2017, Principle Before Power and All That

Screenshot_20200307-164902~2 I’ve noticed a trend lately by some in the Labour Party who think or are saying that the 2017 Election was a fluke or freak result and that if it wasn’t it doesn’t matter because we still lost. That it can be explained by a large amount of remain voters going to Labour to keep the Tories out. What they mean is they can’t accept we did better than expected because it doesn’t fit in with how they see things. Another thing I’ve always seen flying around is that the people won’t vote for a left leader and Manifesto. The 2019 result is what they thought would happen in 2017 so now it’s being written off as freak result rather than admitting we nearly won with one.

I really think that shows the narrative they want to push but the reality is it doesn’t explain the actual results. There’s no doubt there’s regional and local differences across the country there always is but we had a 9.6% swing in 2017 nationally from 2015. That is massive and let’s not forget just over a month earlier we had suffered large losses in the local Elections. When the Conservatives called the Election we mustn’t ever forget too we were about 21 points behind in the opinion polls which is of course why they called it because they thought they would stroll to victory. We gave them a hell of a battle and I truly believe as many have said too if the Election had been a week later we would have won. Of course I can’t prove that and we’ll never know for sure but the momentum was definitely with us.

So I believe there’s a bit of revisionism here because some can’t accept and don’t want it admitted that it had anything to do with Jeremy Corbyn. It didn’t then and it certainly doesn’t now paint the story of what they want to say happened in 2017. Because of last December’s disastrous result the right wingers in the party who lets be honest were never happy about Corbyn being leader in the first place can say we told you this would happen and that 17 could be written off as a freak result.

I take a very different view of it. The truth is no Election results should be written off they all have their own story to tell. It’s easy to now try and sweep the 17 result under the carpet because you want to push the 19 result because that’s the angle you want to have as your narrative. That Corbyn was a disaster most people hated him and that our Manifesto was a gigantic wish list that people didn’t believe we could do.

Of course some of that is true to an extent. I heard myself on the doorstep that some couldn’t stand Jeremy. But this is ignoring the biggest issue by far the elephant in the room if you like. Yes of course it’s Brexit. More than that in our heartlands our vote had been going down for years long before Corbyn was ever leader. So I think we need to take lessons from the last few elections and not just cherry pick the ones that suit us because that’s the only way we are going to understand what’s been going on and why we have lost 4 of the last 5 Elections.

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So to my way of thinking I would turn things completely around and say surely the most logical thing to do would be to find out why 17 bucked the trend of recent Elections and learn what we did right and better then. And what was different about it. Well undoubtedly the Tories under May had an disaster of a campaign. For the party that was supposedly ready for it they were unbelievably bad. But let’s not take anything from our campaign either I thought ours was the best it had been for many years. One key factor that was even grudgingly admitted by some in other parts of the party after was that Corbyn had a superb campaign and was totally in his element. Slowly from having absolutely no chance whatsoever our campaign picked up pace and our message began to resonate with massive amounts of people especially the young. Yes we didn’t win but we came so so close and 9.6% swing to us was truly historic.

To write all this off would be a totally foolhardy thing to. Our Manifesto was transformative in it’s aims and Socialist in it’s principles. Vast amounts of people were excited by it’s vision and nearly 13 million people voted for it. So what was different between 17 and 19 when we got smashed? Our Manifesto was still transformative and Socialist but maybe one criticism of it now was there was too much in it. It wasn’t a plan for one Parliament more like for at least 2 and that wasn’t made as clear as it should have been. We still had the same leader but Corbyn had been subjected to another 2 and half years of relentless battering by the media. I’m sure these 2 factors were elements in our defeat but we lost 2 half million votes in 2 years. There’s more to it than that so of course I have to come back to our Brexit position.

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In 2017 we accepted the referendum result but in 2019 we said would negotiate a sensible deal and put that deal to a public vote alongside an remain option. This along with that it looked like to many that we were stopping the will of the people in Parliament I believe was the biggest thing that killed us by far at the ballot box last year. The sooner we can accept that we got this massively wrong and own it the better because until then no matter who becomes leader we are going to struggle to win back votes. I think one of the biggest faults of the last 25 years is we have become too London centric and disappointedly that carried on to a large degree under Corbyn’s leadership. We are seen to be too removed from a lot of ordinary people and this has to change.

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There’s another related point I wanted to talk about. How well we did in 17 flies in the face already of the conventional wisdom which is why some like I said at the beginning want to see it as a freak result. You see I never seen it like that because I always had faith that people could vote for a Socialist leader and manifesto. This is I think a key difference between those on different wings of the party. A lot of the right wing not only don’t believe in a Socialist vision of society they don’t believe we can win elections with it. They always maintain that Elections can only be won from the centre which is why they cite 1997 as an example so much. That ignores 1945 and 1974 when we won with Socialist Manifestos however. This is why I believe 2017 is so important and an inconvenient truth to many.

Why should we be timid and cautious and in being so letting the Tories set the agenda? This is why I was so enthused by Corbyn as leader because we set the agenda again and any fall back to pre 2015 like positions would be a gigantic error. We aren’t taking notice of what the country is telling us if that is what we do. The vote for leave in the referendum was itself a massive vote against the establishment because there is a massive appetite for that and that is how we looked in 2017. By 19 we again looked like an establishment party who had been blocking Brexit. To win in 2024 we need to tap again into that anti establishment feeling and excite and inspire the young. After all it’s their future and I believe we will fail even after 5 years of this right wing reactionary Tory Government unless we can claim the narrative that we are an anti establishment party who will look after the people. It’s all in our hands which is why this period is vital.

It’s not Socialism that people don’t like or in itself a vote loser unlike what some say and 2017 proves that. It was Brexit that ultimately scuttled us. I’ve seen it sometimes said that it’s the left who don’t want to win that we would rather lose with the right policies than win with the wrong ones. Apart from being insulting it’s also very wrong. What we do have is faith that we can win people over to our ideas. Politics is a 2 way street we listen and engage with our own message, all too often in the last 20 years we haven’t listened and not properly engaged either. To dictate down from on top of the party isn’t going to cut it or win us elections.

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So this is why I believe out of all the elections in the last 15 years it’s 2017 that is the one to build on and look to see what we can learn from. No we didn’t quite win but we were so very close and we did this without compromising our principles or vision. It proves to me what I always believed that we don’t have to sacrifice our principles to get into power. Some will always tell us otherwise that there is an easier way to get into Government that we have to dumb down in some sort of race to the centre. I don’t and have never believed that and now more than ever we don’t need the bland centre but a radical left agenda to deal with Climate Change and rampant Capitalism with it’s gross inequalities that we all face. This is a crunch time and we have to learn from our recent past which is why I think we can still win with Socialism. It’s time to keep the faith there’s simply to much at stake to lose it.

Richard Burgon 4 Deputy

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To be quite honest the Labour Leader and Deputy Leadership contest hasn’t exactly set me alight like it did in 2015 with the arrival of Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate. I suppose that’s inevitable to an extent because that was like a reawakening of something for some or the first flush of an political awakening for others. Also we’ve had 4 and half years of relentless attacks not just from the Tory press but pretty much most the whole media not to mention the attacks and backstabbing from inside our own party. I feel battle weary like most of us. But when I look at our candidates for leader and deputy the one who really excites me the most is Richard Burgon and that’s who I’m endorsing for Deputy Leader.

