A good news story and a bad news story overnight from the left.

Should we keep huddling in our separate silos?

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By Alan Story

As we did last week when we had two contrasting stories on the Green Party of England and Wales, today’s THE LEFT LANE contains a good news story and a bad news story, this time about the left.

The pieces could not be more different. One is about a really “up” session last night (10 October) in east London where there was a spirt of resistance in the air and a serious debate about what to do about the crisis. [All photos by Jack Witek Photography ; thanks for the great job!] It reminded me of meetings in the mid-1960s --- we called them “teach-ins” --- in my hometown of Toronto Canada against the US war in Vietnam.  Those were lively times.

The second story is about an example of typical “command-and- control” politics and “we-will-huddle-in-our-silo-and-you-stick-to-yours” mentality that still pervades sections of the British left today. Open debate? Preposterous? 

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Be afraid, Keir Starmer, be very afraid.

Last night (10 Oct.) was a clear demonstration of how, even in Labour controlled-London, you are running a minority government … though you may have a huge majority in Parliament.

In progressive circles, political debate is back, including among those under the age of 35-40, and it is definitely not over whether Labour is doing a good after 100 days in office. Or how we should “give Starmer a chance”. Or that old chestnut of how Labour can be reformed.

The questions instead are: how can Labour be replaced and an alternative built? And not just for voting day?

More and more people want REAL CHANGE and NOT a mere change of faces, Reeves instead of Hunt, more Labour austerity instead of Tory austerity , more Labour support for Israel’s genocide instead of Tory government support.

Indeed polls shows Labour is now a mere 1 point ahead of the hapless Tories.  And as a man in his 70s told me last night, “I can’t sleep at night due to my fear of a Reform government in 2029 or sooner.” 

THE “PARTY” IS A NEW PARTY OF THE LEFT

The occasion on a chilly October night was a meeting with a packed and enthusiastic crowd of over 200 attending Session # two in a three-part debate series titled “PARTY TIME?” (See poster at the bottom). The “party” being talked about is the need for a new party of “the left”. Many details are still to come and are being debated in ever wider and wider circles.

“It is an important subject in more and more silos we are part of and we wanted to bring those silos together to interact”, one of the organisers told THE LEFT LANE beforehand as the chairs for the session were being set out.  

Half way through the session, Chairperson Ben Beach asked those in attendance:  how many people think we need a new national left organisation?  Instantly, well over three quarters of those in attendance put up their hands.

As the meeting was billed as “WHAT IS TO DONE? Organisational forms and prospects on a new party” I expected a crowd of no more than 40 people and with an average age of +60.    

A FORTHRIGHT EXCHANGE OF VIEWS

How wrong I was. As Jack Witek’s photos show, the overwhelming majority of the large audience was under the age 40 and they were there for straight-up political debate. 

Several said they were attending their first left-wing meeting and very few people left the 2 hr. 15 minute meeting early. The chairperson is to be congratulated for allowing so many speakers from the floor. And while Lenin, author of the 1902 revolutionary classic of the same name,  did not attend, he would have enjoyed the forthright exchange of views on the aims and priorities of the proposed new organisation that got such verbal backing.  

In a piece of a less than 1000 words and written on deadline, I can hardly summarise the wide range of views and topics covered. But I will mention one. That is: do we need a new party? Or do we need a new national organisation?  They are very different objectives.  

James Schneider, who was Labour’s Director of Strategic Communication under Jeremy Corbyn, laid out a series of targets to meet over the next few years so that a new socialist party could indeed be built from the bottom up. Such a party might be able to contest as many as 50 seats in the next general election, as well as do extensive community organising to build a base, he said.

By comparison, Andrew Feinstein, another speaker last evening, said he was definitely in favour of a national political organisation and --- this is the key point --- it “might become a party.” Feinstein ran against Starmer in the 4 July general election and is a key member of the project of The Collective that was reported on in THE LEFT LANE two weeks ago . It is the focus of the piece below.

We suggest that, in coming weeks, the differences in the positions of Schneider and Feinstein may become a key one.

Last night’s meeting was held in Bethnal Green, London at Pelican House. It is “a social centre for worker organising, movement building and experimental arts and culture in London … A home to grassroots unions, migrant networks, solidarity campaigns and community groups who are committed to the struggle for a just world.”  

We were given the bad news last night that their landlord may soon evict them. Check their website in coming weeks to see how you can help keep Pelican House open and serving many communities.

The Party Time? debate continues on Thursday, 24 October at 6:00 p.m. for a 7:00 p.m.  start. And at the same Pelican House location: 144 Cambridge Heath Rd, Bethnal Green, London E1 5QJ

An update on recordings of the three sessions: We have been informed that all three sessions are being recorded and that audio versions of all three sessions will be made available after 24 October.

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Activists denied chance to ask questions about proposed Corbyn-linked party project.

Its director refuses THE LEFT LANE invitation to dialogue.

Pamela Fitzpatrick, director of THE COLLECTIVE project

One of the most worrying aspects of the closed 15 Sept. session to perhaps establish a new left party linked to Jeremy Corbyn is that the process is being done so clandestinely by an ex-Labour leftie network.    

