My observations of what's happening in the world always from a Socialist perspective.
Author: RickEvans1
I've been interested in politics since I was a teenager way back in the 80's when I was drawn to the Socialism of Tony Benn. A lot has happened since then but Tony Benn has remained a political hero of mine. Because the Socialism that i'm interested in is all about making everything more Democratic.
I lost interest during the Blair years but after a couple of years of Ed Miliband and by then having a young family I made the decision to rejoin the Labour Party with the aim of pushing it leftwards. I thought many felt the same as me after years of disillusionment and this was proved spectacularly correct with the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader.
I like many other people who have signed up to Your Party in the previous few months have looked on in horror at the developments of the last few days. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement & there are many who feel the same. We don’t know the full story of what’s been happening behind the scenes although Zarah in her statements has told us some of it. But this isn’t a letter to pass judgment on either of you or apportion blame (Of course we don’t know the full story & might never anyway) as you’re both people I have respected for a long time especially you Jeremy.
However this letter is to plead to both of you & indeed the people around you to PLEASE sort it out now. Starting & building a new political party was never going to be easy but please don’t mess it up before it’s even properly begun. 800,00 people signed up for this & many more will potentially vote for it & to put it bluntly we are depending on this working. It simply cannot be allowed to fail. So please try & find a way through this to make it work. I don’t care if I sound naive but Politics is always about working through differences to find common ground & we know we have plenty of that. Threatening legal action & all the rest of it is not the way forward. There’s got to be a way through this before it really is too late. Please BOTH of you get together & just talk together.
I’ve been hoping for the last 3 or 4 years a new party on the left would start. It’s been a long time coming but at last it’s been officially announced. Immediately I’ve felt two things I haven’t felt for a while in politics excitement and hope. The current state of the country and indeed the world is absolutely dire. Over 40 years of Neo Liberal Capitalism has greatly increased inequality and put us on a road to disaster with Climate Change. How things are going is literally unsustainable in the long term and the tipping point is getting closer all the time. Put simply we can’t keep going in the direction we are currently going in.
Labour have proven since they became the Government they have no real answers and the odd bit of good they have done has been totally overridden by the disgraceful attacks on pensioners, the disabled and the poor. Some people think Reform UK are the answer but in reality they are no more than even more divisive Tories with more racist elements. It’s not migrants fault wages are low and public services are run down. Reform are charlatans who play the right wing popularist play book.
Reform support has been growing the last few years especially since Labour came to power. That’s why now is an excellent time to launch a new party as we have a good 3 or 4 years until the next General Election. When I hear people say that this is music to Reform’s ears I have to disagree because we are going to be a huge force that will take votes both off Labour and Reform. There’s a section of people who are currently supporting Reform that we can win over. Not all of them are racists, a lot are just fed up with the political landscape and years of the same old same old.
So what should the new party be about? I think it needs to be a broad based Socialist Democratic Popularist Party with clear red water between us and Labour. I’ve liked what I’ve heard so far from both Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana with talk of democracy a key for me. As a Socialist I believe in making society more democratic so our new party should be democratic to it’s core with it being run from the bottom not the top. Members should feel empowered and they have a voice and aren’t just there to do leafleting!
I think we need to try and unite a broad a base as possible that is left of Labour. That means all existing parties and groups should be able to join if they want. Some sort of Federal Structure where they affiliate to the main party could work. However what I do think is vital is there’s no major falling out something we seem to have a talent for. There’ll always be differences and that’s fine what matters is we carry on in a comradely manner. If we can agree on a programme that the vast majority support this shouldn’t be a problem.
So what should be the programme? Public Ownership of the utilities is a key one for me, making the NHS fully in public hands again. We need to remove the profit element out of Public Services in every way. Say we are going to reduce the obscene levels of inequality that we have now. Improve workers rights and increase the minimum wage. Make Tax more progressive reduce VAT ideally abolish it. Introduce a proper new Green Deal, Build more Council Houses and real Affordable Housing, Abolish Tuition Fees. Invest in Education more, get rid of Academy Schools. Improve the Mental Health Crisis. We need to be Pro Peace and anti War. These are just some of my ideas.
One important lesson to learn from when Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party is this. Then in 2015 there was a huge number of people who joined Labour who hadn’t been involved in politics before who felt inspired. However I feel that then some people weren’t made to feel very welcome by the old guard in the LP. This needs to be avoided this time which should be easier with it being the creation of a new party. New people have new ideas with a new energy which we need to harness and encourage. As far as a name goes it has to be short and snappy so my two favourites at the moment (and this could change) are simply ‘the left’ or ‘ people’s party’.
We’ve already had well over half a million sign ups to the new party which is truly amazing. This is an absolutely massive opportunity to create a force for good in politics and society in general. The potential is vast. It shows as the 2017 election result did that there is a massive appetite for a fairer society. We mustn’t take any notice of doom sayers and we must be prepared for the onslaught we will get off other parties and the media. That is inevitable. Also we need to be aware of attempts to divide us and think of the big picture ahead. The task ahead of us is unbelievably massive make no bones about that. That doesn’t mean we can’t succeed though. I know most of this is obvious and common sense but it needs to be said because it’s paramount that we don’t blow this opportunity that lies ahead for us.