That’s not to say there aren’t others I don’t like but it’s Richard who I feel is the one who’s carrying the torch that Jeremy lit for Socialism the most. Make no mistake I’ve always liked Richard but that’s not the only reason I will be voting for him. He’s a campaigner and if elected he’s promised that he will be a campaigning Deputy. We have to get back out into the communities not only listening but getting our message out there. Richard will help do that and engage and encourage our members to do it too. He’s a fighter who doesn’t give up as well that can be seen in his successful libel case against the Sun newspaper ( if it can be called that) and the Tories hate someone like that.

Something else very important is he’s a brilliant public speaker who always electrifiy’s the crowds. He is someone who can make us feel a bit better by his rousing speeches when things are tough. This attribute shouldn’t be underestimated because it’s a very powerful talent and is a vital part I think of the Deputies job. Richard is a breath of fresh air not just in this contest but in politics generally where boring and middle of the road politicians usually hold sway.

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One of the most important things to me is that Richard is a Socialist and that’s vital to keep the party moving in a Socialist direction. So often in the past we have seen backtracks and capitulations on policy and I’ve every confidence in Richard to make sure there isn’t any sort of that nonsense if he is Deputy. As he says it’s Socialism that has given this country it’s greatest achievement the NHS and he wants more of society running along the same values putting people before profits. That’s why he’s calling for a new Clause IV that hardwires support for public ownership into Labour’s constitution.

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Something else that is vital for me is that Richard backs Open Selection. Much more needs to be done to democratise our party and this would be a massive step towards this goal. There really isn’t anything controversial about it after all it’s what Councillors have to do why not MP’s? What makes them so special? If they are good MP’s they shouldn’t have anything to worry about. The trigger ballot system is cumbersome and not as fair as Open Selection and has got to be the way forward for an open transparent socialist democratic party.

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But when I look who to support it’s not only what they want to do in the future it’s what they’ve done in the past that interests me. Richard passes that test with flying colours. One of the most important litmus tests for me was the Tory Welfare Bill in 2015 and in all honestly I would only consider someone who voted against it for leader or deputy and as you can see from the list above Richard voted against. I say this because it was a vital test and one of the clearest indicators I know of where the candidates really stand. We mustn’t ever fall into line with the Tories or play political games on something so fundamental as Welfare and this back in 2015 was a clear indication of Labour’s drift at that point. It’s Jeremy Corbyn who has put us back on track on this and so much else besides. To see Richard’s name on that list along with Dawn Butler and Rebecca Long-Bailey shows the only options for me to vote for.

Another plus point for me is that Richard’s campaign manager is the wonderful Laura Pidcock who was simply magnificent as an MP and is a massive loss to the Parliamentary Labour Party. Don’t forget he nominated Jeremy Corbyn for leader in both 2015 and 2016 and has been totally loyal to him since he became leader. More than that he has defended Corbyn against the demonisation he received in the right wing press time and time again.

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There’s one last thing that I think is very important. I’ve said this many times before that I think it was our Brexit position that was the biggest (not only) reason why we lost in December. Since our disastrous defeat it’s been truly disturbing to see how so few have actually owned up to this catastrophic decision and how so few in the party actually get this. As you see Richard does and it’s another reason to vote for him because unless we understand and recognise where we went wrong with Brexit we are going to struggle to ever win back these voters back to Labour. If we are to win the next Election we have to start winning these people back to Labour and we need to start doing it now. I’m convinced that Richard will be able to reconnect to our lost voters.

I hope that you can see why I think Richard Burgon is the best candidate for Deputy Leader and why I will be voting for him. It’s a time for standing firm and bold and there’s no doubt in my mind that Richard will do that because he has the courage and conviction needed. Backtracking and capitulation is not the way to go and will only lead to the collapse of our vote more. Richard gets this. Just one last thing like his Political idol Tony Benn he believes in a member’s led party and that is his aim to deliver that. Please consider voting for Richard Burgon as 1st preference for Deputy Leader. Thank you.

Keep Left to Win

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As a Labour Party member I want us to win all Elections. Seems an obvious thing to say surely we all do. You would think so anyway but some on the other side of the party to me sometimes seem to say that our ideas are unelectable and we must be round the bend to think that we could ever win with them. If there’s one thing guaranteed to wind me up it’s when another member says something like “For all its great ideals, socialism is a minority interest. When Labour offered it red in tooth & claw, it enthused the few but scared the many. Corbynism failed.” The underlying tone is we can never win with Socialism.

I disagree and if I thought we couldn’t I might as well give up. Some speak as though it’s an impossibility but you only have to look through history to see that’s not the case. In the past the Labour Party has had what I would call 3 different sorts of Election Manifestos. Firstly the explicitly Socialist, Secondly the ones with bits of Socialism in it and Thirdly the ones with none or hardly any. Well we won in 1945, 1950 and 1974 with explicitly Socialist programmes. Now yes they were different times but to deny that happened is completely wrong.

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What is happening now is like what happened in the 1950’s and again in the 1980’s the right wing is fighting back. So they can retake control of the party. This is politics let’s be honest about it. I’m old enough to remember the 80’s and after the defeats in 83 and 87 being told we can’t win with Socialism. So the policy reviews begin the focus groups start and we get told we didn’t listen to what the people wanted they didn’t believe us etc. It’s all been said before.

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The right wing in the party will tell us they were proved right because of our win in 97 and after and that we have to appeal to middle England to win. For me there are some big flaws in these arguments. I truly believe that John Smith would have easily won in 97 had he lived or indeed any leader who was a bit left of Blair because by then the majority of the people after 18 years of Tory rule wanted a change. Yes maybe the charisma of Blair won us a few more seats at first but I believe we would have gotten a majority.

One of the things that always annoyed me about Blairism was that in our drive to appeal to middle England and the home counties we forgot about our core traditional voters. Over time this has bitten us on the backside. I have always believed in our desperation to get elected after losing 2 then 3 then 4 Elections that we compromised our vision of a better fairer more equal society far far too much.

In the 97-10 period we did some good things but also bad things and we didn’t take the chance of the opportunity that was before us. Worst of all we let people down and we didn’t take any notice because we were complacent thinking that our traditional voters would stay with us because they had nowhere else to go. We were arrogant and completely out of touch hence by 2010 we lost and in 2015 we not only lost but we were annihilated in Scotland. Red Scotland of all places the most left wing place in Britain. We failed them and they punished us and I think some seem to be forgetting this to suit their narrative. Anyway back for power for us must include Scotland it’s that simple and turning back rightwards will never cut it in a million years there.

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This wasn’t Corbyn’s fault he wasn’t even leader then but he hasn’t been able to win the Scottish people back. Let’s be completely honest whoever wins the Labour Leadership has got a massive task on. With where we are now electorally it will be a gigantic uphill battle. But nothing is impossible. However if we are to do it there’s certain things we have to admit and not brush aside. There’s an inconvenient truth that some are refusing to see because their views are clouding this simple truth. I mentioned earlier that in the 80’s we were told we didn’t listen to what the people wanted. Well the biggest lesson we need to learn now is at the last Election we didn’t listen to what the people wanted. Yes I’m talking about Brexit.

