100,000 people who signed up to Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign over the summer, ticked the box to indicate they wanted to keep in touch and get active after the election. Many are new activists or returnees to the party. Now the team behind Jeremy4Leader has decided to launch Momentum – a new movement to encourage them to join Labour and fight the Tories.
Launch meetings have attracted audiences of varying size, but where the message has spread, usually via social media, large groups of activists have rallied. Those who have contacted the interim leaders have received a warm welcome and helpful assistance. A first national day of action on 24 October, taking the voter registration campaign onto the streets, was a success in many towns and cities across the country.
It is early days but this is an encouraging start.
Naturally there has been some debate at these meetings as to exactly what sort of organisation Momentum should be. Some would like it to be principally an anti-austerity movement, running the danger of duplicating the work of the People’s Assembly.
We think Momentum should be exactly what the 100,000 Corbyn supporters wanted; to combine fighting Tory austerity in the here and now with a fight for socialist policies inside the Labour party; for its democratisation so that Labour councillors and MPs stop voting for cuts or supporting Tory wars.
Some organisations, like the SWP and the Socialist Party, who have attended local Momentum meetings, are trying to divert Momentum from the struggle inside Labour. We think this is wrong.. The success of the Corbyn revolution depends on Labour Party members organising within Labour to put the party at the head of resistance to Tory cuts and champion a socialist alternative.
