Andrew Feinstein: what’s wrong with the Labour manifesto
JVL Introduction
Perspectives on the General Election (12)
People in the Labour, green and progressive movements are overwhelmingly committed to getting rid of the latest in a series of disastrous Tory governments which we suffered under for the last 14 years.
So it would seem are voters across the country, with Labour likely to achieve a thumping majority.
But to what end?
Here Andrew Feinstein, running as an independent candidate in Holborn and St Pancras against Keir Starmer, assesses the newly published Labour Manifesto and finds it beyond disappointing.
Tough choices must be made and Labour has made the tough (and inhuman) choice of refusing to pull half a million children out of poverty by ending the two-child benefit cap, as well as outbidding the Tories to the right on immigration, backtracking on recognising the state of Palestine and on so much more.
As Feinstein observes, “Close readers might notice that Labour’s manifesto mentions inequality once across its near 140 pages. The words redistribution or socialism do not appear at all.”
Get rid of the Tories at all costs, but don’t expect Labour to give us anything without a massive fight.
RK
This article was originally published by the Morning Star on Wed 12 Jun 2024. Read the original here.
Andrew Feinstein: what’s wrong with the Labour manifesto
From muzzling Palestinian rights to embracing austerity and outsourcing the NHS, Labour’s ‘tough choices’ always seem to hurt normal people while sparing wealthy donors — that’s why I am running to unseat Keir Starmer on July 4
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Feinstein. Is a Tory agent determined that Labour loose election , it’s easy for him to say spend this spend that , small parties can promise the world as they know they will never be elected
So Vote Feinstein and get Sunuk
What a great Socialist Andrew is, I found myself nodding in agreement with every point he makes.
Like all LP Members I received an email asking me to endorse Starmer’s Manifesto, we only had the headline for each policy, they couldn’t even make the headlines attractive. Oh and I also had what appears to be the obligatory ‘Donate’ which comes on every Labour email. That was at the point where I delete their emails.
Just to think, Jeremy had doubled the Membership and made the Party financially sound and now it’s having financial difficulties despite the bribes from businessmen.
As usual, no mention of the dirty word “capitalism.” No NATO. Do we withdraw from NATO. Corbyn bottled it in 2117 onwards, and still does. Regroup the scattered left? No mention. Without a nationally organised leftwing movement, the working class and oppressed are sitting ducks for capitalism. 5 years they have had to hold a series of mass regroupment meetings of the left — but have systematically refused to do so. The irreformably bankrupt LP is a degenerated pigheap, but no mention, no assessment. Vote for him, but without illusions.
Well said and speaking to people I know I believe people across the country have completely recognised the whole system is broken completely rigged by money from Billionaires Corporations Banks and even foreign governments. The LibLabCon is stuffed with bought and paid for stooges who have no loyalty to the people of this country or the country itself they are only interested in self promotion and power for powers sake.
The most telling thing about this Manifesto is that it is 140 pages long. The 1945 Manifesto had 10 pages because it was intended to set out a program of the necessary changes which were achievable in the lifetime of a single Parliament.
Andrew is brilliant. This is what we need.
I wish Andrew Feinstein success in his bid to beome the MP for Holborn and Saint Pancras. Andrew is the best person.
Keir Starmer is an atrocious hypocrite and dissembler. He has actually been disastrous as Labour Party Leader, a position he gained with false promises, and will be a bad Prime Minister.
All of Andrew’s criticisms of the Labour Party 2024 Manifesto are factually correct. I add my own disgust with the changed for the worse Labour hierarchy attitude to Palestine. I offer my informed view that the Great British Energy Company is a hollow stunt without substance other than to catch votes.
The government spends £3 billion a year on the war in the Ukraine.
That is a good deal more than the cost of lifting the 2 child limit.
The UK military budget is already one of the highest in the world and requires no increase at all.
I wish Feinstein well in his bid to unseat Starmer.
Well said, Andrew – and even better, passionately argued and sincerely felt. Starmer is a study in insincerity, from his glued-on smile to his pint-pulling surrounded by party apparatchiks. If I was a voter in Starmer’s constituency I’d vote for you with a heart and a half. What Starmer and his cabal of brutes have done is kick the heart and soul out of a party that was just beginning to see the future with hope and possibility of real change. I wish you success.
What’s wrong with it is that it belongs to Labour, and all they offer is more war and misery, regardless of the leader.
Andrew is the perfect candidate to oppose Starmer. He fought South African apartheid and fights Israeli apartheid, both as a proud Jewish person. As he himself has mentioned, his experience and knowledge of the corrupt arms trade is what is desperately needed to stem the military industrial complex. I have seen him in action on the streets of Camden (while doing a bit of campaigning on his behalf). He listens to every single person as if he or she was the most important person he ever had the privilege of meeting. Amazingly humble. A true man of the people unlike Starmer who would rather be glad handing the rich and the powerful. Go for it Andrew!
I am in Starmer’s constituency and saw from the very first that he would be a terrible choice even as our MP; at the nominations stage we in the Co-operative Party nominate Raj Chadha – another human rights lawyer , but an honest one! I’m now leafleting for Andrew Feinstein and proudly showing his poster. Neighbours in the IWGB union are doing the same.
Starmer has a majority of 30,000 so it is unlikely he can be unseated, however a big dent in that majority would in itself be a triumph. Two things seem to me to stand in the way.
1. A couple of other ‘Independent’ candidates have suddenly declared. As far as I know they are without any roots in Camden/Holborn & St Pancras, and make the challenge look unserious. Feinstein is a serious, politically experienced candidate of proven integrity and knowledge. His candidacy has been planned and organised for a long time. I hope and believe that no-one reading this blog will have any illusions or confusion about the other self-declared opposition candidates , whose claims are flimsy.
2. Second, and more important. The alt-right is undermining the whole idea of solidarity with Gaza or any other principled political stand. I’m often hearing ‘How much money out of my council tax is being spent on policing protests?’ or ‘People here are really hurting , and Sadiq Khan is spending 9million on renaming the Tube lines’. If I’m hearing this in the heart of liberal diverse North London, then we have a problem. Clearly the right have ways of getting to people before we’ve even started.
In spite of this, we can be a principled voice here in the heartland of Starmerism. Every word we speak and write can make a difference.
isn’t “Jewish Voice for Labour” a misleading logo ?
There is no doubt that Andrew must defeat Starmer. That would send shock waves through the ‘Labour Party’ and may urge huge changes to this husk of a political system that needs upending. His manifesto should include all the popular elements of the Corbyn 2017 and 2019 manifestos. Is there
not a way that Andrew could make an impact on MSM. If the oafish buffoon Farage can be shown on every news medium, surely Andrew could be interviewed with his intention of challenging a potential Prime Minister in his constituency. Why is this not a huge news story. Andrew should have his manifesto publicised with the means to correct the injustice of the super wealthy getting away with multiplying their wealth exponentially.
Andrew should show up the dangerous policies of Farage and co in wanting to stop immigration. This would bring down whole sectors of public services , farming and industry where migrant workers are their mainstay. Another key feature that would be popular is a mass programme of council and social housing using all public land available, instead of that being sold to developers. Ending the wars in Gaza would be a priority with the immediate recognition of Palestine, and the immediate withdrawal of Israel from Gaza and from the West Bank together with its terrorist settlers. International law and UN resolutions must come into play for all wars, and climate change made a priority for public spending, together with taking children and families out of poverty. What’s not to like, for Andrew to win.