I find this quite ironic that the people who say we need to listen to the people didn’t and still won’t on this. I knew we were going to lose in December and that frustrates the hell out of me. Others knew too. As soon as we changed our Brexit position we were doomed and what we came up was a fudge that didn’t go down well in vast areas of the country. Until we realise this and own up that we got it very wrong we aren’t going to do better electorally because people think we betrayed them from saying in 2017 we would honour the referendum result to our fudge 2 years later. They won’t forget in a hurry. I haven’t got a crystal ball and I’m certainly not especially clever so why couldn’t the architects of our Brexit U turn see what was going to happen? I didn’t expect us to lose so badly but deep down I knew it would happen. So how can we trust these people with Starmer being the key figure in this.

The right wing will keep blaming Corbyn for our defeat and I’m not going to deny it wasn’t an issue on the doorstep but quite often it was related to our Brexit position. What I’m saying is we need to recognise what is happening here. Corbyn has always been the fall guy and now groups like Labour First are using our devastating defeat as the excuse they needed to change the direction of the party back to being some sort of Blairite version. This is inevitable and part of the normal cycle of politics but the importance of this next period shouldn’t be downplayed. We are heading into the most important time in human history.

I think there are many differences between the left and the right of the party of which one of the key ones is the right’s lack of boldness. Winning is everything and the only way to win is to play safe. The right say we have to listen to the people but they don’t seem to have faith in them and as we have seen it’s only when it suits their narrative. Corbyn failed because we were too left wing too ambitious they didn’t believe us but what is their vision? They simply don’t have a coherent vision of a better society or how it can work rather they want to tinker with the system to improve people’s lives. The trouble with that is after 40 years of Neo-liberalism’s inbuilt inequalities and now Climate Change hanging over us all like a black cloud of doom it doesn’t provide the solutions to the crisis that’s happening.

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We can’t take another 5-10 years of Tory rule making us even more unequal and with their inadequate response to Climate Change. That is exactly why bold policies and a bold vision are needed. Any backtracking on policy isn’t going to help us the people in the long run. The Blairites say the voters rejected our bold Socialist vision but that is only telling part of the story. As I have said they aren’t taking our Brexit position into account and completely ignoring how close were to winning in 2017 completely against the odds. Politics is so often about the short term but we are entering uncharted waters now and we need to do so much more than that. What we need is radical Socialists solutions not tinkering around the edges.

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I believe we not only have to listen to the people we have to take the lead and show a positive alternative vision. As Socialists one of our crucial jobs is to educate and that is a key thing for us to do now more than ever. Lots of people feel hopeless that there’s nothing that be done. That’s why so many were attracted to Corbyn because his message was one of hope. With the environmental and economic crisis that is enveloping us any return to some sort of 3rd way isn’t going to be enough not only to inspire the majority of people but to actually provide what’s needed to help the people and the planet. These are uncertain dangerous times and the Labour Party has to start wining but not by trying to go back to some 1997 timezone. We have to regain people’s trust by listening, helping in our local communities and putting our case forward for the type of Society we not only want but actually need. The times are a changing and we have to be on the right side of history for the good of everyone. Democratic Socialism offers the solutions to the problems facing us more than ever as unregulated Capitalism runs amok with the environment and ruins people’s lives not only here but all around the world. We have to say what we mean and mean what we say as Tony Benn use to say. This really isn’t the time to backtrack it’s a time to keep the courage of our convictions. The future is still to fight for and it’s the future that we have to think of because future generations won’t thank us for any centrist fudge. Now more than ever we need to be bold and stand up for our Socialist beliefs. That’s what the Labour Party is for and to make the changes we need by winning the battle of ideas and then enacting them. The fight carries on.

Starmer? Really?

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Labour leadership contests are obviously vital as a guide to the future direction of the party which is why it’s vital we make the right decision. At the moment Keir Starmer seems to be favorite and he is definitely picking up a head of steam. I understand that to a degree, we have just had a catastrophic defeat in the General Election and to some Starmer seems to be the safe option. Some of the talk I’ve seen in his favour is he looks the part apparently and he can talk well. That’s he’s clever and is the only credible option. The one that’s really has confused me is that he is media friendly .

So let’s just go through these.

Safe? Well who to is my question to that. I suppose this is connected to the media friendly one as well After the mauling that Jeremy Corbyn has had the last 4 and half years I can understand why it’s appealing to have a leader that would get a better press. But we are deluding ourselves if we think any Labour Leader is going to get one. Tony Blair is the only leader who has had a good press and that was only because he did a dodgy deal with Rupert Murdoch and that only lasted temporarily. Normal order was restored after a few years. So yes Corbyn had a particular time at the hands of the press because the establishment recognised he was a threat to them.

This brings something else up to me. At the moment Starmer is talking quite left at times trying to attract Corbyn supporters to vote for him. But if he wins and he carries on doing that the press will really put the boot in and I really don’t trust him not to capitulate and backtrack to appear yes more safe. What I’m saying is any Labour Leader worth their salt will want to be a threat to the establishment and you have to set your stall out from the start. Does anyone really think if he capitulates on one thing he wouldn’t on another? The press would love that and would carry on putting the pressure on for more backtracking more watering down because at the end of the day it’s not Jeremy Corbyn the media actually hated but what he stood for and our policies.

You see we have been here before. Back in the 80’s when Neil Kinnock became leader he believed in Public Ownership, he believed in unilateral disarmament he had principles or so we thought but by the time his 2nd General Election came in 1992 he had long jettisoned them and we all know what happened we still lost. Personally at this stage I have less faith in Starmer than I did when Kinnock became leader in 1983. You see it all comes down to who appears more electable.

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Yes electable is the magic word and funnily enough we were told that about Kinnock when he was elected leader in 1983. But of course who appears electable is very subjective. In my view Starmer doesn’t seem electable at all because with his anti brexit views I don’t think he has a hope in hell of winning back our heartlands. It was Starmer who was at the heart of our Brexit volte-face between 17 and 19 which I believe was the biggest reason we lost 2 and half million votes. That’s one big reason I believe he isn’t the answer and would be a disaster. He’s done nothing to own this calamity of the highest order and doesn’t seem to be able to accept his huge role in it. If he can’t see the problem how on earth can he try to put it right?

While Starmer himself is probably more from the centre of the party than being an out and out Blairite just look who he appointed in his campaign team Matt Pound from Labour First a right wing faction. He’s trying to tack left to gain votes but there’s nothing in his history to prove he’s on the left of the party. In the 2015 Leadership election he supported Andy Burnham and more importantly in 2016 he endorsed Owen Smith. Which brings me to another reason I couldn’t vote for him as leader. Some people say he’s been loyal to Corbyn but that’s not true he was part of the Chicken Coup in 2016.

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Another thing that’s important to me and that was the position Starmer took on the Tory Welfare Bill in 2015. He abstained and didn’t vote against it like Jeremy Corbyn, Richard Burgon, Dawn Butler and Rebecca Long-Bailey for example. This was an important litmus test and he failed it.

