I just posted this thread on Twitter. It is as relevant here:
know that I am not alone on the left in wondering how, if ever, we might get rid of Tory rule in England, and so the UK as it now is. I am also far from alone in wondering why so many on the left are so determined to keep them in power. A thread....
The UK faces a vast range of problems right now. That I am aware of no issue that we face has an answer that requires smaller government, more privatisation, more discrimination and less care. In other words, there is no Tory answer to any issue that we face.
Despite this there is a widespread feeling that the Tories are in power to stay. It may not be Johnson, of course. Whether it's Covid, Brexit or one corruption scandal too many that does for him I don't know. But what is sure is that those who rise through scandal fall through it.
But even when Johnson falls there will be another Tory to take his place. The Cameron, May, Johnson legacy of incompetence will continue, unchallenged by the electoral process. Until, that is, the left decide to do something about it.
I use the term ‘the left' broadly. I have to. We need to. That is my argument in this thread. Those with a scintilla of comprehension that there has to be a better way for the UK, its constituent countries, all who live here and those we impact beyond, make up the left in my view.
And I know there are those ‘on the left' who deeply resent this opinion. I am so bored by them. Their drive for political ‘purity', whether within or beyond their parties (and all parties on the left suffer this) cripples any prospect they currently have of electoral success.
The dogmatists cripple Labour, whether from left or right. Their tribalism is fatal. The gross arrogance implicit in their belief that only their party is able to solve the problems the UK has is staggering, and utterly misplaced. Other parties can be blinkered in the same way.
In the UK we have an electoral system that right now means all those of small minded, anti-social persuasion vote the same way. And all the rest, of sounder mind, spread their votes around. It's a recipe for right wing hegemony within government. And national disaster.
It remains a fact that those on the left can, if they wish, play party politics forever. Or they can stop doing that and actually see that to serve the interests of the country they must work together.
I do not care if that means I have to vote for a LibDem where I am. Dammit, I have done that for years in local elections where it gives hope of keeping a Tory out. Does that mean I am much enamoured by the LibDems? No, it doesn't. But they can be the best available choice.
What that does mean is that I am pragmatic. A LibDem is better than a Tory. If they have a chance of winning and Labour and Greens don't, I vote for them. This is real world politics.
It is what also happens within parties. There are a lot of things Labour has proposed I do not like. Not all Green policy is too my taste. Nor come to that is all SNP and Plaid policy. But if joining a party would require massive compromise in that case so too does all politics.
I am not inclined to join any political party. That makes me one of the vast majority: that is, the sort that people in parties want to appeal to. But they don't succeed right now because they will not compromise to deliver what I, and millions, know is needed in the UK.
That requirement is for a progressive alliance. That would have to deliver cooperation on Europe, on future membership of the UK, on changing first past the post, an end to austerity, a new caring attitude in government, and a Green New Deal to take this country forward.
I promise you, little could be more attractive than that to the majority in the population of the UK. That is what people are crying out for.
Labour, in particular, denies this. It is as if they really do want Tory power forever. And yes, I know all the hackneyed and out of date stories Labour tells itself about how it can still win. But it won't. Left or right Labour makes no difference to that either. It just won't.
And no one else in isolation can. That's a fact right now.
But there is a progressive majority. Of course where we are on the progressive spectrum varies. But let's get real. People want broadly progressive policy in this country. They want government to be a force for good. They want an end to corruption. The rest is detail.
But progressives make detail, ego and power-mania based on the very base notion of tribalism that really should be alien to all the left stands for the enemy of this good.
I do, of course, know there are exceptions. Green New Deal group members Caroline Lucas MP and Clive Lewis MP regularly work together across party lines and also work with the LibDems, SNP, Plaid and Northern Ireland parties. There are those who see what is required.
But in upcoming by-elections there will be too many candidates from the left. The result could be Tory gains. And that really annoys me.
Nor is the solution adding another party. That only makes matters worse.
