I have just been casting an eye over some of the comments over at Socialist Unity in the wake of the collapse of RESPECT, the TUSC and the Green Party.
I don't wish to intrude on private gried but as I struggled to stay awake in the early hours of Friday morning some things occurred to me.
As I watched the wheelbarrows being brought in to hold Tony Lloyd's share of the vote, I was surrounded by young, sincere members of the Green Party. I whiled away a few minutes asking them what on earth they thought they were doing standing in Islington North and Hayes and Harlington. They had no answers that made any sense. As it turned out, Green opposition to our two best socialist Labour MPs had diddly-squat impact and both triumphed with increased majorities. Jeremy Corbyn's increased vote was an astonishing 8,000 more.
One week earlier, I had asked Calder Valley Green candidate Kate Sweeney the same question. Her answer was feeble. As. in the end, was the Green vote in the Calder Valley where a goodly number of people are inclined to be sympathetic.
Congratulations to Caroline Lucas but I would ave voted for Nancy Platts because she would have been an excellent MPWhatever spin people put on it, the RESPECT project is over. The Labour Left , with a hung Parliament, is now in a stronger position to influence policy and fight to stop the Libservatives.
Clegg's weaselly behaviour will dispel the illusions many had that the Lib Dems were some kind of alternative. As for TUSC, well it was an appalling adventure with no hope of success.
So what now? Talking to people locally last night many were already saying they now felt it was time to return to Labour .
I know there are many who feel they can't. But in the coming months the fightback against the cuts will be led, not by the far left, but by our 20 or so socialist MPs within the PLP. They will join with others in the trade union movement who know in less than a year we will be doing it all again. And next time, I predict, Labour will be able to win an outright majority.
There is appetite for change. That change is not represented by the Liberal Democrats or by tiny splinter groups. The discussion on how we REALLY start to win the next election will be going on at the LRC's conference next Saturday. I urge as many as possible to get there
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8 comments:
spot on, very well said
You are right. I am going to rejoin the party.
... having said that, I am glad that the Greens got an MP. It will keep Labour on their toes
I keep asking: please explain how you are going to recreate the internal democractic machinery in the LP, to enable the left to formulate policy? Blair's biggest entryist success was the destruction of democracy within the LP.
I admire your call to the wider left Susan. You are certainly going to need us if New Labour is to be outranked and bolstered by genuine Socialists.
Hurdles being the large number of right-wing opportunist figures with pro-capitalist connections who maintain an iron grip. The solidarity they express with the lower reaches of the party especially at a local level prop them up without challenge. There is a centrist approach which we're not accustomed to.
Opposition to Mandelson and Alan Sugar types is clamped down on in such a ferocious manner that many bona fide voices (including some of my local Labour councillors) are too afraid to speak out. Hence why there are so many sects "left outside" with clear "old Labour" values. About half the Green Party used to be Labour Party members, same goes for the Socialist Party.
What guarantees are there people can maintain their group independence, ideological identity and be able to participate in the democratic structures which so far seem to be controlled by a significantly privileged elite?
At the moment the membership policy prevents members of other parties even joining affiliate wings such as LGBT Labour or the LRC.
There are quality campaigners who share your principles that will indeed be considering your appeal.
My fear is that many are so utterly despised Labour that even if they do come in with you, they will never be accepted or advance much further as activists. At least in (most of) our own sects we can field candidates and oppose policy without censure.
It's not fair to say TUSC and Respect have failed. Only the Tory Party seems to have got anything out of this election. For us it was about making a stand that one one else would make. No-one during the election period talked of cuts and the working class paying for the bankers crisis except us, now Labour are screaming about it.
I've never actually been a member of the Labour Party myself, that's not to say I've ruled it out either. Tony Lloyd suggested I join when I was a tender 12 years old! I have tremendous respect for the man, I've marched alongside him at Stop the War demos and my father has plastered his kitchen. But others (who I don't need to name!) are careerist bullies with so much power I couldn't bare sit in the same room as them, they hate my guts, they see many of us as mortal enemies and there's no way of getting around that as far as I can see right now.
Cheers
Thanks for your generous contribution David. But I must disagree with you on several points.
The LRC's People's Agenda talked of the bankers and the real culprits for the crisis. Our 20 or so Mps were largely returned with good to brilliant results.
And I'm sorry but TUSC DID do abysmally.
I was at Tony Lloyd's count and they were bringing the votes in in wheelbarrows. I don't think the far left candidates ( not including Greens in that) got ANY votes.
The politicla climate is now febrile. The Fib democrats are finished. hey will never be forgiven for what they have done.
Mandelson et al are likely to retreat and go to better paid consultancy jobs.
And, as you point otu, there are many decent Mps like Tony lloyd who BTW also suported Karen Reissman. No you can't be a member of another Party and join Labour. But can I just ask what is the point, however well intended, of toiling away on the wilder shores unlistened to or joining socialists who now have the best chance in a generation to re-claim Labour from those who hijacked it. As Clegg and cameron prove, it really is all about the numbers.........the more sociaoists we have, the easier it becomes
And lets not forget that there are plenty of people who are not New Labour but aren't on the left of the party either....
Susan,
Either you didn't see my post or you don't have an answer to it. Please reconsider and explain how you will re-install internal democracy in the LP. I'm not an enemy but I genuinely feel that you and your comrades are ignoring the issue.
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