UK: The Strange Death of the Rainbow Coalition | Social Europe Journal.
My friend and Compass writing colleague George Irwin has written:
To be sure, Britain today does not lack the issues to animate a more progressive politics — climate change, fighting poverty, minority rights, a fairer income distribution, to name but a few. But the centre-left is no longer to be found in a single party, and in some cases it is more engaged in grass-roots movements.
A new politics is needed, a politics of coalition between the different organisation and campaigns across the spectrum of centre-left parties. An essential ingredient of such politics is a change in the voting system, a new constitutional settlement which breaks with the smug insularity of those who argue for the unique virtue of Britain’s creaking voting arrangements. Theirs is the language of Thatcher and Sons, a language which must finally be abandoned if progressive politics is to thrive again in Britain.
I agree.
As I also agree with Polly Toynbee today who says that Labour need not rush a leadership election. Issues need to be decided first.
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And those issues require a recognition at the systemic level of what Labour inflicted to the point where it seems like its the only way to run things, while it isn’t.
We need recognition, full public information and an understandable framing of the privatisation and liberalisation agenda that New Labour pursued. Without such recognition, and in the face of media failure ond poltical obfuscation, the UK public cannot conceptualise alternatives or resist a Tory agenda continuing in the same vein.
A major aspect of that agenda to name and frame is labour liberalisation as a major neoliberal strategy – which Caroline Lucas has had privileged information access to, in her position on the European Parliament International Trade commission, but about which she has irresponsibly kept schtum for her own gain.
We do NOT want to spend the next 5 years just talking about a voting system, while what remains gets privatised and liberalised AND people’s jobs go to the cheapest labour source, brought in. Labour should NOT be thus commodified because of the drastic social consequences when it is.
@Linda
I’m sorry, I recognise that the words you use are English, but I don’t understand a word of what you’re trying to say. I’ve read it several times and have no idea what idea you are putting forward. Can you have another go?