One day soon, I hope, there will be a moment when Labour especially, but others as well, realise that getting rid of evil - and I do think the Tory party that we now have is appropriately described as such - requires that there be cooperation to achieve that goal.
That day has not arrived yet. But I, and millions upon millions of people long to knock political heads together to achieve it, not to deliver a Labour, or Green, or SNP, or LibDem victory at Westminster but to deliver a united front for decency, change and hope.
I live in hope.
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Largely agree that it is vital for non-tory parties to work together to stem the tide of evil. In the past, in Tory failure has been a large contributory factor in their fall from power. Churchill in 1945 calling Labour Nazis or words to that effect. Douglas Hume and his grouse shooting aristocracy a laughing stock compared with the quick-witted Wilson in 1964 and Blair contrasted with the sleaze and incompetence of Major and the ERM debacle of the 90s. It seems that the Tories at the moment have struck lucky despite the covid failures, increasing inequality, cronyism etc but there will be a time when they have gone too far and the penny drops with the general public.
I think that what you say, especially your penultimate para, cannot seriously be denied. With the proviso that Labour would need to have a clear strong identity (unlike the present) and focus on progressive, popular, policies, such as nationalised essentials, employment rights, fair wages and terms of employment, etc. Ideally a Green New Deal combined with a Job Guarantee, as Stephanie Kelton argues clearly for. But much of that could be common ground with other progessive parties, who could join togetheron exposure of Govt failures, with less opportunity therefore for the Right-wing media to shout “partisan sour grapes!”.
Agreed
I have been writing this on various websites for a year now. The Lib Dem, Green and Labour parties already have a number of broad policy aims in common, action on climate change, no further privatisation of the NHS/care system and devolution. They could find agreement on expanding social housing and real action on tax havens. A sixth point would be PR. A n agenda of broad agreement is enough. I saw something of the Liberals and SDP tieing themselves in knots trying to agree a common detailed manifesto.
The figures are compelling. Labour have just over 200 seats. To form a majority govt of one, they need about 120 extra, seats. Blair did get more in 1997 but we are in a different place. They are not going to get that number as things are. Johnson did get a majority of 80 with only about one percent more of the total vote. So there is a potential for change. But one only to sample some of the Labour websites to see a very large campaign of hatred against Starmer. It seems the partisan would rather inflict more Toryism, now increasingly divorced from its old loyalties and becoming more like the Republican party of the USA, than accept some compromise to appeal to people whom we can call the middle.
It would be tragedy in the Greek sense if the country did not take an available path out of the dark canyon because of a reluctance to compromise
I think it’s worth pointing out that there is a real conservative streak through a swath of Lib Dem/Labour voters so I’m always nervous of touting a progressive majority with any certainty.
Over 20000 Lib Dem voters listed the Tories as second preference in the London Mayoral elections. 70000 Labour voters did! For one of the worst mainstream candidates you’ll ever see.
Before the 2015 election the Ashcroft polls had as many LD voters saying they would switch to UKIP as Labour and LD voters in general were evenly split between Cameron and Milliband in terms of who they’d rather see in number 10.
I also still think there’s still a chunk of conservative Labour voters who don’t need much of a push to go Tory.
Things have changed since 2014, but I think it’s a mistake to think that 100% LD and Labour voters would switch to the other party in ‘progressive pact’ seats. I suspect it would be a mistake to count on more than 60%
That said, they should at least be exploring the option, this is too important not to.
Yes, I know
But they did not vote Tory
And if the Left is to win it needs all comers
How hard is it for you to get your head around that?
Or will you just campaign for the Tories forever, because that’s what it looks like?
And please don’t be so contemptuous of real people either. No wonder people don’t trust the left if it is
While i think that Proportional Representation is a must way forward I wondered which of the 10 policies Keir Starmer inherited from the 2017 Labour Party conference would you class as ‘purity’ and for what reasons do you think they are? (although Starmer might have changed his mind!)
http://www.keirstarmer.com/plans/10-pledges
You are still pretending all, the answers are in Labour
So, let’s for convenience call you a Tory supporter, because that is what this petty factionalism amounts to
There is no commitment to a Green New Deal
No voting reform
No option for Scotland and Wales
And foreign policy?