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There’s something else about Keir that isn’t a very nice thing to say but I think it’s a very important point as well. A leader should be someone who inspires and excites people. They should be charismatic in some way especially now in the modern age. Jeremy Corbyn and Tony Blair both were in their own ways and agree or disagree with them they excited and inspired people to vote Labour. I’m afraid I can’t see Keir doing that at all, to me he comes across as a very old fashioned type of politician which is me being kind for saying he is very boring. I really don’t like being personal like that but ignoring this won’t help us. I suppose this goes back to him being safe. Some might find that comforting but politics isn’t about being safe. At this critical time in not only the parties history but the world’s where we are staring Climate Change in the face I really don’t think safe is what we need.

Now I’m sure Keir Starmer is a nice enough guy but I really don’t see him as the person to take the Labour Party forward my view is it would be a massive backward step. The bottom line is I just don’t believe he would be a keeper of the torch that Corbyn has lit. I really don’t see him as an answer to our electoral problems but rather just a desperate reaction to them. I’m convinced over time he would begin watering down our policies. So to anyone who voted for Corbyn in previous leadership elections I’m asking please think carefully about who to vote for. As I said at the beginning it’s so vital we don’t make the wrong choice.

It’s Still Labour for a Socialist Future.

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I know we are all fed up but I just wanted to say this because I’ve seen on social media some have said they are thinking about leaving Labour or have left already. I get that, we have been fighting for what we think is right for a long time and it’s been hard work. Now Jeremy Corbyn is standing down and we are all weary. Sometimes all we need to do is step back and have a recharge. I’ve done that a few times and it can work wonders. But I wanted to share my perspective on why I think leaving would be a huge mistake.
The idea of leaving Labour to start another party might seem appealing especially at times like this. But the reality is it puts you straight into the fringes and nowhere land. There have been countless attempts to start another party left of Labour and they have all failed and failed dismally. There’s plenty of left parties out there already and they have never set the world alight. Recently there’s been Left Unity and Respect. Bit further back to the 90’s the Socialist Labour Party. Recently there have been a couple of alliances the Socialist Alliance and TUSC both with various left parties. None of them have made any headway. The only major success has been George Galloway’s two Elections wins as an Respect Mp and that had at least something to do with him being a ‘name’. If you go further back when the ILP disaffiliated from Labour in the 1930’s they had a big membership but soon faded into obscurity and the fringes eventually of course coming back to Labour in the 1970’s.

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Even if you look at it the other way the right wing split off the SDP formed in 1981 after some initial success and some backing from the right wing press had to eventually merge with the Liberals or risk obscurity.
I also speak from a little personal experience. A long time ago I was in Militant in Coventry in the Dave Nellist era and when I first come back into politics in 2012 I went to a couple of Socialist Party (as they are now) meetings. I quickly came to the conclusion that it was only going to be through the Labour Party that we could achieve mass Socialist change. Think back to what the Labour Party was like in 2012 and it will give you a glimpse of how hopeless being on the fringes felt to me. But joining Labour then still felt like a massive thing with Blair and Iraq in my recent memory. But I was encouraged by what I was seeing on Facebook in those days and I felt some change was in the air at last. Although many on the left scoffed at the idea then I began to think that Labour wasn’t a lost cause for Socialism. So it was in the winter of 2012/13 that I decided to join Labour and the rest is history so to speak.

This little history lesson shows the Labour Party for all it’s many faults is the only game in town as far as left political parties that can get into Government. Many have tried to make a breakthrough but the odds are stacked so far against them. We would be fooling ourselves to believe otherwise.

A major thing we have to grapple with as Socialists is how pure can we be to get into power balanced with how much we have to compromise? I have always thought that many times in the past we have compromised too much. But also I realise if we are too pure it can be self defeating as well because we can back ourselves into a corner that keeps getting smaller. I have always put it like this. We all have to compromise in life and that is what a political party is all about. But if we go too far down this watering down compromising route we actually lose the essence of what we are and what we want to achieve.
My point is we are so much stronger than we were back in 2012-2015. Yes things have gone wrong but I truly believe Socialist change is only going to come through the Labour Party in the UK. I thought that then and we are so much stronger now than before Corbyn became leader. In some ways when we elected JC we did it the wrong way round.

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So yes I get people are demoralised, depressed, frustrated, hurt, angry and upset. I am too. The last 4 and half years are starting to look like they have been a waste of time. But they haven’t been because we the left are still in the ascendancy. But just think about this if many of us do leave they will have been for nothing and it will play into the Blairites hands. Two of our Socialist heroes Tony Benn and Dennis Skinner did what I’m going to do. They stayed in the party through the battles of the 80’s, the take over of the Blairites in the 90’s and fought and kept the left wing beacon burning. That’s what Jeremy Corbyn did too. Being a Socialist in the Labour isn’t easy but I still believe it offers the best path open to transform our country.

Yes the Labour Party will need a push from the outside too but it needs the mass left membership we have now to drive it. We have lots of battles ahead and it’s going to be very tough. So if you’re thinking of walking away I totally get it. But please think carefully. We need all of us.

A Return To Blairism? No Thanks

Item of the Month – June 2014 – People's History Museum _ Manchester Museums

I know there are many on the political right & some on the right of our Labour Party who are celebrating the end of Corbynism. Who think the Corbyn ‘project’ is over, that the last 4 & half years have been just a blip & now normal service can be resumed.

Well I’ve got some important news for you if that’s what you’re hoping for.
Well think again.
Us Socialists aren’t going anywhere.

You see all the talk I’ve seen of it being the ‘cult of Corbyn’ has been a load of rubbish. Yes we all admire Jeremy Corbyn but it’s never been about one person. Ever.

It’s been about Democratic Socialism & completely changing the narrative from the Blair days. That’s what we’ve done with 2 exciting manifestos. So before some start rubbing their hands thinking we need the return of Blairism to win again we need to evaluate why we lost.

As I’ve said before I think our Brexit position was the biggest reason where in our leave heartlands we were well beat. Winning Putney & keeping Canterbury was no substitute for losing our red wall. Labour leave voters felt betrayed by our position. I’m not denying either that Corbyn polarised opinion. Some love him some hate him. But there’s an elephant in the room here that’s absolutely vital not to forget. We have been losing votes in our heartlands since 2001. We were wiped out in Scotland in 2015. These things weren’t Corbyn’s fault as he wasn’t leader then but rather a rejection of the Blair New Labour era & people losing trust in us. They lost trust because they felt we took their votes for granted & hadn’t done anywhere near enough for them in all the years we were in power not to mention Iraq of course. I’m denying that our 97-10 Governments didn’t do some good things. But we could and should have done more for ordinary people and the sense of frustration by the early noughties was palpable.

If we don’t remember this and learn from it we still won’t get elected. So blaming Corbyn and the left might suit their narrative but the facts don’t stack up. In 2017 we got our most votes since 2001 and the 9.6% swing to us was the highest since 1945 even higher than the 8.8% we got in 1997. We gained seats for the the first time since 1997. This wasn’t by luck but because people were genuinely excited by our Socialist Policies. We were seen as an anti establishment party and most importantly we pledged to honour the referendum result. As soon as we changed that we were in trouble. It’s important to note too that we still got a higher share of the vote than we did in 2010 and 2015. Also that while we won in 2005 it was with the lowest share of the vote in an Election since the Second World War just 35.2%. This is still an uncomfortable truth for fans of Tony Blair and we should have been learning the lessons then but we didn’t. This is something we need to remember in the forthcoming period.

