On creating and building a socialist alternative to Labour

A background dossier on the “maybe party” proposed by Corbyn and his associates in The Collective

Note to those reading via email: This article may exceed the length that can be sent by Substack. In which case, please click on the headline (“On creating and building…) and it will take you directly to the Substack article. Or click on “View Entire Message.”

By Alan Story

Building a new party of the left is NOT a task for the easily deterred.

It is merely a first step to realise that there is a growing body of people who would support such a party, become members - ACTIVE members - and who would contribute their £££, their hearts and their minds to try to make it work and achieve lift off.

Keir Starmer and the Labour leadership’s actions provide ample justification for those advocating a mass socialist party. [The cover photo taken at a weekend pro-Palestine march of many thousands  in Liverpool at the Labour Party conference underscores the urgency.] How much longer, for example, must the people of Gaza – and now Lebanon - listen to the hollow words of Starmer or foreign secretary David Lammy about “Israel’s genocide”…to use a now-banned phrase at Labour’s conference ?  Simply wearing a ‘Free Palestine’ badge can get you suspended from the party.      

I WOULD JOIN IN A FLASH

I would join such a new socialist party in a flash if there were credible indications of its potential for success. Establishing a radical, principled and pro-people party that could challenge the two-party electoral dictatorship burdening us for decades is an urgent priority in my books. This is especially true in these increasingly fraught times, domestically and globally. Yet it must be done right. The last thing the left needs is another flop. I know others feel the same way. 

Moreover, far more is required than electing a few coach loads of socialist MPs. There also needs to be a vibrant and rooted extra-parliamentary opposition.

“There is a huge groundswell of support for an alternative”, former Newcastle mayor Jamie Driscoll told THE LEFT LANE in a phone interview on 23 Sept.     

But --- and it is a big BUT! --- it is a much larger second step to figure out how to actually build such a party in an effective fashion. That is, how do so democratically, to develop a resilient long-term organisation, to learn from past failures - and there have been a number - and to decide what theory will guide it; after all, the left is hardly a homogenous blob.

The overall aim must be to create some hope in the face of cruel capitalist gloom and to demonstrate that engaging in progressive politics is actually worth it. In short, it is not a task for dilettantes.    

Enter a new project of The Collective, a small group closely aligned with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.  Does it fit the bill?

LEAKED TO THE GUARDIAN

News of this project leaked out on 15 Sept. in The Guardian. The story was headlined “Jeremy Corbyn addresses meeting on formation of new leftwing party“ and was published just hours after a roomful of activists had held a “secret meeting” in London on that Sunday.

The new party’s launch is tentatively projected for spring 2025, THE LEFT LANE has learned. If Corbyn gets fully on board, some insiders are predicting that a new left party could attract nearly 100,000 members by the end of next year.    

But immediately questions were raised. Why such secrecy? Members of many of the groups and parties in attendance did not know a thing in advance about the 15 Sept. session. What was the motive in leaking such a story to the mainstream media? Did Corbyn himself support this proposed party … or was he merely the brand name and figurehead? It is not a question that The Guardian asked, but what would be its political programme? And indeed, is forming a party the actual objective of The Collective? One very detailed and generally insightful commentary was headed “Corbyn’s maybe party”.  

As one activist lamented to me this week, “So so much depends on what Corbyn decides to do.”

To be charitable, announcing a new proposed new party in this fashion is highly questionable. But the leak certainly did spark commentary on social media and gave the illusion of a political breakthrough for progressive forces, whether warranted or not.   

“CORBYN AND GALLOWAY MUST COME TOGETHER”

Many in attendance were reported to be “positive.” The leadership of Transform , a new and small party - and quite frankly, a struggling party - stated in a 25 Sept. newsletter that “It is Transform’s view that the basis for a new left party at a national level already exists, is urgently necessary, and we are working to bring that into existence.”  Transform’s view? Most of its members, whose overall numbers have plummeted in recent months, were in the dark about any or all of this. They would have first learned of it in The Guardian.  

