| It’s not just capitalism we oppose – we are also
opposed to the factional ‘party pride’ that divides the left and the workerism
that corrodes and constrains the anti-capitalism.
In less than a
year, the two thousand comrades of the Scottish Socialist Party have won four per cent of
the vote. More importantly than winning an MSP, they have also won a stake for
anti-sectarian socialism. The SSP has been built by people who wilfully aim to broaden the
boundaries of the organised far left and to extend the appeal of the SSP still further. In
England and Wales, success in building up a new party will similarly rely on the widest
possible base of support.
The space for an
alternative is certainly there. Consider the rise of Green Party support across Britain.
It’s a good thing. We think they will continue to rise for some time. Unlike their
sister parties sitting in the war cabinets in France and Germany, Green party politics in
Britain has a real radical and anti-militarist minority.
In a way, that
reflects the way the support of the Green party rests in the middle class and the
declassed layers of society. However, separated from the solid social base of the working
class, it will be harder for Greens to gain mass support and ensure their leaders move to
the left, rather than to the right. But as part of a green and red party, Green party
activists will be more able to build a movement to capitalise on the gains of the past,
including the successes of the movement against GMOs. It could also draw in people from
other movements, such as Reclaim the Streets.
And what appeal
such a party could have to Black and Asian people! How can Labour expect the Black and
Asian community to vote for it, even as Labour’s Asylum laws legitimise the far
right. In the European elections, the BNP won over 100,000 votes, partly thanks to the way
that Labour puts forward asylum seekers as a threat to be fought.
It’s time
for change. It’s also a time for action – and a bit of risk taking. Comrades
around the AWL, Socialist Outlook and Labour Left Briefing still have their
Labour Party cards and we are sure they do some good work in the Labour party. However
people needs to lend their weight to help start the break with Labour. Even a long journey
has to start with modest steps, like the electoral campaigns of Ian Page and Jill
Mountford against Labour in Lewisham. However, it’s not enough for the Trotskyists
and entrists to leap out. By themselves, the Trotskyist movement could produce a fuck-up
every bit as bad as the SLP. Serious trade union and Labour activists won’t junk
their party cards just to hit their heads up against sect politics. So a movement for a
new party needs some reasonable women and men – you know what we mean – to avoid
false starts. Good people on the Labour left need to stop weight and starts lending their
weight to making sure the movement for a new party does not go down dead ends. MPs,
Tribune editors, Briefing sellers, and Green party people: bring your address books with
you.
We need a real
left that is based on action and which builds up a stronger active solidarity – not
just in the campaigns that the far left initiates and animates, but also in giving space
for campaigns that are involving thousands of people finding a way to fight capitalism.
From stopping the City to keeping the allotment, the left has to find a way to make
solidarity with progressive struggles quite different from the bread and butter of far
left life and – when resources don’t allow active solidarity – not carping
the errors and experiments of others. Building a new party should not mainly be about
electioneering. It needs to be able serving the interests of the people by building up
anti-capitalist solidarity and helping it to find a political voice. It’s underway.
In Coventry, Doncaster, South East London and elsewhere, we socialists are winning votes
and council seats.
Don’t get us
wrong. It’s not a quick or easy thing to go. It’s a slow and uneven process but
one where sudden changes have to be responded to promptly – and we need your help to
get it right.
In London, a
united left and green challenge against Labour’s mayoral candidate would be
fantastic. The key campaigning issues are an excellent way for the left to learn from, and
win some trust from, Black and community organisations.
The relaunch of the network of
Socialist Alliances in London, on August 1 1999, may be pivotal in London. The
three-seasons dash from now to the May 2000 mayoral elections will be more effective if
the conference helps build up an intervention with credible candidates and a real base in
the places where we campaign. |
Building
a new party of the left
From stopping the City to keeping the
allotment, the left has to find a way to make solidarity with progressive struggles quite
different from the bread and butter of far left life and – when resources don’t
allow active solidarity – not carping the errors and experiments of others.
|
