Labour Party and electoral politics

Momentum NC puts foot on brake

By Rebecca Anderson  The interim leadership of the campaign formed to support Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Party has decided to delay holding its founding conference until February 2017. Although there are plans to hold regional policy conferences, the delay means that there is no way for tens of thousands of Corbyn’s supporters to organise […]

Workers Power  ·  25 May 2016

The Labour defeat that never was

By Dave Stockton The press reported David Cameron as jubilant – can he do anything else beyond jubilating? On the morning after the 5 May elections, it became clear that their results were a disappointment to a wide spectrum of politicians, journalists and assorted “think tanks”; indeed to all of those who had already written […]

Workers Power  ·  12 May 2016

“Labour antisemitism crisis”: stop the right wing sabotage

Statement Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism This campaign is actually directed against Corbyn and the party’s new left majority Fight all forms of racism Counter-offensive against the right starts now A cynical campaign is in full swing to destabilise the Labour leadership on the verge of the London Mayoral, local and regional elections, and in particular […]

Workers Power  ·  29 April 2016

Save Lambeth Libraries protest is a reality check for Labour councils

By KD Tait The campaign to defend Lambeth’s 10 public libraries from the Labour council’s closure and outsourcing plans saw more than 2,000 people march through Brixton in one of the biggest local demonstrations in years. Residents, librarians and Friends of Lambeth libraries assembled at the Carnegie library to congratulate the occupiers who walked out […]

Workers Power  ·  17 April 2016

History: Labour recruits for carnage in WW1

The second instalment in our serialisation of a socialist history of the Labour Party. Read the first instalment: Labour’s early years: 1900-1914 By Dave Stockton The years of the First World War of 1914-18 were critical ones for the British labour movement. Its political party, its trade unions and the role they play in British life […]

Workers Power  ·  17 April 2016

Nationalise steel as part of an industrial plan

By Jeremy Dewar At a board meeting in Mumbai, India, Tata executives voted through a plan to sell off all its UK plants or, failing that, to shut them down. Some 15,000 workers and their families face the prospect of devastating job losses, with another 25,000 workers in the supply chain at severe risk. The […]

Workers Power  ·  17 April 2016

Labour leadership – no time for concessions

Instead of accommodating the right, we should organise the left It makes a change to have a Labour leadership that attacks the Tories rather than concedes to them. Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have succeeded in knocking the Tories off their perch several times recently. Their counterattack against the Budget resulted in George Osborne’s humiliating […]

Workers Power  ·  17 April 2016

The anti-cuts movement and the united front

By Jeremy Dewar TORY CHANCELLOR George Osborne has told the BBC that, “storm clouds are clearly gathering in the world economy and that has a consequence for lots of countries including Britain”. At the same time, the Office of National Statistics revealed that the UK economy is 1 per cent smaller than previously calculated: a […]

Jeremy Dewar  ·  06 March 2016

Labour’s early years: 1900-1914

The first installment in our serialisation of a socialist history of the Labour Party. Read the second instalment: Labour recruits for carnage in WW1 By Dave Stockton Keir Hardie speaking at a Women’s Suffrage demonstration in Trafalgar Square Foundation of the Labour Party, Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, London, February 1906 IN FEBRUARY 1900, the Labour Representation […]

Workers Power  ·  06 March 2016

What are the prospects for Scottish Labour?

By Sandy McBurney ALL commentators are agreed that the governing party, the Scottish National Party (SNP), is going to win the 2016 Scottish parliamentary elections. They are on 50 per cent plus in the opinion polls. Their membership stands at 115,000, which is the equivalent of over a million members on a British scale. This […]

Workers Power  ·  06 March 2016

John McDonnell’s ‘workers cooperatives’ – profit or bust

By Dave Stockton John McDonnell’s speech at the Cooperative Ways Forward Conference in Manchester on 21 January opened his campaign for what he calls “the new economics” – involving a clear break from the austerity-lite policies pursued by Labour under Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband. This was John’s opening gambit in a welcome – and […]

Workers Power  ·  05 February 2016

Focus Can Help Momentum Succeed

By KD Tait SINCE Jeremy Corbyn’s landslide election as leader of the Labour Party, the grassroots network Momentum has formed 90 local groups to coordinate the activities of Labour Party members and supporters who want to champion the policies Jeremy was elected on and spearhead resistance to the Tories. Local groups have rallied a cross-section […]

Workers Power  ·  01 February 2016

London Mayor campaign is chance to build fighting local Labour

By KD Tait Labour MP Sadiq Khan has secured a six point lead over Tory rival Zac Goldsmith in the battle to seize control of City Hall after eight years of Tory misrule. The campaign is a chance to build on the 2015 General Election gains and mobilise the enthusiasm generated by Jeremy Corbyn’s new […]

Workers Power  ·  26 January 2016

Wage a genuine fight against sexism

By Joy Macready Labour Right’s “misogyny” accusations against Corbyn are a study in hypocrisy THE Labour party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) took the correct action in suspending Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk’s party membership after revelations he sent lewd text messages to a 17-year old woman. He used his position of power to make sexual advances […]

Workers Power  ·  26 January 2016

Letter from Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Jon Trickett to Labour council leaders

Key extracts from the 17 December letter from Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Jon Trickett to Labour council leaders To the Leaders of Labour Councils Dear Colleague, We are writing to you as Leader of the Party, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Shadow Chancellor. Today the government has announced the […]

Workers Power  ·  26 January 2016

How can Labour activists defend local services?

