After the events at the TUC and the Labour Party conference it is time for the Left to take a hard nosed look at where we go from here. First of all we have to face up to the harsh realities of the new political world in which we are operating.
The historical path of the Left stems from working people coming together in the workplace and discovering their strength through solidarity. Nourished by socialist ideas they recognised that if they wanted to exercise power beyond the workplace they needed political representation and so the Labour party was born. Democratic party structures were established to develop the policy programmes to be implemented when power was achieved.
This week's vote to close down democratic decision making at the Labour party conference and Gordon Brown's first leader's speech demonstrated that the old strategy is largely over. The conference is now virtually irrelevant and its replacement, the National Policy Forum, is a behind closed doors exercise of centralised control of party policymaking.
Brown's speeches at both the TUC and Labour conference demonstrated decisively how much he fundamentally believes in the principles of neo liberalism - the dominance of the market, flexible labour and privatisation. Even if there was the potential to use what is left of the party's structures to attempt to influence him, it is clear that the overall political direction of the Brown government is non negotiable.
The Left has the difficult task of accepting and explaining to others that the old routes into the exercise of power and influence involving internal Labour Party mobilisations and manoeuvres have largely been closed down. We have to face up to the challenge of identifying and developing new routes into effective political activity.
The contradiction is that the more undemocratic the Labour Party becomes the more it cuts itself off from the real world at a time when new social movements are emerging. People may be increasingly giving up on political parties but they haven't given up on politics. They still want to challenge the injustices they meet in our society and they are devising a multitude of mechanisms to do so from indy media and climate camps to affinity groups organising direct action.
New social movements have mobilised on a vast array of issues ranging from climate change, asylum rights, to housing and arms sales. Many trade unions have also rediscovered their roots as social movements themselves in their new campaigns on everything from private equity to the exploitation of migrant workers. New alliances are being forged and where trade union leaderships have been incorporated as supporters of the status quo, rank and file activity within their unions is re-emerging and organising.
The difficult task for the Left now is to appreciate that new strategies, new coalitions of forces and above all else a new dynamism are needed to deal with the new political environment where the traditional routes have been so narrowed. The Left needs to open itself to co-operation with progressive campaigns within our community, learning from them, treating them with mutual respect, rejecting any patronising or sectarian approach, and where needed to serve as the catalyst to instigate and facilitate campaigning activity. Creativity is also needed to stimulate the analysis, debate and discussion of the ideas and principles which we may share in our wish to transform our society.
The main political parties are increasingly seen as irrelevant to the real world issues facing our communities resulting in declining participation rates and election turnouts and deepening scepticism. This doesn't mean people are apathetic. Far from it. There is a growing radical nature to our times and an opportunity for a period of exciting, frenetic activity capable of creating a climate of progressive hegemony which no government could immunise itself from no matter how ruthlessly it closes down democracy in its own party.
This article first appeared in the Morning Star.
posted by John at 10:13 AM | permalink | 
17 Comments:
We have to ask why is it that we have so many left parties in the UK?. The only way the left are going to make any kind of progress is to come together and form one party. Will that happen is the question. The left is it`s own worse enemy or should that read enemies?.
Perhaps it is for the best, that there are now so many different movements replacing the functions of what used to be predominantly the preserve of one party (i.e. Labour). The fact that all of these functions were spear headed by one party meant that, by simply co-opting that single party, an unscrupulous leader could destroy the forces rallied up against conservatism and capitalism in one swoop. And this is what has happened to the Labour Party. With so many different movements on the left now, however, this strategy is far less effective.
If all of these movements were to come under one party again, they would have to learn from past experiences first. They would have to take into account what has been learnt from the present Labour Party. They would have to first learn how perverse and flawed human nature can be. They would have to take into account how the present leadership of the party managed to achieve their position, and wise up to how a party can be corrupted from within. They would have to introduce mechanisms, far more severe than the nominal British constitution, to ensure that such leaders cannot hold on to power for this long again.