Council Estate Media welcomed the news , noting that such a new movement “could cause a political earthquake.” Former UK diplomat Craig Murray, a candidate for the Workers’ Party in the recent election, was generally “positive”, but stressed “Corbyn and Galloway must come together. We don’t all share the same view of who should be on the left’s “dream team”; THE LEFT LANE is not a fan of Galloway-style top downism and bluster.)

By contrast, Carla Roberts in The Weekly Worker was less impressed. “Can we expect anything more than yet another Labour Party mark two?”, she asked, adding “one thing is for sure”; (this proposed new party) “… won’t fight for the self-liberation of the working class.”  Numbers of experienced socialists share a similar scepticism.     

Today’s THE LEFT LANE has prepared a dossier of what is known and unknown about this rather undefined project of The Collective. Until more clarity emerges, it may be prudent to avoid calling it a “party” yet because it is not certain it will be.

WHO IS BEHIND THIS PROJECT?

Before delving into the politics of this project, let’s first look at the people in charge.  

Three close associates of Corbyn are the main organisers. One is Pamela Fitzpatrick, a former long-time Labour Party member and MP candidate, most recently as an independent in Harrow West where she finished third. She will be the director of The Collective’s project.  Fitzpatrick is a co-director (with Corbyn) of Corbyn’s “Peace and Justice Project” aka “The Corbyn Project.”   

A second key person is Karie Murphy. According to her Wikipedia entry “Karie Murphy is a British trade unionist and political strategist who served as the Executive Director of the Leader of the Opposition’s Office under Jeremy Corbyn from 2016 to 2020.” She is expected to play some type of administrative role.

From an Andrew Feinstein leaflet in the recent general election.

A third key player is Andrew Feinstein who was a member of the South African National  Assembly from 1994 to 2021 and ran as an independent candidate --- and finished second --- against Starmer on 4 July in the London constituency of Holborn and St. Pancras.

Feinstein, aged 60, is close to Corbyn politically and is already been touted by some as a potential political leader of this project. If that happened, there would be the prospect of two party leaders facing off in the same constituency. It is uncertain, however, whether Feinstein favours the establishment of an actual new party.

These three people, however, are individually far less important than the political tendency that they represent. Four days after the 15 Sept. session, writer Harry Holmes had a piece published in the online journal Prometheus called “Revenge of the Network Left.” It is a very timely article and I quote from it at length below (in italics); I recommend you spend a few minutes reading the whole thing when you have time.    

WHAT IS THE NETWORK LEFT?  

Without referring to The Collective’s project, Holmes explains that “The Network Left is a slightly tongue in cheek term, but one that is useful for thinking through the ecology of groups which have emerged from the wreckage of Corbynism, as well as the wider workers movement. 

By Network Left, I mean figures who are active on the British left whose organising method is based on using their relationships with a narrow selection of other individuals ‘in key positions’ to initiate campaigns and groups… Their outward facing orientation, whether they are intentional about it or not, is to other ‘key figures’ on the left in private to begin projects. … “

They are…” people who have come, sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly, to see themselves as the main movers of the wider left, often with few relationships of accountability behind themselves. …”

While sometimes this process works “…other times, it is not effective. Quite regularly, you see the emergence of a new ‘campaign’ or ‘network’ or ‘group’, often on social media, which if you are ‘in the know’ you can immediately name the people behind it. A campaign organisation which is, in fact, four people you already know in an Instagram-based trenchcoat… “

The Network Left, writes Holmes “…  risks repeating some of the errors of the left under Corbynism and since – namely, it ends up baking-in an anti-democratic bent to organisations, opening up potential for bureaucratic manoeuvres that prevent the development of a wider mass base.” … 

In fact, “the key thing about the organising model of the Network Left is the absence of something like a base or membership, or even a number of people whom you are accountable to.”

A DEFORMED KIND OF ‘HORIZONTALIST’ ORGANISING

This model results in “a deformed kind of ‘horizontalist’ organising (that) ends up allying itself with the traditional bureaucracies, such as in the trade union movement.”

Referencing a key text from five decades ago, Jo Freeman’s Tyranny of Structurelessness , Holmes continues:  “Soon people emerge as key ‘figures’ in such groups, often due to their organising skill, political analyses, and sometimes for the noise they make. They are soon given a significant amount of social power in wider movement spaces, often mobilised to secure full-time employment or what little funding grants there are available. This in turn, feeds into a self-conception, and in the worst cases a wider understanding, that they are ‘the person’ to engage with on this political problem – political action is not capable without them.” 

