This I hope will be my last political blog for a few months as I plan to write some new blogs on other subjects for the next few months. However future events may overrule this plan. Anyway lets concentrate on the subject of this blog.’The future of the British Left’ As somebody who has been involved in Left wing politics for many years to be perfectly honest the future for the Left in Britain has never been bleaker.
Inside the Labour Party the Left wing can only manage to get 19 Left wing members of parliament to support a Left candidate for Labour party leader. They have been forced to support Andy Burnham the least worst of the Right wing candidates for leader. So clearly there is no future for Socialists inside the Labour party. Although doubtless the small ineffective Left wing remaining inside the party will remain carrying on their ineffective fight. But it is clear that after Labour,s recent election defeat the party will now move considerably towards the right.
Outside the Labour party the main challenge in the recent general election came from the Trade Union Socialist Coalition standing 135 candidates polling on average 0.6% of the vote where they stood. Tusc was correct to stand in the recent general election as there is no future for Socialists inside the Labour party. However the main weakness of Tusc is that you cannot join it as an individual member nor does it have a national local branch system. It is basically a coalition of the Socialist Party and the Socialist Workers Party which only comes together during elections. So Tusc goes to sleep while there is no elections taking place. Hence its lack of local activity while elections are not taking place.
The new Conservative government is obviously going to carry out major attacks on the poor and the working class and it may well possibly have the silent unofficial support of the new right wing leadership of the Labour party. There will probably be some resistance from below to the new governments measures. However what form this will take and how effective this will be we shall just have to wait and see.
In my personal opinion the best hope for the Left is if the Unite Trade Union decide to disaffiliate from the Labour party at is July conference and then decide to form a new Left wing political party with other Left wing trade Unions like the RMT. However in conclusion the future for the Left in Britain is probably bleak. I hope that future events prove me wrong.
kevinclarion 