Reasons to be within

 

 

In the UK, it is widely held that the most obvious route to socialism is via a Labour Party victory at a General Election. This assumption rests on a couple of claims which are, at best, debatable. First, it is held that Labour is, was or could be a socialist party. Second, it is held that socialists within Labour can win power within the party. Third, it is held that only the Labour Party can bring about the socialist transformation of the UK. Fourth, this rests on a belief that it is possible to use the electoral system, perhaps with some modification, to bring about fundamental change which would, in effect, be revolutionary.

These beliefs have been responsible for generations of socialists devoting their time to the Labour Party in the, in my opinion, forlorn hope that one day that party would transform society. I do not doubt the sincerity of those who hold these beliefs, but I would argue that every one of those beliefs can be challenged. Indeed, over the past few weeks in this blog I have done precisely that. Last week I tweeted my frustration at the direction being taken by the current Labour leader and asked why I would want to campaign for a party that no longer appeared to want me as a member.

The majority of replies, as I would expect from people who follow me, were supportive. A fairly typical reply was from @SamBell43371625 whose membership trajectory is, I suspect, very typical. “I left the Party over the Iraq war, joined again when Jeremy Corbyn became leader,” they wrote “My membership lapsed in March but I decided not to rejoin, however, I expect I'll always vote Labour. Maybe!” Whilst @JudithRKramer wrote: “I am so conflicted about staying in the party at the moment. The ridiculous stance on the bill has left me incandescent with rage. The Tories still accused Labour of being anti military even though maj abstained.” 

Self-indulgent navel gazing

Those struggling to maintain their commitment to Labour were certainly in a majority of the 177 replies I received, but as the tweet got shared the tone of the debate coarsened as evidenced by this response:

“All this self indulgent naval (sic.) gazing is futile. It’s the nation you have to win over. They have turned their back on the last offer and only by engaging with them will there be a Labour Government. Please don’t make Labour unelectable again🙏” 

This tweet, whilst of no particular consequence in and of itself points to a problem that those of us on the left of the labour movement continually encounter. When, as when Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the party or Arthur Scargill was leading the historic and heroic miners strike, we are in the ascendancy, the right wing do everything in their power to ensure that we cannot win. We now know that there was what can only be described as a ‘conspiracy’ against Jeremy Corbyn at the very top of the Labour Party. 

We know, as a matter of documented fact, that Labour’s right-wing and establishment were more comfortable delivering what must surely rate as the most incompetent government the UK has ever seen for fear of the alternative. That alternative was not the socialist republic of Great Britain, as the Mail might have us believe, but a government so far to the left of anything we have seen in the UK in living memory that it was as if the ghosts of Lenin, Marx and Trotsky were being offered the keys to Whitehall. 

Many of those now demanding that left-wingers knuckle down and get their man elected were organised around the ‘People’s Vote’ campaign and on Twitter coalesced around the FBPE hashtag. One such user, Susan Bagheri, responded to my tweet:

“Keep with the infighting and make sure Labour are never elected to government again. Just what this extreme Tory government wants so they can continue fleecing the poor and the country.” Another gave the following advice: “And there we go. When you get fed up with tory governments, kicking off non stop because you can't have everything your own way gets you nowhere.” As a Twitter user calling themselves ‘Middle of the Road’ said “Why would you even think something like that, let alone say it out loud? Are you trying to help the Tories? Are you aware that Labour has only EVER won elections when led by Centrists like Starmer? Or does winning elections and getting rid of the Tories not matter to you?”

These responses are variations on the “navel gazing” theme. That arguing that we do not want to spend hours trudging the streets for a party we no longer believe in is wanting to have ‘our own way’. The suggestion is that those on the left now leaving Labour are simply petulant children. If this were true you would think that the ‘grown ups’ would be glad to see the back of us. The truth is that this is a calculated insult by those who literally used every trick in the book (and a few they wrote themselves) to ‘get their own way’. 

Reasons to remain

There are reasons to remain in the Labour Party as @RobDug wrote: “The best reason to stay is understanding how Labour works. The leader doesn’t control the party, the NEC does and socialists in the party are vital to vote. Corbyn was frustrated by Blairites in the party, we can do the same..” He was not alone in suggesting that the NEC has an incredible amount of power within the party. Other variations on this theme included the advice that the leader does not make policy but rather that the party conference does. The more socialists there are in the party the better placed we are to influence these policy making forums.

There are 40 people on the NEC of which only 9 are elected from the constituencies. The NEC has a built-in right-wing majority. The right lost control of the party for 5 years, it is inconceivable that they will not change the rules to ensure that the NEC remains permanently on-board with their agenda in future. For all their talk of ‘unity’ and ‘working together’ the right of the party are still smarting from the Corbyn years and it would be a major shock if the power of the members was not systematically diminished in the coming years, and certainly way ahead of any election.

But, if you stay, will come back the refrain, you can fight to prevent this. All that is needed is for enough of us to be in the party and we can prevent the right from taking control. @gawdyhall put this in positive terms: “Just think how satisfying it is to re pay the compliment of the far right blairites!” Whilst @jeremyfwilcox1 seemed to think all that was necessary was to find the right insult and I would see the error of my ways. “By leaving you are only demonstrating that you do not understand the importance of solidarity.” 

I can see the appeal of taking it to the right and giving them the metaphorical ‘bloody nose’ they have just presented to us. However, these appeals are based on emotion not analysis. The fact is that the right have always been more devious than the left. They have used, and often abused, the rule book to force through what they want. The left are very often on the backfoot in these manoeuvres. Even at the height of ‘Corbynism’ the right of the party were confident enough to not only set up a shadow organisation based in the party’s HQ but also to brief the press continually to undermine the leader. 

