What becomes of our socialist movement without a leader?
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JVL
JVL Introduction
In an article in the Morning Star, Nick Wright looks at how Keir Starmer is positioning Labour in the political firmament.
Its highly popular policies among members – such as mail, rail, energy and water nationalisation; increased taxes on very high income earners, its opposition to anti-union laws, and more – have all disappeared.
There is no longer any sense “that a party and an electorate might be animated by a radical programme of change.”
Here Wright suggests ways in which the wider left should respond.
This article was originally published by Morning Star on Fri 24 Jul 2020. Read the original here.
What becomes of our socialist movement without a leader?
Mass support for Corbynism endures in Labour without Corbyn, but what do the party’s socialists — and Communist Party members, too — do now that Starmer’s neoliberal steamroller rolls onwards regardless
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You call me naive?
We will see who is naive, and who looks incredibly foolish, in a few years time.
You answered your own question, mass support for Corbynism still exists
How can the right hang on to power against the wishes of the members, unions and supporters
Stop members leaving, recruit more members, then get them to vote in union elections, keep on keeping on at every level until you regain control
You then sit down with Red Tories and tell them there is no room for them in the Labour party
Let them leave and form this mythical centrist party
The reason there is still mass support, is the country was crying out for clear red water, that’s the legacy we have to protect
Some of us are thinking of the need in the coming months and years to forge a more effective national opposition movement to take on the Tories. They have given us an open goal but we lack the team to take them on. Fighting both Starmer and Johnson on two fronts is less effective. We need a broad but focused movement outside of parliament to build that, a non-party, non-electoral to act together when possible. Have a look at this new initiative, neither Labour nor CP, whose 10-point plan sets out the main issues for the working class
https://www.facebook.com/Peoples-Opposition-107845764324189/
Would agree need to change to a more effective anti Tory alliance, but see that coming through electoral reform, in meantime heed the wise words of ‘Maximus Peake ‘
If you ain’t in the tent voting Labour then your a Tory
What concessions will Starmer make to Murdoch?
According to the Mail, there is now tremendous financial pressure on Starmer to expel Jeremy from the party altogether. May I once again reiterate that it is essential for the “Corbyn intake”, who comprise roughly two thirds of the membership, stay in the party and exert what power they have when the opportunity arises. As Shelley said: “We are many, they are few.” And remember that we might well have had a majority in the 2017 election had all sections of the party machine pulled together.
The answer to the question of how the right has been and will be able to maintain control, particularly of the Parliamentary Labour Party-within-a-party, is simple — the destruction of functioning democracy, using the method of witchhunt and expulsion. Brighton is one example of a great many. If a constituency gets sufficient momentum, to coin a phrase, to go for reselection, the right may decide simply to suspend it, or expel the leading members of the constituency, on the premise of some complaint from the threatened MP, usually of bullying and intimidation, but dressed where possible with this new element of accusations of racism.
I was disappointed that this otherwise excellent article did not dwell on this to a greater extent.
I think the reason members are leaving is because they have correctly drawn the conclusion, either directly from their own local experience or from observing other constituencies, that there is no way forward within the labour party.
I suggest that the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition be urged by prominent lefts within or outside the Labour Party, to convene a delegate based conference to discuss the refounding of a party of Labour, that is, of the 99%, but most particularly of organised labour, based on the trade unions, inviting all socialists.
Clearly even raising that demand from within labour risks expulsion, but that is the nature of the bureaucratic centralist party that it is, and precisely poses the question of the need to replace it.
Those who say it will be hard, embarrassing, or impossible, should study the life of Kier Hardy.
As Corbyn voters are still the majority why not band together to form a new party along genuine democratic and socialist lines? Mr Starmer has no interest in what the main Labour Party want. His only agenda is to appease right wing and Israeli interests.
I do not think anyone should leave the Labour Party. The Labour Party should leave Mr Starmer!!
So long as those inspired by Corbyn to join Labour make up two thirds of party membership, they must stay in there and exert what influence the rules allow them. Otherwise there is no hope for an effective socialist opposition.
Watch the two BBC documentaries currently showing.. The two are linked. I don’t know if this is deliberate. One is about the invasion of Iraq and on ebaout the rise of Murdoch.. They show what happens when a “moderate ” Labour Party is in power. The Iraqi people have lost millions of lives and still suffer. A media mogu was given 24 hour access to a British Prime Minister . Despite a massive majority the Labour Government changed very little. They followed neo liberalism thus making sure the Cameron Tories carte blanche to introduce austerity and pass the 2012 Health Act. Failure to regulate the banks caused the banking crisis. I say to members who yearn for a move to the Right to be very careful what they wish for. Do you want a repeat of New Labour and a PM who is possible a war criminal?
A well organized progressive Socialist Party already exists in the UK; you are all welcome to join the Green Party. If Starmer does chuck Jeremy Corbyn out of the Labour Party he could become a Green Party MP. If there was a sudden massive drop in Labour membership as several progressive Left MPs became Green Party MPs and scores of former Labour supporters all joined the Green Party, Starmer might just get the hint. If the Labour Party catastrophically fails to represent the values and needs of Union members the Labour Party could and should lose major Union funding just as Len Mc.Clusky has warned. If the Unite Union were to shift its funding to the Green Party for better representation of Socialist values other Unions might follow.
Bad enough that after pledging to keep the progressive agenda championed by Corbyn, the second Starmer was elected he started to row back on promises just like a Tory. He has capitulated to the BoD and thrown Corbyn under the bus; I believe he is a Trojan horse and he has exposed Labour to multiple opportunistic lawsuits that will eventually bankrupt the Party! The most recent development was particularly painful for me as a genuine Whistleblower who experienced having my entire career destroyed in retaliation for reporting negligent practice; I am simply horrified by Starmer’s betrayal. It is really disgusting to hear that the only people who don’t suffer after blowing the whistle are those who fabricate complaints to deliberately defame a very decent person: they are “Poison Dartblowers!” We must all write to Labour MPs express our strong feelings on this issue.
So many of you believe that the Tories won a “landslide victory” because the Tory liars, the BBC and the crooked right wing media kept telling you they had won. For multiple reasons this result was so completely illogical, totally unfathomable that I’m still unable to accept the Tories could possibly have won the Covert 2019 Rigged Election. A number of us are still gathering evidence to force an investigation into industrial scale fraud in the postal vote. Please visit the Discussion Forum on Craig Murray’s blog: that deals with the Elections Aftermath and sign the Petition calling for an immediate investigation. Our Electoral Commission remains totally powerless to protect our vote: A Watchdog that cannot watch is just a dog! Sign this Petition to “Rescue our Watchdog:” https://tinyurl.com/w4u9dwm