Frank Hansen reports on a John McDonnell inspired conference to rejuvenate the Labour left
John McDonnell’s challenge to the Labour Party conference is a fundamental one at a critical time. It arose from a well-attended “Labour in Government – One Year On” conference convened by McDonnell in London in July. The theme was “Claim the Future” and it discussed the policies needed to fight back against the current leadership. Addressed by speakers, including Andrew Fisher, Clive Lewis and Shami Chakrabarti, the meeting covered policies such as the economic alternative, tackling austerity, poverty and inequality, climate change, Palestine, standing up for our rights and civil liberties, and fighting racism.
The conference took place in the wake of the first major crack in the political facade of the Starmer government – opposition to the drastic benefits cuts from grassroots disability groups and constituents lobbying MPs, leading to a parliamentary revolt and the government being forced to retreat. This upsurge from below, as also highlighted by the Palestine solidarity movement, shows that there is a way forward in tackling the catastrophic policies of the Labour leadership, which only play into the hands of Reform. The left needs to unite and coordinate this grassroots revolt, putting forward alternatives both within and outside parliament and by critically challenging the legislative programme. After all, Labour has a huge parliamentary majority and we should demand that it acts in the interests of the working class and the oppressed.
Andrew Fisher summed up the tasks ahead: “This Labour leadership is not going to change course; recent suspensions of the whip show it has learnt nothing. It will not be allies in fighting the Reform surge, but handmaidens – paving the way for a Nigel Farage-led government. If we want to stop that, we have to put forward a positive alternative, rebel, challenge and organise. We can build an alternative, we can win the arguments, and we can shift this Labour government, as we did, to a large extent, on the welfare cuts. So let’s be confident. We’re right and we can win.”
We need to act now. The aim is to work within the Labour Party/unions and with other progressive forces to arrive at a shared view of what we can campaign together for in order to bring about positive change. John has already initiated this on the issue of scrapping the two-child benefit cap. After the meeting, he circulated the following: “Let me know if you have ideas on who we should be engaging with and also any campaigning ideas. I will keep people informed of progress, and we will look to a further coming together after the summer”.
The struggle for democracy both within and outside the Labour Party is clearly a key issue. Given the rising and widespread concern about the erosion of civil liberties, following the proscription of Palestine Action, this is likely to be an important focus when parliament reconvenes.