Perhaps some leftie operators prefer this way of working. Inexperienced left activists are, however, not so keen, as I learned in a WhatsApp call. Political “veterans” of +50 years on the left like me and others are downright disparaging. 

Leaked to The Guardian ---- a paper which constantly undermined the former Labour leader while he was in office --- this session was attended only by favoured insiders. The reportage about this project raised as many questions as it answered.

Why the cloak and dagger stuff? What type of party? Or did this group of insiders really want a party? Was Corbyn a supporter or not? And if not, would that really be fatal to its creation? The ideas behind this project were getting murkier and mushier by the minute. 

Remember: many of us urgently want a left alternative to Starmerism as was shown again in spades last night ( 10 Oct.) at the “What is to be done?” event in east London. See story above.    

Answering some of those questions --- and kicking off a dialogue between progressives and the originators of this project --- is what motivated THE LEFT LANE to propose an open question-and-answer session on Zoom.

We suggested four possible evenings in about a month from which they could choose.  After all, they are speaking at a public session in London on this project in mid-October.  Moreover, as the second “by-invitation- only” organising session is now scheduled for 27 October and as that session is intended to establish the project’s basic framework, wouldn’t a mid-November date work well?     

So on 2 October we emailed them an invitation; see a copy below.

NOT POSSIBLE, BUT “THANKS.”

Simply not possible, but “thanks”, came the reply a week later from project director Pamela Fitzpatrick and a close ally Corbyn.  

All of which reinforced the growing criticism of top-downism, elitism and secrecy about this project. It is being directed by a group called “The Collective.”

This blanket refusal to dialogue  --- I mean, “The Collective” won’t be getting a slot of BBC NEWSNIGHT anytime soon  ---- reinforced the import of a depressing voice message I had received a few days earlier via WhatsApp. It came from a friend who is new to the left, who lives in the North (where I used to live) and was a member of one of the constituent political parties, Transform, which had sent reps on 15 Sept.  

“I really don’t know, Alan, “the voice message began.  

Explaining that the Transform leadership had already decided it was going to be “The Collective or bust” for that party, but that its members did not know “a single thing” about The Collective or this proposed party, which is “very sad”, he said, “I don’t  think I want to be part of something that was formed in secret like this. “

“I am a busy person…. I don’t want to waste my time on something that is not being formed democratically, that is so dependent on Corbyn’s wishes, and that likely won’t work anyway,” he added.

Perhaps this type of message does not bother the political insiders fronting this project.

But this top-downism - “party bossism” they call it stateside - bothers me and lots of activists I know.

This whole project is in danger of becoming, as a colleague of mine inelegantly puts it, a “circle jerk.”

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Email : AN INVITATION TO GIVE A ZOOM PRESENTATION

The Left Lane <theleftlanepolitics@gmail.com

2 October 2024.

Dear Pamela Fitzpatrick:

We at THE LEFT LANE have found that there is a lot of interest among activists about the proposed “party” project of The Collective and hence we would like to invite you, as the director of this project, to be our guest at a public Zoom meeting in the second full week in November.

Here is the format we are envisioning:

a) you would speak on this project at the beginning for 5 to 7 minutes;

b) I would interview you about it for 25 to 30 minutes;

c) those in the audience would ask you questions for 35 to 40 minutes; we will want questions, not speeches.   

4) you could give a wrap-up statement at the end.

We think such a session could attract a decent-sized audience and we will advertise the event in 3 or 4 issues of THE LEFT LANE in the interim (and set it up using free tickets via Eventbrite.) It also helpful to know the likely attendance in advance; if more than 100 people choose to come, we will need to book a Zoom account with a higher capacity.

We propose such an event occur on one of the following nights at 7:00: 11 November, 12 November, 13 November or 14 November. Why those nights? A participant at your first session on 15 September has told us that your group will be having a second meeting before the end of October and so, by then, the project may be more firmed up. 

But the upcoming days after that will be busy political days; 30 October will be the first Labour budget and 5 November is the US presidential election. Hence sometime in the second full week of November seems like a good occasion to us ….and will give us plenty of time to advertise it all across social media and elsewhere.  We will both present the Zoom call live and post it soon after on our just-created YOUTUBE channel, “THE LEFT LANE PRESENTS.”

What is the LEFT LANE (TLL) and who is Alan Story?  TLL is a substack set up in January 2024. To date we have published 43 posts that you can all view here: 

Alan Story, the editor of THE LEFT LANE, has been a socialist since the mid-1960s.  He has been a journalist for over 50 years, including as an investigative journalist for Canada’s largest newspaper. A resident of the UK since 1995, he has here been a legal academic and a political activist.

Of course we are prepared to discuss the proposed format. A phone call or a Zoom call could be easily arranged.

Today is 2 October. We will appreciate receiving a response by 9 October.  

We think such an event would be a learning event for us all.

Fraternal greetings

Alan Story

Editor, THE LEFT LANE

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CHECK THIS OUT

Picking up the kids at #10

A graphic by Mr. Fish from an idea by Roger Waters

Published this week in the substack of Chris Hedges.

https://substack.com/@chrishedges

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Edited by Alan Story, THE LEFT LANE is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber:  http://theleftlane2024.substack.com/subscribe

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