Finally if you haven’t already and are thinking of signing up I urge you to do so now. Thanks. https://www.yourparty.uk/#//
Change say Labour. In fact they are saying little else. But as a buzzword I like it. It really is a great slogan to use for an election. Simple & effective. I have to say if I didn’t know what had been going on the for last 5 years I would be very happy with it. But the trouble is there’s one hell of a massive problem with it. Because that’s all it is. It’s an empty slogan, a hollow catchphrase, a soundbite with no meat on the bones.
When I think of Labour’s Manifestos in 2017 & 2019 they were transformative documents that not only was I excited to vote for but proud to campaign for as well. In the last 45 years our country has been an experiment for a Neo Liberal project that makes the rich even richer & the poor poorer. We have been told for most of the time in those 45 years that basically there’s no alternative that this is how it’s got to be to remain economically sound & competitive . Since I was a late teenager I have always rejected that narrative but I have always voted Labour because there wasn’t any realistic alternative. That meant even though I had to hold my nose voting for Blair in 1997 & 2001.
So I was one of those people who was excited when Jeremy Corbyn stood for leader in 2015 & ecstatic when he became leader. I won’t rewrite history I’m proud to say I joined the Labour Party and campaigned for them because at last there was a real alternative. There was at last hope that things could be different like I always believed. Importantly I also discovered to my delight that I wasn’t some old out of touch fossil Socialist lots of people thought the same as me.
So without going into the Corbyn era with the election of Keir Starmer as leader although I didn’t vote for him I was going to stay a member & fight for the continuation of transformative policies which Starmer pledged to keep. However it didn’t take long for these policies to be dropped one by one while at the same time expelling & suspending Socialists. I left because I couldn’t stomach it anymore. That sounds like it was an easy decision it wasn’t. It took me months to make up my mind but when I did the relief I felt was tremendous.
So back to the Labour Manifesto. It has over 20 photos of Starmer in it. I mean why? That seems to me to be someone who’s got a massive ego. When you start to read it you can see it’s professionally written but what is it actually saying? Unfortunately there’s not a lot of substance, it’s empty, hollow & boring. So boring I actually fell asleep reading it I kid you not. There’s nothing there to inspire or give hope for the future. Labour have tied themselves in knots to show they are financially prudent & won’t overspend. The big problem with that is it means they are promising to do very little.
One of the narratives that has been used a lot over the last 45 years is that we have maxed out our Credit Card as a nation. That there isn’t any money left & the old classic that the economy is like a household budget. None of this is true but it’s been used as a very effective device to con people. The British Economy is not at all comparable to a household budget & we haven’t ran out of money. We are after all the 6th richest country in the world. So yet again Labour are pandering to the right wing in saying we have to be financially & fiscally responsible.
If we go back to 1945 when Labour won it’s first majority Government it was the end of World War 2. The country really was in a mess after 6 years of fighting. But this didn’t stop Labour transforming the Country by creating the NHS, taking Gas, Electric, Coal, Rail & Water into Public Ownership. So now when we are told we can’t afford to do anything I simply don’t believe it. What Labour mean is they won’t because they don’t want to which is very different.
The sad truth is that Starmer has changed the Labour Party but not for the many. What he is doing is turning Labour into the Conservative Party Mark 2. It says it all when billionaire’s like Jim Radcliffe & John Caldwell say they are voting Labour & cosying up to Starmer. It says it all when Labour refuse to scrape the 2 Child Benefit cap but refuse to put any cap on Bankers Bonus. It says it all when all Labour can say is Israel have a right to defend themselves without any criticism of Israel committing Genocide in Gaza against the Palestinians. It says it all when Labour’s Green New Deal has been reduced from 28 billion to under 5 billion. This is a party that has lost its way & forgotten why it was created for. Starmer is that desperate for power he will say literally anything to help get it.
Another important point is that I think it’s really bad for Democracy when the 2 main parties are so similar to each other. Now what I really fear is after 5 years of a Starmer Government the public will be even more fed up of politics because 5 years of Labour is going to be basically the same as the last 14 years of the Tories. Where do we go then ? While I think that will be a great opportunity for the Greens & Left parties to realign what we have to be aware of this will also be a huge opportunity for far right parties to grow as well. It looks like Reform are going to do well this Election as it is & we simply can’t afford for the right’s hateful & divisive agenda to grow.
All I’ve ever wanted is to get a fairer & more equal society. That’s what I thought the aims of the Labour Party were too but those objectives have been binned. That’s why for this Election & for the first time I will be voting Green because they are offering hope instead of more of the same. I’m hoping they get a few MP’s elected. Also I’m supporting various Independent Socialist candidates like Jeremy Corbyn but there are many others. I’m really hoping a couple of those get elected too. With them in Parliament & us outside my hope is we can at least pressurise the Labour Government not to do some of the right wing things I think they’ll try to do.
Also in these next few years us on the left need to work together more so by the next Election we don’t have cases like we have this year of places where there is a Green candidate & 2 Independent Socialists. This only splits the vote & plays into Labour & Tory hands which must change. We also need to get PR more of an issue because I really think we have to get rid of this first past the post system which thrives on the duopoly we have now.
So when we get told by the main parties we can’t afford to do this or that I will simply point out that we can & what’s more the bigger point is there’s so much we simply can’t afford not to do. The future has got to be for us all not for just the super rich elite. Please vote on July 4th. Vote Green or Independent Socialist.