So yes we lost and lost badly but if you think a return to the 1990’s is the answer it’s not. That boat has sailed & sunk. The times are very different and there’s no appetite for some 3rd way that let so many down. This isn’t the death of Socialism either. There must be no big retreat on policies. We need it more than ever and I refuse to believe it’s not popular or we can’t win a General Election with a Socialist Manifesto. It’s Brexit that has sunk us now not Democratic Socialism. So we carry on and fight on for Socialism because not only does the Country need it, the whole world does if we are to have a future.

Don’t Give Up

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Well another year is nearly over so I thought I should get some of these thoughts down that are floating around my head and that are too long for a Tweet.

It’s been an extremely tough year both personally and of course politically. I’m not going to get into the personal stuff today just the political. This is the time for reflection after such a disastrous defeat. It’s also the time to think where to we go now?

I just knew that the timing of the Election was wrong for us especially with the Brexit position we took. Many of us said that our position would be looked on as a betrayal in our leave heartlands and sadly we were proven correct. It felt at times like a slow car crash that you knew was going to happen but you were helpless to stop it. This was one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever gone through but I don’t want to keep saying I told you this would happen. The last thing I want to do is sound patronising. But somehow we have to move forward from this and carry on.

Which brings me to this vital point. Please don’t give up. We are all battered, hurt, upset, tired, deflated and angry. I am too. We lost a fantastic opportunity to actually get a Socialist Government. I completely get if you feel you’ve had enough. I’ve felt like that before many times too. Sometimes I think I can’t keep doing this myself. If you need a little break have a break. We all need breaks. But if all us Socialists gave up where would we be?

Well the answer to that is simple in the crap. We all know that really. So I’m asking every Labour member who supported Corbyn if you’re thinking of leaving the party please don’t. If you’re thinking of going off Social Media permanently please don’t. Or if you’re thinking of never going to go to a meeting again please reconsider.

So we are down yes but not out. The right wing in the party and out the party would love it if we gave up. I do what I do not to make friends although that’s a bonus but because I feel I have to. I’m driven because I want to help to make a better world for my daughter’s, the less fortunate and basically the many not just the few. I know we all feel the same.

But I’m not prepared to let the last 4 and half years be for nothing. All of us have done so much it can’t be. When I think back to 2014 when I was invited to get involved with Red Labour we have come so far as Socialists in the Labour Party. It’s been a journey that I’ve been proud to have been a small part of. Helping Jeremy Corbyn get on the ballot paper and then winning the first and second leadership Elections is something I will never forget. I think it’s good to remember our victories because it gives us strength to fight the battles ahead.

Since the General Election on the December 12th I don’t mind admitting it’s been very tough. But two quotes from the late great Tony Benn keep coming into my head that I think are especially pertinent at this time.

“There is no final victory, as there is no final defeat. There is just the same battle, to be fought over and over again. So toughen up, bloody toughen up.”

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Which is what I’ve been saying. Even if we had won on December 12th that would have been just the beginning of another battle. These battles will never end even when we are winning. But these battles have always gone on. Which made me think of another famous Tony Benn quote.

“From the beginning of time there have been two flames burning in the human heart. The flame of anger against injustice and the flame of hope you can build a better world. And my job is to go round fanning both flames.”

It’s quotes like this which help to give me strength to keep going in the hardest of times like now. I feel that’s my job too to keep fanning those flames in whatever small way I can. And I won’t give up because there’s simply to much at stake. There’s still a world to win for Socialism. So we dust ourselves down and start building again. See you next year on the other side.

Election Reflections

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I’m trying to get my thoughts together on the General Election result. We are all devastated not just because we lost but because we know that for the next 5 years life is going to be hell for so many. I don’t want this to sound bitter or like sour grapes either. So many of us tried our best and we are all hurting now. But what we have to do is dust ourselves down and fight again. We may need a break I know I do but we can’t give up because there’s so much at stake.
So what went wrong?

Well from my point of view it was our Brexit position. Of course there were other factors too we and particularly that Jeremy Corbyn has been demonised and smeared like no other Labour leader. Yes no Labour leader has had good press except Blair at certain times. Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock were both treated particularly bad. It goes with the terrain of radically trying to change Society and is a badge of honour in a way. But Corbyn has been accused of being numerous things he’s not with make no mistake the sole purpose of damaging him and Labour electorally. And to some extent it has worked. How much it’s really difficult to say but I don’t think at the moment it’s the main thing to focus on. Because since 2017 we have lost 2 and half million votes. Those people were prepared to vote for us then after 2 years of lies and smears about Corbyn then so what’s changed?

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Well that brings me back to Brexit and I think it’s undeniable that it was the major factor in our devastating defeat. It’s so frustrating because we were warned about this earlier in the year with the rise of the Brexit party. Their huge success in the Euro Elections should have been a warning shot across the bow. But too many in the party thought it was just a protest vote and that most would come back to us. They didn’t get how deep the feeling was in parts of the Midlands and North and it was ignored that 70% of our seats voted leave. Well a lot haven’t come back to us and we have a lot of work to do to win them back. I have to say this but some London centric lefties really don’t seem to get it. Some seem to think that working class people who voted Brexit have not only got it wrong but imply they are stupid or racist. So many already felt that they weren’t being listened to and when the referendum came they voted against staying in the EU as a rejection of the neo liberal establishment elite. But 3 and half years later Brexit has stalled and to put it bluntly we have took the blame and we are the ones who have been punished. People who voted Brexit really want it done and some leavers think we have betrayed them. They didn’t want a second referendum they wanted the result of the first carried out.

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Before anyone thinks I’m a ardent leaver I voted remain in 2016. But the major difference between the Election 2 years ago and now is that then we said we would honour the result of the referendum, now we were offering a another one. Like it or not people who voted leave didn’t like that, so much so many were even prepared to vote Tory who of course were saying they were going to get Brexit done. So no matter how many great policies we have it was always going to be a major uphill battle to win people over when as they see it they had won the referendum result and we had helped to block it in parliament. Many of us on the left warned about this happening but we lost the battle.

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I have to say again as well that certain figures on the London left in their bubble didn’t help with their sneering patronising attitude. And the constant manoeuvring by some to not accept the result of the democratic referendum result has cost us dear. We may have not liked the result in 2016 but we should have accepted the democratic mandate after all that’s what democracy is. This attitude that some show that we know best really doesn’t go down well.

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Let’s be honest in some of our heartlands our vote has been going down for a long time way before Corbyn became leader. This has just been the final straw. It was always going to be difficult for us because opinion varies so much around the country. We tried to unite leave and remain but to many our policy was a fudge. I admit I wanted us to adopt this policy at conference myself but only because the other option of us being a full remain party would have been an even bigger disaster for us I believe. That would have been unforgivable to many at least now we have a fighting chance of winning these people back to us. We have had the massive misfortune of having to deal with the Brexit issue at this particular time in history, things could have been so different without it but it’s proven to be such a divisive issue. Hopefully by the next Election it won’t be the issue it is now.
I think Jeremy is right to not rush into going as leader, we have to choose our next leader carefully. It would also be a mistake in my view to back track on our policies or water them down. We have to offer a radical alternative and next time we will be better placed after 5 years of Tory rule hopefully. These are the times for radical Socialist policies because the problems we face as a country and indeed in the world as they are the best solutions to the crisis we face. As I have said before time is running out but we mustn’t give up because of this gigantic setback. We have to learn from this and learn fast. We are all hurting now but the fight goes on. Who’s up for it?