Did you not read what I wrote? And can’t you see you need to think bigger?
Nothing to argue with here.
The ‘self-appointment’ of Labour as THE party for those with social concerns is one of the most annoying facets of the party in its current guise.
This reluctance to find allies and which only perpetuates those whom they say they want to bring down is a gross intellectual failure that is unforgivable in my view.
Labour is and has been for a long time – at least since Kinnock – a centre-right party rather than a left-wing one. That’s what the vast majority of its MPs and career party machine operatives are. Which has put them at odds with a large section of its membership.
Under Blair, despite some early optimism (and after Thatcher / Major who wouldn’t have been optimistic that things could only get better ?) it became clear that we just had another, perhaps slightly less rabid, neo-liberal party.
It’s noticeable that Labour’s membership – and vote at elections – dropped considerably over the New Labour years. The final insult for me was the Milliband-led party and Rachael Reeve’s promise to the electorate that New Labour would be harder on those claiming benefits than the Tories !
Then the Corbyn incursion. Of course he was never supposed to become leader, he was suposed to trail in badly in last place, proof for once and for all that left-wingers had no place in the modern Labour party.
Under Corbyn the ailing membership grew to become the largest of any European political party. To me this seems to indicate that a sizeable part of the electorate wanted real change and thought that, at last, here might be a route to it.
I attended several pro-Corbyn rallies at the time, including one where he spoke, and recall the sense of optimism, the desire for change.
Didn’t happen, of course. The Esthablishment saw to that – and I include in that number those right-wing Labour party MPs and party staff who, we now know, worked so hard to ensure that there was no change from the status quo.
Corbyn takes some of the blame – he should have stood up and come out fighting, especially against the anti-semitism allegations. But he didn’t. I suppose what we really needed was a hybrid comprising of the best aspects of Corbyn and George Galloway (the latter’s ability to, indeed enthusiasm for, taking on opponents).
Now here we are with an insipid New New Labour. Sources suggest that since Starmer became leader around 100,000 members have left. People who presumably no longer see Labour as an alternative, a route to change.
When Corbyn was expelled from Labour, he could have been the focus of a new properly left-wing party – I imagine a lot of those 100,000 ex-Labour members would have joined, possibly some of the 30 or so actually left-wing Labour MPs, local councillors…. instant party with MPs, local councillors and a sizeable re-motivated membership. There could hardly have been a better time for it to happen.
But Corbyn didn’t. And the moment was lost. Business as usual resumes.
This is so depressing
And precisely the pointless factionalism I am criticising
Please go and play somewhere else
Anywhere else
You are not part of the answer – for the left, because you are opposed to the left ever getting power
Richard,
you claim to be of the left and yet when people answer your call for unity of the opposition voting electorate, you dismiss anyone who praises Corbyn and his insurrection. Why? He was hardly Nye Bevan or even Tony Benn – he was and is a straight down the middle democratic socialist. There was nothing in his two manifestos that would have scared Harold MacMillan let alone Jim Callaghan. Why is it that only the left has to show unity and toe the line, when the labour party head office, MPs and the LDs all conspired together to show no unity or loyalty during Corbyn’s leadership? How can the LDs be considered a left wing party when they jumped into bed with the Cameron’s tories at the first opportunity and then continued moving even further rightwards under the appalling Jo Swinson?
I am happy for all Corbyn supporters to join a progressive alliance. Why wouldn’t I?
What annoys me are those who say this was some wonderful era that sets the required tone for all to come
It wasn’t
All I am saying is stop fantasising
What’s unreasonable about that?
Agreed – some of us have argued it for decades. Labour always pretend to stand for every seat – but often put up duff candidates and don’t campaign in places where they want libs/lib dems to win. That only works when all other conditions are favourable.