Jeremy you are in a unique position on the left. You are well known and well respected. The last 7 years has been an rollercoaster for everyone on the left but for you most of all. What you had to endure as leader of the Labour Party is difficult for me and others to comprehend. On a personal level especially I can’t begin to get my head around how it must have effected you and your family.
So part of me feels bad about even suggesting this. But please consider forming a new political party. Yes I realise it’s a gigantic ask and of course if you decide against it that would be completely understandable. Until recently I wasn’t even in favour of the idea myself. But let me try to explain why I’ve changed my mind.
There’s already too many parties on the left as it is why start another one? This is the Biggie for me and the answer is you could make a bigger difference than anyone else. Let’s be under no illusions this wouldn’t be a party that would be preparing for Government. But more like something that could put pressure on Labour from the left something akin to what UKIP did with the Tories. That would be the main aim at the beginning anyway.
I believe your name has the potential to do what other left parties have failed to do and that’s make a breakthrough in certain areas. Of course nothing is guaranteed in politics we know that. But I believe what would be different is the membership and that’s the thing. Thousands have left the Labour Party since you ended your time as leader. I believe the vast majority of them feel politically homeless now. I’m someone who has reluctantly left Labour and I know I do. A new party with you Jeremy at the helm at least in the short term could light a spark that could set the ball rolling very quickly.
I really feel at least thousands maybe even more would join. That’s the sort of potential it has. I’m guessing that starting a new party has never been in your to do list. I understand why. You’ve loved the Labour Party and been loyal to it for many years. I only wish more had been loyal to you when you were leader but you were repeatedly stabbed in the back by certain members of the PLP and now they won’t let you back in as a backbench MP. The whole situation is disgraceful.
Sadly I feel you like many others simply aren’t wanted in the Labour Party by the right wing. I’m not someone who was ever in support of leaving Labour. I always thought Labour was the best vehicle we had to effect positive political change in this country. But what has happened inside the Party in the last 2 years and with the Pandemic as well has made me question my previous beliefs. The expelling of Ken Loach last August was the final straw for me and I resigned my Labour membership.
We live in strange uncertain times but now we are back to business as usual politically speaking. 3 main parties that seem to have more in common with each other than any distinctive political differences like there should be in a healthy democracy. Our system is broken in so many ways. I believe our country is crying out for change as the 2017 Election proved. In my heart I always felt a vast section of Society wanted something different to what is usually offered at Elections and that proved it not only to me but many others.
I believe you are seriously considering standing as an Independent for the next Election. The last thing I want to do is put you under extra pressure but please consider taking it one step further and starting a new party. You are a unifying figure Jeremy and have with everything against you inspired hundreds of thousands of people before. You can again. There’s nothing else I can think of that would cause a political ripple like this could, that with momentum could develop into a tidal wave of optimism again.
Obviously Jeremy if you decide against it we will accept and respect your decision. But I really believe this could make a massive difference. Please consider it. Thank you.
I support this Statement by EcoSocialist Alliance. With COP26 happening soon and time literally running out for the planet I urge everyone to please read the Statement below. 👇
If you agree with it please share as much as you can. Thanks
Rick Evans
The Ecosocialist Alliance, organised by Green Left, Left Unity and Anti-Capitalist Resistance in the UK, have released a statement ahead of next month’s COP26 conference, in Glasgow, Scotland, from 31 October to 11 November. The statement is supported by ecosocialists from many different groups and individuals, in the UK and worldwide and is reproduced below. We have asked those with websites to publish the statement on 24 October.
COP26 is highly unlikely to produce anything significant, from international governments who have failed to do so at the 25 previous conferences, especially the richer nations of world. Our call on them to take meaningful action, will probably fall on deaf ears. But we have released the statement nonetheless, to expose this charade to the people globally.
Something similar to our proposals will need to be implemented, if we are to have any chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change in the years ahead, with all of the misery that will entail. This is our last chance to take action.
The Ecosocialist Alliance will be present on the COP26 Coalition demonstrations, in Glasgow and London, on 6 November, with the banner pictured above. Come and join with us. See here for details.
There is a contact email address for the Ecosocialist Alliance at the end of this post.
Ecosocialism not extinction!
COP 26 unfolds against a backdrop of growing climate chaos and ecological degradation, after an unprecedented summer of heatwaves, wildfires, and flooding events. Climate change is upon us, and we face multiple interlinked and inseparable crises of climate, environment, extinction, economy and zoonotic diseases.
As ecosocialists we say another world is possible, but a massive social and political transformation is needed, requiring the mobilisation of the mass of working people across the globe. Only the end of capitalism’s relentless pursuit of private profit, endless waste, and rapacious drive for growth, can provide the solution not only to climate change, environmental degradation, and mass extinction, but to global poverty, hunger, and hyper exploitation.
The big issues of climate change will be debated in Glasgow but whatever is agreed, capitalism can at best mitigate climate change, not stop it. Genuine climate solutions cannot be based on the very market system that created the problem. Only the organised working class, and the rural oppressed and First Nations of the global south – women and men – have the power to end capitalism, because their labour produces all wealth and they have no great fortune to lose if the system changes, no vested interests in inequality, exploitation, and private profit.
Action now to halt climate change! We demand:
• All fossil fuels must stay in the ground – no new gas, coal, or oil!
• A rapid move to renewable energy for transport, infrastructure, industry, agriculture, and homes
• A massive global programme of public works investing in green jobs, and replacing employment in unsustainable industries.
