Labour : What Is To Be Done?

1931 Labour Poster
The next discussion meeting of the Dronfield Labour Party on September 13th will be an open debate with the above title.

Below I give my own contribution to this topic as a means of opening up the debate. It is, of course, my personal viewpoint and emerges from a democratic socialist perspective; although many fellow democratic socialists are likely to disagree with me.

To join in the debate via our comment box, you don't have to be a visitor to our discussion meetings. Contributions will be both worthwhile in their own right and as preparation for our eventual discussions.

MY ANALYSIS.

1. Labour is heading for a drubbing at the General Election.

2. There is no way to avoid this via a change of leadership, for there can be no smooth change of leader in the current circumstances.

3. We, therefore, need to prepare our minds now for the dramatic situation which will emerge immediately after the General Election. Remembering that New Labour will still hold a firm majority of the remaining Labour seats.

4. In the meantime we should work via the Labour Party to try to limit the scope of the coming electoral defeat, so that democratic socialists have a base to work through for the future.

5. This requires democratic socialists to be inside the Labour Party, working to hold onto whatever they can of Labour's traditional working class support.

6. We need to press for feasible programmes which are directed to tackling unemployment, poverty and communal deprivation. This involves stressing the importance of matters which the Labour Government are already pursuing in these areas.

7. Whilst such an approach is both correct in moral and economic terms, it is also necessary in electoral terms to enable Labour to hold onto as many seats as possible. It is, therefore, a position which is also likely to have a short-term appeal to elements of New Labour.

8. The moral and economic relevance of such an approach will also have significance after the coming electoral defeat as New Labour will be on the back foot after the election, as its overall approach will be in tatters.

9. The development of further feasible proposals for democratic and social advance will be easier in the above circumstances.

10. Democratic socialists need to operate in the above ways or we will be subject to the following judgement which was made about our predecessors from the time of the 1931 slump - "Socialism explained the past and promised the future; it had nothing of consequence to offer the present". The fact that the quote comes from Robert Skidelsky, does not mean that it is an an incorrect assessment of what occurred. It is imperative that we do not repeat past failures. Although on the plus side, it must be remembered that it only took 14 years from Labour's collapse in 1931 for it to achieve the triumph of 1945 for the best Labour Government in our history. So perhaps I can look forward to my 87th birthday.

Gordon Brown at his best

See the video here - http://www.hurryupharry.org/2009/07/22/brown-and-the-worried-wired-world/

It lasts 15 minutes and reveals an impressive Gordon Brown.

From Venezuela To Dronfield

Colin Burgon addresses the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign with Hugo Chavez and Ken Livingstone alongside.


At a packed discussion group meeting on Sunday, Colin Burgon the Labour MP for Elmet gave a talk on the impact of Neo-Liberalism on Venezuela and the socialist response to this under the Presidency of Hugo Chavez. This has led to public ownership in the oil industry, banking, the food industry and elsewhere. With resources being redistributed to the poor. Oil being the keystone to the Venezuelan economy.

Colin extended his analysis to relate to the impact of neo-liberalism on both politics throughout South America and our own experiences of it as initially shaped by Thatcherism.

His talk stimulated a particularly keen discussion which continued when we moved to socialising in the lounge bar of the Dronfield Contact Club. For further details on Colin's analysis see this speech that he made in the Commons in March.

After the first election of Chavez in 1999 a Military Coup temporarily removed him from office in 2002, but within 2 days his supporters re-established him back into the Presidential Palace without a shot being fired. Thanks to the presence of an Irish TV crew the events were filmed and appear on the DVD "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". As Colin said this is highly dramatic, rather as if a film had been made of the storming of the Winter Palace in 1917 which led to the triumph of the Bolsheviks. Copies of the DVD can be obtained from here.

Chavez (left) signing copies of the DVD.

The extent to which Venezuela can be a model for reshaping democratic socialist objectives will depend to a large extent on how democratic its political system, its nationalised industries and the internal arrangements within its major political parties are - especially in the newly established and leading
United Socialist Party of Venezuela. It is a good sign as Colin pointed out that under the Constitution the President can be subject to a recall election by 10% of the voters and that the new Constitution is widely read and studied by Venezuela's working people.

Nationalise The Railways

The Dronfield Labour Party Discussion Group undertook some serious work on the issue of "Integrated Transport". The full published debate can be followed by linking into "labels" at the close of this item. It links to twelve threads which were posted on this blog.

Of relevance to our collective view is the finding of this current survey which shows that there is majority support amongst the public for the full nationalisation of the railways.

The Government should feel free to plagiarize our ideas.

Nationalisation In Venezuela

(Photo: Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela)



The third largest bank in Venezuela has just been nationalised. This further extends their programme of nationalisation, which in the past two years has seen telecommunications, electricity, steel and other companies being placed under public ownership. The latest development is covered here in today's Morning Star (4 July).




Colin Burgon (right), the Labour MP for Elmet will introduce a discussion into such developments at our next meeting on 12 July. For details and further links, see our right hand column.

You, Me and Tackling Climate Change

The impact of global warming on the UK is in today's headlines (i.e. 18 June) .