Running Out of Time

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We are in the middle of another General Election and Jeremy Corbyn has said this is an once in a generation chance to change things and I agree. Because this Election isn’t just about Brexit. It’s about the future direction of travel about everything facing us and that is a hell of a lot.

Everything the Tories want to do is about doing things short term and looking after their own and friends vested interests. It’s what they do and they haven’t got the vision or inclination to do what’s needed.
To put it bluntly we are running out of time. I don’t say that to just gain your attention I’m simply stating a fact. Last year the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) brought out a report stating that we had only 12 years left to limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people. The Tories so called plans to limit Climate Change do nowhere near enough. Because as always they put big business first not the people or the planet. They can’t really conceive of the enormity of the task ahead because they are quite happy with how things are and deep down don’t want to change much at all. Now it’s 11 years the clock is ticking and what have the Tories done? Nothing

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They say the NHS is safe with them but it’s a lie. The Tories have been running it down and opening it up to the market the last 9 years. President Trump and his big pharma cronies are waiting in the wings for the post Brexit trade deal where they will want to carve up the most profitable bits of the NHS. This isn’t scaremongering but something that is increasingly believed by many. The brutal truth is the NHS won’t be able to survive another 5 years of Conservative Government. It’s running out of time.
The same with Education. The Tories have pushed their Academy policy which is wrecking Schools by making them more like a businesses instead of putting children first. For example my eldest daughter’s School became a Academy while she was there. The trust reduced the Special Educational Needs Department to one person who had to teach part time. The well being of our Children is being hit as well as their Education.

There are plenty of other things that worry me about the future under the Tories like Obscene Inequality and their consciously cruel policies on the poorest and most vulnerable in society for example. The Tories have done all this deliberately. They are short sighted, have a narrow vision and are only interested in benefiting things for their rich mates. The country has gone backwards in recent years with them in Government.

In the last few years though politics has changed. For far too long we had been told that nothing can change that we have to accept that the wealth will trickle down to benefit us. This has proven to be rubbish. The wealthy are getting even more obscenely rich while the rest of us are struggling ever more.
Only 2 parties can form a Government and you have to ask yourself what future do you want for you and your family. I would argue that a vote for the Tories is a vote for no future because everything will get worse for ordinary people if they win the election. More Food banks, more poverty the destruction of the NHS it’s a depressing thought. But a better future is within reach and is entirely possible. I predict there will be lots of smears and scare stories the next couple of weeks. The official CONservative Party are already doctoring videos and pedaling fake news. Ignore them because they will be biased rubbish that has the sole objective of lessening the chances of Corbyn’s Labour being elected. The establishment are running scared and that’s good news for you and me.
In case you haven’t noticed the Labour Party has changed the last few years. No longer can the main parties be accused of being nearly the same. Now the Labour Party has a vision of a better fairer future for all and what’s more it’s got the will to make it happen. We will implement a Green New Deal giving us a better chance of a green future and will lobby for it worldwide. We will save the NHS by making it a completely public service again, by in its future and stopping any grubby deal with Trump’s big pharma mates. Most important we will put the c and s back into Government. C is for caring and S is for socialism, they actually go together because creating a fairer, greener more equal society is what it’s all about. As Barry Gardiner said it’s Labour who will transform the country and make life better for the majority of people.
I said earlier we are running out of time and it’s likely it will be another 5 years until the next Election. All Elections are important of course but I’m not exaggerating to say this one is absolutely vital to the future of the country and indeed the world. That’s why I’m asking everyone to vote and to make sure you vote for Labour. Because only Labour can and will make the changes we need to rebalance society and combat Climate Change. Did I mention we are running out of time?

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People Power and the Democratic Deficit

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I first wrote this last year but I didn’t really do anything with it. Recently I have been reminded of it and have given it a dust down so here it is the longest piece I’ve written.

People can change things, yes you read that right. Perhaps that is stating the obvious but in actual fact there’s plenty who don’t believe it. All too often I’ve heard in my life whats the point? You/we can’t change anything things will always be the same. It can be a compelling argument. Sometimes things don’t change at all for a long time indeed very often in the last 30-40 years things have got worse for ordinary people, not just in the UK but around the world.

The narrative that we can’t do anything is spin put out by to put it bluntly the ones that don’t want anything to change. It can also appeal to the negative side of us. But this isn’t some crazy conspiracy theory. The 1% with the most money and power want the Status Quo or things to stay the same. But this isn’t going to be a rant about that. I want to talk positively about what we can do to make Society a better fairer place.

When you look through history it’s the people who have changed things. And make no mistake it’s usually a struggle. Whether that’s been the French or Russian Revolutions or the Suffragette movement here it’s been ordinary people coming together and organising to change things that have done it. Change hasn’t just happened, the powers that be haven’t just rolled over and said ok. It’s took concerted action and years of struggle.

The same goes for Trade Unions and the struggle for workers rights. Every gain the worker has ever gained has been through collective action. That could be the struggle for the 8 hour day or more pay or more holiday. It’s unity and collective action that has won it. Now I’m not writing this for the seasoned campaigner but rather the newcomers who have come into politics looking for alternatives. And the people who don’t dare believe, who think change is impossible.

The key to this is not to give up although at times it’s easy to be despondent. Occasionally it can seem change can happen overnight but it’s never as easy as that. There’s usually long standing grievances and discontentment that’s been building up for a long time. Take the case of the Labour Party and the Election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader. No one gave him a chance at the start. In fact he wasn’t one of the original candidates. But the original candidates had seemed very uninspiring to a layer of the membership who feared we were going to get more of the same Blairite type leader.

Two ordinary members of the party Michelle Ryan and Rebecca Barnes decided to start a petition asking for a ‘left’ candidate to stand. This petition ended up getting over 5000 signatures an amazing amount for something like that and Corbyn decided to stand. Things happened quickly and by the skin of his teeth Corbyn got on the ballot paper. Now things snowballed and Corbyn was soon a hit on the hustings circuit. From being a no hoper he became a contender.

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Everywhere Corbyn went to speak brought ever bigger crowds and a movement was born. The parties establishment couldn’t believe it, it literally was their worst nightmare. They couldn’t understand what was happening. And that was their problem. The point is although the Corbyn movement seemingly came from nowhere it had been bubbling in the background for a few years. Lots of people and party members wanted change in the party and had become fed up during the Blair years. Not only had the Blair New Labour Government blew a historic chance of radically changing the country for the better by being economically Conservative it had took us to a foreign war in Iraq that the majority of people didn’t want. They completely disregarded the biggest march in British history to be the lapdog of President Bush.

On top of this in the Labour Party itself Blair closed down the parties Democratic structures and marginised the left in the party to a large degree. The party machine took over and party conference changed from being a debating arena to a stage managed convention. Lots of members gave up and left me included.