• A globally funded just transition for the global south to develop the necessary sustainable technologies and infrastructure.
• A major cut in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 70% by 2030, from a 1990 baseline. This must be comprehensive – including all military, aviation, and shipping emissions – and include mechanisms for transparent accounting, measurement, and popular oversight.
• The end of emissions trading schemes.
• An immediate end to the encroachment on and destruction of the territories of indigenous peoples through extractivism, deforestation and appropriation of land.
Sustainability and global justice
The long-term global crisis and the immediate effects of catastrophic events impact more severely on women, children, elders, LGBTQ+ and disabled people and the people of First Nations. An eco-socialist strategy puts social justice and liberation struggles of the oppressed at its core.
Migration is, and will increasingly be, driven by climate change and conflicts and resource wars resulting from it. Accommodating and supporting free movement of people must be a core policy and necessary part of planning for the future.
We call for:
• Immediate cancellation of the international debt of the global south.
• A rapid shift from massive ‘factory’ farms and large-scale monoculture agribusiness towards eco-friendly farming methods and investment in green agricultural technology to reduce synthetic fertiliser and pesticide use in agriculture and replace these with organic methods and support for small farmers.
• A major reduction in meat and dairy production and consumption through education and provision and promotion of high quality, affordable plant-based alternatives.
• The promotion of agricultural systems based on the right to food and food sovereignty, human rights, and with local control over natural resources, seeds, land, water, forests, knowledge, and technology to end food and nutrition insecurity in the global south.
• The end of deforestation in the tropical and boreal forests by reduction of demand for imported food, timber, and biofuels.
• An end to ecologically and socially destructive extractivism, especially in the territories of indigenous peoples and First Nations .
• Respect for the economic, cultural, political and land rights of indigenous peoples and First Nations.
• A massive increase in protected areas for biodiversity conservation.
• End fuel poverty through retrofitting energy existing homes and buildings with energy efficient sustainable technologies.
We demand a just transition:
• Re-skilling of workers in environmentally damaging industries with well paid alternative jobs in the new economy.
• Full and democratic involvement of workers to harness the energy and creativity of the working people to design and implement new sustainable technologies and decommission old unsustainable ones.
• Resources for popular education and involvement in implementing and enhancing a just transition, with environmental education embedded at all levels within the curriculum.
• Urgent development of sustainable, affordable, and high-quality public transport with a comprehensive integrated plan which meets peoples needs and reduces the requirement for private car use.
• A planned eco-socialist economy which eliminates waste, duplication and environmentally harmful practices, reduction in the working week and a corresponding increase in leisure time.
• Work practices reorganised with the emphasis on fair flexibility and working closer to home, utilising a free and fast broadband infrastructure.
As eco-socialists we put forward a vision of a just and sustainable world and fight with every ounce of our energy for every change, however small, which makes such a world possible. We will organise and assist wherever possible worker’s and community organisations internationally, raising demands on governments and challenging corporations.
Beatrix Campbell (UK) (OBE, writer and broadcaster)
George Monbiot (UK) (journalist, author & environmental activist)
Victor Wallis (USA) (ecosocialist author and professor of political science at the Berklee College of Music in Boston)
Professor Krista Cowman (UK), (Historian)
Peter Sainsbury (Australia) (Professor, School of Medicine, Sydney, University of Notre Dame)
Professor Julia Steinberger (Social Ecology/Ecological Economics) (Switzerland)
Romayne Phoenix (UK)
Jhon Giyai (West Papua)
David Schwartzman (USA) (Climate/energy scientist Member of the Global Greens COP26 Working Group-International Committee Green Party of the United States)
Thelma Walker (Former Labour MP Colne Valley) (UK)
Dee Searle (UK)
Steve Masters (UK) (Environmental activist; Green Party District Councillor, W Berkshire)
Jim Petersen (USA)
Osver Polo Carraco (Peru)
Sally Lansbury (UK) Labour Party Cllr. Allerdale Borough Council
Rafael Arturo Guariguata (Germany)
Tina Rothery (UK)
Christopher Lozinski (USA)
Farrah Jasmine Dingal (Philippines)
Pat McCarthy (UK)
Erfan Rushidi (Iran)
Clive Healiss (UK)
Felicity Dowling (UK)
Charles Gate (UK)
Emma Lorraine Coulling (UK)
Ken Barker (UK)
Stephen Hall (UK) (President, Greater Manchester Association of Trades Union Councils)
Lucy Early (UK)
Andrew Francis Robinson (UK)
Kevin Frea (UK) (Deputy Leader, Lancaster City Council)
Richard Finnigan (UK)
John Burr (UK)
Andrea Carey-Fuller (UK)
Paul Hutchens (UK)
Gordon Peters (UK)
Jonathan N Fuller (UK)
Nicole Haydock (UK)
Deborah Fink (UK)
Mary Stuart (UK)
Cathy Slaughter (UK)
Anna Moon (UK)
Oliver Charleston (UK)
William A Richardson (UK)
Tamsin Evans (UK)
Gordon Housley (UK)
Rick Evans (UK)
Geoff Bowman (UK)
Graham Wardrope (UK)
Laurent Garsaud (France)
Elizabeth Shephard (UK)
Gemma Mitchell (UK)
Martin Salmon (UK)
To support the statement and to keep informed about the Ecosocialist Alliance and our particular actions email eco-socialist-action@protonmail.com
I rejoined the Labour Party in 2012 because I thought Ed Miliband as leader was trying to move the party left. Not an easy task and I certainly didn’t agree with everything he said or did. But after the New Labour years I at least felt however slowly the Party was moving in the right direction. It turned out I wasn’t alone amongst the membership who felt like that.