We had a timely discussion on what we can all do about this on Sunday. Dr Ralph Hebden (photo) is a former Lecturer in Geography at Sheffield Hallam University. He brought his overhead projector with him, so we had an illustrated talk and plenty of discussion on what we could do as individuals to reduce the impact of global warming. Inevitably the discussion spilt over into the ways that his proposals could also be acted upon by industry, trade, agriculture, transport and governments.

Below the photo of part of the problem is a list of the type of proposals he advocated. Of course, those who seriously follow his advice are also likely (a) to spread the word and (b) press governments and other major bodies to act within the same spirit. That is how what is individually practical can become what is politically feasible.



FROM RALPH HEBDEN : source

The following suggestions are to help people reduce their environmental footprint and so help to reduce their impact on global warming. In many cases they do not involve financial cost and will even save money.

1. My Home
Install:
Loft insulation
Jacket on hot water cylinder
Cavity wall insulation
Micro wind turbine after checking your location characteristics
Photovoltaic cells
Draught excluders - windows, doors, floors, but allow for some ventilation
Solar water heating panels / gas condensing boiler
Thermostats on central heating equipment
Double glazing
Lag exposed pipes
Fit low energy light bulbs
Vary times on central heating system
Reduce temperature by 1 C on central heating
Draw curtains to keep heat in
Do not leave lights on when you leave a room
Do not leave equipment on stand by - computer, TV, VCR etc.
Buy Green Energy electricity
Defrost fridge/freezer regularly
Put a box in empty fridge/freezer free spaces - reduce amount of air being frozen
Cook with lids on pans
Check energy efficiency when buying electrical and gas equipment
Use mains electricity or rechargeable batteries rather than ordinary batteries
Use non-VOC paint, solvents, preservation finishes
Stop junk mail through Mail Preference Service

2. My water use
Fix leaking taps
Turn taps fully off
Have a shower rather than a bath
Use plugs in basins and sinks
Put a water hippo in water cistern
Turn taps off when cleaning teeth
Use washing machines and dishwashers only on full loads
Fill kettle with only the water you need
Install water butts to collect water from roofs.
Think before using water; energy is needed to get water to your home.
Use lowest temperature when washing clothes
Install low flush/double flush in toilet system

5. My recycling
Check whether what you buy can be recycled
Keep and reuse envelopes
Use blank side of paper you receive for rough work
Recycle newspapers, magazines, bills, junk mail, wrapping paper.
Recycle plastic packaging from goods bought
Recycle glass
Charity shops allow you to recycle clothes.
Cans and silver paper can be recycled
Take books to charity shops or send to Feed the Minds
Opticians will recycle glasses
Dispose of waste oil, paint, solvents, and batteries safely.

4. My shopping
Use bags for life and avoid plastic bags
Use local shops or farmers’ markets to reduce travel emissions
Cut travel emissions by not buying imported goods where possible
Choose goods with minimal packaging
Reduce car use by getting shops to deliver
Shop on the internet to reduce your journeys to shops
Buy recycled paper and other recycled goods
Buy Fair Trade products
Only buy what you need and reduce waste.

5. My garden
Install water butts to collect rain water
Water plants in evening to reduce evaporation
Mulch water loving plants to reduce need to water
Have a compost bin for garden and kitchen waste
Develop eco-friendly plants for frogs, birds, hedgehogs
Have a pond to help wild life: also a base for a range of different plants
Grow vegetables and fruit in your garden
Try to keep to native plants
Use pesticides and chemical sprays as little as possible.
Avoid products with peat in them
Compost egg boxes
Compost garden clippings and twigs
Collect fallen leaves and store for a year to make compost

6. My Travel *
Reduce car use; use a bicycle, walk or use public transport
Ensure car tyre pressures are correct
Accelerate slowly
Avoid sharp breaking
Consider whether you need holidays involving long flights
Consider having holidays in Britain
Check destination weather condition before travelling
Travel with minimum luggage as a result.

7. Some Challenges
Shop locally - but not at supermarkets
Buy locally produce food and goods - not imported
Reduce car use - cope with public transport
Become vegetarian - meat production consumes many resources
Holiday in the UK - no flights to the sun, snow or 'far away places'
Live a simple lifestyle - reduce your environmental footprint

* During the debate, the discussion groups own submission on"Integrated Transport" was raised as having relevance to these proposals.

A Quick Response

Rob Quick chaired the last meeting of our discussion group - see here.


Today's Guardian carries the following letter from him, under the heading "HAZEL BLEARS HAS BETRAYED US".

Thank you Ms Blears for stabbing we Labour activists in the back (Blears strikes blow for rebels with resignation, 4 June). You might have thought in your selfish egotistical way you were simply stabbing the PM in the back, but you forgot about us. I am the Labour agent in Dronfield, Derbyshire and we have been working tirelessly for weeks, despite the daily exposés of MPs' misuse of expenses, in a key marginal with only slim hopes of keeping one seat and maybe control of the county. Blears has betrayed ordinary Labour supporters. We feel she should be expelled from the party.
Rob Quick
Vice-chair, Derbyshire North East CLP

The full range of letters under the above heading appears here.