Internal debate in Labour is so moribund and faction-ridden, can’t see how it will even begin to discuss this.
Depressing, isn’t it?
Couldn’t agree more with what has been written so far – I consider myself to be on the socialist left and a member of the LP but I’d happily cast my vote for someone – anyone, opposed to the Tories (and the eye-swivellers acting like their political coxswains in UKiP, Brexit Party etc.) if it meant an end to Tory rule. As things stand I see the two most immediate threats to democracy as the mass media and how it has been absorbed before our very eyes by the Conservative Party and our electoral system – I appreciate there is no such thing as a perfect voting system but PR seems to be head and shoulders above FPTP and a far fairer system. Tackling the abject travesty that is the British media feels like the most pressing need the nation has as without serious and radical reform I can’t imagine how we can possibly have effective dialogue with half the national swallowing the tales told by the BBC or the Tory red tops. Listening to my friends (not all are LP supporters) they all seem to have one thing in common as they watch the Tories gain in support regardless of what scandal hits them: they’re all losing hope and this genuinely gnaws at my mind.
Agreed
Many thanks for this post. I know you can do only so much, but this needs to pushed and developed continuously until it gets in tho the thick heads of all the tribal non-Tory politicians.
Wishful thinking I fear.
It couldn’t happen without the Labour Party taking the lead. There are simply too many habitual Labour voters for any movement spearheaded by the other parties to get the necessary traction. And it isn’t clear that a bold decisive action of this sort is feasible with the present Labour Party — though paradoxically I suppose that could create the opportunity if someone could come up with a ready-made set of ideas to fill their current policy void.
However it would be nice to think various groups could coalesce around your summary points of decency, change and hope. It would be harder to see a consensus programme exactly mirroring your suggestions: cooperation on Europe, on future membership of the UK, on changing first past the post, an end to austerity, a new caring attitude in government, and a Green New Deal. If nothing else Labour has been far too bruised by Brexit to dare stick its head above that parapet. There would also need to be something about repairing the damage done to the NHS, education, welfare and other public services (was that intended to be implied by “new caring attitude”?)
Still, I am someone who would vote for any party chosen by such an alliance to oppose the Conservatives in my constituency. Dream on …
Every letter of every word you’ve written here Richard chimes with me. The tribalism and factionalism of the left (mostly a labour failing, but not entirely) borders on insanity. We have the most appallingly corrupt, incompetenty and dishones right wing government, and any sane progressive should make it a no1 priority to get rid of it ASAP.
That has to mean Labour dropping its ludicrous rule of fighting for every seat when other non Tories have a much better chance of winning. It should concentrate its resources on winnable seats as part of a broad progressive alliance. And in return, other non Tory parties won’t contest seats where Labour is best placed to beat the Tories. I’m right next to the Amersham and Cheham consitituency where the Lib Dems are best place to beat the Tories, who could be in trouble here due to HS2 and the free market ‘bonfire of planning regulations’, but, of course, Labour insist on putting in a candidate. And in Batley and Spen, where Labour are best placed to beat the tory challenge…the Lib Dems have a candidate.
For God’s sake, this is utterly insane. As a voter, I would vote for any of the non Tory parties if I knew there were working together to get a progressive majority. The Lib Dems are also guilty of this to some extent, of course. In the 2019 election, I campaigned for them in St Albans (which they won) but here in Hemel voted Labour as that’s what 3 tactical voting websites recommended. When I mentioned doing this, I got a sharp, sarastic ‘thanks’ from one of the Lib Dem women who also lives in Hemel. Pointless.
But Labour are the worst. The hatred the labour right had for Corbyn, and now the hatred the left have for Starmer..it is ridiculous.
Thanks
I agree, of course. The other significant point I would add is the important of getting out the vote. So many people think their vote will make no difference, but failing to vote is worse. They need to be presented with an option that they will feel enthusiastic enough to go out and vote for it.
