The Greens in Lambeth

Our default, all-other-things-equal, policy for 7 May is to vote Labour, because of our long-term orientation to the labour movement.

In Lambeth, south London, however, Workers’ Liberty people excluded from the Labour Party are working with the Greens in the local election, campaigning for a Green vote. There are several reasons.

• The local Greens are unusually left-wing. If they win the council, which looks likely, they have committed to using it as a platform to rally a national fight to restore central government funding for local government services. They have worked closely with unions against cuts by the current Labour council.

• The local Greens have also drawn a lot of young people newly into politics. Of course we want to work and discuss with them. And for now the main way available to do that is electioneering.

• The local Labour council has been a flagship of Blairism since 2006 at least. It has got even worse recently, cutting off previous regular budget consultations with the council unions. It is planning to close a daycare centre this year, although pressures from central government do not enforce that. As of now, the local Labour Parties, led by right-wingers triumphant in their “revenge” for the Corbyn years, are not resisting.