John McDonnell returns to where he was born and grew up in Liverpool – some of the “worst slum conditions in the country… but we just called it home”, he says. He talks about what it was like, moving into their first council house, free education and why a Labour government can give hope to people again:
The Importance of arguing honestly
Nov 4th, 2016by Phil Burton-Cartledge
There’s an interesting article in the latest edition of Progress Magazine. Crowded Ground by Robert Philpot takes a brief survey of the political scene before identifying emerging territory vacated, he claims, by ourselves and our Conservative opponents.
He makes some interesting points about May’s flirtation with populism, another thing she borrowed from Ed Miliband. Yes, who knew? But it is an argument with some legs. As Ed was positioning Labour to mount his crusade against the predators of 21st century capitalism, it meant setting up a rhetorical structure in which the rip off merchants and spivs were opposed to the pure, unsullied, and virtuous electorate. Continue reading →
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Francisco Dominguez explains why this year’s Latin America Conference is more important than ever
Nov 4th, 2016by Patrick Foley
Francisco Dominguez, Middlesex University
The 2008 world economic crisis has thrown the whole world into turmoil, especially commodities-exporting economies such as those in Latin America. The crisis has in many cases led to dramatic falls in revenues thus exerting huge fiscal pressures to maintain the recent years of progressive social programmes.
The region’s conservative elites and their chief external supporter, the United States, have been quick to exacerbate many Latin American nations’ current economic difficulties. They have unleashed destabilisation plans capitalising on popular discontent against progressive governments to create the conditions for conservative restoration. Continue reading →
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What kind of Momentum conference?
Nov 1st, 2016by Mike Phipps
Momentum, the organisation created to advance Corbynista ideas within the labour movement and beyond, presents a tremendous opportunity. With 20,000 members, it provides a framework for organising discussions and activity that can take socialist ideas to a far wider audience than has been possible for generations.
Yet, reading the left media, a huge amount of energy appears to be focused less on turning outward to engage this audience than on turning inward to debate internal structures. Obviously, internal democracy is important and there have been serious concerns raised, that should not be underplayed, about controversial decisions taken by the organisation’s Steering Committee, at meetings convened at very short notice. Continue reading →
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No pointers to a successful Brexit
Nov 1st, 2016by Tom O LearyBrexiteers’ crowing over the latest GDP data and the decision by Nissan to invest further in its Sunderland plant is utterly foolish. The negative impact of the vote will take place primarily over the long run, will be felt in terms of trade and above all in investment, and will accelerate after Article 50 is invoked and most especially if Britain actually leaves the EU and the Single Market, scheduled now for some time in 2019.
Yet even in the latest events there are clear signs of the problems that will mount. As a series of company announcements have already shown, the first is that prices will rise. By how much is not solely due to the 17% devaluation of the pound but will also be determined by the trend in global commodities’ prices. The certainty is that prices will be much higher than they otherwise would have been, lowering living standards and real incomes. Continue reading →
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Members can vote for what ever kind of Momentum they want
Oct 31st, 2016by Christine Shawcroft
The “Corbyn surge” which first began in summer 2015 was made up of people, inside the Labour Party and outside it, who wanted a new kind of politics and recognised that Jeremy embodied it. Most of them were happy to join, or rejoin the Party, but they also wanted more – a social movement which would connect people up with each other and organise a variety of ways to get involved politically and campaign. This desire to do things a bit differently – and have fun doing it! – was the motivating force behind the immensely successful ‘The World Transformed’ activities run in parallel with this year’s Labour Party Annual Conference in Liverpool. Continue reading →
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The left must encourage people into unions – not work against their leaderships
Oct 31st, 2016by Andy Newman
There is an unfortunate tendency for articles nowadays to have sensationalist “click-bait” headlines, but by any standards the aggressive spin put on Michael Chessum’s latest piece in the New Statesman is highly unfortunate.
The headline screams “It’s time for Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters to take on the trade union leadership”. Nothing could be more counterproductive than seeking to mobilize supporters of Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Party to intervene in internal union politics. Continue reading →
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Should Labour stand against Zac Goldsmith?
Oct 28th, 2016by Phil Burton-Cartledge
Labour is standing in the Richmond Park by-election. But should it? At the 2015 general election, Zac Goldsmith romped home with 58% of the vote. The Liberal Democrat runner up mustered 19% while Labour languished on 12%. The highest proportion we ever managed was at the 1997 high watermark, and then it was a measly twelve-and-a-half per cent. This is a seat in which Labour is doomed to be sidelined as the Tories and LibDems fight it out. Small wonder that with anti-Goldsmith considerations in mind, Clive Lewis, Lisa Nandy, and Jonathan Reynolds have come out and said we should duck the fight and give the LibDems a clear run. Continue reading →
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Theresa May and Thatcherism
Oct 27th, 2016by Phil Burton-Cartledge
There is a touch of confusion about Theresa May’s political posturing. The apparent lurch ‘to the left’ signified by her abandonment of Osbornomics (and, of course, Osborne himself) for soft Keynesianism sits uneasily with a commitment to hard Brexit. The homage paid to official anti-racism is at odds with her immigrant bashing. And her fabled competence, her ‘no Flash, just Gordon’ schtick looks ridiculous when she puts off key decisions, slaps down cabinet divisions, and every time one recalls the three fools she’s placed in charge of Brexit. Is May riddled with contradictions? Yes, but the answer doesn’t lie in character flaws. One has to look to the nature of her political project, the class relationships underpinning it, and the economic and political crisis engulfing British capital and the British state. Continue reading →
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A left approach to Brexit
Oct 26th, 2016by Peter Rowlands
Paul Mason and Chuka Umunna would normally be expected to come up with radically different proposals with regard to Labour’s policies, yet they are putting forward more or less the same solutions to the most pressing problem underlying Brexit, that of Free Movement of Labour (FML), Mason in an article in the New Statesman, Umunna in a speech to a conference on ‘Progressive Capitalism’.
Essentially they are both concerned that the UK remains with access to the single market, and have both indicated that a position which regulates labour movement to some degree might be negotiable and therefore consistent with and acceptable to the Brexit vote. Leanne Wood, the Plaid Cymru leader, has indicated that a Norway type EEA position might fulfil the same objective. Continue reading →