If we want Proportional Representation then only persuading Labour to go for it will succeed. If we think the policies our put forward in Labours 2017 manifesto are meaningless and inadequate do we really practically believe that that a coalition would currently have better, more adequate policies?
We need a practical startpoint for people to come together on
The most important issue is still to persuade the new grouping to reject household income Osbornomics.
So far, however inadequate, this manifesto is at least that beginning.
That is not the beginning
It did not work
Jeez!
This twice-divorced man, whose self-admitted capacity for acrimonious splits from almost everyone he’s ever worked with, desperately pleading for co-operation?
Another gem of self-insight from this absurd parody whose own level of cooperativeness and tolerance is on free display at his own blog
Weird
Divorced once
My career since ending training has been in two major parts, both built about long term and continuing relationships with groups of key individuals
How much can you get wrong?
Richard please stick to your excellent explanations of MMT , and leave the politics to these who know what they are talking about.
Trying to blame the broad left in your petty frustration , people, good honest decent Socialists who have principles unlike many Centrists , which I am increasingly beginning to suspect you lean towards, is counter productive.
All you have done is insult many good Socialists like me , who want nothing more than to see the Tories out , but not to be replaced by yet another bunch of Centrists crap , be it a coalition wrapped around the Neoliberal values of the Greens or the Libdems. Good grief look at the track record, votes all available in Hansard !.
IMHO you’d do far better in helping the Starmer party die and support the creation of a new Socialist party there are enough folks trying their best to get them off the ground, perhaps using you platform to encourage the unification of these dispiret groups may be more useful, and help give you what you seek , a real coalition of society groups to oust the Tories
You are living a fantasy that lets the Tories survive
If only we had an SWP sand pit for you to still play in
I am very far from a centrist – but equally I have opposed the far left throughout my political life, and never regretted it. You do nothing if any value for anyone except yourselves and that selfishness is akin to that of the Tories and equally repugnant.
I have also never called myself a socialist because that is a materialist creed profoundly destructive of our planet
And if you’re offended, so be it
Who said I was hard left ! Agreed SWP and the like are problematical, but your outburst was aimed at the broad left , that means Socialists like me.
You want to engender our support then you are going about it like a bull in a China shop.
Maybe you might like to attack the Centre right of Labour that have done ,and continue to do so much to enable and support the Tories .
2017 was no fantasy when a real socialist stood up and was 2000 votes short of winning and would’ve had not the Centre right undermined us ,perhaps that fact needs ramming home again.The left and Socilists made that chance a reality , your anger needs to be focused at the right target.
As to your opinion of Socialism….
” I have also never called myself a socialist because that is a materialist creed profoundly destructive of our planet ”
Then I politely remind you of the Green new deal under a Socialist Leader , a certain Mr Corbyn ! I would also state that Capitalism is far far worse for all concerned on that I suspect we might just have some common ground , but Iam not holding my breath.
Dissapointingly I see nothing in your reply that builds bridges or alliances that you so desire , just destructive complaining.
The broad left , I believe, wants a mechanism to remove the Tories and rebalance society, be that via a coalition or through its own endeavours.But one thing for sure it will not be at the expense of our principles , that sell out ( as under Blair ) delivers cynical abstension
from politics and a Tory rule .
Should that frustrate you Richard , then sorry but so be it .
Remember who helped get Corbyn in?
And then I saw how neoliberal he was…..not a hint of socialism in his economics, after all. Instead it was all ‘let’s bow to the market and the credit card limit it lets us have’
And actually, the private sector is fundamental to the future,m just for the record – and if you think otherwise you’re seriously delusional
What we need is intelligent debate about the power of government and what sort of markets we will permit
Government is powerful. It could target rentierism. But don’t pretend we can do without private business
Join a debate by all means, but please don’t do so with all the tripes on display up front – it does not work – and the public will really not want to hear you, ever
I am much to the left of John McDonnell as it turned out
But also willing to embrace the real economy – whilst eliminating the corrupted elements
Where are you?