This led to the Corbyn surge and election as leader in 2015. I along with many others at last felt some hope for the future. We’d had the same old politics here since the 80’s and it needed to change. It needed to change because after 35 years of Neoliberal economic policies by both main parties Britain was as unequal as ever. It needed to change because with a Climate Emergency getting closer we needed to do far far more as a Country. There’s many other reasons but I’ll leave it at just those two biggies for now.
A Corbyn led Government would have moved the consensus of the previous 40 years and been truly transformative which is exactly what we need. After our 2019 Election defeat I still believed Labour was the vehicle for this change. With the election of Starmer in April 2020 even though I didn’t support him. https://changewemustobservationsfromtheleft.home.blog/2020/02/02/starmer-really/ I still believed that.
However since Starmer got elected I’ve become more and more disillusioned with him as leader and the Party as a whole. When members started to leave at the beginning of his leadership I thought it was a tactical mistake. In hindsight I think they could see clearer than me what would happen. Starmer sold his ‘vision’ to the membership and it was a complete lie. His actions since shows he had no intention of preserving anything of Corbyn’s legacy. His treatment of Jeremy has been a complete disgrace which in itself to me is unforgivable. The burying of the ‘Forde Report’ says a lot. One day we might find out the whole truth of the sabotage that happened during the 2017 Election but I’m not holding my breath something else that is unforgivable to me.
Starmer’s soft opposition to the Tories has been pathetic. We were promised forensic grown up politics. What we’ve had is hopeless insipid juvenile failure. I think the right wing of the party know how bad he is but are prepared to put up with it while they bide their time at the moment. A fully clothed Blairite is undoubtedly waiting in the wings.
For the last few months I’ve been weighing up whether to stay or leave the Party. While on holiday in the Lake District last week I had some time to think and finally decided to leave. Now I’ve made the decision I feel a weight has been lifted. Getting home and seeing the great Ken Loach has been expelled has only convinced me more I’ve made the right decision. I cannot justify to myself anymore staying in and financially contributing to a party that doesn’t even pretend to having any sort of Socialist vision anymore. What took Kinnock a few years to do in the 80’s has took Starmer just over a year.
I believe with our defeats in 17 & 19 the country lost our massive chance to change the direction we need. Now we are back to the bad old days and normal service has been resumed in the party. Now unfortunately I believe even if Labour win the next election ( and I honestly believe there’s no chance with Starmer as leader. His betrayal of our Brexit position won’t he forgotten in the Red Wall seats) nothing fundamentally will change and as I said earlier that is what we need if we are going to survive this Climate Emergency. The time for tinkering around the edges has long gone the Overton window on party politics for me has gone. That’s why I think the limited money I can contribute to something would be put to better put going to an environmentally organisation.
I’ve always believed in the idea of a broad church in the party but Starmer has made it very clear he doesn’t. The proscription of the 4 left organisations last month I think is a disgraceful witch hunt and although I’m not a supporter of any of them I support their right to be in the party. That is one of the other things that has tipped me to leave. Most of all I haven’t got the time or energy to fight anymore. Harold Wilson once said the Labour Party is a Moral Crusade or it’s nothing. Starmer has made it nothing in super quick time.
The Labour Party supposed to be a Democratic Socialist Party it even says that on the back of the membership cards. I left before when I thought Blair had made that a mockery now sadly I’m leaving again because I think Starmer has done the same.
I’m as pleased as anyone about the defeat of Donald Trump. He’s probably the most unpredictable leader of a major western country in recent times which also made him the most dangerous. Obviously you could write a book about Trump but I’ll just say this for now. He has never been what he’s made himself out to be as some sort of man of the people. Far from it he’s really a ultra Capitalist who’s treaded on anyone’s toes to get what he wants. When you add that to him being a sexist, racist, misogynist, narcissistic law unto himself I’m delighted he lost the Election.
But unfortunately I’m not getting too excited by the Election of Joe Biden as President. Because we have been here before with Obama and Clinton and what did they deliver? Well Clinton especially very little and Obama although he did get through some reforms overall I felt his Presidency was disappointing. Which is I predict is how I’m going to feel about Bidens Presidency too.
Why you might ask? Well for one Biden himself has said “Nothing would fundamentally change” in his administration. Then there’s the fact that unsurprisingly Biden’s transition team includes executives from Lyft, Airbnb, Amazon, Capital One, Uber and Visa which hardly fills me with much confidence. It just tells me Corporate Executives will be running the show again. The ones who have helped to get us in the mess we are in. Add to that what we’ve already seen from recent Democrat administration’s well I won’t be buying the Champagne anytime soon.
Obviously what America does sends a signal to the rest of the world and I think that signal says business as usual. Now honestly I might not sound it but I am happy Biden won because 4 more years of Trump didn’t bear thinking about. But the least worst option does not fill me with the hope we should have been feeling.