A local government worker responds to Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell’s recent letter setting out their policy in relation to Labour councils implementing Tory austerity OVER the coming month, councils across the UK will be setting budgets for the coming year. They will include savage cuts, with the most vulnerable (women, children, the elderly and […]

Workers Power  ·  26 January 2016

Defying the press onslaught

There has been no let up in the coordinated smear operation against Corbyn “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” It started in earnest in August 2015, at the point when it became obvious that Jeremy Corbyn was on course for a landslide victory in last […]

Workers Power  ·  26 January 2016

United we stand?

The commitment of our union leaders to the new politics is under scrutiny WITH the election of Jeremy Corbyn we finally have a Labour Leader who is not afraid to identify his party with the trade unions, to defend striking workers on television and in the press and to promise the repeal of the anti-union […]

Workers Power  ·  26 January 2016

Labour’s Trident confusion

Jeremy Corbyn has made a U-turn on Trident, agreeing to maintain the orders for the nuclear submarines “to save jobs” under pressure from the unions, especially the GMB and Unite. But he has ludicrously suggested they should carry conventional, not nuclear warheads. The £167 billion it costs to run these nuclear subs – which could never […]

Workers Power  ·  26 January 2016

Corbyn’s first 100 days

Our aims RED FLAG strongly supports Jeremy Corbyn against the MPs who are daily undermining him in the Tory and liberal media and will seek to oust him the moment they think they can get away with it. Blair, Brown and Miliband halved the membership during their years in leadership, lost two general elections and […]

Workers Power  ·  26 January 2016

Labour councils are implementing Tory austerity

BRANCHES & CLPs Across the country local Labour councils are implementing Tory austerity in the face of resistance from workers, youth and unemployed – and increasingly from local Labour parties. The Labour leadership’s decision to launch a national campaign against central government cuts to local authorities is welcome – and long overdue. We hope that Labour […]

Workers Power  ·  26 January 2016

Right wing MPs fear ‘bloodbath’

PLP A clique of right wing MPs have revealed their fears that they could be victims of a “bloodbath” when local parties select MPs, following changes to constituency boundaries. Some of these MPs seem to feel that having voted to add Britain’s contribution to the bloodbath in Syria could leave them on the wrong side of […]

Workers Power  ·  26 January 2016

Jobs Not Bombs!

Cancel multi-billion arms spending and tax the rich to create jobs, save the NHS and build homes THEY can’t have it both ways. The Tories say there’s no money to save council services, save jobs in steel, boost flood defences and stop the bankruptcy of NHS trusts. But they’ve got billions for nuclear missiles and high […]

Workers Power  ·  26 January 2016

Labour: stop the war!

At 10pm Parliament will vote on whether to send British planes to join the US-led bombing of Syria. David Cameron’s drive to war has nothing to do with protecting civilians and everything to do with maintaining Britain’s status as the USA’s principal ally. A vote to bomb Syria will mean RAF jets killing civilians they […]

Workers Power  ·  02 December 2015

A New Way to Nationalise

NATIONALISATION. It’s the Labour policy the Tories have always hated. And it’s back in the news. Newly elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has made it a cornerstone of his new package of leftwing policies. In a popular move he has called for the renationalisation of the railways. He wants to take gas, water and electricity […]

Workers Power  ·  08 November 2015

Can Labour Overturn the Nationalists and Win Back Scotland?

The Scottish Nationalist Party is still riding high after its almost total wipe out of Labour in the May general election. The SNP has a lot of support among the electorate. Currently in the opinion polls they have about 50 per cent of the vote and look set to win a sweeping victory in the […]

Workers Power  ·  08 November 2015

Nationalise the Steel Industry!

British steel is in crisis. While cheap Chinese is steel being “dumped” on world markets, three body blows have been inflicted on steel production. The SSI steelworks in Redcar is going into liquidation, with the government refusing to offer any lifeline. A mothballing operation will now see 2,200 jobs go, in a devastating blow to […]

Workers Power  ·  08 November 2015

The Class Struggle Inside Labour

Jeremy Corbyn won Labour’s leadership election by mobilising hundreds of thousands with his call for Labour to break with the austerity consensus and lead opposition to cuts, privatisation and war. The comprehensive nature of Corbyn’s victory has opened up a serious struggle over the Party’s future direction. The Blairite right have been quick off the […]

Workers Power  ·  08 November 2015

Interview With a Returning Labour Member

Marc Dauncey interviewed a returning Labour Party member in South Wales THESE are tumultuous times for the Labour Party after Jeremy Corbyn’s dramatic win and a huge influx of activists. Nowhere is that more evident than at the grassroots, local level – constituency and branch meetings. But how are these new activists finding the experience? […]

Workers Power  ·  08 November 2015

Labour left gathers momentum

Matt Hale from Sheffield Central CLP (pc) spoke to Red Flag about the local Corbyn4Leader campaign RED FLAG: HOW DID JEREMY’S CAMPAIGN GO IN SHEFFIELD? MATT HALE: We initially started with an open organising meeting, inviting both Labour Party members and trade unionists, where we planned a series of events. We ran numerous phone banks and put […]

Workers Power  ·  08 November 2015

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