A similar place as you , Richard , but unlike you I am not throwing stones in the glass house and expecting no broken glass . Its not difficult to be to the left of John McD , I am a few yrs older than you and was a supporter of T Ben and his outlook . I wish you well on your crusade for independence , but see little to be gained from further discourse on this topic of bashing the broad left .
As to putting my energies into campaigning or supporting a coalition party with the Libdems or Greens , then very much will depend on the context and objectives of the said coalition , but from past experience of both , then I trust em as far as I could sling Cyril Smith .
I’ve noticed myself that a lot of the left in this country don’t understand what “progressive” means, and they don’t see the politics that the left of centre parties share.
Personally I think party loyalty is about as useful as loyalty to an insurance company. I campaigned for the Lib Dems in 2010, Labour in 2015 and the Green Party pretty much since then, also voting for Corbyn largely because I thought he’d give Labour the change they desperately need. I see parties as a vehicle to get change done, not loyalty clubs you need to prove your credentials to belong to.
Where it looks like a leader or a party gets that change matters, I will support them. I think Ed Miliband was a strong advocate for green ideas, though the Labour Party was weak in climate policy.
I thought the Lib Dems in 2010 were progressive, though I loathed their Tory coalition – it was still better than the two subsequent Tory governments. I’d still vote Lib Dem – and I share that with the soft Tory voters I know. Labour isn’t going to take their votes, but a Lib Dem might.
Politics is about pragmatism as far as I am concerned. I’m not much of a Starmer fan anymore, but I hoped he would help bring change and progress, because that’s what being a progressive is about. I don’t want him to fail, not because I love the guy, but because I just don’t see any meaningful path forwards for Labour if he does.
It’s not 1997 anymore. Labour aren’t the force they think they are. If they can’t even notice the SNP continue to exist, then their tactics and policies are at least a decade out of touch with reality. Sadly I suspect they are about 20 years behind embracing real green policies, and another 10 before they will accept Scottish independence has legs.
From what I’ve seen from those purporting to be from the Left all I can say is that they seem to be rather lost. Not in many of the objectives of their creed which can be seen as progressive sure, but the means – especially the means by which it is achieved. The Left needs to move on – they seem burdened by theory and internal process. And there is a hard edged will to try to control people, rather than win them over.
I had always described myself as Left in the past but felt uncomfortable in that setting.
Reading Timothy Snyder eventually helped me to realise why – that both Left and Right shared fascistic tendencies – particularly in their their need to always portray their cause as some sort of struggle for dominance rather than co-operation. It always has to be the iron fist and no velvet so to speak.
I have a lot of respect for Karl Marx (and BTW, Marx never advocated what the Russian Communist party did as far as I am aware) . But there seems to be a collective failure by the Left not to bring his theory up to date; rather they are stuck in a time warp as it was when he died. I’m sure if Marx were alive now, his theories would have continued to develop in interesting ways. He may have passed the baton on but to lesser thinkers.
At the root of the modern Left is a failure to find its own version of populism that is be free of class division – ‘them and us’ thinking it could be called. Yet the modern world provides them with plenty of opportunities that they seem to ignore – Green issues for example, environmentalism – all big growth areas for potential mass mobilisation and something that unites people of all backgrounds.
Some might say that the huge growth in inequality or unfairness could be a rallying cry but they seem to muck that up by just not being able to explain this in a universal way that talks about sharing wealth or come up with any new ways to tackle it (like the use MMT and the tax system).
The last point is also a key player in the Left’s failure: the inability to counter act the lies and deceits and received wisdom that portrays money as a private matter beyond Government control. The English Left have never really ever been able to deal with the self perpetuating Establishment in this country either who work to ensure that Government is there to help them and keep them where they are – at the top.