Basically we are running out of time because of Climate Change even though Biden is a big advance on the Climate denier he’s got to go a lot further than he’s been saying so far. I mean he supports Fracking for heaven’s sake see here why I’m anti fracking https://morningstaronline.co.uk/-we-need-profits-now-1
What I’m saying is he hasn’t been bold enough and this will end up being another wasted opportunity and with time against us now because we don’t have that luxury. That’s not even mentioning all the other issues like racism, inequality, healthcare etc. So my big worry is in 4 years time Trump or another rapid right winger will win and we will be back to square one. Because it’s the disappointments of a centre or centre left Government that time and again feeds into ordinary people’s perceptions that they have done nothing or very little for them. Trust is lost which leads then to the endless cycle of a right Government getting in power afterwards which does deliver to it’s core electorate the elite. This is exactly what has happened here in the UK too over the last 50 years.
So it’s not even the case now that we as a left make too many promises we can’t keep. Rather we are that safe that we hardly make any promises at all other than we aren’t the bad nasty old Tory/Republicans. But that’s hardly a strategy for very much success let alone trying to solve the problems of life today.
Of course Biden is hardly left and there lies another problem. All those people who supported Bernie Sanders had to make the choice of either not voting and risk Trump winning or supporting Biden through gritted teeth.
So what do we do as a left? 70 million people voted for Trump and nearly 14 million here for Boris Johnson last year. Not all of them are regular right wingers who love Trump and Johnson. There’s many who were from traditional Democrat or Labour voters who feel they have been let down by Governments over the years and that they wanted a change. We can win people like this back but not by calling them idiots or by trying to outdo the Republican/Tories by going further rightwards or by some bland centrism that works for no-one. But we have to mean what we say and be bold and win people around. Not be timid and accept second best. I have to say that Moderates may have the drive to win but they don’t have a vision to sell. The world doesn’t need another Clinton or Blair who won’t challenge the establishment. Which is what I fear about Biden. No what we need is someone who is going to put the fear of God into the establishment because this neoliberal casino capitalism is only working for the top 1% and isn’t sustainable. We need to offer hope for a better future not continue with a society where obsence greed is looked on as a virtue. It’s not it’s sickening and this is where we have got to in our sick capitalist society.
The clock is ticking and we need change. Biden is no saviour just a temporary stop gap at best. It’s all of us together who can be if we carry on campaigning. So to quicken that change we need we are going to need social movements more than ever. It’s the grassroots groups that have the power to change and who I believe we need to be a part of. Be that Climate Change and the Environment, Racism and Sexism or making Corporations pay their Taxes we are all linked together in the cause of making the World a better place for everyone. After all that’s what it’s about at the end of the day and that Clock is ticking faster.
This week’s events in the Labour Party are devastating not just for Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters but for all the people who want a credible democratic opposition in this country. No politician in recent memory (not even Tony Benn or Michael Foot) have had such a brutal kicking not just from the media and the Tories but from sections of his own party too.
Politics has been dragged yet again into a cesspit of lies, smears and pure vindictiveness all because parts of the establishment seen this one man as a danger. A danger to their cosy status quo yes but he was never a danger to us ordinary people but rather a ray of hope.
But Jeremy has never been a ‘god’ to me nor was there ever really a cult around him. When I rejoined Labour in 2012 it wasn’t because of Corbyn but because I felt the party had started (only started mind you) to turn a corner under Ed Miliband after the disastrous Blair and Brown years. Now I know some will say how can you call them years disastrous when Labour won 3 Elections under Blair. But to me the 13 years in power were mostly wasted, yes we did do some good things like the Minimum Wage and Surestart for example but a lot of the time we were being Tory like and of course how can we forget the awful illegal war we went needlessly into. I like many others were incredibly angry at the wasted opportunities of 13 years in power.
But I liked Ed and always felt he was hamstrung by the people around him. But all the same I could see he was passionate about inequality which for me is a key reason for being in the Labour Party and also about getting a Green New Deal which is vital for the very future of the planet.
There were plenty on the right of the party who didn’t like Ed but that was really only a very small taster of what was to come. When Jeremy Corbyn stood for leader I was really pleased because I hoped we would be able to steer the debate leftwards. The 3 candidates who had been standing were totally uninspiring not just to me but thousands of others too infact hundreds of thousands. Those people had similar ideas and beliefs to me which was a joy to discover. In that summer of 2015 me and many others started to dream. At first we didn’t think Jeremy had a chance of winning and neither did he himself but as that summer went on it became clear that he had an excellent chance of achieving what seemed impossible at the start of the contest actually winning.
When he did win the leadership on the 12th September 2015 it was a shockwave a political earthquake the like of which had never been seen. Many on the centre and right of the party couldn’t believe it but more than that couldn’t and wouldn’t accept the democratic result. Corbyn won partly because his vision was very popular with the young and also older people some of whom rejoined the party.
The vision was nothing new really it’s about creating a fairer type of society that works for the majority instead of just the ultra rich elite. That is why I became a member of the Labour Party to help challenge for that better society for the majority. That in essence is what Socialism is to me. So when I’ve been accused of being on the ‘hard left’ or some sort of Commie Trot I’ve found it amusing and depressing in equal measure.
So although I’ve always liked and respected Jeremy Corbyn it’s never been about one person but rather the ideas of Socialism and a different sort of society. However when he became leader it became very clear very quickly that certain elements in the party were never going to put up with him and much more than that undermine him at every turn. I wasn’t surprised by this in itself I expected some of it as I’m sure most of us on the left did. Jeremy would have expected some of it too. But the actual amount of sheer venom, nastiness and lies from people in your own party was on a completely different level to what had happened with Ed.