For example, they could limit the time of any leader of the new party, to 1 or 2 years. Even if the British constitution allows for the party to call for election every 4 years.
When it was formed, the Labour Party had its own constitution, to ensure that its future leaders would always fulfil the objectives for which the party was set up. But the present leadership, and its predecessors, have changed that constitution. Perhaps in the future, in a new party, if a leader decides to change its constitution then that leader must resign. If the leadership believes in the change so much, then let them put up their own existence to see it come into being.
The lessons from history are already there. You just have to read it and learn. The Romans for example limited the effect of one leader co-opting the garrison in charge of Rome by appointing two leaders to take charge of it on alternating days. The Athenians limited the effect of one leader being in charge of the republic by limiting the length of service to one day.
We are in even bigger trouble then I thought...
http://tinyurl.com/yov9vy
I am a member of the labour party and the L.R.C and feel it is time for the L.R.C to break with 'new' labour and start the 'real' labour party again. like the pheonix rising from the ashes! and give socialist nationwide a party that would already have a dozen or so mp's (L.R.C members) and could build on being the '4th' party. it would be a bold step by mr Mcdonnell & co.(I have already wrote to him for his thoughts but had no reply as yet - he is a very busy man!) I would like to hear other people's thought's on this. Thanks D.Smith.
A "bold step" maybe but a misguided one. This cannot, however tempting, be our strategy.I will be honest.I have never felt as bleak as I do now about the prospects for re-claiming Labour. But we MUST stay in the Party.There may well be a General Election in just a few weeks. To walk away from Labour would not be in our long-term interests.At local levels, things can still be done. There are many groups we can work with to re-build our strength, solidarity and commitment to socialist values. I am only able to do it in a very small way as a local councillor. But I'm still an elected representative and that gives us so much more credibility in our local communities.We CANNOT jump ship now.It would be political folly on a grand scale. However awful things may be......
"To walk away from Labour would not be in our long-term interests."
You are of course correct, you should RUN.
"We CANNOT jump ship now"
The true socialists jump ship many years ago.
"UK falls further down European health league despite rise in funding".
"Britain's National Health Service remains a "mediocre" provider of healthcare, performing much less well than almost all of the UK's peers in western Europe, according to a European survey"
http://tinyurl.com/2tkfr4
All part of New Labours/Tories plan to tell us all that the NHS is to big to run and the only answer to it is private health insurance.
Quinn Group completes BUPA takeover...
http://tinyurl.com/ynuxjo
BUPA beats Macquarie to £520m care home deal...
http://tinyurl.com/22o93p
Who is this loon spamming John's website?
"Who is this loon spamming John's website?"
Look in the mirror,gutless wonder.
If the true left do form a new party this union may well back it.
"Britain: Post union calls strike over paltry wage offer at Royal Mail"
http://tinyurl.com/26sfzs
the most important thing the left can do in this situation is not give up- the life coaching books will tell you that persisitence is the most important thing in anything that's worth doing and eventually pays off.
In the meantime there are lots of practicla things we can do as John has outlined -there are causes that need our support and may for example need guiding towards the mechansims of the parliamentary process that can help them achive their objectives for example. And also more general things such as explaining the difference between what happened under communism in Eastern Europe where in essence the people weren't free and in practice they did lead rather drab and restricted lives in some ways lives while their leaders enjoyed a much better lifestyle and our vision of modern socialism.
We can point to the Latin American socilalist countries for our examples, and also things are starting to move in teh American election now although it take s a year and Bush has really taken the biscuit by trying to veto children's healthcare programmes so things should start to move at least somewhat lefter in the US soon and this will have a knock-on effect over here.
"Unite demonstration at Labour Party conference"
"If Brown won't listen then it's"...
"Time for a new workers' party!"
http://www.cnwp.org.uk/
Tony Benn might be standing again!! Wooooooo!!!!!
Private firms to aid NHS trusts...
http://tinyurl.com/2u7thc
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