It is my honest opinion that there is no way back for the left. I understand that Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and younger left wingers such as Richard Burgon and Zarah Sultana are still in the party. It is yet to be seen whether the right use the EHRC investigation to launch an attack on left-wing MPs, but it is no secret that the Zionist lobby within the party (and without) have a hit list of left-wing MPs they want expelled from the party. I certainly don’t think it is realistic to think of mounting a left-wing challenge to the leadership at present. So, the advice from @sontwit “A bigger Labour Party can change the leadership when we’re in power. Just like the Tories did last time,” seems highly optimistic.

The appeal of staying in the party may not just be political of course. I understand and appreciate that many people have long-standing friendships within the party and leaving would be to walk out on those relationships.  There is a compelling reason to stay with Labour and I have mentioned it previously, though nobody suggested it on Twitter. At the last General Election Labour received over 10 million votes. Many of those were from ordinary working class people who maintain their belief in Labour to deliver reforms which would make their lives better. If Labour had not constructed a false narrative of the working class deserting to the Conservatives, this could be cited as evidence that socialists should go where the working class go. But I have reached the conclusion that far from following the working class, socialists should be leading them and that means being truthful about the Labour Party.

This raises the issue of quite what I, and I assume others, want their socialist activity to amount to. People tell me that as a left-winger in Labour I should organise with other left-wingers so that we can pass left-wing motions, get delegates to conference, control CLP’s, get members elected to the NEC (Labour’s ruling body), elect left-wing councillors,  perhaps get a parliamentary candidate and generally keep the flame of socialism burning within the party. It’s a lot of activity, but having taken part in all those things over the years I have to ask how many of them are genuinely concerned with socialism?

Is this really what I want?

I will concede that even a reformist social democratic party might appear to be an improvement on the Tories, but if the goal is to be better than the Tories I wonder why Labour’s right are so intent on emulating them. It should be becoming obvious to anybody capable of rational thought that our political and economic system are in mortal peril.  The pandemic has simply exacerbated the downturn which was coming anyway. Labour no more has an answer to a capitalist slump than any other neo-liberal party. So when @DavidAScruff asks:  “when it comes to putting an X on a ballot paper,  where are you going to put it?  Anywhere other than next to a Labour candidate will keep Tories in power.  Is this REALLY what you want?” it is the wrong question. 

The issue is that when the next election comes round am I prepared to knock on doors and try to convince people that Labour will deliver policies that will fundamentally change their lives? There are people who believe that SirKeir might evolve. One Twitter user, @Newtons_Laws, says: “I’m confident policies will evolve in a socially responsible way. I see the man himself as just as honourable as his predecessor. The message must be saleable to most people, though, otherwise it leads to nothing.” 

There is a problem with this view and that is not how Starmer or his front bench (which is, incidentally, most of the parliamentary party) are framing debates. In last week’s blog I spent some time looking at the direction of the party and the phrase SirKeir used most in his speech to conference was “under new leadership”. I could be wrong but my guess is that very little of the 2019 Manifesto will survive to 2024.

Labour is now an obstacle

To sum up I am convinced that Labour far from being a vehicle for socialism is now, as it has always been, an obstacle in its path. Ultimately, the Labour Party will prove to be irrelevant to the transformation of society. The real danger is that we enter a period of revolutionary change and ordinary people rather than believing in themselves will continue to look to the Labour Party for leadership. That may seem a far fetched danger to people committed to getting a Labour Government, but that stems from what is a very pessimistic disposition shared by many socialists. Socialism is very often viewed as a desirable, but unobtainable, chimera. The best we can hope for is a mildly progressive political party bringing in a few reforms whilst attempting to manage capitalism more efficiently than the Conservatives. How often has SirKeir pushed the mantra of competence with the clear message that he can be trusted (another favourite word) to competently manage a system that is, at its heart, chaotic?

Of course I fully expect people to push the line that I am being both defeatist and engaging in a fantasy. I have argued to stay in the Labour Party up to now not because I believe the left will somehow take control. Even before the December defeat I had suggested that anything but a victory would be catastrophic for the left:

“A General Election, particularly one in which we lose, is going to leave many activists burned out and disillusioned. Moreover, we will be subjected to a gloating Labour right, supported by the massed ranks of the media, telling us that Labour lost a ‘winnable’ Election because it was too left-wing. Some MP’s we currently consider to be on our side will join in with the demand that we must pursue “sensible” policies for there is no point in having great policies if you cannot implement them.”

Those who in responding to my tweet by reminding me that the goal was to stop the Tories are right. The whole focus of the party is to be in government. Very little else matters. But, managing capitalism is not the same as fighting for socialism. Julia Larden, who seems to be on a one-woman mission to keep Labour left was all over the debate prompted by my tweet and said in one exchange: “However, the LP needs its left-wingers, inside the party,  working to keep it left after recent setbacks,  or we could be out of power for ten years or more.  If you have no time for anything else internal votes still important.” 

But, I am far from convinced that the party can be turned to the left again. Certainly not in the short term. The more likely scenario is that the right will tighten their grip, and the left will spend all their time working for small symbolic victories and then go out and campaign for a predominantly right-wing party with a right-wing (or what they will call moderate and/or sensible) manifesto come the next election. I respect those that want to do that, but I have poured enough energy into futile causes over the years to decide that this is one I’d prefer to sit out.