I won’t go over all that happened the last 5 years when Jeremy was leader. Frankly too much went on to go through it all. Everything and the kitchen sink was thrown at Jeremy and his dignity and calmness throughout in what must have been a personal nightmare at times shows the measure of the man. But of all the insults the one that must have hurt the most and which also gained the most traction was that Jeremy was anti-Semitic.
I’ve never believed for one second that Jeremy is or has been anti-Semitic. If I thought he was I would never have supported him. He’s certainly made mistakes as leader and before but who doesn’t. But what never gets reported in the mainstream press is how much an anti racist campaigner he has been over the years. The sheer hypocrisy of many who have called Jeremy for anti semitism is sickening and I won’t take lessons on anti racism from a Tory Party that has always had racist elements.
Now Jeremy got suspended after his statement after the EHRC report was posted on Facebook. Presumably it’s this paragraph that has caused his suspension but we haven’t actually been told.
“One antisemite is one too many, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media.”
To me that is a obvious truth but to say a truth has got him suspended. It reeks of McCarthyism and I feel as though our freedom of speech in the party has been eroded. To say the problem was dramatically overstated for political reasons is not in anyway downplaying the evil of Anti-Semitism itself. Far from it but let’s briefly explain what I’m trying to say.
When Corbyn was elected leader in 2015 the General Secretary was Iain McNichol who its perfectly fair to say was not a fan in anyway. Also while Jeremy put his own people in the leaders office the full timers around the General Secretary were hardly fans too. The truth is a clever political game was waged by McNichol and the people working for him in the Party against Corbyn. Yes politics can sometimes get underhanded but what happened was completely nasty and on a scale not seen before because the Plot was about deliberately making Corbyn look bad regards complaints of Anti-Semitism. This would be lovingly reported by the right wing media that hated him and everything he stands for.
Corbyn called it as this,
“The party’s processes for handling complaints were not fit for purpose”. when he became leader and he added: “Reform was then stalled by an obstructive party bureaucracy.”
That’s him being polite about it. In 2018 Corbyn ally Jennie Formby became General Secretary and things got better. The proof in the pudding as I see it is in this. Forty-five members were expelled in 2019 for Anti-Semitism compared to one in 2017, according to the Labour Party own statistics. That shows things were moving in the right direction. However that wasn’t the narrative of course that was ever said by the media or Corbyn’s opponents. Rather he has been made a scapegoat. Nothing has been said about Labour’s inadequate procedures before he became leader or the efforts he made to improve it. Only that as leader he should have done more. The point is until Formby became GS he was obstructed not just by a slow moving party bureaucracy but by people who wanted to make the leader look bad. Because to some no matter what he did it was never going to be good enough.
All through his leadership there were plenty of Jewish people who supported him but that wasn’t reported either or if it was they were the wrong sort of Jew apparently. Again it’s vital to say how abhorrent Anti-Semitism is and remember throughout history the atrocities the Jewish people have endured. It must never be forgotten. I empathise with people who have been wronged. Which also means I empathise and feel for the Palestinian people too. It’s possible to do both.
But I believe more than anything else the demonisation of Jeremy Corbyn has been dirty politics by a right wing who could never accept his Socialist politics and who worked to undermine him at every opportunity. The small amount but completely unacceptable amount of Anti-Semitism in the party has been disgracefully used as a political football and a convenient tool against Corbyn in particular and the left in general. This is still going on now even though Corbyn isn’t leader and it’s obvious to me his suspension is about the destroying the left in the party. If Keir Starmer wanted unity he’s got a funny way of showing it. Of course unity was never the game rather a ruse to get himself elected as leader which worked.
If I sound bitter it’s because I am. We were so close in the 2017 Election and could have won it on a Socialist Manifesto if there hadn’t been insiders working against us. How life could have been different. That’s why I joined the Labour Party to help make a change to a better fairer more equal society. To find out that’s not how all members feel has been a hard pill to swallow.
So I’m calling for Jeremy Corbyn’s immediate reinstatement into the Party. He hasn’t broken the Parties rules even the EHRC report doesn’t recommend suspensions like this. I think Starmer has tried to look big and tough but I think it’s a strategy doomed to failure. The very thing Starmer says shouldn’t be done being factional he has done by suspending Jeremy. Which only goes to prove my point this has always been about politics. It’s a political act not Anti-Semitism or racism itself that was just the tools used. Which is a very sad reflection on life in the 21st Century and the party in general. We have to do better than this because racism in any form cannot be used in this way.
This piece started life as a Tweet which quickly became a few Tweets when I realised it needed to be expanded some more. I hope it doesn’t come across as patronising I’m just trying to be honest and open up a debate.
Everyone has their own lines on things. If the line gets crossed that’s it we are out of here. But should that really be applied to Politics? Because Politics is about many things it’s not just one issue. If we are passionate about one issue that is so important to us that’s good.
But can we go too far? What I mean is if we don’t get what we we want with that one issue is it helpful to throw the baby out with the bath water? Similarly if one person makes a statement on the thing you are so passionate about that you completely disagree with does that override everything you agree with them about? Everyone is different.and have their own lines. But should that get in the way of the bigger picture? Because ‘betraying’ our principals is one thing but by doing that are we not losing sight of the bigger picture and everything else we want to do? These can be difficult questions but in my opinion we always need to keep an eye on the prize. To make myself more clear give I’ll give an example. I’m passionate about Nuclear Disarmament & have been for many years. I think us having a deterrent is ridiculous. But me & many others in the party didn’t make it the defining issue when Corbyn became the leader. We accepted along with him that it wasn’t the issue to mount our flag on at the that time in the interest of us getting elected. We are all impatient & desperate for change. God knows I am. But sometimes we have to bide our time for that big picture of Socialism.