Holmes concludes: “…. I want to stress that there is an alternative. Whatever new formation does arise in the coming years, it should be initiated as soon as possible with open membership, elected leaderships, and mechanisms for the flourishing of a mass base. “A new left party will require ….”a kind of political operation where open discussion, membership, and accountability are the terms of the day – not private conversations, taps on shoulders, and the machinations of staffers, full-timers, and others. To prevent this being baked into a project, it requires certain figures to look in the mirror and say ‘you’re not that guy pal, trust me, you’re not that guy.’ In the absence of such self-awareness, it requires everyone else championing the demand for openness and structured democracy as a priority. This requires an almost messianic trust in the possibility of the oppressed and exploited to become the collective masters of their own destiny.

Yes, it is indeed “The Network Left” who is behind this new project of The Collective.

One can only wonder: have any of those who attended on 15 Sept. done any looking in the mirror of late? The left has a lot of screw-ups to answer for.

As I said, it is worth a read of the entire piece.   

Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn

WHO ARE THE OTHER POLITICAL NAMES AND THE SMALLER GROUPS INVOLVED?  

Jeremy Corbyn did attend on 15 Sept. and gave the kick-off talk. He was one of those who stressed that this group should engage in community organising before a new party is created. Going “back to the grassroots” has been a recent and common theme of the former Labour leader, now aged 75, since he was re-elected as an MP in July, for the first time as an independent since he was initially elected in 1983. .

Corbyn is playing his cards very close to his chest as to whether he favours the creation of a new left political party. He now works in Parliament with four other independent MPs who got elected on a pro-Palestine platform. It is considered unlikely all four would be part of this new formation or play leading roles. Being part of a new left party would not necessarily assist in their re-election. 

Due to his national name recognition, Corbyn could probably get re-elected as an independent at the next general election in his Islington constituency. But he knows deep in his heart ---- and from his long political experience --- that electing left-wing independent MPs is a very fraught enterprise. And while he gets quite a lot of deference from others on the left, it is far from certain he would be an electoral asset or a strategical “big thinker” should he choose to put himself forward as a leadership candidate of this proposed new formation and win.  

Moreover, simply being a mere member of a new socialist party might not enhance his re-election prospects in Islington next time. Corbyn may prefer to concentrate on local community organising through an informal “movement” whatever that entails.  

Former Newcastle mayor Jamie Driscoll

Jamie Driscoll, the former Labour Mayor of Newcastle and a close ally of Corbyn - and now also an independent - attended the London meeting as well. Like Corbyn, his priority may be on winning an elected post rather than national party building. Driscoll also stresses the importance of community organising and “building from the bottom up” and “linking up with communities” as he told THE LEFT LANE in an interview earlier in this week.

Driscoll is also not keen on creating a new UK-wide or England-wide “Collective” party in the immediate future. In fact, he spoke with enthusiasm about the kick-off on Saturday (28 Sept.) of his own group/movement called MAJORITY in Newcastle.   “We are majority” and “our mission” is putting power “back in the hands of the people”, it says on the MAJORITY website. Driscoll stressed he was gaining interest from outside the North East for his project.

It remains unclear how the proposed “Collective” project would function in the North East, particularly whether it would defer to local left-wing leaders like Driscoll, and whether similar dynamics would occur elsewhere. Would the Liverpool Independents Party, for example, be permitted to keep functioning? This comes back to a number of points that Holmes makes in his article.  

There were other smaller parties and group present in London. These included:

1) The Social Justice Party (here and here), which is based mostly in the North East, sent reps and is expected to attend the next meeting.

2) Transform (here and here) will send delegates to the next meeting as well as it did on 15 Sept. Formed in November 2023 from the merger of several groups, Transform may merge or disband again as one of its precursors, Breakthrough, did in 2023.

3) We Deserve Better (here) set up in the spring of 2024 with financing by left wing commentator Owen Jones will also likely return for a second meeting.

The Campaign for a Mass Workers Party did not attend the first meeting, but wants to attend the next one.

