WORKING TOGETHER TO SAVE THE LABOUR PARTY

Gaye Johnston

UK Secretary of Save the Labour Party

Sometimes the current political situation in the UK seems to be such a nightmare scenario for democratic socialists that we seriously wonder why we remain in the Labour Party. In Scotland, particularly, it must be tempting to heed siren voices coming from the Scottish Socialists and even from the SNP and Liberal Democrats.

By December 2002 the membership of the Labour Party across the UK had officially fallen to less than 240,000 from a high of 400,000 in 1995. Since then it is probable that many more have left due to the Iraq war and other policy abominations. The Party hierarchy remains tight- lipped and will not release more recent figures.

It is small wonder that there have been defections. We have had much to put up with. We now know that Lord Goldsmith advised the leadership that the Iraq war was illegal and there were certainly no weapons of mass destruction nor any real evidence that they existed. The government remains wedded to privatising across the public sector wherever it thinks that it can get away with it. Even in the Scottish Health Service, where I regularly teach managers, privatisation, especially PFI, is a constant threat. The welcome national minimum wage still remains at a disgustingly low level and the basic state pension is a pittance.
Party members have also lost many democratic rights. Annual Conference has become a mere rally in which the votes of delegates are manipulated. The National Policy Forum has, to date, proved to be toothless and powerless. There has been much gerrymandering of elections for candidates to stand as elected representatives. So why does "Save the Labour Party" (STLP), working in partnership with Campaign for Socialism (C f S) want you to join us- and to stay in the Party and fight to reclaim it?

We believe that to leave the Labour Party is to surrender it to a right wing faction which has taken it over through manipulation and entryism. "New Labour" does not seem to be acting on traditional Labour values in a modern setting. Rather it seems to act upon values, alien to those of Real Labour, but to which they demand blind loyalty on the basis that the Tories would be (marginally) worse. The Party does not, as he seems to believe, belong to the Leader for the time being and his friends. It belongs to all of us who have joined or affiliated to it. Those of us who are democratic socialists do not want to hand it over and to abdicate. We want our Party back.

As with the fairies in "Peter Pan", every time one of us says that we don't believe in the Labour Party any longer and resigns, another piece of the Real Labour Party dies. An ICM poll published in the "Guardian" on 24th February this year showed that in the aftermath of the mass exodus of Party members, discussed above, a majority of those who remain are a New Labour rump. This poll of Labour Party members

indicated that 55% would still vote for Tony Blair in a future leadership election Further 47% took the view that on a left-right spectrum the Government had got its
political perspective "about right" Amazingly 51% considered that the Hutton Report reached a "fair conclusion" rather than being a "whitewash". Those who abandon the Party are leaving a mainly right wing remnant. If you are considering quitting the Party please don't do it. If you have already left, or have friends in this position, please haste ye back and try to persuade them to come along with you. We need you to join the reclamation and to outnumber the right wing rump!

Trying to bring people back into the Labour Party, to help reclaim it, is just one of Save the Labour Party's aims. STLP was set up just over a year ago because many people were talking about saving the Party from "New Labour" but it seemed that not enough was being done, across the UK, to achieve this. STLP's original and enduring aim was to bring together a broad political grouping representing everyone in the Party to the left of New Labour and to co-ordinate and combine our efforts to win back control of our Party. We had originally seen ourselves as an umbrella group for organisations including Campaign for Socialism, Welsh Labour Grassroots, Reclaim the Party (London), Network of Socialist Campaign Groups, Campaign for Labour Party Democracy Labour Reform and the Labour Campaign for Open Local Government. Sadly we encountered many constitutional and financial obstacles which prevented us from taking this course.

Consequently we had to start up as an individual membership organisation which has affiliations from Constituency Labour Parties and Young Labour and Labour student groups. However we have created a virtual coalition in which we have many members and officers who also belong to the above bodies. Through this means, we share ideas and co-ordinate campaigns. Of course this includes members of C f S. Elaine Smith MSP gave an excellent speech at an STLP fringe meeting, supported by C f S, at the recent National Labour Spring Conference in Manchester.

Because STLP wanted to include as wide a political spectrum, of those opposed to "New Labour", as possible the members decided that we should confine our aims and activities to issues of party democracy and renewal. We do not therefore collectively take positions on political policies. Of course we all have our individual policy priorities!

The aims of Save the Labour Party are;

1) To promote genuine democratic participation and policy development between ordinary Labour Party members and the Party Leadership; together with maintenance and strengthening of the trades union link.

2) To promote a review of contemporary Labour party structures and processes with the aim of ensuring that the key decisions are made by Party members and affiliates through a genuine democratic process.

3) To work to restore to the National Executive Committee of the Labour party full consideration and promotion of the contemporary political agenda and effective control of the organisation and financial structures of the Labour party in the UK.

Campaigning is at the core of our activities. Recent and on-going campaigns include ; Democracy Watch, a campaign against any extension of state funding for political parties, an independent inquiry into the state and running of the Labour Party and advising on the consultation about the future shape of the Labour Party linked to the 21st Century Party document.

Democracy Watch is a campaign for all Party members through which we are encouraging them to monitor Party activity for breaches in the Party rules and for their manipulation or distortion by the Party machine. Abuses will be reported to the NEC by Grass Roots Alliance members and will be publicised in the media. We will also be looking for rules that need changing and campaigning for these to be altered at Conference.

Our Campaign against further state funding has been directed at the Party mainly through the Electoral Commission, whose hearings we have attended and to whom we have directed policy submissions. We are concerned that any extension of state funding would permit the Party to break the trades union link. The probability is that union donations would be capped at a very low level and that this would include affiliation fees. It would also allow the realisation of Peter Mandelson's dream that he outlined in an Observer interview last year to the effect that the Labour party could dispense with individual members and their (now minimal) democratic rights and simply have "supporters" on the US model.

STLP proposed a model contemporary resolution to Party Conference last year. This was taken up by 20 Constituency Labour Parties. The resolution called for the setting up of an independent inquiry into the state and running of the Labour Party in the light of its decimation (as indicated above). Conference Arrangements Committee refused to allow the resolution to be debated and also failed to give us any reason for this. STLP is now mounting its own independent inquiry and a pilot project is already complete.

As part of the "21st Century Party consultation we are joining the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy in asking members, through their constituency and branch organisations, to press for the General Committees to be the main form for governance and policy making locally and for branch labour parties to remain the main unit of localised organisation.

Save the Labour Party has been supported by many notable people including: Michael Meacher M.P., Clare Short M.P, Elaine Smith MSP, Jeremy Corbyn M.P., Billy Hayes, General Secretary CWU, Professor Bernard Crick (Edinburgh University) and Ann Black (NEC). We are a fast growing organisations with members in all parts of mainland UK including, of course, Scotland. We hold meetings in the North of England as well as London. We would like to meet in Scotland too.

We really need your help and support -if we are to step up an effective campaign to repossess the Party and to help co-ordinate the Labour left across the UK. Please consider joining us. If you have left the Party you can join STLP as an associate member. Your CLP or Labour Youth organisation is also welcome to affiliate.

We believe that, as part of an active and united front, we really can win back the Labour Party for its members and for democratic socialism.

To find out more about Save the Labour Party please write to me c/o 20, Winterley Drive, Huncoat, Accrington, Lancs BB5 6UE tel:01254-388474 or e-mail- gribo@onetel.net.uk.

You can also page our website: http//savethelabourparty.org