Shoot me down if you like but to me Socialism isn’t about one issue it’s about a whole alternative way of doing things which are all important for the overall aim. I’ve often used this phrase in the past “we all have to compromise in life but we if compromise too much we can actually lose the essence of what we are about. ” I still believe that, I only have to look at the direction the Labour Party is going in now like it has in the past to confirm that to my mind. When you make endless compromising you end up with words that mean nothing because the heart had been ripped out of them. A greyness that tries to be everything to everyone but really is completely wishy-washy. I hate that because I’m a believer in saying what you mean and if there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s meaningless waffle.
But on the other hand I do think the ‘left’ in general and I include myself in that can go too far. Our passion sometimes carries us away. Passion is fantastic in Politics, I love to hear someone passionate speaking. But it’s best if it’s tempered with some clinical thinking too. I guess I’m trying to be pragmatic not always easy for me. So what I’m getting at is sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. We have everything against us as it is and then sometimes we make our situation even worse ourselves. E.g. “I’m not voting for her/him they said this on that.” Your line has been crossed. But is that helpful when someone who you disagree with even more gets in? I just think sometimes we have to hold our noses and think of that bigger picture. That’s not to belittle anyone’s cause or campaign. But we can be self defeating if we aren’t careful.
That big picture is always there that’s about all our views on everything and sometimes it’s very easy to forget about it. So much of what we fight for is related it’s got a common thread. Inequality, Racism and Sexism are obviously related but so are things like the fight against Climate Change and for Peace. These are some of the issues closest to my heart but there’s many more. I can’t say which is the most important because they are all important.
I think it’s all about balance myself and picking the right time for battle. That’s what so important in the nitty gritty of Politics and I hate to say it but the right wing get that so much better than us on the left. When so many joined the party in 2015 they were inspired by the hopeful vision that Jeremy Corbyn was saying. A lot of them had never been involved in Politics before. Sadly I’m betting that many were put off when they found out that meetings were not only boring but some people were distinctly unfriendly to them. The right wing have weathered the Corbyn storm well and some of that was because they know when to pick their battles and are prepared to bide their time doing it. They see their bigger picture and were organising and plotting all throughout Corbyn’s leadership.
I know this won’t be popular with some but I feel we need to learn some lessons from them. And let’s be less precious about things. Maybe our own lines need to be a bit more flexible because at the end of the day it’s that’s bigger picture that’s more important. Yes we have to be true to ourselves, of course we do and only ourselves knows what that is. But politics is a crafty dirty thing that can suck you in and spit you out and I don’t like that part of it myself. I much prefer talking about a grand vision and how things could be better for all of us. But in Politics like in life sometimes you just have to do the crap work first before you can get onto the nice stuff. I still want and have to be hopeful there’s a better world for us all ahead. We always get setback after setback but we have to be resilient in this world. Believe me that’s not my strongest point myself my natural tendency would be to hide away and give up. But what really is our alternative as people who care and want a better world for our kids and everyone? I just think of that big picture to remind me.
If I said to someone neutral that paid staff of our own party had been working against their own party getting elected they would probably say that I was some sort of crackpot conspiracy theorist. But…..
In 2017 General Election we the Labour Party were just over 2200 votes short of getting over the line to form a minority Government. That’s how close we were with everything that we were up against. Yesterday an internal Labour report was leaked which confirms many of the suspicions which Corbyn supporters like me suspected.
I’m someone who tries to keep calm but I am absolutely raging about this and the more I think about it the madder I feel. You see basic rules, common sense and plain decency have been blatantly disregarded for the agenda of trying to make Jeremy Corbyn unelectable by factions in the party who didn’t want him as Prime Minister. Now as I say it’s always been obvious that certain MP’s were doing this for example. But now it’s been proved that some right wing Labour staffers were not only plotting against the leadership but actually wanting us to lose and work against us in 2017.
This isn’t some mad conspiracy it’s fact. These are people who get paid by the party that we as members contribute too. So we were paying their wages for them to work against us. Now we all have different views and I’m a firm supporter of democratic debate conducted in the right spirit. But that’s nothing like what I’m talking about here. As a party member it’s a given that you want your party to win elections and try and help to make that happen no matter who is leader. Whether you are a supporter of the leader is immaterial when it comes to Election time’s as we all pull together for the common cause. Or so you would think. It’s absolutely sickening to find out that’s not the case.
It seems that these people would rather have had a Conservative Government than a Labour one and actively worked against us. In my opinion they should be expelled for their acts of sabotage.
There’s over 850 pages in this report and it’s going to take time to digest it all. But I’m demanding that it’s not swept under the carpet. I won’t forget what they have done and the consequences of their actions helping the Conservatives win again when victory for us that would have helped so many was so close. It’s unforgivable. This may be in the past but action needs to be taken now. We need an urgent inquiry by the party into former senior officials sabotaging Labour’s election campaign in 2017 and engaging in disgusting and abusive behaviour towards members. Please sign and share this petition to help make it happen. Thanks
Change We Must, Observations from the Left 