There is also this reluctance to learn from others – for example I’ve always been interested in how former Yugoslavia was ran under the Communist yolk. I’ve been to Croatia a lot before Covid (by rail via Venice) and just talking to Croatians about Tito’s time they talk of a ‘social market system’ back then that tried rather successfully to combine some freedom of markets with socialist practices. Many Croats I spoke to looked back on those times warmly and think that the Western style market system they live with now as just unfair and is biased towards the rich who seem to get richer. Is this right? I don’t know – but I’m going to delve into it when I get the chance.
Overall, there is no compelling alternative or offer from the Left. They need a serious update and find commonality with other social causes. Their ‘in-house exceptionalism’ has got to stop but also their intellectual underpinnings need updating too as there is ample evidence of nearly 40+ years of Neo-liberal thinking not really working. I mean it’s all there waiting for them to point it out and come up with something better than pointing out the differences between rich and poor.
The failures of Neo-liberalism are a gift that they must learn to exploit.
And there is one final thing for me at least.
I am convinced that the Left no longer believes in people. It thinks that we are a lost cause. The Left thinks that we are all Thatcherites now but forgets that we’ve been pushed that way for years. So it struggles to find a way to reach us. But it forgets that we only became that way because so much was taken away from us by Thatcherite Neo-liberalism.
What if the Left started to talk about what it would give us back and how it would do it? Now that would be different – and refreshing. And courageous too?
Its worth noting that there is currently an unprecedented groundswell of opinion in the Labour Party, pushing for PR to become official policy. The party based ‘Labour For a New Democracy’ project has already persuaded 214 CLPs (that is nearly a third of the total) to pass resolutions supporting a transition to PR and this item is likely to appear prominently at this year’s Conference.
Its also worth noting that these proposals have substantial backing from the Left, as well as from the Centre. So for PR afcionados (myself included), take heart. The penny is dropping.
That needs to go over 300, but it is good news
Inclined to agree Richard, we have been saying similar things for awhile:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C-ueraqiQzFTarYpziJYbBlOBVREGpqE/view?usp=sharing
As you say, Johnson will probably delay any decision and at best slightly fudge the ‘freedom day’ 21 June . This time more epidemiologist etc have been saying clearly that a third wave is already under way and that further relaxation should be postponed and/or some already implemented ‘freedoms’ should be rescinded (eg school masks). They have also been given more BBC exposure – but are still ‘balanced’ by other heavily compromised academics (govt grants, public appointments etc) such as Prof Naismith (Oxford) this morning saying test and trace ‘doesnt work’ and ‘hasnt worked in other countries’ – oh yes it has – as recent papers show .
As you say, the great freedom day and its aftermath is building up to be yet another mess – with more unnecessary deaths.
One of the best articles from you I have read. You say exactly how I have felt for over fifty years . The complete inability of progressives of all persuasions to have some inate feeling for pragmatism cooperation compromise etc . The result, the right wing nightmare we witness in many parts of the world .
I welcome the comments of both Alan Fowler and Red Star.
My own CLP supported PR last week and passed a motion asking for support for the candidate most likely to win against the Tories in Chesham&A and Batley and Spen. There was some opposition but both motions passed with comfortable majorities. We also passed a motion of no confidence in Keir Starmer.
Starmer was elected supporting the 2019 Manifesto but has since abandoned this pledge. He has also managed to alienate the Left in the Party and the purge of members continues. He has also restricted democracy within the Party in a move to position himself as the centre ground candidate. Candidates have been imposed on the above CLP’s and the same has happened with Mayoral elections. These moves will not succeed in attracting a broad anti Tory base.
I will be voting Labour as they are best positioned to displace the Tories in my own constituency but I could not go out and campaign for the Party as it stands. I would readily support Clive Lewis as leader with the Green New Deal as the lead policy, closely followed by Tackling glaring inequality and PR; however, Lewis failed to get sufficient nominations to go forward in the last leadership election. I fear Labour will lose another General Election before it will recognise that it needs an alternative strategy in order to defeat the Tories and will probably fragment well before then.
Thanks Cris
Good to know there are CLPs like yours
Count me in as a Clive Lewis fan too.
