Blair trotted up to the podium for his final speech as Labour leader
to the appropriate strains of James’ 1991 hit “Sit Down”. Still
clinging on to office by his fingernails, Blair’s grand finale was
completely overshadowed by the backstage manoeuvres in the race for
‘the succession’. The Blair era is drawing to a close not with a bang
but with a great deal of whimpering. The claims and counter claims, by
Blairites, Brownites, etc, of plots and coups make entertaining subject
matter for newspaper leader writers, but hold little interest for the
rest of us. Most working people watching the public school parlour game
that passes for politics in the New Labour hierarchy can only shake
their heads in disgust at the blatant, unapologetic, and self-serving
careerism of these creatures.
The media concentrates on this gossip from behind the scenes. They
studiously avoid mention of left candidate John McDonnell. For now they
try to ignore him as ‘irrelevant’, and concentrate instead on Blairite
in-fighting.
This is not an accident. The Mail, Murdoch, and co are more than happy
to tear shreds out of the Labour Party. The ruling class has used the
Labour leadership to serve their ends for as long as they could. The
capitalist class is more than happy with the way Blair and Brown have
represented their interests. They have no problem with Brown – the myth
that he was somehow to the left of Blair has all but evaporated. They
do, however, have a problem with the mounting opposition on the
backbenches, and, even worse, over their shoulders, the growing
opposition of the trade unions and the working class to their policies.
A Brown Labour government could not be relied upon as a solid enough
base to push through the attacks on the welfare state, and on jobs,
pensions, wages and conditions that enfeebled British capitalism
requires to maintain its profits. As a result the ruling class and its
media are reverting once more to supporting the bosses’ first eleven,
the Tory Party.
The Tories now consistently lead Labour in the polls. Yet on specific
policies those questioned do not support Tory policies, neither those
of Blair, nor those of Cameron. Instead they demand troops be withdrawn
from Iraq; privatisation be stopped; vital services be nationalised,
and generally support the programme being put forward by John
McDonnell’s campaign for the Labour leadership. This demonstrates that
the only way Labour can guarantee to stop the Tories winning the next
election is to adopt socialist policies.
When the media does mention the left campaign it is only to sneer that
it cannot succeed. Yet this is a serious challenge. In a poll conducted
by the Electoral Reform Society at TUC Congress, 59% of delegates
backed John McDonnell. A focus group of Labour supporters convened by
BBC Newsnight revealed that he was level-pegging with Gordon Brown.
Brown remains the favourite to win with the backing of the mass media
and cabinet ministers (but notably not yet Blair himself). Nevertheless
the campaign for the Labour leadership furnishes an excellent
opportunity for raising and discussing socialist ideas throughout the
labour movement.
There could be as many as one million people entitled to vote for the
Labour leadership. The MPs and Euro MPs get one third of the vote;
individual party members get another third; and affiliated trade union
members, who all get a vote too, comprise the other third.
Yet there are still some groups who will insist that the Labour Party
is a bourgeois party, no different from the Tories. Well some bourgeois
party this where rank and file trade unionists and party members get
two-thirds of the vote! What are we to conclude? Are the rank and file
members of Labour bourgeois? Are the rank and file workers in the trade
unions?
Obviously the left’s campaign will not have the resources at its
disposal that Brown, Reid or Johnson would have. Therefore, trade
unionists, Labour Party members and activists around the country should
get busy organising meetings, inviting John McDonnell to speak,
creating opportunities to discuss the socialist ideas needed not only
to defeat the Tories, but also to begin to tackle the problems facing
working class people.
Socialist Appeal supporters should support to this campaign
enthusiastically. We must grasp this opportunity to raise Marxist ideas
throughout the movement.
The programme being advocated by John McDonnell – opposing the
war in Iraq; ending privatisation; for trade union rights and civil
liberties; the abolition of tuition fees, and so on, would represent an
immense step forward on the policies pursued by Blair and Brown. The
task of Marxists must be to put flesh on its bones, to take these
policies to their logical conclusion.
One of the principal reasons for the existence of a separate Marxist
tendency within the labour movement is to act as the memory of the
working class. The experience of Blairism has inevitably created a
nostalgia for previous Labour governments. An essential part of
preparing for the future of the labour movement, once Blairism is
finally buried, must be a sober appraisal of the past. For this purpose
rose tinted glasses are of little use. We must learn the lessons of
previous periods of Labour history, not only the succesful reforms, but
also the failures, especially the failure to make those reforms
permanent.
The most vital lesson is that it is not sufficient to tinker with the
capitalist system. We will fight for any reform in the interests of the
working class. The central lesson of the whole of Labour history,
however, must be that not one of those reforms can endure if the
capitalist system remains intact. What the ruling class are forced to
give with their left hand they will always snatch back with their right
at the earliest possible opportunity. This lesson is more important
today than ever. Capitalism cannot afford the reforms won in the past
so it is systematically undermining and destroying them. Therefore
there is little room for the granting of new concessions. They can
still be wrung from the bosses through industrial and political
struggle but they will not be long lasting. The only way to guarantee
universal free health care and education, full employment, decent
pensions and the other advances John McDonnell’s campaign is demanding
is to take the purse strings of society out of the hands of the
minority and place them at the disposal of society. That means taking
the commanding heights of the economy into public ownership, and
planning them rationally, scientifically and democratically. The
struggle to defend or gain any reform must be seen as part of the
struggle for the socialist transformation of society.
See also:
John McDonnell MP, Left Candidate for the Labour Leadership, Speaks to Socialist Appeal
Blair’s Departure Date: Yesterday Is Not Soon Enough!
The Real Alternative Is Inside Labour.
