Join THE LEFT LANE’s Post-Election “Open Mic” Discussion and Debate
DATE: Friday, 5 July TIME: 5: 00 p.m. PLACE: On Zoom (see link below)
After fourteen long and cruel years, it looks like it won’t be any one of Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss or Sunak heading up the next UK government. Or at least for a while. Substacker and parodist Laura K has already seen off the Tories in her own special way.
So by Friday, 5 July at 5:00 p.m., there should be plenty to talk about. THE LEFT LANE subscribers are invited to an online “open mic” session to discuss the election for 60 minutes. (We issue a special invitation to the 13 new TLL subscribers who joined as a result of our 2 July TLL piece on the activities of ex-Israeli spy working for Keir Starmer and Labour.)
Speaking of the Labour leader who is expected to be our next PM, how can the peoples’ movement make progress under what is expected to be a majority -- a huge majority -- Labour government? How did other parties and a record number of “left independent” candidates do? As a result of 4 July, how much has REALLY changed … and what would a low voter turnout signify from the underwhelmed electorate? What will the 4 July result mean for the Farageist right in the UK? What are next steps ahead to play our role in ending the Israeli genocide in Gaza? And what are the next steps in building other movements, such as those interested in building a mass socialist party, reforming our archaic electoral system, defending workers’ rights, opposing climate change or racism or war, and other issues?
IS STARMER A TYPICAL CENTRIST LABOUR LEADER?
One key question arising from this election ---- and one that has practical consequences --- is this: what is the political character of Labour and Starmer?
A few weeks ago I wrote a TLL piece that argued Starmer was a typical centrist Labour leader and that Labour has never been a socialist party. Today (4 July), the popular Substacker Another Angry Voice has written well, a very angry column. He implicitly takes a polar opposite view; have a read of AVV’s piece yourself. The wider question: can the Labour Party be transformed into a radical vehicle to build socialism in the UK…and what is socialism anyway?
No big name guests or speakers have been invited for Friday’s session. Instead, it will be a chance for you to talk --- and listen --- with other progressives as we look back for lessons learned and scan ahead for new possibilities.
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Here are the details:
You are invited to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: THE LEFT LANE “Open Mic” on the General Election
Time: 5 July, 2024 05:00 PM London
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83590551175
Meeting ID: 835 9055 1175
Passcode: 701961
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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
You can reach us at: theleftlanepolitics@gmail.com
You can read all previous columns of THE LEFT LANE here:
