlling borders. But Corbyn has indicated at hustings that he welcomes immigration and it seems inconceivable he will do anything other than oppose the government’s legislation on this issue, although it is yet to be formally published.

Trident

Corbyn is firmly opposed to renewing the Trident nuclear programme but it is a deal-breaker for some MPs who might otherwise be tempted to serve in his shadow cabinet. With a decision on renewal due in 2016, Corbyn will need to make clear whether he expects all his senior colleagues to maintain the same opposition as he does. It also presents an opportunity for the Labour leader to work with the Scottish National Party to challenge the government.

Responding to the welfare bill

One of the turning points in Corbyn’s campaign was the moment when the three other candidates abstained on the government’s welfare reform and work bill, which will lead to cuts in tax credits and disability benefits among others. The official Labour party policy, set by the then acting Labour leader, Harriet Harman, was not to vote against because the party agreed with the some parts of the legislation and needed to listen to voters who thought welfare needed further controls. However, Corbyn clearly takes a different view. As the bill’s committee stage continues this week, he will be expected to make some kind of statement about the shift in policy.

Reorganising the party

Corbyn is clear he wants party members to make policy, instead of himself, the shadow cabinet and MPs. It is uncertain how he will do this — through the party conference this autumn, by polling them on each issue or simply asking them to send in ideas. It is also a central concern of Tom Watson, the deputy leader, to make the party more democratic and harness the huge influx of new members since the rise of Corbynmania. With little support among the parliamentary party, the new leader is likely to be thinking about how he can use his huge mandate among the membership to show MPs that he is the one who is in touch with the grass-roots.

—By arrangement with the Guardian

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2015

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