This is in some ways the biggest crisis of parliamentary politics ever in British history. Brexit dominates politics in a way no issue has done since, perhaps, the miners’ strike of 1984- 5. Yet the biggest Labour left grouping, Momentum, has remained silent on Brexit.
The controversy surrounding John McDonnell’s alleged support for Jackie Walker is not a clear as the press coverage suggests.
Brexit can still stopped. The first step, though, is to halt an emerging mood of retreat among anti-Brexit people.
“People switch off from responding to every depressing political twist and turn of Brexit”, one activist wrote to us this week. Another: “people in my local [anti-Brexit] group feel down after Jeremy Corbyn’s responses on 28 and 29 January”. Yet others have said: “Face facts. Brexit is going to go through. No amount of agitation now will make much difference. The task now is to prepare the left for after Brexit”.
On 12 January, the People’s Assembly and other groups mounted their response to maybe the biggest parliamentary-political crisis ever in British history.
They called a demonstration in London: “General election now!”
The People’s Assembly is an anti-cuts group run by the Counterfire split from the SWP, but getting active support and resources from Unite and other unions. It has had the skills and the reach to organise big demonstrations — up to 250,000 on a general demonstration against cuts in June 2015.
The keynote motion from the steering committee of “Labour Against the Witchhunt” to the LAW conference on 2 February sums up the core elements of left antisemitism.
LAW is not focused on the many hundreds of socialists expelled from the Labour Party, without notification of charges, hearing, or appeal, since 2015, on grounds of association (however loose) with left¬wing groups such as Workers’ Liberty, Socialist Appeal, or Left Unity. Its prime concern is with Labour Party members charged with antisemitism.
Solidarity approached Pete Willsman, secretary of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and a member of Labour’s National Executive, to give him space in an interview to explain CLPD’s line on Brexit, criticised in Solidarity 490. Pete wasn’t able to do an interview, but explained his stance in a text¬message exchange.
What a pre-Christmas treat the Morning Star gave us! More than a whole page given over to an anti- EU tirade under the snappy headline “Brexit offers the possibility for socialists to lead a political transformation – The immediate task before us is to leave the EU and break the constraints on democracy that it represents”. And if that wasn’t enough to stir the patriotic hearts of all loyal readers, the author closes with the clarion¬call: “No deal is the real deal and the left should unite in pursuit of that end.
We have published an online briefing which brings together images and other evidence to show how the Red London group operates and trace the development of the witch-hunt against the AWL.
The Campaign for Labour Party Democracy (CLPD), a longstanding component of the Labour left, is promoting a model motion to “commend” the Labour Party leadership for its stance on Brexit. The motion accuses those agitating for a new public vote on Brexit of seeking to “overturn Labour conference policy”, on the grounds that we supposedly advocate a public vote *before* an attempt to bring down the Tories by a vote of no confidence in Parliament.
After opening itself out so that people can join as members, rather than just being an office with initiatives which activists on the ground can support, Another Europe is Possible is calling a conference on 8 December in London. Members will be able to debate and vote on structures and strategy.
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