Hints given on shape of "son of No2EU"

Submitted by AWL on 9 July, 2009 - 11:17 Author: Martin Thomas
No2EU

The groups involved in the "No2EU" coalition for the Euro-elections are known to be discussing a "son of No2EU" venture for the coming general election. The shape of it remains unclear. Two recent documents give hints.

The first is an email sent round by Dave Nellist, a leading member of the Socialist Party, to convene a local meeting of people who had been active in No2EU.


"Many of those who supported the working class electoral coalition, 'NO2EU - Yes to Democracy', want to see a wider coalition assembled, with more time for preparation than we had in the Euro elections. And NO2EU's work itself is not yet finished, as we need to discuss practical steps to assist the "No" vote in the forthcoming referendum in Ireland on the Lisbon Treaty.

"The RMT annual conference met last week and supported a Council of Executives' statement calling for a convention (probably in September) to
discuss "the critical crisis in working class representation" and "with like-minded socialists/trade unionists how best we can defend and promote working class interests".

"The Socialist Party national committee met two weeks ago and enthusiastically supported a call for talks to continue between the main NO2EU coalition partners, with a view to building a wider and deeper electoral challenge for the general election, which at most is 11
months away.

"And the executive committee of the Communist Party of Britain will meet this weekend (July 11th/12th) to review its involvement in NO2EU and decide its future plans. All three main components, plus hopefully other significant supporters, will meet then in London on the afternoon of Monday, July 20th to decide the shape of the work over the next couple of months..."


The second is an article in the Morning Star of 8 June by Rob Griffiths, general secretary of the Communist Party of Britain, which was the main mover in No2EU.

What appears to be the business part of this article reads as follows:


"Trying to prevent [a] Tory victory will require a vote for hundreds of Labour candidates.

"Campaigning for those who are socialist and social-democratic, and who opposed new Labour's imperialist wars and backed the Trade Union Freedom Bill, should meet with wide-scale agreement on the left.

"In other seats, the Labour candidate may be best placed to keep out the Tories and - except for the worst of new Labour's privatising war criminals - (s)he could be supported.

"But that still leaves many constituencies where a Labour vote will not prevent a Tory victory.

"The question, then, is whether sections of the left and the labour movement can unite around candidates who will put the case for public ownership, economic planning, progressive taxation, investment in manufacturing and public services, defence of democratic rights and opposition to racism, the fascists, EU neoliberalism, militarism and imperialist war.

"The levels of such unity can progress from bilateral and multilateral "non-competition" pacts through mutual support agreements to joint candidates as part of a coalition..."


Griffiths' full article reads as follows:

We are in the midst of what will be the deepest and longest capitalist crisis since the early 1930s.

Yet the economic meltdown has produced no political alternative to capitalist rule.

We have the most reactionary, anti-working class Labour government ever, which is about to throw away the biggest parliamentary majority in history.

Yet the social-democratic left inside the Labour Party is weaker than at any time in the past, while the socialist left inside and outside the Labour Party is weaker than at any time since the early 1930s.

We have fascists with one million votes sitting on local councils and in the European Parliament.

Yet the anti-racist and anti-fascist movement is divided.

In these conditions, formulations and slogans from the past do not necessarily provide a reliable guide to action.

The test of communists and others who claim the mantle of Marx is whether they can make a concrete analysis of a concrete situation - and then propose a line of march for the working-class movement as a whole.

What should be the immediate objectives of the labour movement and the left?

First, workers and their families have to be defended against the worst impact of the economic and financial crisis, transferring as much of the burden as possible onto those primarily responsible for it - the capitalist monopolies, the City of London, big monopoly shareholders and the politicians who represent their interests.

This means fighting defensive battles to resist redundancies and maintain public services and pension rights, using every useful tactic and seeking the maximum solidarity.

We need to support unions and their leaders who are willing to fight.

But we should also recognise that total victory may not always be winnable, that most union members do not want their organisation exposed to bankruptcy and that many trade union officials will respond positively to the unity and determination of their members.

Resistance is made more effective when alternative policies to those of big business or central and local government can be put forward.

For example, where corporate capitalists are unable or unwilling to sustain a potentially viable enterprise, it should be taken into social ownership. Mass redundancies in viable enterprises should be outlawed.

There is no need to accept the New Labour/Tory/Lib Dem/mass media consensus that public services must be cut or public-sector wages frozen in order to tackle the growing budget deficit.

Britain is still the fifth wealthiest country in the world. The British capitalist class owns more economic assets outside its own territory than any other capitalist class except that of the US.

Yet this wealth is distributed so that the richest tenth of the people of Britain own 71 per cent of it, while the poorer half of the population own just 1 per cent.