What this did was help to create a Democratic deficit not only in the party but the country as a whole. Members and in the wider sphere the general public felt not listened to, took for granted. Some people began to feel there was no difference between the parties anymore that Labour wasn’t talking for its traditional support as it use to do. This was where the stirrings of a movement against the Labour Leadership started but it was very slow to begin with. These things usually are.

It started slowly when Ed Miliband was elected leader in2010. That was a shock result but he had promised the end of New Labour which appealed to many. But his leadership while a improvement in some ways on Blair and Brown was very frustrating as he seemed unwilling or unable to break the Blairite grip on the machinery of the party. The party still had a top down down do as we say ethic.

This was some of the background to Corbyn gaining in popularity when he was standing for the leadership. He was promising members more say, promising to apologise for the Iraq war (something he had always been against) most of all he was a complete refreshing change from what came before and what else was on offer. So when he was elected as leader with 59.5% of the vote it caused a Political earthquake. No one not even his supporters at the beginning expected that.

Now this goes back to what I said at the beginning people can change things. Anyone can be a catalyst for change. Of course what I was just talking about is a Political party and not wider society but again it was proved in the 2017 General Election that people can be inspired to change things. Labour were 20% behind in the opinion polls when the Election was called and were completely written off. And yet we came within in 2 and half % of the Conservatives in the vote. How did we do this?
Well by offering people hope was a big factor something that had been in short supply for many years. By inspiring people to think that change was possible.

There’s 2 important things that I haven’t mentioned yet. Democracy and Social Media. Democracy is what frightens the establishment. They may pass it lip service but they don’t really want to extend it. Why? It’s quite simple it’s gives more power to the people. Put simply the establishment, the elite, the ruling class or whatever else we want to call them don’t want to extend democracy because they are scared of losing their levers of power that go on behind the scenes. I believe in extending democracy as much as possible. That’s for Elections where I believe PR would be a more Democratic way of doing them. Now I’m the compete opposite of a UKIP Supporter but in the 2015 Election they got 3.9 million votes but only 1 seat. The Greens also got over a million votes but only 1 seat. This causes a resentment from voters who quite rightly don’t think they have been listened to and aren’t being represented like they should be.

Voting needs to be extended to the over 16’s as well. Sixteen-seventeen year olds are often treated in a patronising way. There has always been a element from older voters that the young don’t know anything, aren’t mature enough and us oldies know best. This is another Democratic Deficit in this country. There are over 1 and half million being denied the vote. Well I say that but in some Scottish and Welsh Elections they are now been given the right to vote. That’s fantastic but when you think about it that is making the voting system two tiered. So it’s yet another reason to extend voting to all over sixteens. It’s time has most definitely come. But there is one thing though that I can’t help feeling. That the Conservatives will never extend voting because they know far far more will vote Labour than anything else. So we have got to pile the pressure on this like so many other things. IMG_20170607_200601

The House of Lords as a 2nd chamber is also outdated and undemocratic. It’s a collection of hereditary peers and appointed peers, in other words none are elected by the people. This is something that needs to be near the top of the list in the modernising of our democracy. We need a elected 2nd house with a form of PR as the method to elect. These would be some ways to improve democracy and a good place to start but there would still be far more to do. What we need to do is lessen people’s alienation and hopelessness. As I said at the beginning people can effect change. Another example of that is the EU referendum result. Many didn’t think leave could win but they did. The turnout was high and people felt engaged and energised by the experience of participating in democracy. I write as a reluctant remainder. Of course if then the vote isn’t carried out though it will cause ill feeling and resentment and lead to a crisis in democracy. Huge amounts of people will feel they haven’t been listened to or took notice of and it would create big problems in our future democracy.

Democracy needs to be the lifeblood running through all parts of society. That way people can be held accountable and it’s also a fairer way to do things. Another way to do that would be to have democracy in the workplace. When I say this I don’t just mean electing your Union rep although that is good of course. No I mean ordinary workers actually being involved in the boardroom being elected helping to run and help decide the future direction of who they work for. Sound radical? Well yes but it’s not a new idea it’s been around a long long time. And there’s a reason it hasn’t happened because there is huge resistance to it from companies. Most people who work in a sizable workplace have had at times a questionnaire come round asking for suggestions etc. We all know as well that very often they end up in the bin. Now in principle it’s a good idea but there’s a very good reason they end up in the bin. It’s because employees tend to think it’s just a paper excise and they won’t be listened to anyway. And they are probably right. But if workers got proper representatives to help with the running of their companies that would help in the not only democratising the workplace but it would help improve the mood, confidence and increase the sense of ownership. A happier workforce is a more productive workforce but Capitalist bosses fear losing any sort of control.

Something else I wanted to talk about was Social Media. This is at times a double edged sword and it can be used as something negative. But what I want to do is talk about is the positive force it can be and how it can help us organise and get the truth out to the public. The good news is lots of people now get the news from Twitter, Facebook etc and there are lots of alternative news outlets such as Evolve Politics, Novara Media and the Skwawkbox for example. This considerably weakened the power and influence of the right wing press. So Social Media can be a fantastic tool to find things and help to organise as well. 20 years ago this wasn’t available. So the Revolution of change can actually start online. In fact it already has in many ways. The Corbyn surge both to become leader (both times) and Labour’s unexpectedly ( to the establishment Political pundits and old guard) better result in last year’s General Election was helped massively online. The same happened with the Bernie Sanders campaign in the USA and elsewhere I’m sure. We now have at our fingertips the tools to help us meet like minded people, to set up online groups and forums and talk to each other like we could only dream about in the past. This really is something to celebrate but more than that it’s an opportunity we mustn’t squander.

Well you’re probably wondering where am I going with this. Like I just said the Revolution has already started what we have to do is start linking the dots. There are many things we have to do but the bad news is we are running out of time. I say that because it’s become increasingly clear that Climate Change is real and it’s getting worse . This is something that has been Public knowledge since the mid 1980’s but it’s been known about by big oil and science circles for at least 20 years earlier. So let that sink in. Yes it’s been known about for over 50 years and in that time nowhere near enough has been done to try and slow it down. Why? It’s a obvious question and it’s what makes me and many others very angry.

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Basically it’s because big oil ( the massive oil companies) have a conflict of interest with the rest of us. They are more interested in carrying on making their big fat profits than the future of the planet. Now you’re probably thinking that doesn’t make sense and you would be right it doesn’t. You would think early on these companies would have started to look at alternatives ways to fuel things. And they did, for a while. But what they also did was employ scientists of their own to put out their own work saying there was no such thing as Climate Change, that other scientists were wrong. This has been going on for years and still is today. They have been spreading lies and half truths all this time. Of course this has had a effect. For a long time big business would rather listen to Big Oil telling them that Climate Change was fake or greatly exaggerated than face up to the truth. And now we have a Climate denier as President of the USA. Dangerously for the rest of us he just doesn’t get it at all. He’s burying his head in the sand while the rest of us are burning.
Something I’ve made saying for a long time and others as well is even if there was a doubt about parts of the Science in how Climate Change was going to effect us it would still be the prudent thing to start trying to cut emissions anyway. We all know it effects air quality anyway so there’s very good reason to. But the sad fact is nowhere near enough has been done in the last 30 years. In the late 80s there was another big environmental problem looming the hole in the Ozone layer which had been caused by something called CFC’s in aerosols. That problem was relatively easy to solve just by using a different chemicals. Unfortunately Climate Change is bit different because it’s extremely difficult to use less oil and petrol in a modern society.
What is the matter with us? Do we want to destroy ourselves? Are the big companies making massive profits more important than the future of the planet? There’s something else to consider as the climate gets worse in the future the super rich will be able to protect themselves a whole lot more than the rest of us. Make no mistake it’s the poorest that as usual are going to be hit the hardest. Something’s very wrong with Society.

