Bob Piper has been a Labour Councillor for the Abbey
Ward in Sandwell, West Midlands, for nine years. He is a lifelong supporter of Aston Villa Football Club and a follower of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
The views expressed here are mine in a personal capacity, not those of the Labour Party, Sandwell MBC, Aston Villa or Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Get it! Mine... just mine!
The long slow march of building the socialist alternative on your own » Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Alan Thomas, over at Liberal Conspiracy, has had a blinding flash of illumination. He has discovered that Labour is not a force for revolution, that trade union Leaders do deals with the Party hierarchy, and even more startling, that London is not crammed full of left-wing voters.
Alan leaves it near to the end of his piece before telling us that he is not actually a Party member. And then we get this delicious piece of advice on What is to be Done?
There is, it seems to me, no alternative to the slow and patient work of building a working class political movement outside of the Labour Party. Such a stance may even entail endorsing a vote for certain Labour candidates at times, or candidates from other parties such as the Socialist Party or the Greens.
Well, thanks for that, then, Alan. I think I'll call it a day. I'll nip in to the Council House tomorrow and tell the Chief Executive I'm resigning my seat and I think we should hand it over to the Conservative who came second in my election. He was opposed to all of the extra expenditure on Health and Education, he wants to send immigrants and asylum seekers back to from where they came, he doesn't believe in social housing, or safety nets for the poorest in our communities. He thinks the minimum wage, employment rights for workers, four weeks paid holiday, health and safety regulations and increased parental rights are nothing more than burdens on business.
Oh, and he supported the war in Iraq and Afghanistan for good measure.
And then, from tomorrow, comrades, I'll start.... the slow and patient work of building a working class political movement outside of the Labour Party.
No, Sunny, I don't think it is. The reality is there is link between the trade unions (the only working class mass organisation) and the Party means that building an alternative is nigh on impossible. The only possibility in my opinion would be if there was a major rift between the unions and the Party which led to the unions either forming, or giving their support, to an alternative Party.
Slowly building an alternative is a convenient way of saying 'doing precious little'. I don't believe the Labour Party will deliver socialism and I never have. But it is the party of the trade union movement... if they go, I go too, but whilst they stay... so do I.
The reality is there is link between the trade unions (the only working class mass organisation) and the Party means that building an alternative is nigh on impossible
I agree, which may partly be the problem surely?
But it is the party of the trade union movement... if they go, I go too, but whilst they stay... so do I.
I think we have to be more nuanced than this. The question is - how do we push and support more progressive and leftist people within the Labour party (I don't want it to deliver socialism) can be supported and pushed... while anyone who is reactionary and right-wing, be rejected. That's the question isn't it? When our Chancellor backs away from taxing non-doms, how do we register that betrayal in a meaningful way that makes them re-think?
Right now, the party can't even get around to putting together a solid opposition to 42 days!
Its not about abandoning the Labour party... necessarily. But about supporting more left-wing candidates across the board, in my view.
May 5, 2008 10:26 AM | permalink
Bob, don't listen to him, listen to me instead with solid and sound advice:
STOKE CITY 23- aston villa 1 (own goal)
you know it makes sense.
thanks in anticipation for the six points.
Gary