As it happens, I will be presenting the motion pasted below, at my local LP branch tonight, hoping to swing Newcastle East CLP behind the other two Newcastle CLPs that are already backing PR. This is based on the L4ND template.
I recognise the frustrations of those further Left than myself and although greatly impressed by Clive Lewis, can’t subscribe to the anti-Starmer sentiment, at this stage.
I rather hope that instead of knocking lumps off each other inside the party, we can unite, perhaps around PR which I see as an excellent raft for a number of ambitious, progressive policies that will really give the Tories something to worry about.
X Constituency Labour Party Notes That:
– There is currently an unprecedented groundswell of opinion within the Labour Party in favour of electoral reform, with no less than 214 national CLPs having already approved motions to Conference, urging a transition to PR (Proportional Representation).
– The principal failure of FPTP is that it allows, indeed encourages, disproportionality between votes cast and seats allocated. For example, in the 2019 election it required only 38,000 votes to elect each Tory MP but 51,000 votes to elect a Labour one and 866,000 to elect a Green.
– Amongst the UK’s political parties only the Tories and Labour now support FPTP. But how can any political party that is committed to democracy, continue to justify such a system?
– FPTP wastes millions of votes leaving parliamentary outcomes to be decided in only a handful of marginal seat areas. The result is widespread voter alienation and disenfranchisement that is leading to erosion of confidence in the entire democratic process.
– Societal and workplace changes are now being reflected in traditional class loyalties and even though opposition to the Tories is substantial, throughout the UK, it is increasingly fragmented across several parties to their Left (most notably the SNP in Scotland and The Greens & Lib-Dems in the South).
– The result is that The Tories remain the sole beneficiary of an outdated FPTP electoral system that has already been abandoned by the vast majority of progressive, developed countries.
– FPTP is one of the reasons that since 1950 the Tories have managed to remain in power for twice as many years as Labour. It is time to end this Tory hegemony which would have been virtually impossible without the assistance of FPTP.
X Constituency Labour Party Believes That:
1. Labour’s electoral base is changing. The unfair FPTP system used to elect MPs to the UK parliament has become increasingly biased against Labour and is no longer fit for purpose.
2. It is now time for the Labour Party to move the political agenda forward, embracing electoral reform and opening up a pathway to democratic renewal that would shatter the longstanding Tory hegemony in UK politics.
3. Proportional voting systems exist that ensure a fairer match between votes cast and seats taken, whilst also ensuring strong links between MPs and their local constituencies. Labour should now explore and select an optimal form of PR that can appeal to, and pull together, the membership.
4. If properly presented a pro-PR manifesto could carry broad appeal to a wider electorate that has become disillusioned with the current excessively adversarial and undemocratic political system.
5. Labour is going to need some bold initiatives to dislodge the Tories at the next election. A commitment to PR could provide the platform from which to launch a withering attack, by Labour and other democratically motivated parties, upon the Tories, at that time.
X Constituency Labour Party Resolves That:
a. The next Labour government must change the voting system for general elections to a form of Proportional Representation which retains strong constituency links whilst ensuring that seats more equally match votes.
b. Labour should convene an open and inclusive process to decide the specific voting system which it will commit to introducing, in the next manifesto.
Good stuff
Good luck, and what happened?
Thanks Richard. It passed unopposed and with a very positive response from those present but it was quite a small turnout. So now our motion goes forward from the branch to the CLP which is quite likely to be more difficult. But at least the ball is rolling now.
If any other readers of this blog are LP members, and have a strong inclination towards PR, now is the time to act. An election is likely in 2013 and there is a lot of work to be done.
Good luck
2023 seems most likely – waiting the full five years to 2024 is bit of a hostage to fortune – but I’d suggest there is a fair chance of a snap election in 2022. The pandemic makes this year unlikely, but the Conservatives may hope for some sort of bounce next year, and they may pounce if Labour still look underprepared, and before the SNP make serious moves towards another independence referendum.