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Now I’m no genius but I know what’s wrong with it. It’s our economic system that is the problem. Capitalism. It undoubtedly was a massive advance on what had gone on before. But it’s time is coming to an end. It is failing and in crisis and it is incapable of getting us out the mess it has helped create with Climate Change. The world’s financial system puts money first above everything else. Profit rules. Now I’ve heard it said many times that Capitalism is innovative and it has been at times in the past. But if it was now surely it would have come up with solutions to the problems we face?

The truth is no matter what brilliant ideas there are out there Capitalism’s number 1 drive is too increase profits and expand markets. The Capitalists also say we are free but that only goes so far for ordinary people like us. But the more money, power and influence you have the more freedom you have because massive Corporations can do pretty much what they want and so can the richest individuals. People realise this and it’s another deficit in our democracy and cause of bad feeling. So in my view Capitalism is heading us into disaster because it can’t change. If it had changed the big oil companies would have done more than just lip service to green issues. But they can’t change because they know the biggest profits lie in oil. And therein lies all our problems.

This is why it’s time to link all the dots together because like I’ve said times running out. All the social movements have got to link together. All the different groups need closer ties than ever before. Because it’s not just Climate Change that Capitalism can’t solve there’s many other problems it’s can’t solve like Economic inequality as well. It feeds on it. Capitalists exploits poor countries and they exploit poor people. So while we supposed to be an advanced and advancing world the reality is we are going backwards and it’s only the super rich that have advanced. So while the super rich have never had it so good things have gotten worse for the rest of us. That’s Capitalism at work in particular it’s worst variety Neo Liberalism.

To briefly explain Neo Liberalism is what we have had to endure for nearly 40 years now in the UK and most of the rest of the world as well. It is a particularly callous form of Capitalism that encourages greed and selfishness and believes the free market can do no wrong. Neoliberals believe in a shrunken state meaning that the state should be involved in as little as possible. According to them the great wealth that is made will trickle down to benefit not just the rich but everyone in society. It is plainly obvious to more and more that this hasn’t happened. If it was working after nearly 40 years I think the evidence would be there. It’s not. We are now told there’s no money. That Communities have to suffer cutback after cutback because we can’t afford anything anymore.

The truth is there is shed loads of money out there. The world is awash with it. But it’s not in ordinary people’s hands and our share of the cake has progressively been getting smaller. This is another of our Democratic deficits because people have been feeling powerless.
So back to what can we do? I’ve always been optimistic that us the human race isn’t so stupid that we would destroy ourselves. That we aren’t that dumb. The trouble is it appears some of us are and we cannot carry on for the next 30-40 years like we have the last. We face the greatest challenges mankind has ever faced. Burying our heads in the sand isn’t an option anymore.

What we need is a fundamental rethink of how we organise society, not only in the UK but globally. And we cannot tackle Climate Change, Economic Inequality, the Democratic Deficit and all the other problems we have effectively through Capitalism. But another world is not only possible but essential. And let’s not kid ourselves it will be easy because it will be anything but. It’s going to be a huge massive gigantic struggle. But like I said earlier change always is.

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We can’t turn the clock back either we have to face the problems of the 21st century. After Climate Change another gigantic problem we have is the size and massive power of Transnational Corporations. These companies have immense power and now make up their own rules and have little need to listen to National Parliaments. In fact the only organisations that these Corporations MAY listen to are for example the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and maybe the European Union. All of these organisations are undemocratic too (although the EU does at least pretend to have some essence of democracy with the European Parliament.) This is another reason for our democratic deficit and we have been cheerleaders for these Corporations and Organisations for far too long. These Corporate elite now effectivity rule the world not the United Nations or individual governments. Power has been transferred from the public and the state to private unaccountable and massive Corporations.

We seem to be walking straight into a dystopian future from a Sci-Fi film. Carrying on like this eventually there will one Transnational Corporation that rules us all. We are some way away from that but you can see it’s a possible outcome in the future. All these things I’ve spoken about are the reality of life in the 21st Century. Generations after the Second World War were promised that things would get better for everybody and they did but somewhere in the last 30-40 years with the rise of NeoLiberalism (that word again) we have gone into reverse. We have become more and more undemocratic business interests are deemed more important than anything else.

Society has to move to the next level to not only advance as humans but indeed survive. Perhaps that is the final spark, the jolt we need. Because we have to Stand up and be counted for our children and our children’s children. We have to dare and grab this opportunity. I believe that next level is Socialism a new way of organising our Society in a fairer way. You may say that’s old hat, that it doesn’t work. Yes it’s an old idea but it’s never been properly tried. There are and has been at times glimpses of it around the world. One of the best examples is our NHS. Put simply it’s a Healthcare Service that’s free at the point of use for everyone where people and their health are put before making a profit. Now the Tories are privatising at via the back door and the giant healthcare companies are circling around it like vultures. But I digress.

We have to work towards a new Socialism for the 21st Century and indeed the most important element of that is increasing Democracy at every level in Society. Democratic Socialism believes in people having more say that’s what it’s about giving more power to everyone. Then we can start to move towards a society that is based on sustainability that addresses real social needs rather than just the maximisation of profit. You don’t have to be an expert on Political theory or Economics to know something’s wrong with Society. By the same yardstick anyone can get get involved to change things. Life is a learning curve. The change has to come via social movements as well in conjunction with the Labour Party in the UK and left political parties in other countries to put the leverage and pressure on the Political establishment. Our vision has to be wide sweeping. Importantly we don’t have to agree about every little detail because getting the majority of the things that need to be done done is far better than falling out getting nowhere.

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The revolution has started in many ways but there is still so much to do. We need a wide united coalition of Social movements for change. It’s potential is vast and unlimiting. Community organisations, environmental and climate change activists, trade unions, human rights campaigners, students and the young, disabled campaigners, the pensioner’s movement, peace and arms trade campaigners and all the movements against global poverty and Third World debt. We are all linked by the inequality, injustice and greed of Neoliberal Capitalism. These alliances have to be built the dots that have to be joined.

The challenges that we face as a Global community cannot be solved easily. But we can all start building the movements in our own countries and with today’s technology link together like never before. And we can all start locally and nationally to fight for the Socialist solutions we desperately need more than ever. So that the will of the people is listened to above the endless search for ever bigger profits. I said at the beginning we could change things and I truly believe people power is unstoppable once we hit a tipping point. People power has and can change things. It’s a uncomfortable truth to the ones at the top.

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I’m going to finish with a quote from a hymn that one of my favourite politicians Tony Benn use to often say. When he was growing up his Dad use to say this to him

“Dare to be a Daniel!
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known!”

Those few lines say so much. What the world needs now is hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions and yes billions of us to stand as Daniel’s. When we do that we cannot fail.