Progressive taxation of the super-rich and of monopoly profits in the oil, gas, electricity, supermarket, pharmaceutical and private banking industries is the alternative to public spending cuts.

The case for these alternatives needs to be developed and projected on a mass scale to convince millions of people that the capitalist crisis can be challenged with policies which reflect their own interests.

Yet we have failed to coalesce around an agreed, coherent left-wing programme - the People's Charter is the nearest we have to such a position.

This makes the failure of some sections of the trade union movement to give their whole hearted backing to it - despite the charter broadly reflecting their own union policies - all the more regrettable.

The real reason appears to be an unwillingness to embarrass the new Labour government in the run-up to a general election.

This is a classic case of opportunism, sacrificing the principles of the working-class movement for what they think will bring short-term gain, in this case saving the rotten skins of Brown, Darling, Mandelson and crew.

Support for the People's Charter and petition, helping turn it into a mass popular movement, will clearly demonstrate who is prepared to campaign in the interests of the mass of the people.

The current crisis of political representation also underlines the need for the labour movement to ensure that it has its own mass party, one capable of winning general elections, forming a government, carrying out policies in the interests of workers and their families and challenging the economic and political power of the capitalist monopolies.

The treachery, corruption and imminent defeat of new Labour is the reason for broadening and intensifying this debate, rather than ducking or postponing it.

It is also the opportunity for the labour movement and the left to put the case for establishing a completely different type of society - socialism - based on the social ownership and planning of natural resources and the most important sectors of the economy, with democratic political power in the hands of the working class and its allies.

Obviously, a Tory victory at the forthcoming general election will not assist in the achievement of any of these objectives.

It might also allow an unchanged Labour Party leadership to revert to the left-sounding cant of opposition, fabricating its mock outrage at Tory policies of privatisation, war and a police state.

Trying to prevent that Tory victory will require a vote for hundreds of Labour candidates.

Campaigning for those who are socialist and social-democratic, and who opposed new Labour's imperialist wars and backed the Trade Union Freedom Bill, should meet with wide-scale agreement on the left.

In other seats, the Labour candidate may be best placed to keep out the Tories and - except for the worst of new Labour's privatising war criminals - (s)he could be supported.

But that still leaves many constituencies where a Labour vote will not prevent a Tory victory.

The question, then, is whether sections of the left and the labour movement can unite around candidates who will put the case for public ownership, economic planning, progressive taxation, investment in manufacturing and public services, defence of democratic rights and opposition to racism, the fascists, EU neoliberalism, militarism and imperialist war.

The levels of such unity can progress from bilateral and multilateral "non-competition" pacts through mutual support agreements to joint candidates as part of a coalition.

The prospects for agreement on all these questions will be greater if preceded by a period of open, comradely discussion and united campaigning on the key issues facing workers and their families.

Labour Representation Committee chairman John McDonnell is proposing that Labour parliamentary candidates who want left-wing change in the party should stand together on a distinct policy platform at the general election.

The PCS union is considering how to play a more direct role in elections and No2EU brought together a vigorous alliance of socialist and trade union organisations during the recent European elections.

There are discussions too between sections of Respect and the Green Party about electoral co-operation and the SWP has issued an open letter appealing for unity, although this has met with a mixed reception.

Obviously, those sects which specialise in ultra-leftist posturing have nothing to offer the process of left unity which needs to proceed.

But the real socialists left in the unions and across a range of political parties face a heavy responsibility. We either act largely alone, or we develop forms of left unity on the basis of joint discussion, mutually supported initiatives, a resurgence of industrial and popular struggle and - to whatever extent possible - an agreed approach to the coming general election.

Otherwise, the biggest economic crisis for three-quarters of a century will continue to hammer workers and their families.


Comments

Submitted by martin on Thu, 27/08/2009 - 21:47

The Morning Star of 17 July reports the decisions of a CPB Executive meeting as follows:

The labour movement faces a dilemma of either issuing a blanket call for a Labour vote - to be met by another wave of abstentionism or, worse still, protest votes cast for the BNP - or of making the political case to back anti-war, pro-worker Labour MPs together with representatives from other formations.

In some areas, these may be Green, Respect or left Plaid Cymru or they may be communist or socialist candidates endorsed by a united front, forming the basis of a coherent counterpoint to new Labour's destructive policies.

The CPB plans to proceed swiftly to the selection of at least 10 candidates standing in the names of the Communist Party and Unity For Peace and Socialism and to seek support for them from other sections of the left and labour movement.

Nothing has been settled over any united front. Nothing is set in stone. The party is open to discussions and will make further decisions arising from those talks. In fact, the main priority in the coming months will be to move out of committee rooms and onto the streets to engage with people.


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