And on and on it goes. We contacted The Collective to ask a few question, such as which groups were invited and what criteria were used to send invitations, but no one was available. We will keep trying.

We understand that neither the Socialist Workers Party nor Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain attended, but a rep from the Revolutionary Communist Party did. Left political insiders and mates of Corbyn, such as film maker Ken Loach, attended.  Others who may have wished to participate were left out of the loop.  

With unstructured set-ups such as this, there is, as Harry Holmes points out, no accountability, no membership, and no base.  Quite how such an organisation hopes to challenge the Labour Party remains a mystery.

EXACTLY WHAT ARE THE POLITICS OF THIS PROJECT? 

This is not an easy question to answer.

No documents have been released as to the project’s politics and policies. Will they be essentially those of a Starmerless Labour Party? Nor is there any sense that its organisers have a good grasp of the history of the left or how socialist organisations have unfolded in recent decades.

For example, has The Collective considered the failed attempts over the past 25 years to do exactly what the Collective is trying to do: set up a left party in the UK to rival Labour? Do they know what happened to The Scottish Socialist Party which elected six MSPs in 2003? They can read about it here.  Or how about Respect? Its history is summarised here. Or about the lessons to be drawn from the history of Socialist Alliance that can be read here?

These histories can teach us about the leadership issues that arose in these parties. The Collective itself faces its leadership issue over Corbyn.  

Or has the Collective discussed the lessons to be learned in the current era from other parts of the capitalist world in Europe and North America and the attempts to build opposition there?  

Or has there been any engagement with the works of political scientist Ralph Miliband who developed the most sophisticated explanation of why the Labour Party was (and is) not a socialist party? I think they should be required reading and debate for anyone who has been a long-time Labour Party member and wants to build an alternative.      

Of course, there is a lot more to do than read and debate politics and policies to build a new socialist party. But that is not a bad place for The Collective to start if it hopes to mount a serious challenge to the existing economic and political order.

So, for now, about the only thing we can say is that the current demands/ basis of unity of The Collective and the linked Peace and Justice project are not a programme for socialism. Rather they are based on an illusion that social democratic platitudes can overcome the current crisis of capitalism. “Tax the rich to save the NHS” is a very long way from being a demand for socialism and a new political and economic order. 

SO WHAT COMES NEXT?

The next meeting of The Collective is scheduled to occur at an undisclosed location in late October. Then the group will launch a “road show” touring at least some parts of England. The plan, say insiders, is then to launch a new left party in the spring of 2025. We will attempt to report on the progress.

Many of the groups and parties attending future sessions would presumably be expected to wind up their operations once the The Collective as a party gets into operation.  

THE CONCLUSION

THE LEFT LANE’s view is that this organising collective has not done the required ground work --- including OPEN debate and study --- to launch a serious new socialist party. Deciding the best moment to launch a new party should not be based on a whim.    

Yes, creating a new socialist party is far from an easy task, but activists need to be straight with the British people and its potential party supporters.

We have had quite enough of Starmeresque “light at the end of the tunnel” talk. 100,000 members in this new Collective formation by this time next year? Really? Starting a new socialist party is not like launching a new line of fizzy drinks. 

What is your view?  Comments below are most welcome.

This project of the Collective is a subject we will return to in the future.

+++++++++++++++

Thanks to my mates in the “Learning our History” project for their assistance in the research for this piece.

CHECK THIS OUT

1. On the same theme of this article, these three talks/ discussions in London on the subject of “PARTY TIME?” may be of interest:

The location:

Pelican House,144 Cambridge Heath Rd, Bethnal Green, London E1 5QJ

Not everyone lives in London. After some lobbying by THE LEFT LANE ( and others), the organisers of these three sessions have agreed to record the three events and make them available online. We asked where, but could not find out. We hope to provide a link in a future issue.

2. This documentary is certainly worth a watch.

   As I read yesterday in the WhatsApp of my local Palestine Solidarity group, “TRT have released an insightful documentary on the Settler movement. Just letting these people speak themselves is powerful enough indictment of their actions. “

   ++++++++++++++++++

   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

   Follow us on our new THE LEFT LANE Instagram