Tue 28 Nov 2017, 09:37 AM | Posted by Mark Langabeer
2017 has been a year like no other in British political history, certainly in my lifetime. 2015/16 saw what I would describe as the advanced workers joining the Labour Party in order to support socialism and Corbyn’s leadership.
Ted Grant, the political editor of the old Militant newspaper, described the activists within the Labour and Trade Union Movement as ‘the salt of the earth’. This view, in my opinion, was not wrong.
However, the events of 2017 put this movement in the shade. Theresa May called an early election, in the belief that the Tories would win a landslide. Unfortunately, this was echoed by Labour’s right-wing. In particular, the big majority of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
The recent broadcast of a documentary following the fortunes of four Labour MPs was very revealing. One of them, Stephen Kinnock, along with his father Neil, has been a vocal critic of Corbyn. Kinnock junior stated that Corbyn should consider his position, should Labour lose the election. Labour did not win, but Corbyn’s position has been strengthened, due to Labour gaining 30 seats and increasing its vote by 4 million.
Kinnock revealed his treachery when confronted by a voter, who stated that he wouldn’t vote Labour because of Corbyn. Kinnock’s response was, if he voted for him he would do something about it.
Along with many others, the Kinnocks believed that Labour would lose between 30 and 50 seats and when the exit polls were announced, Stephen appeared baffled by the results. He was asked to give an interview and his wife suggested that this would unwise, especially if he mentions Corbyn.
At the end of the programme, Kinnock stated that the members needed him (Kinnock) as much as he needed the members. But in my view, he may need the members, but the members certainly don’t need Stephen Kinnock.
What were the factors in Labour’s change in fortunes? Labour were 20 points behind, according to most pollsters before the election in June. The radicalism of Labour’s manifesto and Corbyn’s campaigning zeal were factors.
However, the decisive factor, as Marxists have explained, is that “conditions determine consciousness”. The electorate are weary of austerity and are looking for an alternative.
At last week’s Question time, the first question was that “given that real wages have fallen, and future forecasts remain gloomy, what is the point of capitalism?”. The reaction of sections of the audience indicate that the ideas of Socialism, as expressed by the Left-Horizons, can gain a wider hearing in Britain and Internationally.
